Referendum Effort Almost Doubles Signatures Needed

This article provides a brief history of the referendum petition related to the proposed UNP arena district in Norman, Oklahoma. Link to project plan

City Council approved an ordinance creating the Rock Creek Entertainment TIF district by a vote of 5 to 4. There were two public hearings held two weeks apart. These were contentious for multiple reasons. The opposition to the ordinance led to the creation of the non-profit, Normans for Responsible Economic Development and a referendum petition effort that submitted 11,602 signatures to the City Clerk.


FIRST PUBLIC HEARING

The first hearing on September 3, 2024 was intended to be a question and answer format.  Residents were not aware that comments had to be made in a question format and some were deterred from commenting. 

Notably a group of OU students showed up two hours early for this meeting.

OU Daily photo showing group of students at first public hearing

SECOND PUBLIC HEARING: 

The second hearing on September 17, 2024 was grossly one-sided.  OU Foundation and the Texas Development partners (Rainier) were given as much time as they wanted.  OU President Harroz was given time to make comments even though OU is not a party in the economic development contract. OU Foundation is the landowner and developer of record.

Subject matter experts were limited to 3 minute comments. Attorney Robert Norman, who sits on the University North Park TIF #2 committee and has knowledge of the contents of the ordinance and the development agreement, was given 3 minutes to make comments.  Dr. Cynthia Rogers (that's me), OU professor of Economics and subject matter expert on TIF, public finance, and local economic development was also limited to 3 minutes. 

OU STUDENTS WERE OFFERED PAYMENT TO OCCUPY COUNCIL CHAMBERS

Over 60 OU students attended the meeting, showing up early and taking seats in the City Council meeting room.  OU President Harroz pointed them out and a made a big deal about their attendance.

It was later discovered that those students were offered payment to show up and serve as props.  When OU Daily asked students why they showed up (audio) none mentioned they were offered payment. OU Daily obtained a message sent by OU Sophomore, David Echols, which offered payment to students to attend the meeting.  Echols denied sending the message despite the evidence (OU Daily article).   

OU Daily's investigation discovered the source of the payment offer - Jayke Flaggert, an OU alumni, a former employee and current subcontractor for Norman Economic Development Coalition (Link to OU Daily article).   It is unclear who covered those payments.  NEDC, OU Foundation, OU Athletics, OU President's office have all denied knowledge of the payments. Link to OU Daily video

DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT WAS NOT DISCUSSED 

The development agreement which creates the contractual obligations related to the TIF ordinance was released to the public a mere 4 days prior to the second public hearing.  There was little time to dig into the peculiar and vague language and there was not additional/separate public discussion on the actual contract.

COUNCIL APPROVED TIF ORDINANCE 

City Council approved the creation of the UNP Arena TIF with the minimum number of votes needed in a 5 to 4 vote. Voting for were Mayor Heikkila, council members Scott Dixon (Ward 8), Matt Peacock (Ward 2) , Joshua Hinkle (Ward 6), and Austin Ball (Ward 1).  Voting against were council members Bree Montoya (Ward 3), Michael Nash (Ward 5), Helen Grant (Ward 4), and 2025 mayoral candidate Stephen Tyler Holman (Ward 7).

OKLAHOMANS FOR RESPONSIBLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (ORED)

ORED is a grass roots, non profit organization formed by Norman residents who seek to provide residents with a voice in economic development matters.  Their first action was to organize a referendum petition allowing Norman residents to vote on the UNP Arena TIF ordinance.  ORED website

A referendum petition is built into the Local Development Act which enables the formation of TIF district in Oklahoma. It is the last recourse for voters if they do not agree with a legislative action.  A petition requires considerable effort and organization. There are specific requirements for the petition packets, including the wording of a gist statement summarizing the issue, the signature page, and a copy of the actual ordinance to be put up to vote. Once the packet is drafted, it is filed with the City Clerk who reviews it and then stamps the date it was filed.    

REFERENDUM PETITION SUCCESS

The referendum petition on the UNP Arena TIF ordinance was filed by three Norman residents, Pamela Mccoy-Post, Paul Arcaroli and Richard Sondag, on Sept. 20. If successful, the petition would put the ordinance approving the UNP arena TIF to a public vote on February 11. The required number of valid signatures is 25% of the number of voters who cast a ballot in the most recent Mayoral election, which was 6,098 in this case.                                      

Over a hundred volunteers participated in the signature gathering process. Women in Action for All of Norman organized training events for volunteers to understand the legal requirements for collecting signatures. Volunteer notaries were available for notarizing signed petition packets.  Several businesses, including Stash, Green Feather, Alameda Market, B&B Liquor Market, supported the effort by having petitions on hand. Roots Salon allowed a tent to be in place daily for drive-up signature gathering. The location was moved to Yellow Dog Coffee's parking lot for better traffic Flow. Pink Pig and St. Stephens UMC allowed petition collection and notarizing on their premises.

Photo from OU Daily article  Link to OU Daily article

On October 15, 2024, ORED and petition volunteers submitted 11,602 signatures on the referendum petition. 

"Municipal Referendum Act and the Local Development Act required us to get 6098 signatures, I am happy to tell you that our official signatures we are submitting is 11,602," said Attorney Rob Norman. (Fox25news)

WHAT COMES NEXT?

The city clerk has 30 days to validate that enough signatures from registered voters in Norman were collected. 

Then there is a 10 day period for challenges.  There was a challenge by 3 former Norman mayors the last time residents filed sufficient signatures for a referendum petition on the UNP TIF #2 amended project plan. 

If the petition survives legal challenges, then voters will get to cast a ballot on Feb 11. Legal challenges could delay the vote to the April election.

Arena Referendum Offers Community Building Opportunity

This letter to the editor was published in the Norman Transcript, October 23, 2024.
link to lte

Arena referendum offers opportunity for community building

Norman’s experience with TIF targeting public spending in the University North Park district between Robinson and Tecumseh continues to divide our community. Norman has been here before. Lather, rinse, repeat.

A referendum petition is the voter’s goal line stance against controversial projects approved by council. All council votes on UNP TIF projects have been controversial.

The proposed UNP Arena TIF was approved by a 5 to 4 vote, the bare minimum needed. The original UNP TIF #2 for the Target anchored retail strip mall and the amended TIF #2 agreement which ended the TIF diversion to balance the city general fund also passed with only 5 council votes.

The referendum petition offers a chance for community dialogue and engagement that should have happened at the beginning of the process.

Do Norman voters want to spend up to $600 million tax dollars on an arena rather than other things? Do Norman voters want to pour more tax dollars into the UNP area which already benefited from TIF #2? Would other areas give a bigger band for public tax spending infusion? Do Norman voters trust a county authority to build, own, and operate an arena? What happens if the project goes belly-up before completion?

This is not the first Norman referendum on UNP TIF projects. In 2019, citizens collected enough valid signatures in to put the amended UNP TIF #2 agreement to a vote. In exchange for ending the TIF diversion which was needed to balance the city general fund, the developers were no longer required to completing the promised (and still not built) lifestyle center or refund its share of Legacy Park which was tied to lifestyle completion. Legal challenges prevented voters from getting to vote on the agreement.

A referendum petition is citizen’s only recourse when the process does not lead to a plan broadly acceptable to voters. Mayor Heikkila, OU Leadership, Norman Economic Development Coalition, and the UNP arena development partners have demonstrated a gross disrespect for citizen input and the petition process.

A referendum petition is the red zone for creating a TIF district. Gathering over 11,600 signatures is not an easy or cheap task. The level of community support for the petition demonstrates a strong and clear message about the TIF plan.

As Norman resident await signature validation, what will Norman business and OU leaders be doing? Will they pursue legal tactics to try to throw out the strong and clear desire to vote on the project? Will they, instead, participate in forums and townhalls with balanced discussions?

If the arena project is so good for Norman, make the case, engage the community, respect the process. Let’s brainstorm as a community on financing that makes sense and does not burden future city, county, and school budgets.

Above all, please be good neighbors.

Cynthia Rogers, Norman

OU Arena Entertainment District is NOT $1 Billion Proposal

 Wow, wouldn't a $1 billion entertainment district be great for Norman?  Imagine the private investment, the new entertainment opportunities, the money rolling into Norman.  Overblown marketing plans are a far cry from the reality of the Arena TIF agreement.

The TIF district landowner (OU Foundation, UNP North, LLC), Texas development partners (Rainier), Norman Economic Development Coalition (Lawrence McKinney), the Norman Chamber of Commerce (Scott Martin), and Visit Norman (Dan Schemm) have been promoting a $1 billion district. 

The contractual agreement falls well short of this.  The development agreement outlines the legal obligation of taxpayers:  up to $600 million paid out for as long as 25 years to finance $230 million in costs for the anchor project (arena, parking structure and public infrastructure).  

The TIF district would take 100% of sales taxes and property taxes paid in the larger increment area for improvements made on land owned by OU Foundation.  Instead of tax revenues flowing to City, County and school budgets, they would go toward the costs of an arena and parking structure. 

What are OU Foundation and their development partners proposing to do?  Not a $1 billion project that has been presented as the maximum potential cost of a larger project in the area. 

OU Foundation proposes to facilitate" the construction of $650 million project on land that it owns.  The $650 million includes $230 million for the arena, parking structure, and public infrastructure paid for by TAXPAYERS. 

The private investment portion is only $420 million!

The entertainment district includes a boutique 8,000 seat arena (the smallest in the SEC), a 1,200-spot parking garage, a plaza, and 140,000 square feet of bars, restaurants, and retail. We are talking about a block and a half of downtown Norman or Campus Corner adjacent to an area. 

The proposed project plan adds up to $650 million, not $1 billion. 

Here's a graphic that Dan Munson created to illustrate. 

Debunking Myths: Arena TIF WILL Negatively Impact Norman Schools

 In this article, I will explain how the Arena Tax Increment Finance (TIF) plan will take revenue growth from Norman Schools.  Imagine you plan for 4.25% tax revenue growth but some of that will go to a build an arena instead of flowing to your budget.  This is the situation with the Arena TIF.   

I will dispute some misleading/incorrect assertions made to make it seem that the Arena TIF does not harm public education.  We want the project to leave school funding harmless. This, however, is not going to happen for a project that could grab $389 million in property taxes. 

Myth #1 - The Arena TIF does not impact current budgets so it won't harm schools.

Discussion: Whereas it is true that current budgets are not impacted this is a silly statement. The TIF plan impact budgets going forward.  Future school revenues will be impacted. (see details below)

Myth #2 - Norman School District will not benefit from revenue collected in the TIF district because the school aid formula will offset new school revenues.  

Discussion: This is clearly false.  Not all school taxes are factored in the school aid formula. As properties come onto tax rolls, Norman Schools get more revenues.  TIF grabs school taxes that would otherwise go to schools. 

Myth #3- Nothing would happen in the Arena TIF district without spending $600 million on the arena, parking garage and public infrastructure.

Discussion: This is a far-fetched claim.  (1) The Arena project mostly involves moving (OU sports) and replicating entertainment opportunities (bars and restaurant) already happening in Norman. (2) The tax diversion district includes properties that have no commercial retail restrictions, are adjacent to operating businesses and the Young Family Athletic Center which attracts a lot of foot traffic. These will go on the tax rolls without an arena. (see details below)

Here are some slides with details:

Guest Post: Is there an 8,000 seat arena opportunity gap?

In this Facebook Post, Norman Resident Dan Munson provides interesting details which challenge the claim that an 8,000 seat arena in Norman would fill an "opportunity gap."  According to Munson, there does not seem to be a gap in the OKC metro area.  

Here's what Munson wrote:


The proposed arena in the University North Park (UNP) is projected to seat 8,000 people.  The current arena (Lloyd Noble Center) seats 11,528 people.

The University of Oklahoma foundation, Team Norman, and the developer claim that there is a gap for arenas in the midsize range.  I don’t agree with that assessment because 22 miles away there is the Jim Norick arena (10,944 capacity) and the new OG&E coliseum that is projected to open in April 2025 that will hold between 7,000 to 8,500 depending on the event.  Other Oklahoma arenas include Fire Lake arena (5,000 seats), Mabee Center (10,094 seats) and the Lucas Oil arena (6,500 seats). The Lucas Oil arena completely dominates the concert market in Oklahoma.  During public comments, I asked why Lucas Oil arena wasn’t considered in the market analysis for the Hunden report or the HVS report and received no response.

Booking concerts, large family events, and comedy shows will be the key to financial wellness for the proposed arena. The other arenas listed above have established relationships with the large concert promoters like Live Nation. These concert promoters are key to getting dates booked at an arena. I believe the University of Oklahoma has been woefully unsuccessful utilizing the Lloyd Noble arena for concerts.  The Lloyd Noble center has no established “muscle memory” as it pertains to concerts. This will increase the difficulty to attract future concert dates.  I believe the only way to win in a situation like this is to offer additional revenue sharing to the concert promoter which isn’t good for the longer term financial wellness of the arena because they will not likely have the funding to properly maintain the arena.  

The SEC had conference-wide average attendance for men’s basketball games of over 11,000 in 2023, with the sole arena that is off campus being Kentucky basketball’s Rupp Arena having an average attendance of 19,928 for men’s basketball this season. Rupp is only 0.7 miles off campus.  Building an arena that seats 3,000 less than the average attendance of the SEC that is about 5 miles away from campus, doesn’t seem like a good long-term plan unless the University of Oklahoma is planning to be uncompetitive in basketball.

During the Q&A’s someone asked if the Lloyd Noble Center would be torn down after the new arena was built.  The answer was “No”.  If the LNC isn’t torn down, did someone get a non-compete letter signed by the University of Oklahoma for the Lloyd Noble Center?

Does UNP warrant $600 million more public spending? (Guest Blog)

Norman Resident Dan Munson posted this article on Facebook (see link below). It discusses how much public funding has already been spent in the University North Park District. It also points out the large ownership that the Arena TIF development partner, Rainier, has in the UNP TIF district south of Rock Creek Road.  The original TIF was launched in 2006 and now has maintenance issues even while the project is still moving toward full build out. 

Here's what Dan Munson wrote:

The city of Norman has invested more than $100M in the University North Park (UNP) area with Norman Forward & TIF funded projects. There have been substantial investments in infrastructure in that area since 2006. Legacy Park & The Young Family Athletic Center (YFAC) are two major projects that have helped drive an increase in revenue to businesses.

When UNP property owners don’t maintain their properties (to include parking lots and landscaping) there isn’t any recourse for the city of Norman since it’s considered private property.  When I drive through portions of the UNP, I see potholes, large cracks in pavement, and parking lots that should have been resealed and stripped years ago. I also see dead trees and unkept landscaping in some areas.

Perhaps, I’m just old fashioned, but I think when we give UNP property owners a $100M+ gift, we should expect they keep up with the maintenance of their properties.  I believe that if we allocate an additional $600M to expand the UNP TIF area then we’ll just see more of the same in years to come. 

The TIF applicant (*Rainer) has been a 50.4% owner along with South African REIT Emira Property Fund who is a 49.6% owner (more on the South African Emira tomorrow) since June 2019. According to Rainer’s website (link in comments) they jointly own Super Target, Crest Foods, Academy, Dollar Tree, Home Goods, Kohls, Petco, TJ Max, and Ulta Beauty.  I’ve included some photos of their properties and others in this post. I believe these photos represent a very small sample of the maintenance needed.  I would encourage you to take a drive or stroll through the UNP starting at Target and ending at Guitar Center to see for yourself.

Since the city of Norman is unable to enforce property maintenance on private property, we should consider changing the form-based code in the UNP to require all parking lots to be made with concrete rather than asphalt for all new construction moving forward. Concrete parking lots are significantly more durable, can withstand hot weather, they radiate less heat, and can be textured to improve safety.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1547280172174370/?hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen&multi_permalinks=3990267434542286&__cft__[0]=AZXnBlDNGPLefX6lHcsXtHRzuY8H6pGwey10b3L09Q1mGzk8w3UhvjVVhDlOT-RSJI8eLru_P9vhJngQYpjNQ_S6ebROlVgxHulw_CQII0NMiubu0VqbMgR1kALsjvHEc5U0JUmmZHjVWMczVqoDDcNgC8DxsJ1z0mSjqeZb94oNnYDfudCBX8RgRhL7CzoMEzWMvaEnhJsH5-cu4PpPCeV4JoadJlDz5CYiTQdxCJ6IUGDB1XbqzoWndeUEriM50z4&__tn__=-UC%2CP-y-R

Referendum to put the Arena TIF plan to a vote

This article has information about the petition process. 
Norman residents want public vote on arena and entertainment district (newsbreak.com)

Once filed, petitioners will have 30 days to collect signatures.
6200 signatures are needed to put the project plan ordinance to a public vote.
Signatures must be from registered voters who live in Norman.

A nonprofit has formed to organize the referendum petition.
See Oklahomans for Responsible Economic Development for more information (responsibleok.com)

About 40 people attended a training on how to collect signatures.
Women In Action for All Norman organized the training.
There will be a second training event on Tuesday, September 24th.

I will be at the training to answer questions about the Arena TIF plan, how it impacts the city and school budgets, and how it displaces activity from nontif businesses.