Norman City Council Vote, Tuesday, 8.27 Could Prevent Council From Representing Citizens In OTA South Extension Construction
Friday, August 24th, Michael and I had Kelly Wilson and Whitney Mullica, our friends from PikeOffOTA (aka Oklahomans For Responsible Transportation) on ROPE Report LIVE to talk about a very important Norman City Council meeting.
If you’ll remember, the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority has made plans to create a south extension of turnpike to ostensibly halt I-35 congestion and provide another route over the Canadian River. These plans are in conjunction with the OTA’s “Access” program, which is billed as “all about motorist safety”. But then it would be really hard to say something like, “the OTA’s Access program is all about allowing developers and construction companies to make money by accessing private property though the practice of eminent domain in order to keep the ‘I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine’ way of doing business intact in Oklahoma”, which is what it’s always looked like to me – and which there’s some evidence to suggest is at least partially correct.
Friday, Kelly and Whitney showed us all why it’s SUPER IMPORTANT for people to attend the Norman City Council meeting on Tuesday, August 27th (that’s also RUN OFF election day!), where they will be deciding whether or not to sign an agreement with OTA for several considerations explained in the video.
Interestingly, Kelly makes the case that when Oklahoma County signed a similar document with OTA over the Kickapoo Spur, Oklahoma County didn’t come out on the winning end of that deal.
Below is the interview with Kelly and Whitney in its entirety. It’s about an hour, but Kelly’s explanation is SUPER EASY to understand and the time will go by quickly. Please watch and then pass it on to ANYONE you know in the Norman area.
If you’d like to share just the video, you can find it on our YouTube channel HERE.
The City Council needs to VOTE NO on any agreement with the OTA in order to best allow members to do their job of representing the needs of the people of Norman. This video explains exactly the reason why.