Norman City Council swore in its new Ward 3 council member and accepted the resignation of the city auditor at its regular meeting Tuesday.
Ward 3 candidate appointment
The news: Council appointed Robert Bruce to the Ward 3 seat, approving a recommendation from the Ward 3 selection committee.
Bruce’s appointment follows former Ward 3 Councilmember Bree Montoya’s resignation last month.
Bruce previously served on the city’s Greenbelt Commission. He retired from the Air Force in December 2007 as a lieutenant colonel and commander of the 72nd Contracting Squadron stationed at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City. He continued to work at Tinker in civil service for 17 years before retiring earlier this year.
During his interview for the seat last Monday, Bruce said the biggest concerns for Ward 3 include quick first responder times and the University North Park tax increment financing, or TIF, district.
What they’re saying: Some attendees used public comment time to point out that the Ward 3 candidate selection committee nominated Bruce by a 3-2 vote.
Stephen Ellis, a Ward 4 resident and OU philosophy professor, said he wished the nomination had been unanimous.
“It doesn't sound like there was a lot of push to try to find a unanimous candidate,” Ellis said. “Which I think does a little bit of a disservice to the voters of Ward 3.”
Robert Castleberry, chair of the committee, addressed these comments.
“I probably should have pushed harder to get a unanimous vote,” Castleberry said. “The makeup of the committee was not such that we were going to get a unanimous vote, Which is good. That means we had a well-rounded committee.”
Paul Arcaroli, an assistant director of human resources at OU, said he expected the selection committee to look for a candidate similar to Montoya.
“I have nothing against Bruce, but I always thought that the process was to replace — to find somebody that closely matched the wishes of the ward from the previous election,” Arcaroli said. “Not to flip a vote. Not to change a vote.”
Ward 7 Councilmember Kim Blodgett called the candidate selection process disheartening.
“I trust the process and I trust (Mayor Stephen Tyler Holman). I just think it’s unfortunate that someone on the committee — one or two members on the committee — were just making comments about flipping a seat,” Blodgett said. “I’ve had Ward 3 constituents … emailing me like crazy today, asking me to not approve, saying that they want someone that is more aligned with who they had.”
The vote: Council approved the appointment 7-1 with Blodgett voting against.
Resignation of city auditor
The news: Council approved the resignation of former City Auditor Shaakira Calnick. Holman told OU Daily Tuesday the decision was made because the city auditor is required by municipal code to be a certified public accountant and Calnick does not meet the qualification.
Holman said the oversight happened because the job listing did not include the requirement, allowing Calnick to serve in the role for almost two years.
What they’re saying: City Attorney Rick Knighton told OU Daily that council is considering amending the city charter to allow certified internal auditors and certified fraud examiners to fill the city auditor role without being a certified public accountants.
Knighton said this would go to a public vote in April. If passed, charter changes have to be approved by the governor of Oklahoma, according to Knighton. He said it could take six to nine months for the change to be approved.
Knighton said the city will continue to operate as usual without an auditor.
“Every municipality every year is audited by an outside firm,” Knighton said. “That process will continue to occur.”
The vote: Calnick’s resignation was approved unanimously.
Peeping Tom ordinance
The news: Council approved an ordinance update to change how Peeping Toms in Norman are charged.
Norman Police Department’s Deputy Chief Ricky Jackson presented the proposal, which sought to remove an ordinance from municipal code and defer to state law. Under state law, convicted offenders are given state charges rather than municipal charges and are put in a national database. The charge would remain a misdemeanor under state law.
What they’re saying: Holman asked Jackson if the update will make it harder to be a Peeping Tom.
“We're not making it harder to be a Peeping Tom, we are making it harder to get away with that level of predatory behavior,” Jackson said.
Jackson believes that if offenders were entered into online records, investigators would be able to catch them earlier. He said it is hard for investigators to research these individuals because the information stays in municipal courts. Municipal courts are typically not courts of record, according to Jackson.
“It would actually assist us in identifying and being able to track these individuals,” Jackson said. “If there are habitual peepers, (investigators) can research that.”
Ward 4 Councilmember Helen Grant asked if the courts would look into people's backgrounds and “assign the appropriate level of justice” to juveniles and people with intellectual disabilities.
“It has been my experience that, yes, (courts) do take those types of measures and psychological counseling and things of that nature to get folks back on track,” Jackson said.
Bruce asked if first-time convictions go into the database.
“If you were convicted of that particular crime it will be entered into (the database),” Jackson said.
The vote: Council unanimously voted to adopt the ordinance.
Roundabout at James Garner Avenue and Acres Street
The news: Council unanimously approved the construction of a roundabout at the intersection of James Garner Avenue and Acres Street.
What they’re saying: Grant said the roundabout, which will be constructed in Ward 4, will reduce pollution and congestion by limiting idle cars.
“There’s been multiple requests on my board to do something about the traffic flow there,” Grant said. “A roundabout is the most ideal. We cannot do a four-way stop because we have train tracks and we cannot block the train tracks with cars.”
The vote: The roundabout was approved unanimously.
Planned unit development at Porter Avenue and Rock Creek Road
Council also voted to rezone and approve a preliminary plat for a planned unit development that will include residential and retail space.
The planned unit development will include multifamily residential units, senior adult housing units, and office and retail space at the intersection of Porter Avenue and Rock Creek Road, according to a staff report.
What they're saying: Sean Rieger, an attorney representing the applicants, Tull Commercial Properties LLC and Legacy Ridge Development LLC, presented information regarding the planned unit development, which he said has a variety of uses and will increase pedestrian infrastructure.
Marguerite Larson, a Ward 6 resident, urged council members to consider potential effects on the environment from the development.
“We’re endangering our environment,” Larson said.
Larson also shared her concern on how the development would affect students at Norman North, which is located near the unit.
“What if Norman North would like to expand their high school sometime?” Larson asked. “Now they can't do that.”
The vote: The planned unit development rezoning and preliminary plat were approved unanimously.
Potential charter amendments
The news: Council discussed potential amendments to the city charter in a conference meeting ahead of the regular meeting. Holman told OU Daily Wednesday these amendments were proposed by council previously, but did not pass. He said council has not decided what proposal will go forward to voters.
The amendments discussed include increasing elected officer stipends, which was proposed in a public vote in 2022 that did not pass. The stipend change would have increased the pay for council members from a maximum of $100 monthly to an annual stipend of $5,400. The mayor’s stipend would have increased from a maximum of $100 monthly to an annual amount of $8,100.
Council also discussed term start dates that could begin on the first Tuesday following the date of scheduled run-off elections.
What they’re saying: Assistant City Attorney Kathryn Walker noted the difference between Norman council member stipends and those of other cities.
“A couple of cities have had some pretty significant increases in the last couple of years,” Walker said. “Lawton increased the compensation effective this past July for their council members and mayor position.”
Holman expressed surprise at the difference in stipends between Lawton and Norman.
“I didn’t know it was so far out,” Holman said. “But we haven’t raised it in Norman since 1981. It’s only been attempted to be raised once since then. That was three years ago.”
Holman said council expects charter amendments to be on the ballot in April.
Proclamations
The news: Holman also made five proclamations. October was declared as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer History Month, as well as National Bullying Prevention Month and Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
November was proclaimed Native Americans/Indigenous People’s Heritage Month. The week of Nov. 2 through Nov. 8 was declared Oklahoma Mobility Week.
