(Editor’s note: The following article includes descriptions of domestic violence that some readers may find upsetting.)
In Ward 1 of the Norman City Council, incumbent Councilmember Austin Ball is seeking reelection despite new criminal charges filed against him and his wife regarding campaign finance violations, along with resurfaced charges of domestic violence filed against him in Colorado in 2016.
On Jan. 30, Ball was charged in Cleveland County with one count of embezzlement and one count of making false certificate as a public office, which are both misdemeanors. He turned himself in to authorities Feb. 3 and was released on bail later that day, court records show. The charges stem from his use of campaign funds to pull an “infected tooth” after a fellow councilmember remarked upon his breath when they almost got into a physical altercation after an executive session.
Austin Ball’s wife, Kayla, has also been charged with embezzling funds from his campaign account. The couple is “working out” a separation, according to Austin Ball, and they filed protective orders against one another in November. In the protective order filed by Austin Ball, which was granted, he accused Kayla Ball of concealing the location of their children. Kayla Ball’s protective order was not granted after neither party showed up to a hearing, but in her petition, she described Ball as physically abusive and cited charges he faced in Colorado for assault and harassment against her.
The petition also mentions a case in Colorado in which the Pueblo County district attorney charged Ball with “domestic violence” — specifically the charges of assault, harassment, violation of a protective order and child neglect — in November 2016. Colorado court records still list the case as “open,” but in 2022, a warrant for Ball’s arrest was labeled as “vacated.” The records name a related case from February 2016, in which Ball pleaded guilty to harassment.
Ball was elected in 2023 after incumbent Brandi Studley announced she was moving out of Norman and intended to resign from her post about a month prior to the election. Ball received 51.9 percent of the vote and defeated Studley by 32 votes. While on the council, he has opposed the continued operation of a temporary homeless shelter in downtown Norman and voted in support of the tax increment finance district for the University North Park arena and entertainment project — two polarizing issues to Normanites. His stances on the shelter and TIF district are similar to those of incumbent Mayor Larry Heikkila, who is also running for reelection. Ball has posted pictures distributing campaign materials for Heikkila.
David Gandesbery and Drew Hooper will appear on the Ward 1 ballot alongside Ball on Feb. 11, although Hooper has announced he is no longer seeking election and that he endorses Gandesbery. If none of the three candidates receives more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two will proceed to a runoff on April 1.
Ward 1 is roughly bound by 12th Avenue Southeast on the west and 36th Avenue Southeast to the east, as well as Alameda Street to the north and State Highway 9 to the south.
The following cheat sheet provides an overview of the Norman Ward 1 candidates and is derived from publicly available information, such as campaign websites, news reports, social media accounts and court records. It also includes statements given by Ball in response to the charges against him. Candidates are listed alphabetically.
Austin Ball (incumbent)
Age: 43
Profession/Background: According to a 2023 interview with The Norman Transcript, Austin Ball graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and criminology from the University of Oklahoma in 2006. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps and Oklahoma Army National Guard, but he was injured in 2012, leading him to become a stay-at-home dad.
As a councilman, Ball has one of the most active presences on Facebook, where he regularly provides updates on the city council’s activities, such as posting some of his emails to other council members and city employees.
On Jan. 30, Ball was charged with false certificate by a public officer and embezzlement. His wife, Kayla, is also charged with embezzlement. A warrant for the couple’s arrest was issued Feb. 3, and Ball told the OU Daily he would be turning himself in. Court records show he was arrested Feb. 3 and released on bail later that evening. Ball is set to be arraigned Feb. 26, two weeks after the election.
An affidavit from the OSBI agent who investigated the claims of embezzlement reported that Austin Ball claimed Kayla Ball made more than $1,400 in purchases from his campaign account without his permission or knowledge. Kayla Ball denied intentionally spending the money, claiming she had confused the campaign account’s debit card and her own personal debit card, which were issued by the same bank and thus looked similar. Ball told the agent when he initially confronted his wife about the purchases, she changed her story over the course of the conversation. The affidavit said Austin Ball contacted the Norman City Clerk, Brenda Hall, as he wanted to “cover his bases and resolve the situation quickly.”
According to the investigator, Hall told Austin Ball to file a report including what his wife spent. Kayla Ball told the investigator she had instructed Austin Ball to complete his part of the investigation with police and file all reports with Hall including all information he had. Kayla Ball said she would never instruct her husband to omit any expenditures on the report.
Also included in the affidavit is an investigation into an expenditure Austin Ball made for an emergency dental procedure using campaign funds. The investigator said Austin Ball changed his version of events over the course of questioning, first saying he went to Dental Depot before a campaign event, and then claiming he went before a City Council meeting later that afternoon.
The affidavit also states that Ball “almost fought” then-Ward 8 and current Ward 2 Councilmember Matt Peacock, whom Ball said remarked that his breath smelled, at a city council meeting the night before. Ball told Peacock he had an infected tooth. He told Fox 25 on Wednesday that “based on the incidences that occurred there, I felt I was authorized to use it.”
“He intercepted me, got in front of me, prevented me from leaving, started screaming in my face,” Ball said. “When I responded to him he goes ‘Man your breath stinks.’ I had an infected tooth. So very next day I went straight to the dentist.”
The oral health expenditure, dated June 8, 2023, is listed as “event prep.” Ball was listed as present at a Norman City Council oversight meeting at 4 p.m. that day. No city council meeting was listed as having been scheduled the night before.
“Based on this investigation, [the investigator] believed Austin embezzled campaign funds for personal use and filed two false documents with the Norman city clerk, claiming that a dental visit was a campaign expense and omitting Kayla’s unauthorized expense,” the affidavit concluded.
Ball shared an email dated Jan. 31 that he sent to Shaakira Calnick, Norman’s city auditor, in which he speculated the district attorney had political motivation to press charges now, and likened the situation to that of former councilman Kelly Lynn:
Two years ago, after suspecting some fraudulent activity with my account, I contacted the city, which included the city attorney’s office and city manager, NPD, and the OSBI. I cooperated and brought everything to the OSBI and worked with the city on how to file my initial campaign reports regarding this, handled the matter civilly outside of court, reported this to the city and OSBI and amended my reports with the city’s assistance and guidance. My last contact with anyone regarding this was over a year ago. Three weeks ago, at a meeting with some local developers, I was asked if the rumors were true that charges were coming due to my campaign finances. I immediately contacted the DA and told them who I was and what I had heard and offered to come down that day to bring all my financial records and make a statement and to cooperate in anyway I could and was told they had no pending charges but would contact me if anything developed. That evening, I contacted the city attorney who told me that he wouldn’t worry about it and he would be very disappointed in the DA if they did file charges regarding that. I didn’t think anything else about it until a week later when the mayor called me and said the city manager contacted him telling him there were some kind of ethics violation charges coming. I emailed city management and attorney to inquire what was happening, how I could cooperate, and to ensure my kids wouldn’t see me get arrested or not be able to make it home to them. The city manager contacted me and acted like he had no clue what was going on, but nothing would happen at our meeting, and him and our city attorney both said they would contact me if anything changed. Then, yesterday, I got a call from law enforcement, and, like I’ve been trying to do for the last month, offered to turn myself in and still waiting since the actual charges haven’t been released and according to the court clerk won’t be until Monday. So either the OSBI and DA are incompetent and it takes them 18 months to file a misdemeanor embezzlement charge for what amounts to a few hundred dollars that wasn’t even embezzled since it is in the account and completely accounted for, which is possible. But given what happened to Kelly Lynn two years ago, the similarities where we both contacted city management and the city attorney and were given advice and counsel and then were both charged and made front page news 10 days before an election, what I feel is becoming a pattern is that the DA is conspiring with a select few career city councilors, city management, and the city’s attorney office to interfere with an election and to use our justice system to go after candidates they don’t like.
The OSBI affidavit said Ball and his wife separated after he learned she had used campaign funds on personal expenditures, but it noted they had reconciled by April 2024. The pair filed dueling protective orders against each other Nov. 18, 2024, each naming the other as defendants. In the protective order filed against Kayla Ball, Austin Ball claimed she had been behaving erratically and was withholding the location of their children. An emergency protective order was granted, giving Austin Ball custody of their children.
Kayla Ball’s petition for a protective order claimed Austin Ball had been physically abusive since the outset of their marriage, including the accusation of beating her with a wrench and holding her at gunpoint. The petition contains texts she alleges are from Ball that disparage her and her family.
The first text included states, “Go do drugs and get drunk and get raped. Not going to hurt our feelings.”
Other texts include a variety of accusations against Kayla Ball and her family, and one calls her brother a homophobic slur.
The petition includes a letter from a victim advocate informing Kayla Ball of her rights regarding domestic violence charges filed against Austin Ball in November 2016. The letter said a warrant had been issued for Austin Ball’s arrest after he failed to appear in court related to the charges. The case is listed as “open” in court records, but the warrant for his arrest was canceled in 2022.
Those records name a related case in February 2016, in which Ball was charged with assault, harassment and child neglect. Austin Ball pleaded guilty to harassment under Colorado Title 18, Article 9, Section 111(1)(a), which defines harassment as when a person “strikes, shoves, kicks, or otherwise touches a person or subjects [her] to physical contact.” He pleaded not guilty to the other two charges. Records indicate a plea deal was reached in October 2016. In both 2016 cases in Colorado, a mandatory protective order was issued to Kayla Ball.
The petition Kayla Ball filed in 2024 against Austin Ball was dismissed after a motion to withdraw was filed Jan. 7. That protective order was the sixth requested against Ball in Oklahoma over the past two decades, all of which were dismissed. His first ex-wife petitioned for protective orders in 2007 and 2008 in Cleveland and Oklahoma counties, respectively. His second ex-wife petitioned for two protective orders in 2012, in Cleveland and Pontotoc counties, respectively, and another in Tulsa County in 2013. An emergency protective order was initially granted in 2013, but it was dismissed after the plaintiff failed to appear in court.
In their petitions for a protective order in Cleveland County, both ex-wives claimed Austin Ball was physically abusive. Both women filed for divorce within a month of their last petition for a protective order.
In the case of Austin Ball’s second wife, he also filed a protective order against her, stating in his petition she was physically abusive toward him. That protective order was also dismissed.
Asked about his history involving protective orders, Ball emphasized that none of the orders against him was ultimately upheld.
“As far as the protective orders, as you said, they were dismissed, and since they are related to the separation my wife and I are currently working out, (I) fail to see how those are relevant and won’t comment on them,” he said.
Ball did not respond to a subsequent request for comment regarding his criminal cases in Colorado.
Platform:Â In a post detailing why he chose to run again, Ball said he was driven by his love of Norman’s people and environment.
“When our previous council and mayor decided we couldn’t leave our houses and enjoy our city (…) I knew something had to be done,” he wrote.
On his website, Austin Ball lists his top priorities as supporting first responders to improve public safety, starting initiatives to support small businesses and improving and maintaining Norman’s parks and recreational spaces. He also lists developing the property around Griffin Memorial Hospital — which the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services purportedly intends to sell — as a priority, but he opposes the inclusion of a homeless shelter, as some councilmembers would like. Ball told KOSU he is against the development of a low-barrier homeless shelter there, or anywhere else in the city.
On his Facebook, homelessness is his most commonly discussed issue. In October, he called for private organizations and churches to provide more for homeless people.
David Michael Jordan Gandesbery
Age: 49
Profession/Background: David Gandesbery’s campaign website says he has 17 years of experience as a safety and security specialist in the health care industry, and a Facebook post elaborates that he specializes in teaching and practicing de-escalation tactics. He also serves on a homeless outreach team. For the past two years, he has been a civil mediator for the City of Norman.
While the Cleveland County Election Board’s filing record lists Gandesbery by his full name — David Michael Jordan Gandesbery — his social media and website typically refer to him as “David Gandesbery” or “David MJ Gandesbery.” Court records show he changed his middle name to “Michael Jordan” in 2007.
Court records also show that Gandesbery, alongside his then-wife, faced default judgement in a 2003 small claims issue of indebtedness and a 2007 eviction for debts less than $1,500.
Platform: In a Facebook post, Gandesbery listed his motivation for running as showing his four sons — all adopted by him and his wife — “what city politics is like.” His sons have disabilities, and one is non-communicative, which he said has taught him the importance of sticking up for “the little guy” and trying to find ways to communicate with all people. He aims to create a “compassion-based” council.
On his website, Gandesbery lists his priorities as getting the University North Park TIF district to a vote of the people, improving access to mental health care, opposing the proposed turnpike and focusing on “solutions, not rhetoric” to address Norman’s homelessness. He also says he wants to ensure the interests of Ward 1, which is one of Norman’s smallest wards, are not “left behind” in discussions. For example, he hopes to address the water level of a reservoir at Summit Lakes.
Drew Hooper
Age: 44
Profession/Background: According to his LinkedIn, Drew Hooper has been a marketing specialist for the Pioneer Library System — the operator of Norman Public Library — for the past five years. His Facebook states he went to the Art Institute of Dallas, and he occasionally posts pictures of his artwork. His Facebook also shows he started his own cleaning business, Artfully Clean, in 2017, and a food stand selling peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in 2018.
In 2020, he gifted the food stand’s trailer to Oklahoma City-based musical artist and activist Jabee Williams, who repurposed it as a pop-up featuring a rotation of local chefs called Jabee Likes Food.
Platform: Hooper never established a campaign website or social media profile dedicated to his campaign, and he did not post any information about his campaign platform to his personal Facebook page.
In a video posted Jan. 21, Hooper announced that, while his name will still be on the ballot, he is not seeking election to Ward 1 after all.
“I’m endorsing David Michael Jordan,” Hooper says, “because I need to focus on what’s really important: basketball.”
Perhaps in part playing off of Hooper’s last name, the video shows Gandesbery and Hooper playing basketball in a gym and Hooper asking Gandesbery if his middle name is really Michael Jordan. Russell Rice, who lost to Matt Peacock in Ward 2 last year, eventually enters the frame, holding a campaign sign for Gandesbery.
(Update: This article was updated at 9:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 7, to correct a typo in its headline. NonDoc regrets the error.)
