Norman Committee To Redistribute Funds Taken From Police Amid Citizen Recall Effort

A Norman committee will decide how to spend more than a half million dollars taken away from the police department in a meeting Thursday afternoon.

Thursday, July 9th 2020, 4:28 am

By: Storme Jones

Norman -

A Norman committee will decide how to spend more than a half million dollars taken away from the police department in a meeting Thursday afternoon.

The conversation comes as calls to remove the mayor and four city council members grows.

The group “Unite Norman” says shifting funds away from the police department is just one example of things they say don’t represent what the majority of Normanites want.

The group told News 9 they will file a petition Friday to recall Mayor Breea Clark half of the city council.

They said things like discussions of Norman becoming a sanctuary city, decreasing police funding and most recently a mask mandate due to COIVD-19, have made it to where they cannot wait ‘till the next regular election.

The group will have to gather 18,000 signatures over 30 days once the petition is filed.

They say they’ve already raised more than $50,000 to help with the campaign.

News 9 reached out to the mayor and the city councilors being targeted by the recall effort, but only heard back from Councilwoman Kate Beirman who said she only hopes petitioners wear their face-mask while going door-to-door.

The oversight committee meeting to figure out how the money from the police department should be spent is set to begin at 4 p.m.