Norman council members upset with Ward 2 selection

NORMAN—Some council members and residents are voicing their displeasure with the process for selecting an interim replacement for Ward 2 council member David Perry, who died unexpectedly after serving less than two months.

A council-appointed committee of residents, by a 3-2 vote, recommended Sean Boyd, a Chickasaw Nation executive and former Cleveland County Family YMCA board chairman, to fill the vacant seat. Boyd, 36, was one of 10 applicants interviewed by the committee.

Council member Kate Bierman said she's received dozens of emails from Ward 2 residents unhappy with Boyd' s selection because they expected the committee to identify a candidate that most closely aligns with Perry's ideology and political stance, which was progressive.

She said the committee “seems to have selected someone who could “bridge the divide in Norman and provide some balance to the council.”

Bierman said the committee was given no cl ear objective on how to operate and there are no formalized policies or procedures or sets of expectations as to what the committee should look for.

“No one is happy with how this process turned out,” she said. “It seems like the selection committee was operating under a different set of expectations than what a large portion of Ward 2 voters were expecting.”

Bierman called Boyd a conservative who favors development. She said he donated $ 500 to one of Perry's election opponents and then didn't vote in the election. She added the committee didn't have that information when they made their decision.

Reached Monday, Boyd confirmed that he donated $500 to the campaign of Andrew Tiffany, a friend. Boyd said he didn't vote because he was called out of town for “emergency work.”

Asked about his political views, he said ,“I don't believe city government should be looked at through a bipartisan lens.”

If the council approves the recommendation Tuesday night, Boyd would serve until the February election, when a representative will be chosen by Ward 2 residents to fill the remainder of Perry's two-year term. Perry, 60, was elected to the council in February. He died of a heart attack Aug. 22.

Perry' s son called the situation“unique” because his father didn't step down but“died in office.” Britton Perry, 22, a Ward 2 resident who campaigned with his father, has expressed an interest in filling the vacant seat.

“The ideas that he believed were elected to represent the people of Ward 2,” he told The Oklahoman .“Given that the election was so recent, we should have someone take these at that represents the ideas that my father stood for.”