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Ward 6 Quarterly Meeting - August 2026
- Aug 19
- 3 min read
Last Saturday I hosted my first Ward 6 Quarterly Meeting. A small handful of people attended, which I am thankful for. I also had a few that showed up during the 2nd Friday Art Walk so I am satisfied overall with the amount of people who I spoke with over those few days. The above video is me going over the slides that I did at the Quarterly Meeting that gives brief updated on the things that Ward 6 Residents said were important during the last local election cycle, as well as since the election. I'll sum up the slides below...
Rock Creek Entertainment District TIF - This was by far the largest wedge issue during the election cycle. While speaking with people I found many who were both supportive of the TIF, as well as those who were against. However, the vast majority opinion was that the TIF should go to a vote of the people. This is something I ran on, and I am committed to doing whatever is possible to see the public vote on this.
TIF Reform - While some TIF reform happened before I was sworn in to the Council, there is still more that I feel needs to be done. For starters, I believe that all TIFs, regardless of the size, should require 6 votes to pass. In theory, I actually think all votes on City Council should require 6 votes actually, but that is a conversation for another day. Requiring 6 votes on TIFs will make it so City Council will have to talk about the TIF carefully, compromise if needed, and all around will make TIFs more equitable overall. I also believe TIFs over a certain threshold should go to a vote of the people automatically. "Trust but verify", as in trust the process and the City Council, but let the residents of Norman be that final verification for TIFs that are over that threshold.
Hospital Access and Firestations - This was the second biggest issue. With the hospital moving to the west side of town, that has caused increased travel times to the hospital, and as it stands now, Ward 6 does not have a Firestation within range of most of it. Firestation 9 off Alameda covers the area South of Robinson, but everywhere North of Robinson is outside the 5 minute respones time. Overall I am prioritizing getting a firestation built for the majority of the Ward 6 area, as well as improving access to the hospital via the Flood and Tecumseh intersection. Many of these improvements are in various design stages or discussions regarding funding, and I am doing anything possible to make these things a priority over the next several years.
Homeless Shelter - While this issue was decided in April, the majority of Ward 6 did vote of the homeless shelter, so I am supporting efforts to get things done with the shelter that we are legally able to while the lawsuit is ongoing. That being said, anyone with opinions on ordinances and solutions between now and when the shelter is built are encouraged to email me their opinions, as I feel this issue is the biggest thing that Ward 6 is split on.
Data Centers - To keep this one short and sweet, an overwhelming majority of Ward 6 Residents do not want data centers in Norman. Based on this feedback I am pushing to make the current one year moratorium permanent. I am hoping to get this done as soon as legal can work through issues with the working on such a moratorium as I feel there is no need to wait until its about to run out and rush to get something passed or extended.
Given that this was a Quarterly Meeting, I expect to host my next one sometime in November. Until then, stay involved and don't hesitate to reach out to me for any reason at Ward6@NormanOK.gov
-Kyle Steele