Norman recall group seeks extension for signatures

NORMAN — Unite Norman, citing "extraordinary circumstances present in the course of signature collection, including criminal fraud," asked the city Wednesday to extend the deadline for filing signatures in support of recall petitions for Mayor Breea Clark and three city council members.

The signatures for Clark, Kate Bierman (Ward 1), Alison Petrone (Ward 3) and Stephen Holman (Ward 7) are due Friday.The petition to recall Clark would require 18,124 signatures, or 25% of registered voters in Norman. The petitions for Bierman, Petrone and Holman would also require 25% of their respective wards' registered voters.

Sereta Wilson, a fourth council member targeted by the group, resigned last month.

In a letter to City Clerk Brenda Hall requesting a 10-day deadline, Unite Norman Chairman Russell Smith claims the group has faced "unprecedented opposition in the form of harassment, provocation, and fraud that has made the petition drive impossible to fully complete."

The letter stated police were called July 28 when an individual "was harassing petition gatherers on private property" and again Aug. 3 when a driver "began harassing circulators, exited his vehicle, and began taking pictures of the circulators while making obscene gestures and yelling obscenities."

Two other examples of harassment were cited in the letter but did not include police incident reports.

Additionally, Smith claims in the letter that the group has received multiple reports that "individuals impersonating Unite Norman circulators have collected signatures and then discarded them."

The co-founder also complains the petition drive, which started July 11, was "already significantly more difficult based on circulator restrictions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic" and "related City ordinances requiring mask wearing and social distancing."

At a news conference Wednesday outside City Hall, where Smith and group cofounder Sassan Moghadam presented Hall with 2,917 signatures collected in Wilson's former district, they said they had already collected enough signatures for Clark to place the issue on the ballot in January. A special election would cost the city $28,000.

Neither Smith nor Moghadam would disclose how many signatures they have collected for Bierman, Petrone or Holman.

"We've done really well with what we've been faced with so far," Smith told reporters.

Moghadam said the group would consider taking legal action if the city denies their request for an extension. He said the group will not concede defeat, and will refile the petitions if they are unsuccessful.

Later Wednesday, Norman City Attorney Kathryn Walker told council members and other city officials that said she had reviewed the letter and the cases cited and "I am not persuaded that under our Charter, an extension would be granted, or even justified."