Grider to chair ACOG Board

By Jacob Sturm

news@mustangpaper.com

Mustang Mayor, Brian Grider, will be stepping into a new role on top of his duties as mayor in
the coming months.

Grider informed the Mustang City Council that he will assume the role of Chairman on the
Association of Central Oklahoma Governments (ACOG) Board of Directors. Grider has served as
the Vice-Chair on the ACOG Board of Directors, and will replace Edmond councilmember Josh
Moore as the Chair for the next two years.

So, what is ACOG?

ACOG’s mission is to advocate for regional cooperation and address common issues, solve
mutual problems and promote efficient government services. It strives to promote quality life
throughout Central Oklahoma.

“We oversee transportation, pedestrian stuff and 9-1-1 system and water resources for that
regional metro area,” Grider said.

The ACOG Board of Directors consists of 36 members that includes Mayors, City Council
Members and County Commissioners.

That is how Grider got started with the board.

“I started attending ACOG as an alternate whenever I first got on City Council,” Grider said. “Jay
Adams was on ACOG Board, and I was the alternate. So, I was going there for a long time when
Jay was still on City Council as our Mayor, and I was going in a non-voting capacity just to be
able to have a good understanding of what ACOG was and what all they did.”

Two years ago, Grider was nominated to the Executive Committee along with members who
have been at the ACOG board meetings and contribute to the conversation while offering good
ideas.

“I was surprised,” Grider said. “I really was just because you’re sitting in a room of Mayors and
Vice Mayors from Oklahoma City, Norman, Edmond, Moore, Guthrie, Yukon, Bethany, War
Acres. I mean, these are all people I am friends with, but that I look up to (and) a lot of people
who have been a part of their communities for a long time.”

Later, a position on the Board of Directors became open following a person moving out of a
district and having to step down from the responsibility. That led to Grider being moved over
and serving as the Vice-Chair with the knowledge of the Chairman not coming back due to not
seeking reelection to the Edmond City Council.

The role of Chairman comes with new responsibilities. Grider mentioned working with the
executive director with organizing agendas and determining task items.

Part of ACOG involves overseeing federal grants for road projects, clean energy initiatives and a
lot more. That allows for participating and applying for those federal grants.

“We talk a lot about public transit, buses and stuff like that,” Grider said. “There’s a lot of
discussion, a lot of work toward putting in public transit essentially to where at any time of day,
any day of the week you can get from Highway 9 in Norman to 2 nd Street in Edmond in 45
minutes through public transit. That’s incredible… There’s discussions to be able to get
essentially from El Reno to Tinker any time of day on any day of the week in about 35-40
minutes. That’s a big deal.”

Those discussions taking place that talk about what transportation will look like and what 9-1-1
systems for the region looks like fit right in with Grider’s passion.

“Public safety has always been a really big passion of mine, especially since getting on Council,”
Grider said. “Right before I got on City Council, my brother’s family lost their home in a tornado
in Moore. And so, one of the first meetings I attended before I was even on City Council was
talking about the desire for Mustang to build a new emergency operations center, which we’re
getting ready to open it here in a few months. So, that was something that was a big passion of
mine.

As Chairman for the next two years, Grider offered some thoughts on some of the projects he
anticipates.

“The next-gen 9-1-1 transition has been a big project,” Grider said. “It’s taken longer than we
wanted. We’ve got multiple vendors that we’ve been dealing with. Outside of that, one of our
next big things is securing a good home for ACOG.”

Currently, the group meets in one of the Oklahoma County buildings where the election board
is located. Grider said it has been a great space, but also said there have been some issues the
group has experienced as a tenant. He said finding a future home for ACOG will be a big
undertaking over the next two years.

There are also things to consider like public transit expanding into new areas. Grider typically
gives updates to the Mustang City Council on ACOG meetings. Tim Rooney, Justin Battles and
city planner Ryan Conner have attended ACOG city manager and planning meetings,
respectively, in the past.

“We’re hoping, as Mustang grows and as ACOG grows, to continue to find new brands,
opportunities and different things whether that be for updating water pipelines, electric vehicle
chargers, whether that’s pedestrian sidewalks,” Grider said. “Different things like that, that we
can continue to go after.”