Remembering Stan Ward - The fight must go on
Too much is at stake for us to be apathetic
I met Stan Ward a little over two years ago at the beginning of this ACCESS nonsense and learned that he lived directly south of me and that the Southern Extension would not only run right through my living room, but his as well. I also learned that he was an accomplished lawyer with a successful track record of winning for the little guy.
And he has a REALLY big vein of Rose Rocks on his property that he had put in a perpetual land conservancy. I knew I was going to like this guy.
Oklahoma’s State Rock are protected by Oklahoma’s first National GeoHeritage Site
Stan was funny and witty and exceptionally sharp with an almost photographic memory. He was also a consummate story teller and could spin yarns on almost any topic- but politics seemed to be his favorite; at least it was when I was in the room.
He also had interesting names for his farm animals. He had a Rooster named Senator and a Rooster named Congressman. Stan liked to tell people that the Senator won the match against the Congressman, crowed a lot, screwed his constituents and got nothing else done.
I only had two years and a few dozen times to interact with Stan; the amount of time, effort and expertise he donated in those two years to our shared purpose of protecting private property rights and holding government agencies accountable was invaluable and a true gift. We are so thankful to have many of his speeches recorded and I encourage you to watch just a few. He was an amazing orator.
He came out of retirement, a retirement in which his health was continuing to decline, to help the “little guy” beat Goliath; a Goliath otherwise known as the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority.
He spent countless hours and resources to launch the Open Meetings Act Violation lawsuit, in which he WON for the people on December 1, 2022 in District Court. He explains this victory in detail in this video.
Stan was honest. Brutally honest. I remember him inviting all the Open Meetings Act Violation case plaintiffs over to his Win Ward ranch in the heat of the summer on June 17, 2022. We were all gathered around on what-a-chairs or picnic blankets in his front lawn and he was addressing us through a volume-challenged cordless microphone.
He looked at all of us and said quite clearly and loudly…. “You’ve got a great case. How much justice can you afford?”
What he meant was, even though we had a great case - actually TWO great cases - the OTA was better funded with more full-time legal staff that were hell-bent on dragging every case out; and, as it turns out, they had a best bud on the Supreme Court willing to opine bad law. Therefore, even if we were right and had the law on our side, it was going to take a ton of money to even play the game, and with a State Supreme Court stacked against us, the outcome was unfortunately inevitable.
But he still donated 100% of his legal expertise to the fight.
“It doesn’t matter if you are a Democrat or a Republican, if you’re a property owner and give a damn about your property, you belong in this room. And trying to stop what has taken place, which is absolute mockery of the concept of transparency and open and informed government.” ~Stan Ward, January 27, 2023.
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Three weeks before he died, he said in a documentary interview that “Lady Justice is supposed to be blind. Lady Justice is blindfolded and her scales are at perfect equilibrium at her side. In order to tip those scales there should be compelling reason or evidence.” I could feel his frustration.
He knew, as we all did, that in both our cases at the Supreme Court, Lady Justice was NOT blind; destroying any remaining vestiges of the allusion that the Oklahoma State Supreme Court Judicial System is impartial, fair or even understands their duties. At the end of such an illustrious career, that first-hand experience of watching a slam-dunk Summary Judgment District Court Case getting overturned in a split decision by the Oklahoma State Supreme Court must have been devastating.
Stan’s celebration of life on Tuesday, March 26th at 3 pm at the McFarlin Church in Norman was an hour and forty minutes of great stories: great stories about a man who was generous with his time and resources, who was an exceptional orator and legal mind fighting for those run over by rogue employers, agencies and the larger government and who believed that those with exceptional abilities should throw a little karma back into the universe.
One of the stories that was told about Stan was in poetry form, composed by Alexey Tarasov, is presented below. Alexey was one of the lawyers, along with Richard LaBarthe, who worked side-by-side with Stan on the Open Meetings Act Violation Lawsuit. It is only through the efforts of many that we can continue this marathon of a fight, and I am grateful to Alexey and Richard for their tireless work helping the citizens demand accountability and transparancy from a rogue agency.
Stan knew that we’d have an uphill battle and he also admitted that his time on earth was growing short.
His gaze was strong as he said
“I don’t want to be Mr. Negative, but I’m just telling you, that you’re in for a battle. [But] people need to continue the fight. We’ve got just a real dedicated core of people that are interested in preserving property rights and not allowing the bad guys to win. God Bless them and hope that they can carry the day.”
Thank you Stan for your willingness to speak up and fight against the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority and represent hundreds of affected homeowners in a successful legal action.
I sincerely hope that people will remember Stan and his selfless efforts utilizing his expertise for the greater good over the past two years. I hope that people will listen to and internalize his brutally honest admonitions on the perils of citizen apathy and his plea for people to get involved.
In order to win the war, all citizens must engage. As Stan said over and over again, it has nothing to do with Democrat versus Republican and everything to do with citizens versus a corrupt uniparty government. We all need to stop being distracted by the noise the bought-and-paid-for-media drums up to divide us and stay committed to collectively fighting for citizen due-process, private property rights, government transparancy and accountability.
Where are you? We need you. Stan would approve.
PIKE OFF OTA (501 c4) and Oklahomans for Responsible Transportation, Foundation (501 c3) are leading the charge in legal injunctive avenues and legislative reform and they could use your help. They are trying to dismantle a corrupt Goliath within our state and are doing a great job. Be part of the solution!
www.pikeoffota.com
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Thank you for sharing. Outstanding tribute to phenomenal man. Keep up the fight!