Last Updated on April 27, 2021, 8:26 PM | Published: April 27, 2021
The City Council of Oklahoma City and staff recessed for a long Executive Session Tuesday wherein the Council was briefed on union negotiations, and three ongoing cases of litigation involving the City.
Union negotiations
AFSCME, the national union of state, county, and municipal employees, as well as the International Association of Firefighters and the Fraternal Order of Police, have been negotiating their annual contracts with the City over the last month.
AFSCME represents public service jobs across the country. Oklahoma City’s AFSCME local represents all unionized City employees who are not members of the Firefighters or Police unions.
No information about the progress of negotiations has been made public as of yet.
Every year, representatives from each of the three unions meets separately with City staff in order to negotiate agreements regarding salaries, insurance, and other benefits.
Representing the City are City Manager Craig Freeman, and Human Resources staff member Trey Box and head of Human Resources, Amy Maddera.
The result of the negotiations with each union will be revealed ahead of the City’s budget to be finalized at the end of June.
Glover litigation
The Council made a decision Tuesday after an Executive Session discussion to approve the hiring of private counsel to represent police employee Matthew Guy in a case styled Natraun Glover v. County (sic) of Oklahoma City, et al.
The Glover case names former Sheriff P.D. Taylor, District Attorney David Prater, the City, the Oklahoma City Police Department, and specifically Guy. The petition claims false imprisonment, as well as claims for emotional damages from being kept wrongly in the County Jail for a case that was dropped.
The case that was dropped against Glover in this instance was one of child rape. Glover wants restitution for his treatment at the hands of the police and the political leaders of the City and Government.
The suit lists six causes of action. These include false imprisonment, reckless prosecution, malicious prosecution, abridgement of the 14th amendment specifically denying due process, and deprivation of personal reputation.
The final cause of action is against several television news stations who, Glover asserts, hurt his reputation by broadcasting his false charges to the public at large.
In the suit, Glover asks for $10,000,000.
The Council returned from Executive Session and voted unanimously to hire Collins, Zorn, and Wagner, P.C. to represent Guy.
City suit
The Council also heard an update about a case from 2011, wherein the city sought to condemn property as part of an effort to acquire said property for a portion of what has become Scissortail Park. The suit listed Oklahoma City as the petitioner, and a long list of respondents including the County and several private firms.
No discussion of the lingering suit was made during the open session.
Bar litigation
A final piece of litigation the Council heard about during Executive Session is a case styled Venom 64, et al, v. The City of Oklahoma City, et al.
The plaintiffs in this case are bars and bar employees from several businesses around Oklahoma City. The suit claims that by enforcing an emergency proclamation made by Mayor David Holt, the businesses and employees were caused significant damages by the City and police.
The suit claims that Holt was acting outside of his constitutional boundaries, and that the police enforcing such an act is thus illegal.
The judge in the case has allowed the action to continue this far, and seems to be interested in hearing the merits of the petitioners’ case.
Again, no action was taken and no discussion of the case was held in open session.
Columnist covering local government in Oklahoma City and Oklahoma County from May 2019 through June 2023.
