Opponents of Oklahoma County’s plans to build a jail at 1901 E Grand Blvd. escalate their efforts to stop the project.
Two Del City residents — Mayor Floyd Eason and Gina Standridge, a member of the Mid-Del Public Schools Board of Education, filed a complaint with an Oklahoma County sheriff’s deputy on May 16, citing Commissioner Myles Davidson. District 3, Oklahoma County, is accused of failing to meet its obligations. an open records request that Standridge filed with his office in early February.
Standridge sought text messages, communications and emails involving Davidson, the Oklahoma County Citizens Bond Oversight Advisory Board and Crooked Oak Public Schools regarding a proposed deal to swap properties as part of Oklahoma County’s jail plans.
Davidson’s office provided the data to Standridge on Monday, but she believes the data is incomplete.
On Friday, the commissioner said he learned through her investigation that Oklahoma County does not have a coherent policy regarding open records requests, record retention issues and more.
“We’re learning things left and right, that there are huge holes in the way we operate,” Davidson said.
Although Standridge and other opponents are convinced he did something appropriate, he flatly denies the accusation.
“I will not contaminate this process. If you remember the way the current prison was built, the criticism that followed, and all the backdoor dealings that took place, there is no way I can repeat that. We are literally dealing with someone who is. convinced that there has been misconduct, when there is not,” Davidson said.
Meanwhile, Eason announced on May 20 that he, Standridge and state Rep. Andy Fugate, D-Del City, are drafting petition language as Oklahoma County residents who will call for a grand jury investigation into Davidson and his efforts to jail the Grand build. Location boulevard.
They plan to soon file a request to distribute the petition calling for a grand jury to Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Behenna. If Behenna decides the request is justified, Eason said they will have 45 days to collect approximately 5,000 valid signatures from Oklahoma County residents to initiate the grand jury’s investigation.
More: OK County is hundreds of millions short of what it would take to build a new jail
The wording of the petition is still being drafted, but the mayor said the petition will generally ask a grand jury to investigate Davidson for dereliction of duty, for failing to respond in a timely manner to the records request and for he has failed to file campaign finance charges. reports as required by state law.
Davidson filed delinquent reports on May 13 after a Midwest City resident filed a complaint with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission.
Eason also wants the grand jury to investigate Davidson’s campaign donations to see if they influenced his decisions to push through a plan to build the prison on the controversial site, Eason said.
These records show that William Garrett, co-owner of the 1901 E Grand land, donated a total of $2,900 to Davidson’s election campaign.
“I just don’t think it’s accurate. I don’t think it shows everything,” Eason said of the reports.
Eason told The Oklahoman he believes it will be easy to find 5,000 people to sign the petition.
“My phone was blowing up with messages from people asking where they could find a copy of the petition to sign before I could even return to my seat,” Eason said.
County commissioners have not treated every site equally as they evaluate where the jail should be built, Eason said.
“I just feel like there are things going on that we don’t know about. The only way we can get all the documents is through a grand jury investigation,” Eason said.
What open documents were opponents of the Oklahoma County Jail asking for?
Standridge’s open records request included all text messages, communications and emails between Davidson and Crooked Oak Public Schools, all communications from Oklahoma County Citizens Bond Oversight Advisory Board member Xavier Neira to Crooked Oak and all communications between the oversight board and Oklahoma County officials.
Standridge said the documents provided Monday by Davidson’s office show only text communications between Neira and Davidson as they worked with Crooked Oak Public Schools Superintendent Bradley Richards to develop possible plans for a land swap between the county and the school system, intended to further relocate the school’s athletic fields. away from the proposed location of the prison.
“They were trying to make a deal” before those plans were ever made public, she said.
“I didn’t really get what I was looking for,” Standridge said.
Davidson said Friday that he was campaigning on a platform of openness and honesty, and said that to that end he would be happy to provide data from 2007 to anyone who asks about that show. Oklahoma City and Oklahoma County are considering building a jail at 1901 E Groot.
He also told The Oklahoman that he will cooperate with any investigation.
“While I feel the weight of the investigation, I understand that cooperating with the process is crucial,” he said.
Davidson said he still believes 1901 E Grand is the best location currently available for a new jail and that its selection was the right choice for the commissioners, even though their decision was not unanimous.
“I made my decision in good faith. I will let the truth prevail,” he said.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Del City Jail opponents want a grand jury to evaluate county plan
