Editor's note: This story was edited at 9:19 p.m. on Feb. 11 to add a statement from Michael Nash.
Michael Nash won the election for Ward 5 Norman City Council seat against Cindi Tuccillo and Trey Kirby.
As of 7:59 p.m., Nash received 52.92% of votes, or 1,484 of 2,804 total votes cast, according to unofficial results from the Oklahoma State Election Board’s website.
Tuccillo received 30.53%, or 856, and Kirby received 16.55%, or 464.
Nash told OU Daily Tuesday night he was grateful to be reelected. He said that, with big projects coming up to the city such as the Norman turnpike and the proposed entertainment district, he believes the city cannot afford to elect new council members.
"It's not a good time to be switching up our leadership with with new council members that have a two-year learning period before they actually become affected," Nash said. "We have big issues that need to be addressed now."
Nash, the current Ward 5 council member, is a mechanical engineer and founder of Nautilus Technologies, a company that consults and contracts for startups. He also was a founding member of Pike Off OTA, a nonprofit fighting the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority expansion.
Nash told OU Daily in an interview that while he remains unbiased toward the OTA, he is against all turnpikes. He is working on a moratorium on large building permits and an ordinance requiring in-depth environmental studies on big developments, he said, which will hopefully remedy issues with the OTA’s ACCESS Oklahoma plan. ACCESS Oklahoma is a 15-year, $8 billion plan to develop new turnpikes and expand existing highways across the state.
“We're doing everything that we can to at least ensure that if it's going to happen, that the people in the city are going to be safe,” Nash said.
Nash wants to work with local nonprofits to find a long-term solution to decreasing homelessness and promote existing resources, instead of pouring more money into permanent shelters that don’t prioritize permanent housing. He said that he and City Manager Darrel Pyle worked to ensure recreational centers can be converted into emergency shelters when the weather gets dangerously cold.
Nash was one of the four council members who voted against the controversial Rock Creek Entertainment District project plan, which passed last September. He also signed the community petition which aimed to bring the entertainment district to a public vote. According to Nash, Ward 5 residents don’t want the entertainment district and it’s his responsibility as a neutral party to represent his constituents.
Nash also told OU Daily he will support local businesses, protect the city’s water supply and promote public safety.
Nash has spent nearly his entire life in Norman, and he said anything that threatens Norman is a threat to his home.
“When I was in the Marine Corp on deployment, this is the place that I thought about wanting to go back to, and this is always the most important place to me,” Nash said.
Nash will be sworn in July and will serve a two-year term.
This story was edited by Ana Barboza and Anusha Fathepure. Sophie Hemker copy edited this story.
