Several OU professors have spoken out against the University North Park project online and in person, despite the developments status as a largely OU Foundation endeavor.
Stephen Ellis, Cynthia Rogers and Ben Alpers have frequented city council meetings and Norman Facebook groups to express their opposition to the proposed entertainment district, citing lack of economic viability and potential loss of Norman’s cultural identity.
Ellis, an OU philosophy professor who also studies economic psychology, has been a key voice in the resident movement to subdue the UNP project. He posts nearly every day in the Norman Ward 4 Facebook group, stating his frustration with the project and his argument that it isn’t viable.
Ellis said his main problem with the project is that studies show developments like the UNP arena usually don’t work. In 2014, Ellis co-wrote a paper for the Arizona Law Review about the negative effects of economic development incentives in municipalities.
“Despite their widespread use, the efficiency of economic development incentives has not been substantiated,” Ellis’s paper states.
Ellis also said the OU Foundation’s request for public money to fund the project is a red-flag to its possible economic implausibility.
“If (the project) takes a subsidy, it’s probably not a money-maker to begin with,” Ellis said.
The OU Foundation has recently denied a group of Norman residents’ open-record request. Ellis said he wasn’t in the group who requested the measure, but he supports transparency fully.
The UNP project reports from the past year have been publicized, but the negotiations between the city and foundation haven’t been, Ellis said. He said he wants to know who promised who what.
“What ends up being politically feasible depends a lot on deals that are (made) behind-the-scenes,” Ellis said.
Rogers, an OU economics professor, has also been a driving force in UNP’s resident opposition. She—like her husband, Ellis—attends City Council functions and posts nearly every day in the Facebook group. She released a study last week with her own financial projections for the UNP project.
Rogers also co-wrote the Arizona Law Review paper on economic development incentives. She, like Ellis, said projects like UNP don’t usually work.
“I’m against public money going into privately owned stuff,” Rogers said. “And I don’t think sales tax TIFs make any sort of sense”
Rogers said she has a problem with mixing public money with tax increment finance districts (TIFs) that use sales tax instead of property tax. Rogers said the project could be more economically viable if the sales tax TIF were removed.
Alpers, an OU history professor, also actively opposes the UNP project. Alpers said in a Facebook post May 24 that he wouldn’t support any council member who votes to continue the UNP project.
Alpers, Rogers and Ellis have all said they fear Norman will lose its identity if the development project is seen through.
“Why do we want to make Norman MORE like everywhere else?” Rogers wrote in a Facebook post May 28.
Ellis said while his primary concerns are economic, he also doesn’t want to see Norman’s center of gravity move away from the university and the area around it.
“YES UNP folks claim to love Norman, but they seem to have zero faith in Norman as it exists,” Ellis wrote in a Facebook post the same day as Rogers.
Rogers said every city must find its niche and build on it — not detract from it. And Alpers said Norman’s niche is the theatre, art and museums available through OU -- all assets that separate Norman from other cities.
“Those are natural cultural advantages we have that no one else has,” Alpers said.
Alpers said he wants to see the City of Norman better represent its residents. He said city council must realize that the OU Foundation and the city are separate entities with separate interests.
“The OU Foundation has an asset, and they want to use that asset as best they can use (it),” Alpers said at a City Council study session May 29. “That’s great. That’s their job. The job of the city is to ask itself, ‘Is this the best way to spend $100 million?’”
