Councilors surprised by State of the City; Heikkila promises better communication

Oct. 2—More than half of the City Council said they were not aware the mayor was going to give a State of the City address before the Norman Economic Development Coalition Wednesday at the NOUN Hotel.

At least one City Council member said the event should be open to the public and occur at City Hall.

Only Ward 5 Councilor Rarchar Tortorello and Ward 3 Councilor Kelly Lynn attended the speech.

News of the address was communicated through an email from the Norman Economic Development Coalition, which Mayor Larry Heikkila said afterward didn't get councilors' attention as he and others had hoped.

The speech was given to Norman city officials, developers and community leaders, with an entrance fee of $30 to the event.

While the speech highlighted economic development and progress in Norman, Heikkila also argued in his address that he needed five councilors to "prevail" on votes pertaining to social justice and economic development.

He, Tortorello and Lynn are the three self-identified conservatives on council.

Heikilla also called out Ward 1 councilor Brandi Studley and Ward 4 councilor Helen Grant, who have not stood for the Pledge of Allegiance at city meetings since July.

Heikkila said Friday he wouldn't have said anything different had any of the other six councilors been at his address, and that he plans to alter communication announcements for the State of the City in the future.

"We need to do a better job of plugging into one another and communicating about what is happening, because that is the only way that we can be able to serve our community in the best way that we can," said Ward 2 councilor Lauren Schueler.

Dismissed as spam

At least three councilors who didn't attend Heikkila's address confirmed they received the email, but dismissed it as spam.

According to a screenshot provided to The Transcript from Ward 7 councilor Stephen Holman, the invitation to the State of the City address was emailed Sept. 9.

The email subject line reads, "EXTERNAL EMAIL : [MARKETING] NEDC 2022 State of the City Luncheon," which Holman said councilors "get a lot of and 99% are spam."

Lynn and Tortorello both said they also learned about the event through the email.

"I expected (the other councilors) to be there," Heikkila said. "Three of us were there. The others I assumed were at work."

Schueler, Studley, Grant and Ward 6 councilor Elizabeth Foreman also said either on social media or to The Transcript that they didn't hear about the event until after it happened. Ward 8 councilor and Vice Mayor Matt Peacock did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the invitation.

The State of the City was not posted as an event to the city's Facebook page, or to the city manager's weekly meeting calendar. NEDC posted the event to its Facebook page, but only a handful marked that they were attending.

City communication manager Tiffany Vrska said she was not asked to put out a news release for the event, as NEDC was taking the lead on communication and invitations.

City Manager Darrel Pyle and NEDC director Lawrence McKinney did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday about the communication of the event.

The mayor's address cost $30 per person and was not live streamed on any of the city's or NEDC's social media pages.

NEDC is partially funded by the city.

Open to public

Foreman argued on social media after the event that State of the City should be open to the public, and done at City Hall.

Joey Senat, an open government and freedom of information law specialist at Oklahoma State University, said the event didn't violate the letter of Oklahoma's Open Meeting Act. The act requires at least half of all councilors present at public meetings.

Grant argued the mayor usually gives the State of the City in front of council, at a council meeting, to avoid open meeting violations.

City attorney Kathryn Walker said she understood the State of the City to be an NEDC meeting, not a meeting as defined by the Open Meeting Act.

But Senat still said the door fee — and the fact that it wasn't live streamed — are concerning.

"The message that sends to the community isn't good," Senat said. "If the State of the City address is important, all residents should have been able to watch and listen firsthand, given the available technology."

While Heikkila declined to respond to request for comment about Senat's remarks, he argued NEDC offered former mayor Breea Clark the opportunity to give her State of the City address through them.

"NEDC is a perfect host for a message on economic development in Norman's future," Heikkila said.

Political statements

The mayor's political statements at the meeting have also drawn ire from councilors not present at the meeting.

Heikkila, a U.S. Navy veteran, said Studley and Grant remaining seated for the Pledge of Allegiance is offensive to him because he buried a friend who died in combat. He also argued for having two more "fiscally conservative, pro-growth, pro-business, pro-citizen voices" on the council to "prevail" on social justice and development votes.

Studley said after the meeting that she's sitting for the Pledge because she believes women are under attack in the U.S., particularly on "reproductive rights," and on the City Council because of committee chair appointments.

Heikkila declined to respond to Studley's comments.

Studley also said council votes take "all nine of us."

In a video posted to her Ward 6 Facebook page, Foreman said she doesn't agree with Grant's and Studley's actions, but that she doesn't believe Heikkila should call them out at State of the City address.

"Whether you agree with what he said or not, that's not appropriate behavior," Foreman said in the video.

Foreman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

Heikkila declined to respond to councilors' remarks. However, he said after his address that he hopes councilors move away from politics and share a vision with him.

Schueler said, "It's really challenging to ask" to work in a nonpartisan fashion when rhetoric is partisan.

"Continuing to shape the conversation around partisanship is damaging, frankly," Schueler said.