Memorial to be Sunday for former Oklahoma City Councilman Mark Schwartz

Published: November 14, 2008

The curbside recycling bins found in Oklahoma City, the nighttime traffic court, a detention center for juvenile curfew violations and competitive bidding for municipal design, bond and consulting contracts all have one thing in common: they were introduced by former Oklahoma City Councilman Mark Schwartz.

Mark Schwartz

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Schwartz, 58, died about 11:30 a.m. Thursday at Mercy Health Center following a lengthy battle with prostate cancer.

He represented the city’s second ward between 1987 and 1998 and was a political force at city hall with strong ties to police and firefighters.

"He was passionate on the issues,” former Mayor Ron Norick said. "He was always prepared. If I was going to be on the different side of an issue, I had to be prepared or I was going to get beat.”

Norick recalled Schwartz as being a "pivotal” player in passing the 1989 public safety sales tax used to hire additional police and firefighters and upgrade equipment.

Schwartz served as president of the National League of Cities in 1997. A year later, he was hired as a Department of Energy attorney by then-Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson.

"He was an outstanding counsel for me at the Department of Energy. ... The only thing he loved more than politics was his home state of Oklahoma,” Richardson said.

Schwartz remained an advocate for public safety. After returning to Oklahoma City in 2005, Schwartz was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Schwartz is survived by his mother, Rose; brother and sister-in-law Jay and Elaine Goodman; and companion, Gail Meltzner.