Update: An NEDC contractor acknowledged to OU Daily on Oct. 3 that he paid OU students to pack city council chambers.
Editor's note: At 2:32 a.m. Oct. 2, the Daily was sent a screenshot showing Echols sent the same message — saying students could be paid to attend the Sept. 17 Norman City Council meeting — to a second group chat he's affiliated with on campus involving OU students. This story was updated at 11:00 a.m. to reflect statements from city leaders at a press conference.
Correction: This story was updated at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 2 to clarify David Ray was talking about city staff in his Facebook post.
A Snapchat message obtained by the OU Daily that was sent to a private group chat reveals OU students were offered money to fill the Norman City Council chamber during the vote to approve the University North Park entertainment district Sept. 17.
“Sorry it’s so last minute but If any of y’all want to make some money today I have a guy that will pay 15/hour to sit at the Norman city council meeting from 4:30-9:30 you can bring your laptop and do hw or whatever but you can’t say why you’re there if any of y’all are interested pm me,” said the message sent by a user with the screen name David Echols in the private group chat.
OU Daily is not including a screenshot of the message — in which “hw” refers to homework and “pm” refers to private message — to protect sources from potentially being identified. In the course of reporting this story over the past two weeks, the Daily contacted multiple prominent Norman figures who have publicly supported the project and each said they had no knowledge any students might have been offered payment to attend the meeting.
The message was sent approximately six hours before Norman City Council met to consider approving a financing plan that approved $600 million to develop an arena and associated infrastructure in the entertainment district projected to cost $1.1 billion. The meeting ultimately lasted seven hours, with 72 speakers addressing council, before ending in a 5-4 vote in favor of the project.
The vote came over a year after the development's proposal following five postponements and three city council seat changes.
Many Norman residents raised concerns at the meeting about how city tax dollars in the proposed tax increment financing district will be diverted to the entertainment district. A TIF is used to support redevelopment, infrastructure and community-improvement projects to stimulate private investment in an area in need of economic revitalization. In the aftermath of the council’s vote, Oklahomans for Responsible Economic Development, a registered nonprofit, is now collecting signatures for a petition to take the fate of the entertainment district to a public vote.
OU People Search shows only one person named David Echols to be a student at the university. OU Daily called Echols, a sophomore, on Sept. 20 to ask about the message. In a one minute conversation, Echols initially said he was not at liberty to answer questions about the message. When questioned if he contractually could not speak about the message, Echols then said he was under no obligation but preferred not to answer.
“I could answer these questions if I wanted to, but I think that for myself, I would rather not,” Echols said.
After being asked a follow-up question about who the message said was offering students money to attend, Echols then said he did not send the message, was not aware of what message was being discussed and did not want to answer further questions.
David Echols, OU sophomore, on his phone during OU President Joseph Harroz Jr.'s remarks at the Sept. 17 city council meeting.
OU Daily received an anonymous message on Oct. 2 containing a screenshot of a second message sent by a user under the name David Echols in a Phi Delta Theta GroupMe chat. On a May Instagram post by Phi Delta Theta, David Echols is listed as an associate of member education on the Interfraternity Council.
The Daily has not been able to identify the person Echols’ message said would pay students for attending the meeting or whether any money changed hands afterward.
OU Daily reporters at the meeting confirmed around 5:10 p.m. that about 65 OU students were present in the chamber, which has 150 seats. By the time the meeting began at 6:30 p.m., every seat was taken and community members stood around the room’s edges and spilled into an overflow space.
Before the meeting began, OU Daily reporters asked some students why they attended. Among the answers students said a variety of the following:
“We were told by our friend about it and wanted to come and sit in support.”
“We were interested.”
“I heard about it from a friend.”
“Just wanted to come and listen.”
Throughout the meeting, Daily reporters observed various students doing homework, wearing earbuds and sleeping during the public comment session. During the second break, around 9:30 p.m., which coincided with the ending time noted in the Snapchat message, students slowly began to leave the meeting.
More than three hours later, at 1:10 a.m., the council voted to approve the plan. Ward 1 Councilmember Austin Ball, Ward 2 Councilmember Matt Peacock, Ward 6 Councilmember Joshua Hinkle, Ward 8 Councilmember Scott Dixon and Mayor Larry Heikkila voted for the development. Ward 3 Councilmember Bree Montoya, Ward 4 Councilmember Helen Grant, Ward 5 Councilmember Michael Nash and Ward 7 Councilmember Stephen Tyler Holman voted against the development.
At an Oct. 2 press conference, Dixon told OU Daily he was unaware of students potentially being paid but said he was disappointed to hear about it.
"That's disappointing. That's not how the process should work," Dixon said. "Everybody should just be there of their own volition."
Dixon and Hinkle are the most recently seated members as of July.
Dixon won his seat after redistricting displaced Peacock.
Hinkle replaced Elizabeth Foreman, who told constituents she would never approve an entertainment district, after she announced she wanted to pursue other career avenues.
Peacock replaced Lauren Schueler, a strong opponent of the entertainment district, after beating Russell Rice, who opposed the entertainment district.
‘Already controversial and divisive’
Holman told the Daily on Sept. 27 that many older Norman residents were unable to find a seat in the chamber that night.
Holman said he asked City Manager Darrel Pyle and Heikkila to make an announcement asking the students to give up their seats for residents, but no announcement was made.
“I did observe more than one, what I would describe as elderly or older, person leave early because they were standing for over an hour,” Holman said.
When briefed on the Daily’s discovery of the Snapchat message, Holman said he was disappointed to learn that any students were offered money to attend the meeting.
“I would really hope that it wasn't planned to try to keep people opposed to the arena deal from being able to have a seat,” Holman said. “That would be really unfortunate and would definitely tarnish the image of this whole thing, which is already controversial and divisive as it is.”
At an Oct. 2 press conference about the entertainment district's economic impact, Heikkila told OU Daily he did not remember Holman asking him to make an announcement, but he personally observed students offer their seats to residents.
Norman residents during Norman City Council meeting on Sept. 17.
Of the 72 speakers during the public comment portion of the meeting, only two OU students addressed the council. Kie Wooldridge, a political science freshman, and Walker Wambsganss, a finance senior, spoke in favor of the entertainment district.
Reached by the Daily on Sept. 23, Wambsganss said he had no knowledge of students being offered payment to attend the meeting. Wambsganss said he has been interested in the district’s development plan for a while and felt it could be a good investment for the community. He said he brought some friends, including Wooldridge, who were also interested in the results of the vote to the meeting.
Wambsganss said he was surprised at the possibility that students were offered payment to attend.
“I'm kind of amazed at how people thought that that was OK. I mean, that kind of presence is not something that should be bought or sold,” Wambsganss said. “We all want the city's best interests, but it's when you pay people to do that you start devaluing the discourse that is had.”
Wooldridge also denied having any knowledge of payment offered to students. Wooldridge said when he first walked into the meeting, he was surprised at the number of students but assumed they may have been there for a class.
Wooldridge said he felt the students' presence did not add anything to the meeting.
“It didn't add to the support. It didn't take away from the support. So in my opinion, I just think that they were bystanders,” Wooldridge said.
Not all viewed them as bystanders.
During his remarks to council at the meeting, OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. commended the students for exercising their democratic right and called for them to stand and be recognized. Harroz, members of OU administration and Team Norman applauded the students.
“One of the things that we know a university stands for is not just giving individuals the opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t have in helping create a great workforce but to teach students about democracy,” Harroz said. “And I believe there are about 65 students here. If it’s appropriate, would it be OK for them to stand and be recognized, Mr. Mayor?”
OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. commends the presence of OU students at the Sept. 17 city council meeting.
On Sept. 20, OU Marketing and Communications told OU Daily they had no knowledge of the message.
In an interview in Evans Hall on Sept. 25, the Daily informed Harroz of the Snapchat message. Harroz said he was not aware of students potentially being paid to attend the meeting.
“That’s the first I’ve heard of that,” Harroz said.
Dan Schemm, president and CEO of Visit Norman, told the Daily on Sept. 26 he was unaware of the potential that students were paid to attend.
“I do not know anything about that. This is news to me,” Schemm said. “It made it tough to get a seat, I will say that.”
Scott Martin, president and CEO of Norman Chamber of Commerce, told the Daily on Sept. 27 he had been excited to see the students attend the meeting, but was not aware that students could have potentially been paid.
Danny Lovell, the CEO of The Rainier Companies, a real estate firm and developer on the project, told the Daily on Tuesday he did not know anything about students being offered payment.
The Norman Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with Norman Economic Development Coalition and Visit Norman, form Team Norman, a coalition of organizations committed to growing Norman opportunities and economy.
Lawrence McKinney, president and CEO of Norman Economic Development Coalition, was contacted by OU Daily on Sept. 26 informing him about the Snapchat message and asking for his perspective on students being offered payment to attend. McKinney did not respond. The Daily unsuccessfully attempted to contact him again Tuesday afternoon, shortly before this story was published.
At an Oct. 2 press conference about the entertainment district's economic impact, McKinney told OU Daily he didn't know anything about the payment offer.
"I don't know anything about it," McKinney said. "All I can say is NEDC wouldn't participate in anything like that."
It wasn’t the first time students had packed the chamber. Two weeks prior, on Sept. 3, as the council heard questions from the community on the UNP plan, many also turned out. None spoke.
An OU Daily reporter on Sept. 17 asked Jayke Flaggert, a recent OU alum and owner of the Flaggert & Associates Consulting Team, if he knew the reason for the students’ presence. He told OU Daily he didn’t know, but believed it illustrated students’ care for the project.
Flaggert went further in his subsequent remarks to council members, saying he wants a future for Norman that he and other young students can live and prosper in.
“Two weeks ago, students filled this chamber. Tonight they filled it again,” Flaggert said. “Why? Because this project matters. … Council, when you tally the support for this project in your mind, I ask you to humbly add another 65 in favor.”
Flaggert works for McKinney with the Norman Economic Development Coalition. On Sept. 5 and again on Sept. 18 — the day after the council vote — Flaggert sent press releases on behalf of the coalition.
The Daily contacted Flaggert on Sept. 26 to discuss its reporting. Flaggert answered the phone and set up an alternate time later in the day to talk. OU Daily called Flaggert later that day and received no response. After the first attempt to call, the Daily sent Flaggert a text message, and called twice more. After receiving no response, the Daily texted Flaggert the next morning. The Daily has since attempted to call Flaggert three more times — including Tuesday afternoon shortly before this story was published.
He never answered.
‘It’s not a good look’
David Ray, former dean of OU Honors College, posted on Facebook about the entertainment district decision Sept. 19 following the council meeting. Ray criticized city staff, referring to them as a “textbook example” of an autonomous bureaucracy.
“Proponents of the TIF celebrated the presence of some 60 OU students at Tuesday’s Council meeting, saying they were learning about (and participating in) how American government works: I think that was more accurate than the proponents realized,” Ray wrote. “A few also said the students were learning about democracy; that of course wasn’t accurate. They will learn about democracy if they watch the struggle over a referendum petition and even more if the petition succeeds in placing this TIF proposal on the ballot.”
At the Sept. 3 council meeting, some students seated directly behind the speaker’s lectern — and directly on camera for the city live stream of the meeting — were regularly seen laughing and texting during public comment.
During his turn to speak, Rice, a Ward 2 resident and co-founder of Norman Care-A-Vans, addressed the presence of students in the audience.
“These gentlemen behind me have been keeping us entertained all night with their laughter. Thank you very much,” Rice said.
Ward 2 resident Russell Rice address students in the crowd at the Sept. 3 city council meeting.
In April, Rice ran for the Norman City Council Ward 2 seat and lost to Peacock by about 60 votes.
On Sept. 20, Oklahomans for Responsible Economic Development filed a referendum petition with the city to turn the Rock Creek Entertainment District in University North Park over to a public vote. According to Tiffany Vrska, Norman chief communications officer, petitioners have until Oct. 18 to collect the 6,098 signatures necessary for the petition to make it to a citywide vote on Feb. 11.
Tuesday afternoon, the Daily called OU economics professor Cynthia Rogers, a founding member of ORED, to discuss its discovery of the Snapchat message.
“It's wonderful to have students show up and take an interest,” said Rogers, who holds a doctorate in economics and has taught at OU since 2015. “It's not so wonderful to have 50, 60 students show up and take up seats from people who actually want to engage in the conversation.”
Rogers said allegedly paying students to attend was distasteful.
“It’s just not a good look,” Rogers said. “Students let themselves be used as props.”
This story has been edited by Peggy Dodd, Ana Barboza and Ismael Lele. Mary Ann Livingood, Grace Rhodes and Sophie Hemker copy edited this story.
