Members of the Norman City Council met to set the upcoming year’s goals and priorities, discuss updates from the prior year, set future elections and train newly-sworn council members during a two-day retreat at the NCED Conference Center.
The first session included council training and advice from David Weatherford, a municipal consultant city attorney from Sand Springs, Oklahoma. During a discussion about the possibility of creating a council-specific handbook, Ward 2 Councilmember Lauren Schueler asked Weatherford how the council should move forward in the process and what the process may look like.
Weatherford called a handbook an “evolving and growing” document over time, noting that it will change over time but should begin in the hands of city staff. City Attorney Kathryn Walker said the city already has several documents — such as resolutions about meeting behavior and a code of ethics in the city charter — that would typically be found in a handbook, and it would just be a matter of complying a draft.
However, Weatherford did suggest councilmembers set a standard of conduct and aim to live up to it.
Ward 1 Councilmember Brandi Studley said she understood what Weatherford was saying, but she feels the council knows its code of ethics and has been reminded recently of what the codes are. Weatherford responded by saying bad behavior reflects on the person, and he has always been against “weaponizing” ethics codes.
Studley asked at what point the council should step in when a member is “attacking” members of the public via council pages. Mayor Larry Heikkila said there are two kinds of justice, restorative and punitive, suggesting the council should define the point where action should be taken.
Walker briefly went over the city’s advice for social media guidelines, which include having personal pages private and keeping a councilmember page open for public view. The city also advises to not ban accounts or delete comments from their council pages as it could be construed as a public forum.
The city does not have “black and white” rules for social media behavior, according to Walker, as the matter is not “well-settled law” yet. Walker said several cases have been circulating court circuits that should soon give better guidance on how public officials should behave on social media.
Walker also said she receives an “inordinate” number of emails regarding online interactions and encouraged councilmembers to be careful on the matter. Heikkila asked for the topic to be further discussed at a later city council study session.
“Personally, I believe we’re all responsible for our own behavior. We cannot make somebody else do something else because we’re all over 21,” Heikkila said. “We can advise. We can do anything we want to do. But, where does that end and start?”
City Manager Darrel Pyle delivered several updates including an accepted offer from the city to buy a former nursing home at 1210 W. Robinson St. for $2.45 million. This location, purchased with American Rescue Plan Act funds, will be used as an affordable housing option.
Pyle said staff will conduct interviews next week with different organizations, including Food and Shelter, on proposals for homeless shelters and affordable or transitional housing options. Food and Shelter’s proposal includes repurposing a vacant CVS Pharmacy on Main Street into a low-barrier shelter, though more details will come following the interview.
Councilmembers discussed Studley’s suggestion that the city begins buying preexisting homes in Norman and remodeling them for both affordable and transitional housing as well as Heikkila’s idea to give the Norman Housing Authority more money to work through proposals.
Ward 5 Councilmember Rarchar Tortorello said the council was ignoring Norman’s housing shortage by stopping the process of building new homes because they aren’t approving new developments. Ward 6 Councilmember Elizabeth Foreman said the only development the council hasn’t approved was the Eagle Cliff development. Tortorello continued by saying there is a “perception” that Norman is hard to build in.
Ward 8 Councilmember Matthew Peacock said this perception exists because people continue to perpetuate that there is a “war on development,” as Tortorello described, from council. Schueler agreed with Peacock, adding that councilmembers need to “be better” than to participate in negative conversations.
“I don’t understand why, as councilmembers who are the ones trying to move our community forward and to talk about progress, why we continue to perpetuate this narrative that it is difficult to do business in this city,” Schueler said. “We need to be saying all of the positive things that we are doing in this community, for our residents, for citizens, for people that want to continue to come here.”
On elections, council plans to place another vote regarding a water rate increase on the ballot next year. A water rate increase failed in April, which would’ve benefited groundwater treatment and water line replacement programs. Election dates for public safety sales tax and stormwater weren’t decided.
The second day of the retreat focused on council discussing its priorities for future discussion and action. Every councilmember had the opportunity to suggest new priorities on top of ones that will be continued from last year.
Updates to the stormwater master plan, tourism initiatives for Lake Thunderbird, entertainment zoning overlay districts, a guide for property buyers and policing accountability efforts will all be carried over into this year’s list.
Heikkila said his ideas focus on growth opportunities for Norman, including changes to campus corner, downtown Norman and the implementation of a business district in core Norman in preparation for OU’s move to the South Eastern Conference. The idea of an arena in University North Park was also one of Heikkila’s priorities.
The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority has proposed a turnpike, part of the ACCESS Oklahoma project, to run along Lake Thunderbird in east Norman. Heikkila said that although he doesn’t like it and wishes he could stop it, he expects the turnpike to be built.
Heikkila also wants to place focus on mental health, business development, and restructuring council and committee meetings, possibly placing them at different times on different days.
Increased business and transportation in east Norman were shared priorities between Foreman and Studley, with a focus from Studley on the intersection of 12th Avenue and Lindsey Street. Foreman’s other priority was to implement staff award banquets to show appreciation toward city staff, and community engagement awards to recognize participation on the community’s part.
Schueler discussed updating the noise ordinance and the city’s mobile app, which is currently underway and would include features like bill pay and Norman’s city code. Both Schueler and Ward 4 Councilmember Helen Grant placed focus on updating the city’s carport ordinance to make it easier for residents.
Grant introduced health privacy that supported members of the transgender community in Norman, which Studley agreed with and expanded on by suggesting something similar aimed at women.
Updates to Norman’s park were shared among Peacock and Ward 7 Councilmember Stephen Holman, with Holman wanting to improve Brandt Park — nicknamed the Duck Pond by Normanites — by switching ownership from OU to the city. Peacock presented several ideas that range from video game trailers and food trucks to “pop-up” parks around the city.
Peacock also suggested the city register for the Strong Towns community action lab to increase community engagement. The organization will choose five cities for this two-year program in 2023.
Ward 3 Councilmember Kelly Lynn wanted focus on a tactical vehicle for the police department and a “relocation assistance” program for unhoused individuals that would get them in contact with their families and provide them with some financial assistance while disqualifying them from Norman’s unhoused support programs.
Schueler and Foreman countered his idea with a bus pass program that would allow unhoused individuals in Norman to return to their home states or cities.
The retreat’s tentative schedule originally included the council’s committee assignments, but this was moved to Tuesday during the City Council conference. A list of council’s priorities will be typed and finalized in the near future.
Correction: This story was updated at 8:50 a.m. July 26 to list the correct official name of the park Councilmember Stephen Holman would like to see transferred to city ownership from OU.
