Mayor's experience shows Having a mayor with state legislative experience has its advantages. Mayor David Holt, a former state senator, said last week that he reached out to the author when he first saw House Bill 2504 several weeks ago. Holt said the bill as originally written would have ended local health departments, bringing them under state control. The Oklahoma City-County Health Department has led the metro-area's COVID-19 response. And results are clear, Holt said — Oklahoma City's toll as measured by pandemic metrics such as case counts and deaths have been better than state and national figures. Legislators amended the bill before passing it out of committee last week. Still,