Incumbent Joshua Hinkle and Kyle Steele will face off for the Ward 6 Norman City Council seat in the Feb. 10 municipal election.
Joshua Hinkle
Hinkle, current Ward 6 councilmember, works at First United Bank as an assistant vice president and community lender. He has worked in the financial industry for around 20 years in the Norman area. Hinkle also operates a nonprofit consulting agency, BAI Strategic Partners LLC.
Hinkle is a Norman native and attended Norman Public Schools. He received a bachelor’s degree in human relations from OU and a master’s degree in public administration from Randall University.
Ward 6 councilmember Joshua Hinkle during city hall on Sept. 9.
Hinkle said he has fundraised and volunteered for organizations, such as United Way of Norman, the Center for Children and Families and Thunderbird Clubhouse.
“I just try to give my time back to Norman because I just care about our community a lot,” Hinkle said.
Hinkle was elected as Ward 6 councilmember in February 2024 and has served on the Business and Community Affairs Committee and as the Finance Committee chair.
Kyle Steele
Steele, a self-employed information technology contractor, has worked in the IT sector for over 10 years.
Steele graduated from Norman High School in 2009 and later graduated with a bachelor’s degree in human relations from OU. Steele has lived in Norman for over 20 years, and has lived in Ward 6 for over 10 years after purchasing a property north of Sutton Wilderness Park.
Ward 6 candidate Kyle Steele on Jan. 27.
Steele said volunteering in the community is important to him, but that he didn't want to name the nonprofits he works with as to not involve them in politics.
“When I volunteer, I prefer to do so with local groups and non-profits in a front line capacity. Charity boards are important, but I prefer to directly be helping those in need, …” Steele’s candidate website reads. “I have volunteered with many different groups across Norman, but most of them deal with low income families, the homeless/unhoused, as well as the LGBT Community.”
Candidates responded to topics important to Norman residents including the entertainment district, proposed homeless shelter and turnpike.
Rock Creek Entertainment District
On Tuesday, The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled the gist of the petition to bring the entertainment district to a public vote was insufficient, and the project will move forward as originally planned.
In September 2024, Hinkle was one of five council members who voted in favor of the development.
Hinkle was the only person on council to not voice the reasoning for his decision at the meeting. In a text message to OU Daily the day after the meeting, Hinkle wrote that the project is a dynamic public-private partnership that brings the city, county and university together.
Hinkle, who was interviewed by the Daily prior to Tuesday’s decision, said he heard from a lot of people who were in favor of the entertainment district, and he understands how many people signed the petition.
“The process on the arena TIF was pretty much already at the finale by the time I got on council, …” Hinkle said. “I always try to do things that will benefit Norman and benefit our sales tax base.”
Hinkle said by partnering with OU, the largest employer in Norman, and with the county taking on major financing he thinks the entertainment district and arena could be done well.
“I don't think that there is another community in our region that would turn their nose up at an $800 million private-public partnership for development,” Hinkle said.
Hinkle said he would be concerned if the arena and entertainment district development was more stand-alone, but that the city is working on creating density in other parts of Norman as well.
“We're not trying to cannibalize areas of Norman. We're trying to get back from Oklahoma City and other communities what we're losing in sales tax revenue,” Hinkle said. “We're not just doing it in North Park. We're trying to do it on the east side and the southeast side and Ed Noble Parkway and the mall area and Brookhaven Village and all of the other places that you know just make Norman Norman.”
Hinkle said city council is working on different economic packages for tax increment financing, or TIF, master plans that touch the east side of Norman.
“There's a lot of opportunity to lift up the area around Ward 6, to keep our residents here,” Hinkle said. “Norman and all the cities in Oklahoma pretty much only run off of sales tax, so it's important to keep the sales tax here, and if we can create that infrastructure to do it, that's one of the big projects we're working on.”
Hinkle called that ambition a “heavy lift,” but said hopefully he and the city will reform the TIF structure in the coming months, potentially by amending the city charter. Hinkle said he thinks anything TIF-related will go to a public vote from now on, which he thinks is a good idea.
Steele said the saga of the Rock Creek Entertainment District is what compelled him to run and to start researching getting involved.
Steele said he views the Rock Creek Entertainment District TIF as something that can never happen again. Steele said he is for amending the city charter to require a vote of the people for large TIFs.
Steele, who was interviewed before Tuesday’s ruling, said the district could alter the direction of Norman growth and have particular effects on Ward 6.
“I've heard people who are concerned that, essentially, the hospital is over there on Tecumseh, … that intersection can be pretty packed sometimes, …” Steele said. “If we put an entertainment district here, an arena, even if it's a good thing for Norman, how does that impact congestion, infrastructure, me getting to the hospital?”
Steele said he has seen studies which imply a revenue loss from businesses in larger Norman, cannibalized by entertainment district businesses. A city of Norman Sales TIF District Analysis from August 2024, estimates an average of 14% of the sales would be taken from existing high-end retail, food and beverage and entertainment establishments. He said without a TIF, that revenue loss is not hugely impactful, because the revenue still gets fed back to the city.
More information on the entertainment district, including a timeline of events, can be found on the OU Daily website.
Homeless shelter
Hinkle said that in his time with the Social and Voluntary Services Commission and Cleveland County Continuum of Care, he’s studied the homeless situation across the country.
“I've really made an effort to see what other communities, what peer communities, do to help raise up the unhoused and find them resources,” Hinkle said.
Hinkle said he doesn’t think there’s a blanket solution to homelessness.
“I just hate how taboo it's become to talk about helping our most vulnerable citizens, …” Hinkle said. “Just as many scenarios that can cause somebody to find themselves unhoused, is the same number of solutions that we need to come up with to help bring people back into society and make them whole again.”
Hinkle said the city’s most recent “really big home run” in addressing homelessness was hiring City Care, a non profit organization dedicated to supporting unhoused people, to take over operations of the emergency, low-barrier shelter at the corner of James Garner Avenue and West Gray Street.
“They are doing an absolutely amazing job, just a world-class job, actually being able to house people directly from the shelter into a front door within about four weeks,” Hinkle said. “That process in a lot of other communities is about 20 weeks.”
Hinkle said he was glad to participate in negotiating how to work with the state on securing roughly three acres for a proposed permanent shelter off Reed Avenue. On Jan. 27, the city council unanimously approved putting the $8 million homeless shelter bond to public vote on the April 7 ballot.
Steele said he is for a permanent 24/7 homeless shelter, and is motivated to treat others the way he would like to be treated.
“I do believe there's the moral argument, like these are individuals who we, as people, we have an obligation to help those who are less fortunate than us, those who may be in this situation because of no fault of their own,” Steele said.
Steele said if the shelter is approved and City Care ends up operating it, City Care would have to take over operating costs. Steele recognized that there is a cost to build the homeless shelter, but it could be viewed as an investment and may save money over time.
Steele said there is no perfect location for a homeless shelter.
“The location that is currently being voted on, on Reed Avenue, is near a bunch of services,” Steele said. “It's near the bus stations. It's an area where it could benefit those that truly need it, and that's why I'm in support of it.”
Steele said he hopes approval for a permanent shelter passes the public vote in April, and that the building which holds the current shelter can be repurposed into a local business or for city staff.
“We're not adding a homeless shelter, per se, we're putting it in a better location where it's going to be more helpful, more beneficial, more efficient,” Steele said. “From an economic standpoint, again, that's not my primary motivation, but if it is for people, we’re gaining then, a new location downtown to make use of to help development.”
Oklahoma Turnpike Authority
Hinkle said he has voted against the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority’s ACCESS Oklahoma plan to develop new turnpikes, and renovate and expand existing highways statewide. He said he will continue to vote against OTA affairs directed at the city council.
“That type of eminent domain take, and for residents of Norman to lose their property is really tough for me to swallow. I have … lots of friends and family that are potentially affected by the north-south portion,” Hinkle said.
Hinkle said he'll also continue to work with the state delegation and Pike Off OTA, a grassroots organization that has advocated against turnpike expansion throughout the state, to change the OTA’s “stranglehold” on Norman.
“Norman is often a leader as a community in our state,” Hinkle said. “I don't think the OTA has ever had to deal with the city like Norman before, and our residents are really good at seeing things through.”
Steele said the city of Norman should not work with the OTA at all. He said he has faith in state level representatives to represent the interest of local communities, and he said the city should be working with those representatives and local advocacy groups like Pike Off OTA.
“It's government using eminent domain to build a toll road,” Steele said. “I think that, in itself, just kind of sums up the absurdity of the situation. I don't think it's something we want or need.”
Steele said if it had to be spent, he'd rather see the money sent on something like a light rail system connecting the Oklahoma City metro area to reduce congestion.
“I still think we should be standing up and saying, ‘Hey, what you're doing out there to our neighbors in Ward 5, that's wrong,’” Steele said.
A timeline of ACCESS Oklahoma’s development, including the city’s responses to the plans in East Norman, can be found on the OU Daily’s website.
Transparency, engagement
Hinkle said he’s lucky Ward 6 is an active ward, and he receives a lot of messages. Hinkle said he's always available to answer emails and phone calls, and for residents to visit him and attend council meetings.
“I'm always in communication about what's going on in the ward, …” Hinkle said. “I may not be the person on Facebook all the time. I've never really been the big social media keep-up person, but as far as accessibility, I'm very accessible.”
Hinkle said one of his biggest goals as a council member has been to carry out the position with professionalism. He said he thinks he’s brought a reasonable voice to council, and experience and knowledge to the committees he sits on.
“It's important that if I am able to continue to serve Ward 6, that they know that they have a good representative that has taken on additional leadership roles within the council just to try to make a greater impact for all of us,” Hinkle said.
Steele said his experience in IT uniquely positions him to interact with his constituents via multiple mediums of communication, particularly online platforms.
“The definition of what a city councilmember is is going to be different for everyone, …” Steele said, “You're supposed to represent the will of the people or of your ward, you're supposed to advocate for that.”
Steele lists “transparency above all else” on his candidate website. Since October, Steele has been doing brief city council summaries on his YouTube channel. In one video, Steele described a communication system, if he were to be elected, defined by biweekly video updates on city work, monthly “coffee and chat” events at local businesses, similar to office hours, and quarterly ward meetings at a local community center.
“I believe that a representative has to actually represent their constituents, …” Steele said. “So when I think about how am I going to live that core value if I am elected? Well, it's by getting information out into the community and getting that information back.”
Steele said he wants to give options to people for how they consume local politics.
“Something could happen six months from now, that becomes an issue that we had no idea that's coming, …” Steele said. “What I promise to the voters and residents of Ward 6 is, ‘hey, no matter what happens, I'm not just going to guess what you want me to do.’”
This story was edited by Audrey McClour, Macey Thaxton, Natalie Armour and Madisson Cameron. Ryan Little, Larkin Bock, Vanessa Essien and Sophie Hemker copy edited this story.
