§ C-B-1. Preamble.

Beneath an August sun in 1901, our community began...an adventure of certain risk but of uncertain reward.

Yet those who then so courageously committed themselves thereby directed us to the high plateau of opportunity which we now enjoy.

This Charter, in a sense, is an expression of our gratitude.

But it is much more than that.

It is a new beginning...dedicated to the challenge of change.

It seeks to conserve what is good, correct what is lacking, and above all, to create an instrument by which the community purpose may best be achieved.

And, as we and our children move down the long corridors of time which lie ahead, we hope that, through this document, those who follow will sense and respond to the bright expectations of this summer of 1972.

Therefore, in this reflection and this spirit, we the people of the City of Lawton, exercising the powers of home rule granted to us by the Constitution and laws of the State of Oklahoma, in order to provide for more efficient, responsive, and responsible government, do hereby ordain, ratify, and establish this Charter.