SAND SPRINGS, Okla. — The recall petitions for Sand Springs city councilors, who voted in favor of Google’s data center, failed.
The city announced the results of its verification process April 28.
WE WERE THERE >>> When Kyle Schmidt, president of the Protect Sand Springs Alliance filed the recall petitions
“This is an issue that’s really united the community. The funny thing is, they wanna claim it’s divided. It’s divided some, but the people that it’s divided are the ones that weren’t our friends to begin with,” Schmidt said on March 31 before filing the petitions.
The city released this chart outlining the results. Four of the seven petitions lacked hundreds of signatures. Three others lacked dozens.
2 News Oklahoma interviewed Sand Springs city manager Mike Carter over the phone.
“As we’ve gone along, we’ve heard from more and more people that have been supportive, so in the end, I’m not really surprised [at the failure], but, you know, starting out, you always wonder where it will go,” Carter said.
In a release, Carter said city leaders and the alliance discussed signatures of voters not registered in Sand Springs. The alliance thought the signatures fair game, while the city invalidated them, in line with the city charter.
“I think it became apparent to everybody, over time, that a lot of that happened,” Carter said, “When they advanced the alternative theory, that maybe you didn’t have to be a registered voter, in the City of Sand Springs, at the time of that, I think that we had to fall back and say no, that’s exactly what the charter says.”
2 News Oklahoma reached out to Schmidt. He was unable to carve out time for an interview due to personal reasons.
“Even though the effort has failed, we’re going to continue to look at ways to mitigate concerns that people who are anti-data center have,” Carter said, “Obviously, if the answer is, they just don’t want a data center, I think the data center will go forward. But, that does not mean that if they have legitimate concerns, that we’re not going to do things to address those concerns.”
Carter said the verification process lasted 28 days.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere --
- 2 News Oklahoma on your schedule | Download on your TV, watch for free. How to watch on your streaming device
- Download our free app for Apple, Android and Kindle devices.
- Like us on Facebook
- Follow us on Instagram
- Watch LIVE 24/7 on YouTube
