Mayor with a Mission
Who you calling fat? Mick Cornett and the citizens of Oklahoma City have gone on a health kick.
by Devin Pratt
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It must be working; you've lost over 30 pounds in the past year. Did you notice a quality-of-life improvement after losing the weight?
Well, my tennis game has improved! It's also kind of fun going shopping for new clothes because you've lost weight. Having a slimmer physique builds up your self-esteem, too. It's nice to be on an airplane and think the seats have gotten bigger. People say the seats at sporting events are too small. My response is, "That's why we're trying to work on the size of your rear end!"
How have Oklahoma City businesses reacted to your initiative?
Employers gravitate toward it because they know how much they're spending on healthcare. Loss of productivity due to poor health is a real issue for them. Jobs and education are two things I really push for as mayor. If I'm an employer who's looking at launching a big job initiative in Oklahoma City and I see the city is on an obesity list I'm going to think twice about setting up shop there.
So would you say a certain degree of your new health initiative has to do with boosting Oklahoma City's economy?
There is certainly an aspect of this initiative that's about creating a workforce that employers and entrepreneurs are going to be attracted to—they are looking for healthy employees. The 20th century paradigm was that people would go to where the jobs were. But I think the 21st century paradigm is that you have to create a city where people will want to be and the jobs will come to you.
Aside from the direct challenge to the city's residents to lose weight, what are some of the other initiatives you've taken?
We're adding 350 miles of new sidewalks in Oklahoma City. That's something I've really pushed because we need to become a pedestrian friendly city. There's been a culture in Oklahoma City that has revolved around the automobile and you see that in the number of drive-through restaurants. We've never given people a chance to walk because the city was zoned with the automobile in mind. Now we're planning and designing neighborhoods so you don't necessarily have to own a car.
What are the schools doing to promote a healthier lifestyle?
We are building new gymnasiums in all 47 of our inner-city grade schools. Our largest district is our inner-city district and none of those schools had gymnasiums. Of course we have PE in our grade schools but without a gymnasium, how much exercise are the kids really going to get when there's inclement weather? Some of these kids have never seen a gymnasium so how do we expect them to lead a healthy lifestyle later in life?
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