At a time when Norman is debating one of its largest projects in recent history, its city council members are divided regarding the ethics of public engagement at its meetings.
Mayor Larry Heikkila told OU Daily he thinks paying people to attend meetings is appropriate, while five other members — including two who voted for the University North Park entertainment district — said it's not.
After a seven-hour meeting, Norman City Council voted to approve the $1.1 billion entertainment district on Sept. 18 around 1 a.m. OU Daily later revealed over 65 OU students were offered payment to attend.
Shortly after council’s vote to approve the UNP district, Norman residents filed a referendum petition that would take the decision to a public vote on Feb. 11, a protest against the tax increment financing model.
The group that filed the petition,Oklahomans for Responsible Economic Development, announced on Thursday it gathered over 11,000 signatures, nearly double the 6,098 required by law.
After a Norman City Council meeting on Oct. 8, Heikkila told OU Daily he took issue with the Daily reporting that Jayke Flaggert, a recent OU graduate and independent contractor for Norman Economic Development Coalition, paid OU students to attend the UNP public hearings.
“What is illegal about bringing people into this council, whether they're paying them or not?” Heikkila said. “I guarantee it isn’t.”
Not once, in either article, did the Daily characterize the act of paying students to attend meetings as illegal. Despite this, Heikkila said the article was a “besmirchment” of Flaggert’s character.
“(OU Daily) took a young man's reputation (Flaggert) and damaged it. That makes me mad,” Heikkila said.
Heikkila told the Daily that Flaggert “did his job” and acted within the bounds of his profession.
“He's trying to be a political consultant and so he's doing the things that political consultants do,” Heikkila said. “Political consultants ramp people, and they go out and they collect signatures, and they do something that's kind of what he's doing.”
In an Oct. 10 email to the Daily, Ward 5 Councilmember Michael Nash, who voted against the entertainment district, wrote paying students to pack city council meetings was both “deplorable” and “inexcusable.”
Nash wrote because several of the students who were paid were not from Norman, their actions were unfair to the residents who permanently reside in Norman.
“Paying people to give the illusion of support to offset honest support is bullsh. It's dishonest, manipulative, and in the end it's at the expense of the taxpayer,” Nash wrote.
Nash wrote Heikkila’s opinion on students being paid to attend council meetings was an “accurate reflection of his morals, values, and ethical compass.”
“The Mayor does not represent Norman. He withholds information from Council to disrupt our abilities to make thoughtful decisions for the people we represent, to the advantage of the things he wants to barrel through without resistance,” Nash wrote.
Nash wrote he believes Heikkila is the most consequential mayor in his living memory, accusing the mayor of streamlining the construction of turnpikes and abandoning assistance to the unhoused.
In August 2023, the Oklahoma Supreme Court approved ACCESS Oklahoma, a $5 billion, 15-year plan to develop new turnpikes and expand and improve existing highways across the state.
“He lies and he deceives and I'm honestly thinking about not running for re-election for the fear that Larry gets re-elected and I have to serve two more years with that monster,” Nash wrote.
In an email on Oct. 15 to the Daily, Ward 4 Councilmember Helen Grant, who voted against the entertainment district, wrote they did not agree with Heikkila’s rationale on paid attendance at council meetings.
“Students being offered money to attend City Council meetings is extremely disingenuous and disrespectful. Public engagement is a tool for residents to provide genuine feedback/dialog with their elected officials,” Grant wrote. “Paying students, especially out-of-state students, to take up space on a local issue with long range implications for the City and to crowd out those with real concerns erodes public trust in our processes and I’m not here for it.”
Ward 2 Councilmember Matt Peacock, who voted in favor of the entertainment district, told the Daily before Tuesday's study session he disagrees with the method of paying people to attend meetings.
“It's certainly not a good look, and I personally don't feel good about policies getting passed that were influenced unduly by outside sources or outside funds. Things need to be supported on their own merits, organically,” Peacock said.
Peacock said he understands why it happened, but disagrees with Heikkila’s opinion. Peacock said it's possible that students support the entertainment district, but because they were paid to attend it's difficult to fully gauge why they were really there.
“When you do something like that it taints the end result,” Peacock said. “ We don’t know if students fully support.”
According to two campaign reports on the city of Norman website, Peacock paid $1,237.50 in the first quarter report of 2024 to Flaggert’s consulting company, Flaggert & Associates Consulting Team, and $1,629.35 in the second quarter report for campaign consulting and canvassing.
OU Daily texted Peacock Thursday inquiring what Flaggert’s company did for his campaign. On Friday, Peacock replied, writing Flaggert assisted in consulting and door knocking efforts for his campaign.
Peacock wrote Flaggert did a great job and is proud of the work that they did together.
“He really does care a great deal about Norman and is trying his best to make a positive impact. I know that some of the tactics might be questionable, but there is no question where his heart is,” Peacock wrote.
On Sept. 27, the Daily informed Ward 7 Councilmember Stephen Tyler Holman, who voted against the entertainment district, of the Snapchat message offering OU students payment to attend the UNP meeting.
“I would really hope that it wasn't planned to try to keep people opposed to the arena deal from being able to have a seat,” Holman said. “That would be really unfortunate and would definitely tarnish the image of this whole thing, which is already controversial and divisive as it is.”
At the Sept. 17 meeting, most students arrived an hour early and sat in the main section of the room. Holman told the Daily he asked both City Manager Darrel Pyle and Heikkila to make an announcement to have the students offer their seats to residents, but no announcement was made.
“I did observe more than one, what I would describe as elderly or older, person leave early because they were standing for over an hour,” Holman said.
Heikkila told the Daily at a UNP press conference on Oct. 2 that he did not remember Holman’s request, but saw students willingly give their seats to residents.
The Daily sent emails to Ward 6 Councilmember Joshua Hinkle and Ward 8 Councilmember Scott Dixon twice, but did not get a response. Both Hinkle and Dixon voted in favor of the entertainment district, and commented on the issue of students being paid to attend council meetings in Facebook posts.
Dixon wrote in a Ward 8 Facebook post on Oct. 2 that it’d be “disappointing” if students were paid to attend the meetings.
“It's disappointing if true. That’s not how public participation is supposed to work. I can say they had zero influence on my vote,” Dixon wrote.
In response to a comment asking if his decision would have been influenced had it been residents sitting in the seats instead of OU students, Dixon wrote it was a possibility.
“If they sat there and didn’t offer up comments, zero difference. If the 65 were Ward 8 residents, stepped up to the podium and had good arguments against, a difference,” Dixon wrote.
At an Oct. 2 press conference, Dixon told OU Daily he was unaware of students potentially being paid but said he was disappointed to hear about it.
"That's disappointing. That's not how the process should work," Dixon said. "Everybody should just be there of their own volition."
In a Ward 6 Facebook post on Oct. 2, Hinkle remained neutral on the topic.
“Sounds like they got paid more than I did to be there,” Hinkle wrote. “I do not plan on signing the petition. But I do plan on honoring the outcome of the vote, no matter what.”
Hinkle shared similar sentiments with the Daily on Tuesday before council’s study session.
“I don’t really have an opinion on that,” Hinkle said. “I think there are a lot of people here from both sides and if kids got paid to be here, they got paid more than I do.”
Hinkle voted in favor of the entertainment district, but was the only member on council to not express the reasoning behind his vote. Hinkle wrote to the Daily on Sept. 18 that he refrained from speaking to avoid being “redundant” and extending an already late meeting.
In an email on Monday, Ward 3 Councilmember Bree Montoya, who voted against the entertainment district, wrote she had “no comment” on the matter. The Daily sent five emails and placed two phone calls to Ward 1 Councilmember Austin Ball, who voted in favor of the entertainment district, but he did not respond by the time of publication.
During the Sept. 17 city council meeting, Flaggert told an OU Daily reporter he didn’t know why students were attending, but said it illustrated students' care for the entertainment district.
Two weeks after the Sept. 17 meeting, Flaggert confirmed to the Daily that he paid OU students to fill city council chambers during its UNP public hearings. Flaggert answered the Daily only after it obtained a screenshot confirming his offer, where he described his payments as “transportation and meal stipends” to foster civic engagement among OU students. OU Daily has redacted Flaggert’s phone number from the message it received from a source late Oct. 2.
“If anyone is looking to make easy money tomorrow evening- I’m looking to hire 15 guys to fill seats at a meeting. You can wear shorts and a polo, just chill a take up room in the room, bring your phone/laptop and listen in if you want. $12/hour, w $50 minimum if the meeting runs short (which is likely). Would need you there at 4:30PM tomorrow- 5 min from Kappa Sig on Gray St.
(Can someone send to pledges?)."
The following message shows Jayke Flaggert offering students money to fill the city council chambers on Sept. 2, a day before the first public hearing on the entertainment district at city council. OU Daily has redacted Flaggert’s phone number from the photo.
Flaggert is the owner of Flaggert & Associates Consulting Team, though his work for Norman Economic Development Coalition is not fully clear. However, on Sept. 5 and again on Sept. 18, Flaggert sent press releases on behalf of the coalition.
According to his LinkedIn, Flaggert, who is currently pursuing an MBA at Southern Methodist University, previously served as a political director and field director for Gov. Kevin Stitt.
Flaggert is also listed on the city of Norman’s website as a Ward 7 committee member for the AIM Norman Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee, a comprehensive, 25-year area and infrastructure master plan. Flaggert is also a Norman Next Under 40 recipient.
At a UNP press conference on Oct. 2, Lawrence McKinney, president and CEO of NEDC, told OU Daily he didn't know anything about offers of payment.
“I don't know anything about it,” McKinney said on Oct. 2. “All I can say is NEDC wouldn't participate in anything like that.”
In an email to the Daily on Oct. 3, McKinney defended the act of offering payment to students in exchange for attendance. McKinney also reiterated that NEDC did not pay anyone to attend the UNP public hearings and that he had no knowledge of payments Flaggert may have made.
McKinney criticized the Daily for its coverage on the subject, calling it a disheartening attempt to vilify and bully students.
“If any payments were made to students, or anyone else, it’s worth noting that such practices are common—whether it’s for petition gathering, sign waving, door knocking, etc. This is neither illegal nor unethical,” McKinney wrote.
McKinney also rejected the idea that residents were barred from speaking due to the students filling the chamber and wrote NEDC valued public debate.
Over 60 residents signed up to speak during the Sept. 17 public hearing, most who urged council to reject the entertainment district. With ORED’s petition being successful, barring any successful legal challenges, the UNP public vote will take place on the same day as several council seat elections.
Heikkila will run for reelection against Holman, leaving the Ward 7 seat available for new candidates. Council seats for Ward 1, Ward 3 and Ward 5 will also be put to a vote on Feb.11.
This story was edited by Anusha Fathepure, Ana Barboza and Peggy Dodd. Mary Ann Livingood copy edited this story.
