OKC City Council reaffirms connection to criminal justice council

Last Updated on August 6, 2023, 2:52 AM | Published: October 25, 2022

OKLAHOMA CITY (Free Press) — The City Council of Oklahoma City took up a number of items Tuesday, the most notable being:

• Choosing to remain part of CJAC, 
• Approving funding increases to MAPS 4 projects, and 
• Receiving reports on 
  • grant applications for bike and pedestrian infrastructure.
  • budget increases in MAPS 4.
  • grant applications for bike and pedestrian infrastructure for the bikewalkOKC plan.
• Called the next municipal election for February 14, 2023, which will be to fill Council seats for Wards 2, 5, 6, and 8.

CJAC

The City’s involvement with the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Advisory Council, or CJAC represents most of the municipalities in Oklahoma County. 

The Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Advisory Council (CJAC), is not to be confused with the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority (known as the Jail Trust). CJAC is a countywide organization formed to address criminal punishment reform issues, especially regarding the beleaguered County Detention Center (Jail.)

The body is made up of elected officials, law enforcement, judges, service providers, and the fabulously wealthy. 

The Council is chaired by Clay Bennett and vice-chaired by Tony Tyler. Absent those members, meetings are officiated by the President of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce. The CEO of CJAC is Timothy Tardibono, who is employed in that capacity by the Chamber.

The original Jail Trust, the body responsible for the operation of the Jail, was designed and largely selected by the members of CJAC. 

CJAC members Sue Ann Arnall, M.T. Berry, Jim Couch, and former CJAC member Tricia Everest were the original at-large members of the Trust. Everest resigned her seat on the Trust when appointed as the Director of the State Department of Public Safety.

Midwest City exit triggers OKC agenda item

Recently, the City Council of Midwest City voted to leave CJAC after a contentious City Council meeting wherein the former and current Chiefs of Police there endorsed the work of CJAC. Some vocal critics and one critical City Council member won the day.

The MWC action triggered a proviso from the charter requiring member municipalities to “reaffirm” their participation.

Ward 6 Councilperson JoBeth Hamon* asked to pull that item of the consent docket out for discussion, asking for some explanation of the organization and its purpose, and to add transparency to the vote.

Tardibono addressed the Council, beginning with a recent article in The Oklahoman detailing disparities between OKC and Tulsa in “procedural justice,” meaning the processes of arresting, charging, and incarcerating arrestees.

• Hamon said it is frustrating to see people in our community with power and clout not using their position to pressure the DA and the courts to do a better job of participating in reducing incarceration in our county.

• Nice asked for an explanation of Midwest City’s departure from CJAC, but Tardibono said it would be inappropriate for him to presume to speak for the City Council there, but described the meeting as long and difficult, adding that it was not possible to have a civil conversation in that meeting.

• Much of the conversation from there related to some Council members being tagged and derided by local activists with little knowledge of City Government versus County Government. Nice said, “We are doing our jobs.”

• The City of Oklahoma City has very few residents sent to jail for municipal charges. Most charges from the city result in an Own Recognizance (OR) Bond within ten hours of arrest.

• Tardibono pointed out that a 2015 Vera Institute study showed over 150 detainees in the jail at any given time were there for municipal charges. But, in the last two years that number has stayed below 10.

• Nice said that more people should know that. The City is doing things differently than the county and the District Judiciary.

• Tardibono pointed out that District Attorney David Prater abandoned the CJAC process some time ago, but that both candidates currently running for that seat have promised that they will participate in the organization. One of those candidates, County Commissioner Kevin Calvey, already sits on both CJAC and the Jail Trust.

• Hamon said that our DA not participating in legal reform is something that people county-wide should have already known about. She went on to say that the Bail Bond industry has too much power in the conversation about incarceration in Oklahoma.

After discussion, the Council voted unanimously to reaffirm their participation in the organization, but asked for more frequent reports on what the organization is accomplishing.

MAPS update

The MAPS Program office reported that since collections on the penny sales tax have exceeded projections, budget adjustments are in order. 

This adjustment will raise the budget available for all 16 projects, and 19 specific sub-projects of the MAPS 4 package. A MAPS spokesman said that the important work involved in adjusting the budgets was to insure the extra money was being equitably spread about.

Block grants

The Council also received a presentation from the Planning Department on a slate of block grant applications.

The federal government has allocated Block Grant funds around the country for infrastructure improvements. 

Locally, that grant money will be administered by the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments (ACOG). 

Oklahoma City has competitive applications for projects to utilize Surface Transportation Block Grants and Transportation Alternatives Block Grants, all of which related to cycling and pedestrian infrastructure to enhance safety for people not operating a motor vehicle. 

Some of the projects may move forward with alternative funding if the federal grant money is not approved.

The applications were all related to the bikewalkOKC plan. They are as follows:

• Northwest Expressway bike and pedestrian project from NW 63rd to North Ann Arbor for a bike and pedestrian project.
• Intersection of West Reno and North Meridian for better safety infrastructure.
• South Eastern Avenue bike project from SE Grand to SE 59th.
• South Santa Fe bike project from SW 74th to SW 104th.
• South May bike project from Oklahoma City Community College to Earlywine Park.
• Stockyards bike project abandoned rail bridge over the Oklahoma River and along a rail right of way southwest to South Agnew Avenue. 
• North Villa project from NW 10th to West Reno.
• South Robinson bike project from SW 7th to South Grand.
• SW 29th safety project from Newcastle Road to South May.
• NE 4th street enhancement project from North Broadway to North Martin Luther King.
• NE 16th Street bike project from North Kelley to North Bryant.

The results of the applications will be reported at the end of the year or possibly in January.

Municipal election called

The Council officially called for a municipal election on February 14, 2023. 

The general election will be for Wards 2, 5, 6, and 8. 

• Only those who live in the ward will be able to vote for the candidates to represent that ward. 
• Municipal elections are non-partisan, and so candidates will have no political party next to their names on the ballot. 
• If a candidate is unopposed or receives more than half of all votes in their ward, they win. 
• If a runoff is required, that will happen on April 4.

City Council will meet again on November 8 at 8:30 a.m.

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*Disclosure: Reporter Marty Peercy is the husband of Oklahoma City Council member JoBeth Hamon.

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