With the GOP runoff election for State School Superintendant taking place tomorrow, I thought it would be fun to reshare this TLO exclusive from last April that wasn't covered by any of the local legacy media outlets...
Back in April, we learned via The Ogle Mole Network that Ryan Epic-Barresi-Walters – the betting favorite to be our State's next Superintendant of Public Education – had his license suspended and a bench warrant issued for his arrest in 2021 after he failed to pay a simple speeding ticket.
Yep, that's right. The high school history teacher who wants to be in charge of educating 700,000 Oklahoma public school students can't even take care of his speeding tickets. Take that, wokesters!
Here's the first notice the state mailed to Ryan in March of 2021. If you're a TLO subscriber who supports local media, you can check it and all the other notices that were sent to Walters below...
That's funny. If I got a letter in the mail informing me that I have 15 days to pay a speeding ticket or a bench warrant would be issued for my arrest, paying that ticket would fly up the list of my priorities. This is because I'm a semi-responsible grown-up.
Naturally, Walters did the opposite.
Like a McAlester methhead, the stair-sliding rebel ignored the notice and didn't pay it, so on April 6th, 2021, the state sent him another letter letting him know there was a bench warrant for his arrest and his license was suspended:
Hey, I'm not a grifter running for a public office I'm not qualified for, but you'd think when Walters found out he was rolling around in his 2013 Honda with a suspended license and was only one traffic stop away from going to the county jail, it would have spurred him into action and motivated him to quickly pay the fine.
But, alas, it didn't.
Instead, Walters spent three months driving around the state with a suspended license. He didn't pay the ticket until three months later on July 22nd, which was conveniently just two weeks after he announced his run for State School Superintendant:
"But Patrick! Who cares! It happened last year! It's also just a speeding ticket!!! It's not that big of a deal!"
I don't think a speeding ticket is a big deal, but failing to pay the ticket, getting a bench warrant issued for your arrest, and then driving around for three months on a suspended license shows a massive lack of personal accountability. If you're not responsible enough to pay your speeding tickets before the state suspends your license, how can you be counted on to lead a large state agency that oversees the education of all Oklahoma public school students???
"Yeah, but he simply forgot to pay it! It happens! As long as it's not part of a pattern of behavior where Walters acts like rules, procedures, and laws don't apply to him, it's not a big deal."
Actually, it does kind of line up with a pattern. Remember this story from March?
Or this...
"Screw you, Patrick! Fake news! Boys are using girls' bathrooms in Stillwater! Critical Race Theory is out of control! There's gay porn in libraries! Save Women's Sports! Wokelahoma can't be stopped!"
Sadly, I think most Oklahoma voters agree with the italic counter-arguments that float in my head.
Anyway, if you know of any elected officials, political candidates, or other right-wing putzes seeking higher office who also suck at being responsible humans and don't pay their speeding tickets, let us know.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We'll keep you advised.
