The Shawnee Minutes

One Project — Two Ways to Explore It

How the Research Began

The Shawnee Minutes did not begin as a study of municipal government. It began with youth sports.

As my broader Baseball Heaven research expanded, I kept returning to Lions Club Ballfields and to the history of a regional sports complex discussed for Shawnee years earlier. Different recollections existed about how far that project had progressed. Rather than rely on memory or argument, I began searching for the underlying public record.

That search led into City Commission minutes, agendas, public authorities, planning records, financial documents, elections, sales-tax propositions, public facilities and other historical records. At the same time, I was building the separate Integrity of the Game / Hidden Valley dataset examining youth-sports operations. I often worked one dataset intensively and then shifted to the other. Over time, the projects began providing context for one another.

Youth sports led to public facilities. Public facilities led to municipal decisions. Municipal decisions led to public finance and elections. Those questions led deeper into the history of Shawnee and Pottawatomie County.

The Foundational Question: Was There a Regional Sports Complex?

The surviving public record establishes that a regional sports-complex proposal was more than a later recollection. On April 21, 2008, Shawnee City Commission minutes recorded discussion of an alternate sports-complex plan involving 76 acres on Kickapoo Street. The minutes described proposed soccer fields, baseball fields and concession areas. The Commission voted 7–0 to direct staff to obtain an appraisal and arrange meetings with potential user groups.

In 2011, Oklahoma State University researchers Dave Shideler and Joe Benton prepared Economic Impact of a Regional Sports Complex in Shawnee, Oklahoma. The report states that it assessed the anticipated economic impact of a proposed Shawnee regional sports complex using construction and operating estimates provided by the City of Shawnee.

Those records became an early lesson for this project: when memories conflict, return to the documents.

The Research Has Become a Dataset

The Shawnee Minutes began as a way to find and organize records connected to Lions Club Ballfields and the proposed regional sports complex. As the research expanded, the working file became a broader public-record index connecting municipal history, county records, elections, public finance, facilities and other civic-history questions.

More Than City Commission Minutes

The official Pottawatomie County website maintains an Agenda Center for current and historical agendas and minutes. Repositories such as this are used to validate and extend the working dataset.

The Questions Keep Getting Larger

The more records I reviewed, the more the project expanded beyond the question that started it. Some records answered old questions. Others created entirely new ones about public facilities, taxation, elections, government decisions and the history residents inherit from earlier generations.

That is why The Shawnee Minutes remains a continuing research project. New records can add context, correct earlier assumptions, connect events that once appeared unrelated, or show that a question needs more research before a conclusion can be reached.

The goal is not simply to accumulate minutes. It is to understand what the public record can teach us about how Shawnee and the surrounding community arrived where they are today.

Major Research Threads

• Lions Club Ballfields: operation, storm damage, public access, redevelopment and the facility's role in the larger research initiative.
• Regional Sports Park: proposals, votes, studies, financing concepts, projected economic impact and the difference between proposals and outcomes.
• Sales Tax & Public Finance: historical propositions, voter approvals, revenue commitments and capital projects.
• City Commission & Public Authorities: decisions affecting facilities, infrastructure, finance and public assets.
• Pottawatomie County: County Commissioner actions and county records relevant to Shawnee and surrounding communities.
• Elections & Civic Participation: documented election history, candidate fields, public questions and civic decision-making.
• Public Records & Transparency: what records exist, what must be requested, what gaps remain and how access affects historical research.
• Community History: people, projects, institutions and decisions that help explain how Shawnee developed over time.

Research, Elections and My Own Civic Participation

As the dataset grew, so did my interest in municipal government. I considered running for mayor during a prior election cycle but ultimately did not become a candidate. I later supported another candidate and subsequently became a candidate for Shawnee City Commission Ward 1, an election I did not win.

Those experiences are part of the history of this research, but they do not turn The Shawnee Minutes into a campaign archive. Where elected officials, candidates or elections appear, the same source standards apply: document the record, identify first-person experience as such, distinguish opinion from fact, and allow readers to reach their own conclusions.

My disagreements with public officials—including issues involving Lions Club Ballfields following the 2023 tornado—may be relevant to particular case studies. When they are, this project will separate official records, direct communications, chronology and my interpretation rather than merging them into a single factual claim.

How The Shawnee Minutes Fits Baseball Heaven

These projects overlap because the history overlaps. A baseball field can lead to a Parks Department. A Parks Department can lead to a City Commission. A City Commission can lead to a sales-tax election. A sales-tax election can determine what facilities exist for the next generation.

Continue Into the Research