Norman mayoral debate
Dozens of Normanites attended a debate between the three candidates for Norman mayor — incumbent Larry Heikkila, city councilman Stephen Tyler Holman and Riley Mulinix — on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (Bennett Brinkman)

In a debate Thursday, Norman’s three mayoral candidates diverged on how to deal with the city’s recent rise in homelessness, but they found common ground supporting a commuter rail line to OKC and opposing a turnpike set to cut through the eastern part of the city.

Mayor Larry Heikkila, Ward 7 Councilmember Stephen Tyler Holman and attorney Riley Mulinix kept things civil in Gaylord Hall at the University of Oklahoma while discussing their plans for Norman’s future. The night’s biggest disagreement came over a bill proposed by Sen. Lisa Standridge (R-Norman). SB 484 would prohibit municipalities with populations under 300,000 from providing “programs or services to homeless persons.”

Heikkila was the only candidate to support the bill.

“As a small town, we don’t have the money to be able to afford to keep on housing homeless people, or anybody else, doing any kind of medical kinds of procedures. We aren’t in the business of running mental health programs,” Heikkila said. “We’re running out of money now. Where are we going to get more millions to be able to go in and pay for more social services?”

Mulinix called the measure “heartless.”

“The City of Norman can’t just abdicate any responsibility for this issue. It’s a crisis at this point. I think the city doesn’t have to throw a bunch of money at it, but it also needs to be a leader with compassion,” he said. “It’s a balance between being compassionate and giving a hand up, not a handout.”

Holman criticized the bill for failing to provide any solution to homelessness and for encroaching into local governments’ liberty to address an issue as they see fit.

“We don’t need, in Norman, a state [senator] telling our local government what to do. We are elected by the people of Norman,” he said. “We need actual solutions from the state of Oklahoma, not things like this that try to criminalize and penalize people for being homeless.”

Seeking a second three-year term, Heikkila emphasized his “wide range of experiences,” including his collective 26 years in the U.S. Navy and time working for OU. Holman drew attention to his long tenure on the council, where he has served with four mayors and more than 40 other members over the years.

Mulinix, on the other hand, did not shy away from the fact he lacks prior experience in city government.

“I’m not a politician,” he said. “I see myself as a unifier and connector, because I see the biggest issue with the city, really, being divisiveness.”

As a newcomer, two of Mulinix’s fresh ideas are encouraging permaculture and publicly available food forests, along with eliminating the use of chemical pesticides in Norman’s parks, especially where children play.

Mulinix and Holman were born and raised in Norman, while Heikkila first moved to the city in 1978, connections all three candidates played up over the course of the debate. Beyond Standridge’s bill, the very concept of having a home in Norman received discussion throughout the night as Norman, like much of the rest of the country, faces two mutually compounding issues: rising homelessness rates and a lack of affordable housing.

Homelessness, ‘housing needs’ draw discussion

Incumbent mayor and candidate for reelection Larry Heikkila raises his hand on stage with fellow candidates Stephen Tyler Holman and Riley Mulinix during a debate on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (Bennett Brinkman)

The Cleveland County point-in-time counts of homeless people have tracked a steady rise over the past few years: 106 individuals in 2021; 197 in 2022; 213 in 2023; and 240 in 2024. As the 2025 numbers are finalized, a shelter on Gray Street originally intended to be temporary has remained operational for nearly three years after its intended lifespan. The shelter has repeatedly come under fire, including for its proximity to downtown and for an audit revealing problems with its management.

“I think it needs to be closed. And I think it needs to be closed because we can’t afford it, more than anything. Plus, it doesn’t do what we want,” Heikkila said. “We have the Salvation Army in town. We could be spending that money to get to the Salvation Army to do the job that they have done since the 1800s.”

Holman said the city needs a homeless shelter, even if it may not be best at its current location, but he warned that closing the Gray Street shelter has Heikkila has proposed would have unintended consequences.

“There’s over 50 people per night who stay there, and if we decide to close it at any point, there will be 50 more people out on the streets of Norman, on the sidewalks downtown, in the parks and on your front porch in your neighborhood,” he said.

Mulinix agreed, pitching his own idea to deal with the problem.

“You can’t just close it and leave these people out on the streets, as Stephen was saying,” he said. “One solution and idea I have, or it’s an idea many people have. It’s called these ‘Phoenix communities.’ It’s a stepping stone for homeless people to help them heal from the trauma that’s causing the addiction and mental health issues that they’re experiencing. Again, it’d be a hand up, not a handout, where we would help these people learn life skills, job skills and (have) a place for them to be safe.”

For Holman, a longer-term solution than the Gray Street shelter may lie on the grounds of Griffin Memorial Hospital, hundreds of state-owned acres that theoretically will go up for sale as the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services works to complete the new Donahue Hospital in Oklahoma City, although Holman and Heikkila both acknowledged the process is taking quite a while.

“That property is a great opportunity for the city wanting to add housing stock, to add more small local businesses, and also to do things like services like with the shelter and the wraparound services,” Holman said.

ODMHSAS has proposed selling the property for $50 million to help close a $150 million funding gap on the Donahue project, but Heikkila said Thursday night that the city disagrees on that price point.

In terms of housing stock, all three candidates addressed the dire need for more homes in Norman.

“The city doesn’t determine the market for what kind of housing needs to be there, but I think we need to look at some of the things that we can do,” Heikkila said. “We had a man that told us in the last Council meeting that we are (…) one of the three least dense cities in the United States. (…) We have to be able to densify what we’ve got here. We have to be able to set up and build multi-structures of different sorts.”

Holman and Mulinix encouraged incentive programs for builders. Additionally, Mulinix suggested “tiny home communities” geared toward students, and Holman advocated for zoning reform.

“We can reform our zoning code to, as the mayor said, make more efficient use of the land that we already have and the infrastructure that we’ve already built, and making it so that there’s things like one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms,” Holman said. “We have a ton of single family homes being built, we have some big apartment complexes, but we’re missing what’s called the missing middle, where a lot of people fall, and we need more of that Norman.”

While there are many proposed uses for the acreage made available from the Griffin property sale, none of which are necessarily mutually exclusive, one idea Heikkila floated last summer was a “sobering center” individuals could go to as an alternative to jail. He brought the idea up again Thursday when asked about the death of Shannon Hanchett, a 38-year-old mother of two and Norman’s “Cookie Queen.”

Hanchett, a beloved member of the community who ran the 80-year-old “Cookie Cottage” on Main Street, appeared to be undergoing a mental health crisis when she was arrested in an AT&T store for making false 911 calls and obstructing an officer. She died in the Cleveland County Jail 12 days later. Many in the community wonder why she went to jail in the first place, calling for reforms about how Norman’s police respond to mental health crises.

Heikkila said he wished Hanchett could have been sent to a sobering center, which he clarified was not just for intoxicated individuals, but anyone who does not “seem like they’re in their right mind.” Trained medical professionals would be on site to make determinations about their wellbeing, instead of sending individuals straight to jail.

“Police officers are not social workers. They are not medical people. They have to sit down and make a determination as to whether the people around them are safe or not safe,” Heikkila said. “If we had a place here in Norman that we can bring them [so] that a medical professional [can] look at them and say, ‘This guy’s fine, this guy’s not,’ whatever, then we can be servicing those people. And that kind of stuff wouldn’t happen. It’s hard to lose somebody in the jail. We’ve lost several.”

Mulinix also called Hanchett’s death a tragedy, but he suggested having non-police professionals available to intervene in the field before police have detained a person.

“I think that with additional training, our police could have a better handle on situations like that, but also I think having people involved that are more adept at dealing with mental health issues — so it’s not officers with a gun coming at someone that’s dealing with these issues, and someone that knows how to talk them down — is something that we need to invest in,” he said.

With tears in his eyes, Holman had to take a moment to collect himself while recalling Hanchett.

“Shannon was my friend, and she’s somebody I really cared about,” he said. “This should have never happened. The police shouldn’t have been the only option to respond to that situation, and the jail shouldn’t have been the only option they have to take her to. We have services in Norman. We have a state mental health institution. She was clearly suffering from a mental health issue. She was manic. She needed someone to help her. And we arrested her, we took her to the county jail, and she was left there alone, and she died alone.”

Pausing again at the thought of Hanchett’s cause of death — a heart condition exacerbated by psychosis and dehydration, according to the medical examiner’s report — Holman added, “We need to do better as a community to make sure it never happens to anybody again.”

Many projects, many opinions

Norman city councilman Stephen Tyler Holman and Norman mayor Larry Heikkila — both candidates for mayor — speak to Normanites after a debate on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (Bennett Brinkman)

If the residents of Norman do not like a proposed city endeavor, they have few qualms making that known. Last year, the city entered uncharted legal ground when residents refused to approve a franchise agreement with OG&E. In 2019 and 2022, they shot down stormwater utility improvement proposals, even as Norman struggles more and more with flooding. And at any given city council meeting, it is a safe bet to anticipate grassroots organizers speaking out against a proposed turnpike through the eastern half of the city, or an approved tax increment financing district intended to fund a new arena for OU and housing on the city’s north side.

Heikkila said he is concerned by both the city earning a reputation as the “City of No,” and with Normanites not being able to find common ground with one another.

“There’s a trend. It’s also in Edmond, it’s also in Yukon, it’s also on other places. A lot of things that have happened since COVID, a lot of things that have allowed us to basically hide behind computers and say whatever we’re going to say on the internet — that may be true or not true — helps us not make the right decision,” he said. “There’s a certain group in Norman that puts the ‘No’ on the front part of Norman, and they always oppose. As we work with those people and try to find common ground, sometimes we do. Most of the time we do.”

Heikkila has been a proponent of the arena TIF and supported renewing the franchise agreement with OG&E, but he said he does not have any “beefs” with groups in the city opposed to those topics or others.

“I try to keep on working with people, but people that absolutely refuse to work with me for one reason or another, because they don’t like me or whatever else, are difficult, I’ll tell you. And it’s hard in management. Sometimes (you) have to make the hard decision to keep on going forward,” he said.

Mulinix suggested more people would be on board with controversial projects if the city’s messaging were better.

“I think that it comes down to transparency and being better at conveying the message to people on what is trying to be done,” he said. “I don’t think on a lot of things — you know, ‘No’ issues — the city does a great job of conveying what they’re wanting to do or being transparent about it.”

Holman disputed the characterization of the city, pointing to Norman’s half-cent sales tax quality-of-life initiative, approved by residents at the polls in 2015.

“Norman voters have passed multiple initiatives that have resulted in the largest investments in Norman history in quality of life, through the Norman Forward program (and) the largest investment in Norman history in public art, also through the Norman Forward program. Norman voters approved the largest school bond in Norman history two years ago,” he said. “I think when Norman voters believe something is a good deal and that it will benefit the vast majority of residents, I feel confident that our voters do say ‘Yes.’ And when they don’t think it’s a fair deal, they don’t think it’s something we need to do, they say ‘No.’”

One of Norman Forward’s biggest projects was a $39 million library that closed four years after its opening due to mold infestation. Asked for an update, the incumbent politicians said there was little they could say, owing to active litigation, but Heikkila said the city is making sure the books and materials inside are stored safely away from the mold.

“We’re in litigation, so we can’t talk about the things that happen,” Heikkila said, before turning to Mulinix and adding, “You’re not bound by that. You can do whatever you want.”

Mulinix acknowledged residents’ frustration that the building remained closed.

“It’s a travesty that such a beautiful, expensive building is not being able to be used. And so my experience with construction litigation, it can drag on for years,” he said. “And so while we, of course, want to hold the people accountable that are responsible, we need to focus on how to move forward and get it open as soon as possible.”

One of Norman’s “No” topics is something all three candidates agreed on: opposing the ACCESS Oklahoma plan for a turnpike through eastern Norman. Mulinix drew on his experience as an attorney to acknowledge that the legal nature of land possession makes the project difficult to stop, if not for lack of trying.

“It’s difficult for the mayor to do that with the way eminent domain is, but as mayor, I would advocate for a change in the state law to where eminent domain couldn’t be used for a turnpike, because oftentimes the land in east Norman that is going to be taken for this turnpike has been in the same family for generations,” he said. “So I would advocate against the turnpike and for a change in state law.”

Heikkila said the city “tried and tried and tried” to stop or at least alter the plans in discussions with the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, but he insisted the OTA would not budge.

“That’s not a negotiation. That’s a demand, on their part,” he said.

Like Mulinix, Holman and Heikkila both said they would advocate for a change in state law to stop the project.

Alternatively, an idea all three candidates approved of was a commuter rail service connecting Edmond, Oklahoma City and Norman, likely funded through a sales tax in each city. (Someone may have to alert Edmond’s mayoral candidates, who all opposed the idea.)

“I do support this plan. I’ve been working on it and been a part of it since before I was on city council,” Holman said. “I think it’s one of the best ways that we can provide real relief to traffic congestion on I-35 by providing people other options to get around. Think of OU football game days. What if people from Edmond are able to ride that train down to Norman on game day and not crowd our streets, and parking everywhere, and all that stuff that we deal with on game days? And if people in Norman want to go see the Thunder play on an evening, they could ride that up to downtown, go to the game, have a great time, get back on the train and come back to Norman.”

A topic more split among the candidates is the arena TIF, which passed 5-4 last September. A referendum petition on the measure gained more than 10,000 signatures and currently faces a legal challenge in Cleveland County District Court to determine its veracity.

Holman voted against the TIF. Heikkila voted for it, but he seemed at the least neutral to the referendum vote occurring.

“It doesn’t make any difference to me either way if people vote. It’ll depend on what the judge says on the 19th, I believe the date is, and he tells us what to do. If it goes, we’ll go vote,” Heikkila said. “We’ll do whatever the people want done on that.”

Mulinix and Holman both approved of a vote more definitively. Holman, who describes himself as a lifelong OU sports fan, said he would prefer if the arena stayed on OU’s campus. But he also said he understands why its planned location at University North Park is attractive, too. He said most residents are not opposed to the idea of an arena itself, but rather the way the university, the private developers, the county and the city have gone about proposing it.

“If there’s going to be 100 percent commitment of sales and property taxes for 25 years that would allow financing, public financing, of up to $600 million, people think they should vote on that issue, and I advocated for that with OU for over a year, because I already knew that that’s what needed to happen,” Holman said. “I said, ‘Look, we put this to a vote of the people. We could have done it last February, last April, and then run a campaign, tell people why they should vote for a new arena, why it would be good for OU athletics and so on, get people excited, and maybe they’ll vote for it. But if this goes to the city council and passes by a five to four vote at 1:30 in the morning, like it did, there’s going to be a petition. People are going to sign it. It’s going to go to a vote of the people, and it will fail if it does.'”

The TIF vote, if it holds up in court, would likely be on ballots this summer or fall. The mayoral election comes much sooner. The three candidates face off at the ballot box Feb. 11, with a runoff April 1 between the top two candidates triggered if none receives more than 50 percent of the vote.

The Norman mayoral debate ended with Holman emphasizing the importance of every vote in local elections.

“The first time I ran, I lost by 21 votes in a runoff. Two years later, I ran again and won by 28 votes. I’ve seen multiple elections in Norman decided by just a handful of votes. Two of our city council elections last year were decided by less than 100 votes,” he said. “Every single vote matters, no matter what.”

Watch the full Norman mayoral debate

  • Andrea Hancock Headshot

    Andrea Hancock became NonDoc’s news editor in September 2024. She graduated in 2023 from Northwestern University. Originally from Stillwater, she completed an internship with NonDoc in 2022.

  • Andrea Hancock Headshot

    Andrea Hancock became NonDoc’s news editor in September 2024. She graduated in 2023 from Northwestern University. Originally from Stillwater, she completed an internship with NonDoc in 2022.