The Norman City Council discussed a new contract to operate A Friend’s House, the city’s emergency shelter, at its special meeting on Tuesday.
On Sept. 19, Food & Shelter Inc., a nonprofit designed to aid unhoused residents and the current operator of A Friend’s House, announced on Facebook it would not renew its contract with the city over disputes.
“Unfortunately, the new contract terms don't align with the standards we believe are essential for providing dignity and care to those in need,” the Facebook post reads.
Last week, assistant city attorney Anthony Purinton presented to the council a timeline of events that led to Food & Shelter deciding to part ways with A Friend's House and ultimately deny renewing its contract with the city.
According to Purinton, the city engaged with the nonprofit in contract negotiations between June 1 to Sept. 19. It was on Sept.19 that Food & Shelter officially pulled out of the contract negotiations, but announced it would continue to serve as A Friend’s House’s operator until the city could find a replacement.
A Friend’s House is a temporary shelter located at 109 W. Gray St. Council has discussed building a permanent shelter at multiple locations, including the former Griffin Memorial Hospital property.
Food & Shelter first entered into a contract with the city in October 2022 to operate A Friend’s House from November 2022 to March 2023. The city extended the contract from March to June 2023. After an amendment made to the contract, the city and Food & Shelter began operating on a month-to-month contract.
In May, City Auditor Shaakira Calnick made a series of amendments to the city’s contract shortly after issuing a report accusing Food & Shelter of mismanaging facility funds from November 2022 to February 2024.
Within the new amendments, Calnick suggested securing 109 W. Gray St. as a permanent shelter location, conducting a cost analysis of the location and training shelter personnel under the Approved Medication Assistive Personnel program.
Food & Shelter board of directors sent a letter to city staff on Sept.16 informing the city of its decision to reject the proposed contract, as well as requesting the city retract statements made by Calnick regarding accusations of mismanaged funds.
“The City's auditor has repeatedly used accusatory language in public forums, most recently at the Oversight Committee on Thursday, September 12,“ Adam Clinton, board president of Food & Shelter, wrote in the letter. “The auditor's continued hardline stance, micromanagement, and unwillingness to compromise or consider our organization's reputation are inappropriate.”
Calnick’s report also alleged that April Doshier, executive director of Food & Shelter was given unexplained raises and bonuses. Doshier appeared in a City Council Oversight Committee meeting on June 13 where, on behalf of Food & Shelter, denied the findings of Calnick's report.
“A contract was drafted and executed by the city of Norman by city staff. City staff drafted that contract in its entirety. Every bit of that language was (the city’s) language,” Doshier said. “The Food and Shelter board reviewed that contract and did not make any negotiations, any changes, any amendments, approved it, signed it and we executed it. And to this day, we have executed that contract to its tee. We’ve not violated one aspect of that contract, period. There’s no evidence to that.”
6:22 p.m.
Council adjourned into executive session to discuss possible litigation regarding the construction of the Norman Public Library Central.
In November 2023, the Norman Public Library Central closed after contractors found traces of mold while investigating water intrusion issues.
On Nov. 28, Lisa Wells, executive director of Pioneer Library System, announced the library would remain closed for five months while Cavins Group serviced the facility. She added all 64 of the library’s employees would be relocated to 11 other Pioneer Library System locations.
In February, Pioneer Library System opened a pop-up location at 121 S. Santa Fe Ave. The location houses limited services from Norman Public Library Central, including the Maker Lab and Movie Boxes.
In April, the city of Norman announced Norman Public Library Central would remain closed indefinitely. A press release stated the city attorney’s office would work with parties involved in the remediation process to create a plan and timeline for reopening. At the time, Tiffany Vrska, chief communications officer for Norman, directed residents to the rolling updates website for updates.
Last week, KFOR acquired documents indicating Norman Public Library Central’s architects found mold over a year prior to the facility’s opening in 2019. The documents also state mold could likely return following its removal during construction.
Vrska wrote in an email to OU Daily that the city was unaware of the mold in 2018 because the building was an active construction site.
“The City of Norman did not have possession of the building in 2018 yet because it was an active construction site with the contractor being responsible for the construction site,” Vrska wrote. “All issues cited in field reports during construction were communicated to the City to have been taken care of by contractors.”
6:00 p.m.
Purinton said the council has multiple options, including operating under the current contract, operating under the new contract as proposed by Food & Shelter, only operating according to terms agreed upon by the city, closing the shelter until a new operator can be found, or operating the shelter through the city again. Purinton added finding a new operator would be unlikely during winter and operating through the city would require new positions.
Peacock said he wants to see a revised agreement and leans towards operating only under terms agreeable by the city.
“For me, this discussion we're having is less about the current operator and the current shelter, but more so setting up a framework for a potential future operator, future shelter, and making sure that we set that entity up to succeed,” Peacock said.
Ball said the city should close the shelter and rely on other support services.
“We need to rip this bandaid off, shut the shelter down and find real solutions,” Ball said.
Heikkila said he agreed with Ball but is uncertain whether the shelter should currently close.
“I agree with Councilmember Ball, it needs to be gone. But does it need to be today? That's the hard question,” Heikkila said.
Heikkila asked council if hotel vouchers would be better than a shelter. He added it provides a “bigger, open box.”
Grant said hotel vouchers would be difficult during the fall, citing occupancy rates during football games.
Heikkila said he does not believe a consensus is ready for a vote on Oct. 8. He added council should still discuss the shelter on Oct. 8.
City Manager Darrel Pyle said the city will have some action items ready for a discussion on Oct. 8.
Tuesday’s agenda packet includes a draft of the new contract, which proposes a six-month operation period from Oct. 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025. According to a comment in the draft, the term is subject to change based on the contract’s approval date.
The contract draft states A Friend’s House prioritizes housing and holds a maximum capacity of 52 beds. According to the draft, the shelter offers voluntary resources related to housing assistance, mental health, substance abuse and employment.
Eligible individuals for the shelter must be experiencing homelessness, over the age of 18, offer name and birthdate identification, and must not be a registered sex offender, according to the draft.
The draft also notes the contractor will not engage or “disturb” any friable asbestos identified in the shelter. At a council meeting on Feb. 14, asbestos removal was said to cost $60,000.
New amendments, which were discussed at council’s conference meeting last Tuesday, include requiring Food & Shelter to model their security contractor after the city’s care-related policies and making transportation expenses non-reimbursable. The contract also notes food can not be served on the leased premises, aside from water and pre-packaged food.
5:30 p.m.
Anthony Purinton, assistant city attorney, presented the contract.
According to Purinton, Food & Shelter objected to the requirements for a third-party security contractor, the use of an internal auditor, the city’s right to recoup funds if an audit identifies “improper expenditures” and a dedicated bank account for the project.
Ward 2 Councilmember Matt Peacock asked if Food & Shelter provided reasons for their objections. Purinton said he thinks Food & Shelter found the reimbursing of funding unnecessary, considering the city’s right to terminate the contract and audit the funding.
Ward 6 Councilmember Joshua Hinkle asked why Food & Shelter objected to an internal auditor. Purinton said Food & Shelter disagreed due to how the previous audit was conducted.
“We took the stance that we don't want to necessarily change the factual basis for the findings,” Purinton said. “We would rather enter into a new contract to resolve because normally that’s what you would do with the response to an audit.”
Ward 1 Councilmember Austin Ball asked City Auditor Shaakira Calnick about Food & Shelter’s claims of “accusatory language” and “micromanagement.” Both Ball and Calnick denied them.
“I think we already made an outstanding choice in choosing our auditor,” Ball said. “She did a super job, and now that they want us to spend more of our taxpayer money to do it again and find the same things.”
Ball said the city should “get rid of” the contract and ignore the contractor. He said private organizations and hotels could help unhoused people in Norman.
“I think this operator has acted in bad faith throughout this process,” Ball said. “We have mental health services here ready to go. We have private organizations here ready to go. I'm sure we could find hotel vouchers … we should ignore this contract, get rid of this contract, and do what's best for our citizens and our taxpayers, and clean up our downtown.”
Ward 4 Councilmember Helen Grant said they find the objection to a dedicated bank account useless if the contract only lasts until March.
Norman Mayor Larry Heikkila said the city “has to have” the right to recoup funds in the event of improper spending.
“It is always a difficult process when you're the one that's being audited because you don't like to see your mistakes made public, but that's the way that it goes,” Heikkila said. “If there was something I had to give up, it would be the other (objections).”
