Norman council member questions tactics used by signature gatherers

NORMAN—Norman City Council member Kate Bi er man said Wednesday cir cu lat ors representing Unite Norman gained entry to at least two senior living communities to obtain signatures for a petition to recall Ward 3 representative Alison Petrone.

“We have heard from many, many people who are extremely concerned t hat their name or the name of a person that they have power of attorney over ended up on that petition,” Bierman told The Oklahoman. “We heard from some concerned residents that signature gatherers were telling residents ` it's OK, we can sign this for you' if they weren't able.”

Some members of t hose communities are physically able to sign, but are not legally able to do so because of an existing power of attorney, she said.

Unite Norman tried to remove Norman Mayor Breea Clark and four of eight council members, including Bierman, for reducing the police budget and “failing to uphold the will of the people.

But the group did not submit enough signatures on petitions to recall Bierman, who represents Ward 1, and Ward 7 member Stephen Holman. Ward 5 member Sereta Wilson resigned, and the group failed to submit the required number of valid signatures to support a mayoral petition, according to City Clerk Brenda Hall.

Petrone's petition was the only one t hat supported a recall vote, Hall said.

Bierman is behind a group of Norman residents that has started a signature verification process of their own, and plans to challenge the signatures gathered for

Petrone's petition in court. Bi er man is also supporting an effort to make the petition pages, which are public record, more easily accessible.

“Because of the way this petition gathering was conducted, many residents have asked to know if their names ended up on this petition without them signing it,” she said. “But PDFs are notoriously difficult to keyword search unless they are scanned in a specific way.

“It is unduly burdensome to ask residents to comb through hundreds of scanned pages in a needlein- a- haystack search. The purpose is simply to provide Norman residents with a way to get peace of mind — an easier method in which to search for their names themselves.”

Unite Norman is pushing back, and has accused Bi er man of intending to “d ox ,” or publish“the private names and personal home addresses of the 30,000 citizens who signed petitions for recall.”

“We urgently implore you to immediately cease and desist f rom these publicly stated plans,” a letter stated. “It is the Constitutional right of every citizen to exercise their right to petition their government. It is a right so sacred, it is enshrined in our Constitution.”

In a written response, an attorney representing Bierman and Petrone said the group' s letter“is not only offensive, it is essentially a threat designed to silence Ms. Bierman.”

“Your allegation of `doxxing' is patently false because the information which you find objectionable is a matter of public record,” the letter stated. The attorney also told the group it has“no authority whatsoever to direct anyone to cease and desist.”