Last Updated on December 19, 2022, 2:04 PM | Published: December 19, 2022

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) appointed the final four members of the Citizens Bond Oversight Committee that will oversea the new jail project.

The Commissioners also heard pitches invited by outgoing commissioner Keven Calvey from several organizations asking for ARPA funding. In the end, they declined to make a decision, opting to wait until a more full range of possible targets for the funding could be developed.

And, they bid adieu to Commissioner Kevin Calvey and several other staff who were retiring or moving on to other positions outside the county.

Details

Bond Oversight

The Board has previously appointed three members each to the inchoate committee promised by Commissioners to provide citizen oversight of the new Jail project. District 1 Commissioner Carrie Blumert appointed Sandino Thompson, District 2 Commissioner Brian Maughan appointed Pat McCoy, and District 3 Commissioner Kevin Calvey appointed Xavier Niera.

On Monday, the remaining at-large seats were filled by unanimous vote.

Local developer and commercial real-estate expert Steve Mason will chair the committee.

Vice-Chair of the Committee will be Larry Stevens. Stevens was previously the City Manager of Edmond, and was selected because of his experience overseeing public construction projects. 

The other two at-large seats will be occupied by Joanne Davis and Mike Mize. Davis has extensive experience in contracting and procurement, according to Tim Tardibono, Executive Director of the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Advisory Council (CJAC).

Mize was the former MAPS project manager for the City of OKC, as well as being on the new jail study committee. Mize has been involved in the new jail project from its inception, and should be able to provide insight about the plans and discussions leading to this moment.

ARPA Pitches

Monday’s agenda included a list of five items requested by District 3 Commissioner Calvey. Each item was a request from a nonprofit organization save one, Oklahoma County Drug Court.

A spokesperson from each organization addressed the Board in turn to explain the projects for which they were requesting ARPA funds.

• 401-Kids, Inc. requests $1 million to construct a home for girls who have been trafficked
• Teaching and Saving Kids (TASK) requests $200,000 to take their intervention programming into the Juvenile Justice Center to promote better outcomes for the young people detained there
• The Care Center requests $100,000 to educate children and adults on how to identify and prevent child abuse
• The Hopewell Heritage Foundation requests $25,000 to rehabilitate the Hopewell Baptist Church building in Deer Creek to serve as a community center
• Oklahoma County Drug Court requests $120,000 to expand the program and to supply fentanyl testing

Blumert spoke first in discussion, saying that these projects are worthy projects, but that now is not the appropriate time to approve or deny them. There are no agreements in place, and many other worthy projects haven’t even had the opportunity to apply for funds yet.

Blumert added that Accenture, the firm hired as consultant on ARPA fund uses, has designed a public application form that will go live on the internet soon. That will give a broader opportunity for people in the county to apply for their projects.

Maughan agreed with Blumert, saying that it is not a “No,” but a “not right now” decision.

Calvey accepted this and moved to defer the items to the next Policy and Governance Committee meeting.

Departures

At the end of Monday’s open session, two resolutions were adopted to recognize two county employees who are leaving their positions at the end of the year.

Karen Prince-Thompson was recognized first. Thompson started her career in the County Clerk’s office in 1983. In her 39 years in the office, she has outlasted 5 County Clerks, and has made an impact on all the departments of the County.

Michael Taylor, Chief Deputy of District 2, is retiring from his position and moving on to the greener pastures of Nichols Hills where he will be taking on the job of Assistant City Manager. Taylor takes 14 years of institutional knowledge with him as he leaves. Taylor has been involved in road supervision, budgeting, policy analysis, and many other duties of public service.

Finally, the Commissioners acknowledged Kevin Calvey at his final BoCC meeting as a Commissioner. Both Maughan and Blumert expressed appreciation for Calvey’s work on the jail project in particular. In spite of differences between the three, Blumert said this was something that all three Commissioners stood together on.

Calvey’s Chief Deputy, Myles Davidson, was elected to fill the District 3 Commissioner’s seat and will be sworn into office on January 3, 2023.

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