Approximately 50 Oklahomans gathered on the second floor of the Oklahoma Capitol Monday for the Oklahomans for Responsible Transportation Capitol Day event.
Normanites, community volunteers and politicians called for action against the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority and the ACCESS Oklahoma turnpike plan and to reform the Turnpike Enabling Act.
ACCESS Oklahoma, worth $5 billion and scheduled to last 15 years, is a series of projects aimed at connecting Oklahoma through toll roads.
The OTA announced the plan on Feb. 22, 2022, without notifying potentially impacted residents and only notifying Norman city officials a few days prior to the announcement, according to former Norman Mayor Breea Clark.
Rep. Jacob Rosecrants (D-Norman) said he remembers sitting in a coffee shop as one community member after another approached him about the proposed turnpikes.
"I had absolutely zero idea what was going on,” Rosecrants said at the event Monday. “I'm an elected official. I've been an elected official since 2017. I was not told anything about ACCESS Oklahoma."
Randy Carter, a Norman homeowner who would be directly affected by the turnpike's construction, learned his home was at risk through social media.
"I was sitting in my chair in my living room and somehow, I found out about it," Carter said. "I got on the website and I looked and I thought, 'That line goes through right where I'm sitting.'"
Carter has lived in his home since 1979, and he planned to spend the rest of his life there.
"I was noticeably upset about the problem, it was proposing to take my house," Carter said. "I thought, 'Well, I'm just gonna have to be a good citizen, I'm gonna have to give this up to eminent domain and move along."
Once Oklahomans started investigating the OTA, Carter said his views changed.
Through extensive research, Carter said Oklahomans and legal experts have uncovered the OTA's "unethical and illegal" actions, including violating the Open Meeting Act.
In May 2022, over 150 Cleveland County residents filed a lawsuit against OTA for violating the Open Meeting Act. The lawsuit claimed OTA failed to include information about the ACCESS Oklahoma Turnpike in meeting agendas for Jan. 25 and Feb. 22, 2022.
In December, associate district court judge Timothy Olsen ruled OTA violated the Open Meeting Act.
"That, my friends, is a lack of transparency," Rosecrants said. "We're not asking to reinvent the wheel. We're not asking to destroy existing agencies. We're asking for transparency."
Members of the Pike Off OTA said they are working on passing several bills to increase transparency within OTA, such as House Bill 2263, which would split the six OTA appointments between the Speaker of the House, Senate President Pro Tempore and the governor.
Carter said he believes this bill will bring more equity to the OTA board.
Amy Cerato, president of Pike Off OTA, said a lot has changed in the year since the organizations began fighting the ACCESS Oklahoma plan.
"It's been a year since we were here for the first time, and I think the mood has changed drastically," Cerato said. "Last year, we were angry and confused, and this year, I think we stand with resolve and optimism."
Cerato said she first joined Pike Off OTA because the proposed southern extension, which would run through her home, was not authorized by the legislature.
"Everything about how the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority has done business in the last two decades is the antithesis of what should happen in an engineering world," Cerato, who is a civil engineer and has worked with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, said.
She described the OTA's engineering protocols and fiscal responsibility, respectively, as incorrect and horrific.
"Reform is necessary," Cerato said. "We need to change some things in the legislature. We need to change some things with the Turnpike Enabling Act."
With civil engineering projects, Cerato said it is important to conduct environmental, impact, historical and archeological studies during the planning stages. Cerato said the OTA did not perform any studies for the 59 miles of proposed roadways in Cleveland County.
"They do things backward, and that needs to change," Cerato said.
On March 15, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond requested Cindy Byrd, state auditor and inspector, conduct an investigative audit of the OTA.
At the Capitol Monday, Drummond was met with a standing ovation as he prepared to take the stage.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond speaks at the Oklahomans for Responsible Transportation day at the Oklahoma Capitol.
"It is no secret to government officials that my administration stands for openness and transparency, and that is what I believe we were seeking,” Drummond said. “We all stand for private property rights. We all stand for limited government, we all stand for the opportunity to be heard and understood and our objections to be raised. And I'm proud to have called for the first investigative audit of the OTA in its history.”.
Cerato said Pike Off OTA doesn't want to get rid of OTA, but wants the authority to follow good civil engineering and fiscal protocols. Cerato said they'd like to require them to gain legislative permission for toll increases and require a state audit every two years or more.
"We're calling for legislators right now to help us protect the future of Oklahoma and our children so that they never have to feel the threat of eminent domain for an unauthorized roadway," Cerato said.
Cerato and Carter both encouraged those in attendance to talk to legislators and to continue to get the word out.
"We've opened the light into 70 years of darkness that no one was able to tap into before," Cerato said. "I want to tell you that you should stay the course and keep fighting, because together we're stronger than any of us individually."
This story was edited by Alexia Aston and Karoline Leonard.
