Dave Lopez and Downtown OKC makes change

[metro]

Downtown OKC chief takes position at American Fidelity

By Steve Lackmeyer
The Oklahoman

American Fidelity Assurance Co. announced Wednesday they are hiring Dave Lopez to lead the company's charitable foundation.
Lopez, who has led Downtown Oklahoma City Inc. for the past three years, will be succeeded by Brett Hamm, a former aide to Mayors Kirk Humphreys and Mick Cornett.

In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, American Fidelity officials said Lopez will continue philanthropic endeavors by the former president, the late John Rex. The business and community leader was active in children's causes until his death in April.

"We are excited that Dave Lopez will continue to build our community initiatives since he knows our company and our state so well," said Bill Cameron, chairman and chief executive officer of American Fidelity.

"The focus of our foundation will continue to be on supporting educational initiatives like those identified by the late John Rex. With Dave Lopez able to build on the work begun by John Rex, and to grow other philanthropic endeavors, we are confident we will continue to make a positive difference in our hometown and beyond."

Lopez has been a board member of American Fidelity's board of directors for the past nine years. He previously worked 22 years at Southwestern Bell Communications, now AT&T, including stints as president of the company's SBC division and later its Texas division.

At Downtown Oklahoma City Inc., Lopez oversaw the expansion of Downtown in December festivities, the revamp of the organization's Web site, increased marketing and start of renovations to the Conncourse underground pedestrian tunnels.

His replacement, Hamm, was hired as a mayor's aide by Humphreys in 2003 after serving on the staff of former U.S. Sen. Don Nickles and working with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He left the mayor's office in 2005, and briefly served earlier this year as executive vice president and senior partner at Saxum Strategic Communications.

"The progress of our downtown is being recognized nationally and even internationally, but we're even more excited about what our community's teamwork can produce in the future," said Clayton I. Bennett, chairman of Downtown Oklahoma City Inc.'s board of directors. "We expect that the public-private partnerships that Dave helped strengthen will only grow because of Brett's outstanding skill sets in government and in business."

Incoming Downtown Oklahoma City chairman Burns Hargis said Hamm's experience with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce also was a consideration in his hiring. Hargis said the board selected Hamm without conducting a search for Lopez's replacement.

"Dave Lopez has done a fabulous job," Hargis said. "Brett just needs to keep the momentum going and pursue every opportunity to make downtown better."

Hamm, an independent business consultant, takes control of Downtown Oklahoma City Inc. amidst a flurry of new housing and hotel construction. He said his previous experience includes working with former Mayor Humphreys on implementation of MAPS for Kids and securing redevelopment of the Skirvin hotel.

He said challenges ahead include redevelopment of the First National Center and Kerr-McGee Tower, and continued downtown housing development.

"Downtown Oklahoma City has truly achieved a new level of success and recognition under Dave's leadership," Hamm said. "Our immediate task will be to continue the track record of success that he and the team at Downtown Oklahoma City Inc. have created. Although he's moving on to a new opportunity, we look forward to Dave's continued involvement in what has become Oklahoma City's renaissance."

[ChristianConservative]

Personally, I won't have a problem seeing Mr. Lopez go. I and many others have been questioning Downtown OKC's ability to maintain the downtown area. Especially during the summer, their slow actions in maintaining newly planted landscapes has led to fiscal losses, which could've gone to help other areas of downtown. I respect Dave Lopez for his love for downtown and his desire to make it a better place, but most of what I saw from Mr. Lopez was words and little action. That's only my opinion though.

[ChristianConservative]

I found this old thread through a search and it explains my thoughts well:

http://www.okctalk.com/okc-metro-are...ng-ground.html

[ksearls]

Dear CC,

Dave Lopez and Downtown OKC have nothing to do with the landscaping issues cited here. In the instances of Main Street and the 6th/Harrison streetscapes projects, the City did not award the landscaping maintenance contracts to DOKC until the areas had already fallen into disrepair. Though DOKC does now maintain these areas (as of July for Main Street and late September for 6th/Harrison), the irrigation systems remain inoperable or insufficient and DOKC has reported these deficiencies to the City for repair.

[The Old Downtown Guy]

Dear CC,

Dave Lopez and Downtown OKC have nothing to do with the landscaping issues cited here. In the instances of Main Street and the 6th/Harrison streetscapes projects, the City did not award the landscaping maintenance contracts to DOKC until the areas had already fallen into disrepair. Though DOKC does now maintain these areas (as of July for Main Street and late September for 6th/Harrison), the irrigation systems remain inoperable or insufficient and DOKC has reported these deficiencies to the City for repair.

Thanks for the info. I'm sure that the crew you have on the job now will get these important public areas spruced up in no time and keep them well maintained.

Could you fill us all in on what has been done down there since DowntownOKC took over, what sort of regular maintainence is being provided and the schedule things are on?

[ksearls]

The maintenance contract details vary with 6th Street and Main Street but essentially, 6th Street contract is for turf mowing, bed weeding (1x/week), litter control (2x/week), tree/shrub pruning, fertilizing, pest management and Crapemyrtle maintenance. Main Street contract is for litter control (1x/week), tree pruning, and Crapemyrtles and Liriope maintenance. Both contracts include mulching. Neither contract includes irrigation system repairs though we do report outages and repair problems to the City.

[The Old Downtown Guy]

Thanks for the information K. Looks pretty comprehnsive in scope. It's unfortunate that so much of the plant material is in such bad shape going into winter. The area on Main Street never looked like it was receiving enough water after it was planted. Will the trees and other items that don't survive into spring be replaced early next year as a matter of course?

It looks like the frequency and extent of the work on the schedule should keep the area looking good if it is in fact followed. The only item missing is weeding the beds on Main Street. They are already being invaded by weeds and bermuda grass. Why no weeding of these beds in the contract?

It sure seems like your office has a lot of new responsibilities. What is the inspection process and follow up with the contractor? Does someone from your office have to tour around downtown each week and keep track of whether or not all of the cleaning, sweeping, weed pulling, mulching etc. is actually being done properly?

I hope The City gets the new irrigation systems operating properly. Without sufficient water this fall, the new plant material will be history if we have a cold winter. Isn't there at least a one year warranty on the irrigation system?