Editor's note: This story was updated at 1:30 p.m. on March 16 to reflect a date change announced by Oklahomans for Responsible Economic Development on when the organization would submit the appeal.
Oklahomans for Responsible Economic Development will submit an appeal to the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday after a Cleveland County judge ruled its petition to turn the Rock Creek Entertainment District to a public vote was invalid.
In an interview with OU Daily on Friday, Russell Rice, ORED member and co-founder of Norman’s Care-A-Vans, said the group had been anticipating the need to submit an appeal to the supreme court before Judge Jeff Virgin’s ruling.
According to Rice, Rob Norman, attorney for Cheek and Falcone, and other members of ORED will submit the appeal on March 18 at 1:30 p.m.
“Nobody had any doubt that we were going to end up at the Oklahoma Supreme Court,” Rice said. “I can't say for certain that the other side would have done the same thing that we're about to do, but we knew that if we ended up in this position, that this would be the action taken.”
On March 1, ORED held a town hall in conjunction with Women in Action for All Norman to discuss developments about the Rock Creek Entertainment District.
Norman said that once the appeal is filed the case will either stay within the Oklahoma Supreme Court or go to the Court of Civil Appeals.
“If you really want to know what the real gist is, it's that we want to bring this to a vote of the people,” Norman said during the town hall. “That's all.”
Rice said ORED is hopeful the outcome will be in their favor, and the voice of the residents should be the most important thing to everybody involved. According to Rice, those involved in invalidating the results of the petition are continuously trying to subvert the will of the people.
“The powers that be have done everything they can, every step of the way, to ensure that this doesn't make it to a vote of the people,and the reason I personally believe that is because I think that they think if it makes it to a vote, it will not pass, and they will never be able to bring it up again,” Rice said.
On Monday, OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. told OU Daily after an OU Board of Regents meeting that the university felt positive about the legal outcome of the petition. He also said the district is important for OU’s plan to provide a better live, work, play environment for OU’s increasing student body.
“If you look at the long arc, the goal is not just getting students here, but keeping them in our community,” Harroz said. “We think it's a big draw, so it's a big thing to us.”
During a three minute special meeting last Friday, of which Rice and Norman were in attendance, the Cleveland County Board of Commissioners' recreational and entertainment facilities authority unanimously approved an economic development agreement for the Rock Creek Entertainment District.
Rice said ORED does not have plans following what happens with the Oklahoma Supreme Court other than winning, but will adjust as needed.
“I'm not real good at planning for failure … but when the failure comes, we'll fix it,” Rice said. “We'll work on it then, but right now, we got all heads pointed towards the issue at hand, which would be the appeal,”
Background
On Sept. 20, three Norman residents filed a petition to turn the district to a public vote. Petitioners collected 11,602 petitions over 30 days, exceeding the 6,098 required by law. Of the 11,602 submitted, 10,698 signatures were certified by City Clerk Brenda Hall.
In November, David Nimmo, former president and CEO of Chickasaw Nation Industries; Kyle Allison, director of Allison’s FUN Inc.; Vernon McKown, CEO of Ideal Homes & Neighborhoods and Dan Quinn, former Ward 8 councilmember, filed a suit contesting the gist of the legal gist of the petition.
On Feb. 21, a Virgin ruled that the gist contained in the petition was insufficient, arguing that it did not comply with an Oklahoma Statute requiring a referendum petition to summarize the nature of the proposed referendum vote in a manner that can be understood by those who do not practice law.
This story was edited by Ana Barboza.
