By HAYLEE BATES
Student Reporter
Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb visited the Northwestern campus in Woodward Friday afternoon during his statewide tour.
The tour is aimed at acquainting him with officials throughout the state. After meeting with these officials he will make a list of problems and concerns that are brought up. He will use that list to generate policies and issue a report to Gov. Mary Fallin. The governor can then address needed improvements and issues throughout the state.
Throughout that tour he will make appearances in all 77 counties, 36 of which he has already visited this month. His tour began at the beginning of January. His initial goal was to visit the 77 counties of Oklahoma in 77 days but after realizing the difficulty doing that, he arranged to visit each county in a reasonable amount of time. Lamb said he does not consider driving through a county as making a visit. He wants to set up a conferences to meet with people who live or work in each county.
Lamb addressed two major topics during the conference in Woodward. One was Oklahoma’s tight 2015 budget. He said, “There will be plenty of challenges that we face this year due to our strict budget, but we will look into the future and try to address these challenges that accompany the tight budget.”
The second topic was marketing strategies for the state. Oklahoma bought billboard space in Houston that promotes the job opportunities here. Lamb said, “There has been plenty of positive feedback on the billboard in Houston.” The state plans on using more marketing strategies this year, he said.
Before arriving in Woodward County, Lamb visited Beaver, Harper and Ellis counties
Friday.
Forty Woodward County residents attended the conference. Those in attendance included public officials, law enforcement, Northwestern faculty and media. Lamb addressed the audience for 15 minutes to explain the tour’s goal, then opened the floor for discussion of any concerns or problems that may be occurring in Woodward County.
He has made several visits to Woodward in the past and said he now is comfortable enough to call it home. He said, “Northwestern is the prime example of an accessible education for students who have the desire to learn.” He plans on making another trip there toward the end of the year.