Ward 5 Councilmember Michael Nash announced his resignation Friday, nearly six months after his re-election in February.
In a Facebook announcement, Nash wrote external factors caused his family to look for a new home, which they found outside Ward 5 boundaries.
“Our family’s outgrowing the house we’re in now,” Nash wrote. “We found a house that is gonna be just right for us. Unfortunately, it’s not gonna be in Ward 5.”
Nash wrote in the post he believes it would not be fair to represent Ward 5 if he cannot give residents his undivided attention.
“The next couple of months moving will demand all that I have,” Nash wrote. “That is why, to great sadness and grief, I am announcing my resignation from the Ward 5 Council seat.”
Nash reflected on his experience as a council member to OU Daily Monday, stating he is still coming to terms with resigning from the seat.
“On the one hand, it will be nice that I can relax on Tuesday nights and not pay attention to whatever the current topic of debate is,” Nash said. “On the other hand, it’s something I’ve grown very passionate about and it’s hard to just turn that off.”
Electing a new council member
Mayor Stephen Tyler Holman told OU Daily Monday that council will likely create a citizen committee comprised of Ward 5 residents to interview applicants and make an appointment recommendation. Ward 5 residents interested in filling Nash’s seat would apply at city hall and be interviewed by the committee, which would make a final recommendation to council.
Holman said he would like to have former Norman Mayor Lynne Miller, who served from 2016 to 2019, on the committee.
City Clerk Brenda Hall said under city charter, council has 60 days to appoint someone to finish Nash’s term. If a new representative is not appointed, council will call a special election.
“I would prefer Ward 5 go unrepresented for as few meetings as possible,” Holman said.
Holman said whoever is appointed to fill Nash’s seat will serve until February, when regular elections for Wards 2, 4, 6 and 8 are held.
“Whoever is elected in the spring would then serve the remaining term for Councilmember Nash, which would be a year from July,” Holman said. “Then, there would be another Ward 5 election the following February for the regular cycle to fill the full two-year term.”
Coming full circle
The process of appointment by a committee recommendation is how Nash first became a council member.
In 2020, Nash applied to fill the seat after former Ward 5 Councilmember Sereta Wilson resigned due to financial issues with her family’s small businesses. Nash was recommended by the citizen committee and appointed to serve the remainder of Wilson’s term.
“It’s sort of coming around full circle,” Nash said. “If it wasn’t for (Wilson’s resignation), I never would’ve thrown my hat in the ring.”
Nash said the process of applying to fill a vacancy is less daunting than running a campaign and allows a more diverse group of people to apply for council.
“When there’s an opportunity where it’s more of an application process and going through an interview,” Nash said. “It provides an opportunity for Norman to get a little bit more diversity on its council.”
After serving the remainder of Wilson’s term, Nash ran for the seat and lost to Rarchar Tortorello in 2021. In 2023, Nash ran again and defeated Tortorello. Nash ran for re-election in February, winning a three-way election without a runoff.
Holman said Nash has done a good job and is detail-oriented in representing the diversity of his ward. Ward 5 is the largest of the eight wards and includes Lake Thunderbird and a portion of the area that the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority has proposed building the South Extension Turnpike.
“He’s been a good representative of that ward, which is maybe the most difficult one to represent,” Holman said.
Nash, a founding member of Pike Off OTA, told OU Daily in January he is opposed to all turnpikes. On Monday, Nash told the Daily many Ward 5 residents do not have the money or aren’t healthy enough to move if the turnpike connector is built in that area.
“It’s a very real possibility that it’s gonna kill them,” Nash said. “They might not be physically able to move. They might have a home that’s designed especially to accommodate their situation – things that just can’t be easily or quickly replaced.”
Nash said living in Ward 5 allowed him to get familiar with the specific issues the area faces.
“It can be challenging at times,” Nash said. “For me, it feels very natural. I’m used to this ward and issues.”
Ward 8 Councilmember Scott Dixon said Nash brought an important skillset to council.
“I enjoyed working with him,” Dixon said. “We all have different skillsets that we’re bringing to the table and he definitely had a very good one.”
Holman said he hopes whoever fills Nash’s seat will be knowledgeable of ward-specific issues, but also issues that the entirety of Norman faces.
“Even though we represent individual wards as councilmembers, the decisions that are made on the council are made as a whole and impact the whole city,” Holman said.
Despite his resignation, Nash said he’ll continue to serve Norman residents.
“They’re not losing my insight. I’m not moving out of the city or out of the state,” Nash said. “I’ll be here, I’ll just be in Ward 7.”
This story was edited by Ana Barboza and Natalie Armour.
