Norman petitioners for district vote remain optimistic

NORMAN, Okla. (KFOR) — Petitioners in Norman are on the final stretch of signature collection for a referendum petition that would send a costly entertainment district funding plan to a vote of the people.

Last month, city councilors voted 5-4 to move forward with a $600 million tax increment financing district plan to help fund the district, which would include the arena. The University of Oklahoma has an invested interest in the project as well since the arena would replace the Lloyd Noble Center.

"Economic prosperity breeds economic prosperity, but can only be accomplished through a partnership,” said OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. in early October.

Since the council vote moved forward, community members with Oklahomans For Responsible Economic Development (ORED) have had a 30-day period to collect enough signatures needed to force a separate vote of the people.

"We've had, you know, roughly what is it, three weeks and a few days to get 6098 signatures or as many as we can get,” said ORED co-founder Russell Rice. "The moment I wake up until I go to sleep, my phone is buzzing."

Rice says the grassroots effort has seen over a hundred volunteers willing to collect signatures in their neighborhoods and around the city. He says the short window to collect them has also given little wiggle room when it comes to rest.

"It just takes hundreds of people to get 10 or 20 signatures in their neighborhood to be a moving force in this,” said Rice.

Rice says his efforts have been mainly focused outside of the Yellow Dog Coffee Company in Norman, where he and volunteers have spoken with numerous citizens willing to add their names to the growing list.

“Everybody wants this to go to a vote of the people,” said Rice regarding the conversations he’s had so far. “Even the people who want the arena want a voice on the situation.”

Signature collection is required to stop October 15, and all of them have to be notarized. Opponents will also have a period to contest the petition entirely. If enough signatures are collected and verified, the measure would be on the February ballot for Norman residents.

News 4 employees pressed Rice about where signature numbers stand as of Monday.

"We don't want to change the momentum that we have currently,” said Rice in response. "If we saw something that we thought was an issue, we would really definitely jump on it and change the momentum."

Regardless of the outcome, Rice says that on October 17, volunteers and ORED representatives will be delivering the results to city officials. A public gathering will be held at 11:30 a.m. All Norman neighbors are invited to participate.