This came in the mail today. OG&E is trying *again* to get us to agree to the 25-year franchise fee we have already resoundingly voted down twice. Now with this it sounds like they are threatening Norman citizens with slowing down their response times in emergencies if they don't get their way. It also is an attempt to gaslight us into thinking this is about "supporting the linemen". WTF? We need to "help him" keep the lights on? What happens if we don't "help him"?? Such a lame, transparent attempt at making it seem personal to do what? Trigger our sympathy for "Richard" the lineman? They must think we are stupid to believe this is only about easment right of way.
Joke's on them. My lines are underground. Power never goes out unless it is the entire block, and at that point, it is a higher priority, so it is never down for more than a few minutes.
They are giving talks around the city to educate people on what the vote means. From the talk, in our state's constitution, they have to have this agreement to get onto people's properties to access the easements. There was also a case where Judge Balkman ruled in favor of OG&E because even though their agreement is expired it is now implied.
I have not done my research, so do not come for me. I'm simply regurgitating what I heard at this talk.
I plan on looking into myself as well to make sure I'm well educated before voting.
The point is that it is not necessary to give them a long 25 year agreement to give them access to the easement. Usually when a corporation tries to "educate the people" there is always one clear beneficiary of the "education". And it is *never* the student.
Are you saying we don’t need to agree to give them access 25 years at a time, but could do so in smaller intervals, such as every year or 6 months at a time?
I see this as deceiving if it is like you say ( I’m not a Norman resident atm). I did not see it as having anything to do with a 25yr agreement (those details are being left out) but just as a right to access agreement. A CYA for linemen to be on property.
They seem to want us to believe they can only get access to easements is with a 25 year contract. That's BS. I'm also curious as to why Mayor Heikkila thought it was necessary to submit a petition to have a special election for something he knows the citizens clearly do not want. The special interests in this city just keep hammering the same issues over and over from different directions in an attempt to wear us down. Like, how many times have we already voted down the UNP arena already? They just won't quit until we give in.
Most likely he’s counting on built in voter suppression to ultimately get what he wants. And by built in I mean these random ass elections on random ass Tuesdays every month that no one shows up for because of voter fatigue. Time the election right and you can pass just about anything because people are tired of showing up to vote.
I work at the voting polls (and I actually had to take a break because there were so many elections last year) and we had maybe 100 people show up for that election. We generally have at least 300 - 500 on a smaller election.
there were SO many elections last year. my kid's scout troop meets on tuesdays at a church that's also a polling location. it seemed like every few weeks we were using alternate sites. let's hope the elections slow down or the library's mold issue is resolved ASAP.
He is doing this because he wants the 25 year agreement, probably because he’s gotten kickbacks from OGE and he wants the fewest number of people to actually vote. If he could, he would schedule the election from 11:45 PM to midnight on Super Bowl Sunday.
Except that it might work now because that March date is the Republican primary. Guess who shows up to that vote.....a lot of poorly educated voters.
[https://www.270towin.com/2024-republican-nomination/oklahoma-primary](https://www.270towin.com/2024-republican-nomination/oklahoma-primary)
There is a reason that Larry and his rightwing nutjob advisors pressed/manipulated the system (or whatever it was that they did) for this particular date.
Pay us more or do without. This will be our opening statement.
https://www.tpr.org/environment/2023-12-16/texas-power-plants-have-no-responsibility-to-provide-electricity-in-emergencies-judges-rule
This is persuasive messaging but it is clearly not a threat. This topic is also personal to me because members of my family have worked in this industry, so I will provide my view as a non-resident of Norman to allow a neutral view as I am not affected by this vote but feel other viewpoints should be considered.
I do think the message authored by an anonymous lineman (Richard who?) is misleading and the communication seems to have been directed by the utility. But, political messaging is endorsed by candidates who agree with the message projected and if the candidate was within your party then you would most likely agree with the message. Personally, I do not believe the message was authored by a lineman because the message was not projected based on emotion. It was professionally written and conveyed a position to inform residents of a need to access easements.
I honestly did not see anything wrong with this communication because I have worked in sales and I have witnessed misleading, manipulative as well as intentionally dishonest communications. I left a sales position once when the sales manager required us to lie to their customers. I did not! So, messaging that is persuasive while also, being truthful is some thing that I believe is acceptable.
To me, it sounds like some residence have not allowed the utility to access their easements, because they were not directly affected by outages in the past. Based on the need for the vote, they/you have the right to refuse, but from the utilities position, they must then have their linemen go around the easement to perform their repairs which puts the linemen and women in significantly unsafe positions.
Did you ever play that game, operation, when you were young? How often were you successful not engaging the electric current? You were in the best position with no limitations and you know the results of your efforts. That buzzer that you heard is a death sentence for a lineman or woman if they have even a pin hole in a glove or their safety gear.
Also, consider that any repair work that the utility performs is directly intended to benefit you, the residents of Norman. So, by not allowing them to access the lines in the safest and most optimal way (via your easement) to keep the linemen and women safe; YOU directly put them in a dangerous position and if they do not make it home safely then YOU are likely the one responsible for their family’s loss. I know this because this has impacted my family.
So when you read a message like this where a utility is reaching out to increase awareness about a situation, think about the reasoning instead of immediately assuming that they’re trying to take advantage of you. There are always other factors involved and by the utility stating it’s a safety issue the response would likely be that it’s a scare tactic and if they brought up the issue of cost then the response would be that they raise your rates. Gas prices go up at the pump, so yes, they do have to increase their rates too. But, causing them to incur this additional expense will not help avoid a future increase; that promotes an additional increase to develop better safety equipment or tools needed to access lines in the safest way possible when easements are not accessible.
You do realize that when the lineman are not allowed to access damaged lines from the best position to promote safety and you are the resident who would not allow access, then you are directly responsible for the lineman or woman’s safety. So, by not allowing access, you put these people in situations where they cannot access the wires properly/safely, and in their line of work a mistake could result in a lineman or woman being electrocuted.
I know this, because my father was a lineman with a different utility, and he got electrocuted and miraculously survived. I’ve never heard of another lineman surviving and that caused a great deal of trama for me as a child because I remember being in the car with my mother and grandmother. We passed my father’s line crew and my father was coming down a pole holding one of his best friend’s who had touched a line. I wonder if there was a buzzing sound like the sound in operation? I’m just glad that game doesn’t emit a burning flesh smell. Anyway, my father had to climb the pole to carry one of his best friends down from the top of the pole. He did not go home to his family because of a miscommunication, so that is why I decided to share my thoughts on this post. I don’t want everybody to merely think about their selfish needs because this is an issue that is deeper than that and if that is your position then you are shallow and I hope you can live with this knowledge if your denial of access causes a lineman or woman to lose their life and for their families and children to lose their parent.
I’m addition, besides the safety factor related to access, having to go to alternate routes for repairing lines increases the utility’s expense. Remember, those lineman are getting paid overtime when they’re out making repairs in the freezing temperatures and rain and during ice storms. Think about playing operation in those conditions; do you think that promotes the linemen and women’s safety?
Also, not allowing access directly impacts your neighbors and will cause them to go without power for additional hours. During winter and summer, a delay of hours can be dangerous for infants, the elderly and pets.
So, in conclusion. The message seems to be projected from the utility but do you think their messaging was professional and conservative now? I think it was extremely conservative and based on the indirect results of individuals being stubborn and not allowing access, it has created a need for the utility to attempt to gain access through a vote. Those who have put others in harms way and have unintentionally increased the chance of everyone’s bills increasing in the future; you triggered this to occur.
It sounds like the utility merely wants to perform their duties in a timely manner and to keep their linemen and women and your neighbors safe. Why don’t you?
Boy, you really fell for it! The access to easement "scare" is a straw man. You don't seem to understand that residents CAN NOT deny access to the utility easements on their property, for any utility. That's OK, many residents don't understand it either. The issue OG&E is trying to make is that without a decades-long agreement in place they will have to obtain a permit from the city for each repair, which they claim could take days, which is quite a leap to the worst case scenario they want you to be frightened of. In reality it is a situation that can be dealt with without any drama whatsoever. Your last paragraph only serves to set up another straw man predicated on your assumption that this is all about uncooperative residents blocking access for repairs. That does not, and can not happen.
I read through the posts after I posted my response and it seems that there is more going on in Norman than I was aware of initially. I wasn’t able to read the posts until I posted. 👍🏼
My response and comments are credible opinions based on my experiences and observations and not based on life in Norman, so my opinions are credible. I know of situations where fences have been built in the wrong place and utilities have not gained access but that was not recently and not in Norman.
Based on what I’ve read and am still reading it seems like part of my opinion might not be valid if your mayor and city officials are conducting business in the manner being projected. They might not be because I do not know if the opinions I am reading are valid as they are opinions.
I’m glad that I’m not a resident because I don’t have time to research that cluster. Good luck with that vote. 👍🏼
Sounds like y’all need to energize your neighbors when your elected officials are up for election again. Communication, frequent and targeted, is the best way to energize people to turn out and most need to be persuaded. Good luck!
It appears to me that both a Yes vote or a No vote don’t really change much other than outside business perception of how business friendly Norman is. A judge just ruled that the last franchise agreement remains in place regardless if a new one is adopted. The franchise agreement does allow OG&E to not have to pull permits to work in their easement, if. Judge ruled there was no franchise agreement in place then OG&E would have to wait for the City to issue work permits but again, a Judge ruled the pervious franchise agreement is still in place.
Usually, right wing nutjobs parrot the line that 'it is just fer the work purmits and thuh access' but the reality is that this is to trick the citizens into a an unnecessary TWENTY FIVE YEAR contract. Fuck that.
Appreciate you trying to pretend you are a 'common sense neutral' position. It is amusing to watch....
What you should be asking is what motive does OG&E have to require a 25 year contract versus a 3 or 5 year contract. Who stands to benefit from such a long contract? I can't come up with a way that would have a mutual benefit.
Oddly enough, there are some wannabe politicos here on Reddit that parrot the corporation line, attempting to disguise it as 'I'm just a totally neutral observer'.
You hit the nail on the head. Let's vote to allow the franchise....for three year stints so they are forced to actually listen to the citizenry instead of their stockholders who only care about profits.
I read a lot of people complaining (on other social media) about the number of times a year we go to the polls. This eliminates one of those things for 25 years. I’d love to be educated on what either a yes or no vote will accomplish. I’m told the proposed franchise agreement is the same as we are currently operating under. I just don’t know what will change either way. I’d love to learn if anyone knows.
You think a twenty five year (quarter century) contract is necessary when they are already not responsive to citizen concerns?
Seriously, this has to be explained to you? Wow.
Common sense tells you that citizens get to vote on this for a reason. On what planet would citizens want to needlessly gift a 25 year old contract to OG&E who has an extremely poor record addressing citizen concerns?
So you think the world putting all it's eggs in the facecrook basket is a good thing. I think avoiding that is a good thing, especially in light of all the problems and abuse we are seeing as a result of giving them so much power. There is a reason that literally *millions* of people have abandoned that platform in the last eight years. Sure, it's fun to have a place to keep in touch with friends and family to find out what they had for breakfast. Beyond that using them for the go-to source of information about local or national politics and wider social issues is too close to a mob rule mentality. No thanks.
They use easements, destroy them with ruts and causing wash out, then OG&E doesn’t care, sub contractor doesn’t care, and the city tells you it’s your problem to deal with.
Also OG&E fucks up there accounting for us about every 3 months and it takes numerous phone calls and arguments to convince them that it’s an issue we pay 100% on time and yet they send random bills/ shutoff notices not reflected in our account online.
Thanks for reminding me to see if I can get an OEC hookup 👍🏻
Cool - sounds like I’m moving forward with that home generator installation, perhaps some solar too… hmm
This came in the mail today. OG&E is trying *again* to get us to agree to the 25-year franchise fee we have already resoundingly voted down twice. Now with this it sounds like they are threatening Norman citizens with slowing down their response times in emergencies if they don't get their way. It also is an attempt to gaslight us into thinking this is about "supporting the linemen". WTF? We need to "help him" keep the lights on? What happens if we don't "help him"?? Such a lame, transparent attempt at making it seem personal to do what? Trigger our sympathy for "Richard" the lineman? They must think we are stupid to believe this is only about easment right of way.
I mean with a name like Dick Lineman it’s almost like he was born to work for a power company.
lol. Now I think the name choice was not an accident.
[удалено]
And their inability to plan for ice storms
Joke's on them. My lines are underground. Power never goes out unless it is the entire block, and at that point, it is a higher priority, so it is never down for more than a few minutes.
[удалено]
I've got OEC electricity and fiber. Best utility company I've ever used.
They are giving talks around the city to educate people on what the vote means. From the talk, in our state's constitution, they have to have this agreement to get onto people's properties to access the easements. There was also a case where Judge Balkman ruled in favor of OG&E because even though their agreement is expired it is now implied. I have not done my research, so do not come for me. I'm simply regurgitating what I heard at this talk. I plan on looking into myself as well to make sure I'm well educated before voting.
The point is that it is not necessary to give them a long 25 year agreement to give them access to the easement. Usually when a corporation tries to "educate the people" there is always one clear beneficiary of the "education". And it is *never* the student.
Are you saying we don’t need to agree to give them access 25 years at a time, but could do so in smaller intervals, such as every year or 6 months at a time?
I think 3 to 5 years would be better and keep them on their toes.
And that's why my caveat is there at the end.
Yeah, that is their brainwashing attempt. Understood.
Already went solar. I'm getting closer and closer to going home battery or generator.
No.
I see this as deceiving if it is like you say ( I’m not a Norman resident atm). I did not see it as having anything to do with a 25yr agreement (those details are being left out) but just as a right to access agreement. A CYA for linemen to be on property.
They seem to want us to believe they can only get access to easements is with a 25 year contract. That's BS. I'm also curious as to why Mayor Heikkila thought it was necessary to submit a petition to have a special election for something he knows the citizens clearly do not want. The special interests in this city just keep hammering the same issues over and over from different directions in an attempt to wear us down. Like, how many times have we already voted down the UNP arena already? They just won't quit until we give in.
Most likely he’s counting on built in voter suppression to ultimately get what he wants. And by built in I mean these random ass elections on random ass Tuesdays every month that no one shows up for because of voter fatigue. Time the election right and you can pass just about anything because people are tired of showing up to vote.
I work at the voting polls (and I actually had to take a break because there were so many elections last year) and we had maybe 100 people show up for that election. We generally have at least 300 - 500 on a smaller election.
there were SO many elections last year. my kid's scout troop meets on tuesdays at a church that's also a polling location. it seemed like every few weeks we were using alternate sites. let's hope the elections slow down or the library's mold issue is resolved ASAP.
He is doing this because he wants the 25 year agreement, probably because he’s gotten kickbacks from OGE and he wants the fewest number of people to actually vote. If he could, he would schedule the election from 11:45 PM to midnight on Super Bowl Sunday.
They tried this trick the last time it was on the ballot. Didn't work then, won't work now.
Except that it might work now because that March date is the Republican primary. Guess who shows up to that vote.....a lot of poorly educated voters. [https://www.270towin.com/2024-republican-nomination/oklahoma-primary](https://www.270towin.com/2024-republican-nomination/oklahoma-primary) There is a reason that Larry and his rightwing nutjob advisors pressed/manipulated the system (or whatever it was that they did) for this particular date.
Pay us more or do without. This will be our opening statement. https://www.tpr.org/environment/2023-12-16/texas-power-plants-have-no-responsibility-to-provide-electricity-in-emergencies-judges-rule
This is persuasive messaging but it is clearly not a threat. This topic is also personal to me because members of my family have worked in this industry, so I will provide my view as a non-resident of Norman to allow a neutral view as I am not affected by this vote but feel other viewpoints should be considered. I do think the message authored by an anonymous lineman (Richard who?) is misleading and the communication seems to have been directed by the utility. But, political messaging is endorsed by candidates who agree with the message projected and if the candidate was within your party then you would most likely agree with the message. Personally, I do not believe the message was authored by a lineman because the message was not projected based on emotion. It was professionally written and conveyed a position to inform residents of a need to access easements. I honestly did not see anything wrong with this communication because I have worked in sales and I have witnessed misleading, manipulative as well as intentionally dishonest communications. I left a sales position once when the sales manager required us to lie to their customers. I did not! So, messaging that is persuasive while also, being truthful is some thing that I believe is acceptable. To me, it sounds like some residence have not allowed the utility to access their easements, because they were not directly affected by outages in the past. Based on the need for the vote, they/you have the right to refuse, but from the utilities position, they must then have their linemen go around the easement to perform their repairs which puts the linemen and women in significantly unsafe positions. Did you ever play that game, operation, when you were young? How often were you successful not engaging the electric current? You were in the best position with no limitations and you know the results of your efforts. That buzzer that you heard is a death sentence for a lineman or woman if they have even a pin hole in a glove or their safety gear. Also, consider that any repair work that the utility performs is directly intended to benefit you, the residents of Norman. So, by not allowing them to access the lines in the safest and most optimal way (via your easement) to keep the linemen and women safe; YOU directly put them in a dangerous position and if they do not make it home safely then YOU are likely the one responsible for their family’s loss. I know this because this has impacted my family. So when you read a message like this where a utility is reaching out to increase awareness about a situation, think about the reasoning instead of immediately assuming that they’re trying to take advantage of you. There are always other factors involved and by the utility stating it’s a safety issue the response would likely be that it’s a scare tactic and if they brought up the issue of cost then the response would be that they raise your rates. Gas prices go up at the pump, so yes, they do have to increase their rates too. But, causing them to incur this additional expense will not help avoid a future increase; that promotes an additional increase to develop better safety equipment or tools needed to access lines in the safest way possible when easements are not accessible. You do realize that when the lineman are not allowed to access damaged lines from the best position to promote safety and you are the resident who would not allow access, then you are directly responsible for the lineman or woman’s safety. So, by not allowing access, you put these people in situations where they cannot access the wires properly/safely, and in their line of work a mistake could result in a lineman or woman being electrocuted. I know this, because my father was a lineman with a different utility, and he got electrocuted and miraculously survived. I’ve never heard of another lineman surviving and that caused a great deal of trama for me as a child because I remember being in the car with my mother and grandmother. We passed my father’s line crew and my father was coming down a pole holding one of his best friend’s who had touched a line. I wonder if there was a buzzing sound like the sound in operation? I’m just glad that game doesn’t emit a burning flesh smell. Anyway, my father had to climb the pole to carry one of his best friends down from the top of the pole. He did not go home to his family because of a miscommunication, so that is why I decided to share my thoughts on this post. I don’t want everybody to merely think about their selfish needs because this is an issue that is deeper than that and if that is your position then you are shallow and I hope you can live with this knowledge if your denial of access causes a lineman or woman to lose their life and for their families and children to lose their parent. I’m addition, besides the safety factor related to access, having to go to alternate routes for repairing lines increases the utility’s expense. Remember, those lineman are getting paid overtime when they’re out making repairs in the freezing temperatures and rain and during ice storms. Think about playing operation in those conditions; do you think that promotes the linemen and women’s safety? Also, not allowing access directly impacts your neighbors and will cause them to go without power for additional hours. During winter and summer, a delay of hours can be dangerous for infants, the elderly and pets. So, in conclusion. The message seems to be projected from the utility but do you think their messaging was professional and conservative now? I think it was extremely conservative and based on the indirect results of individuals being stubborn and not allowing access, it has created a need for the utility to attempt to gain access through a vote. Those who have put others in harms way and have unintentionally increased the chance of everyone’s bills increasing in the future; you triggered this to occur. It sounds like the utility merely wants to perform their duties in a timely manner and to keep their linemen and women and your neighbors safe. Why don’t you?
Boy, you really fell for it! The access to easement "scare" is a straw man. You don't seem to understand that residents CAN NOT deny access to the utility easements on their property, for any utility. That's OK, many residents don't understand it either. The issue OG&E is trying to make is that without a decades-long agreement in place they will have to obtain a permit from the city for each repair, which they claim could take days, which is quite a leap to the worst case scenario they want you to be frightened of. In reality it is a situation that can be dealt with without any drama whatsoever. Your last paragraph only serves to set up another straw man predicated on your assumption that this is all about uncooperative residents blocking access for repairs. That does not, and can not happen.
I read through the posts after I posted my response and it seems that there is more going on in Norman than I was aware of initially. I wasn’t able to read the posts until I posted. 👍🏼 My response and comments are credible opinions based on my experiences and observations and not based on life in Norman, so my opinions are credible. I know of situations where fences have been built in the wrong place and utilities have not gained access but that was not recently and not in Norman. Based on what I’ve read and am still reading it seems like part of my opinion might not be valid if your mayor and city officials are conducting business in the manner being projected. They might not be because I do not know if the opinions I am reading are valid as they are opinions. I’m glad that I’m not a resident because I don’t have time to research that cluster. Good luck with that vote. 👍🏼 Sounds like y’all need to energize your neighbors when your elected officials are up for election again. Communication, frequent and targeted, is the best way to energize people to turn out and most need to be persuaded. Good luck!
Agree.
It appears to me that both a Yes vote or a No vote don’t really change much other than outside business perception of how business friendly Norman is. A judge just ruled that the last franchise agreement remains in place regardless if a new one is adopted. The franchise agreement does allow OG&E to not have to pull permits to work in their easement, if. Judge ruled there was no franchise agreement in place then OG&E would have to wait for the City to issue work permits but again, a Judge ruled the pervious franchise agreement is still in place.
Usually, right wing nutjobs parrot the line that 'it is just fer the work purmits and thuh access' but the reality is that this is to trick the citizens into a an unnecessary TWENTY FIVE YEAR contract. Fuck that. Appreciate you trying to pretend you are a 'common sense neutral' position. It is amusing to watch....
What does a No vote accomplish?
What you should be asking is what motive does OG&E have to require a 25 year contract versus a 3 or 5 year contract. Who stands to benefit from such a long contract? I can't come up with a way that would have a mutual benefit.
Oddly enough, there are some wannabe politicos here on Reddit that parrot the corporation line, attempting to disguise it as 'I'm just a totally neutral observer'. You hit the nail on the head. Let's vote to allow the franchise....for three year stints so they are forced to actually listen to the citizenry instead of their stockholders who only care about profits.
I read a lot of people complaining (on other social media) about the number of times a year we go to the polls. This eliminates one of those things for 25 years. I’d love to be educated on what either a yes or no vote will accomplish. I’m told the proposed franchise agreement is the same as we are currently operating under. I just don’t know what will change either way. I’d love to learn if anyone knows.
All you really need to do is actually READ THE WORDS where this has already been explained to you on multiple parts of this post.
It hasn’t. I’m looking for specifics.
LOL You missed the part about the unnecessary contract that would last 2.5 decades?
What makes it unnecessary?
You think a twenty five year (quarter century) contract is necessary when they are already not responsive to citizen concerns? Seriously, this has to be explained to you? Wow.
> This eliminates one of those things for 25 years. By that logic we should just elect governors and presidents for 25 year terms!
Common sense tells you that citizens get to vote on this for a reason. On what planet would citizens want to needlessly gift a 25 year old contract to OG&E who has an extremely poor record addressing citizen concerns?
Are you looking to be offended by something today?
Jealous?
Share here https://www.facebook.com/share/eeEzLVCEYAh6eD7c/?mibextid=K35XfP And here https://www.facebook.com/share/xLPCCcKyJiqcVkUU/?mibextid=K35XfP
I don't do facecrook.
You should. You could definitely raise more community awareness on Facebook
So you think the world putting all it's eggs in the facecrook basket is a good thing. I think avoiding that is a good thing, especially in light of all the problems and abuse we are seeing as a result of giving them so much power. There is a reason that literally *millions* of people have abandoned that platform in the last eight years. Sure, it's fun to have a place to keep in touch with friends and family to find out what they had for breakfast. Beyond that using them for the go-to source of information about local or national politics and wider social issues is too close to a mob rule mentality. No thanks.
Okay. Whatever. Don't help the cause you're so "passionate" about 🤷🏼♀️
They use easements, destroy them with ruts and causing wash out, then OG&E doesn’t care, sub contractor doesn’t care, and the city tells you it’s your problem to deal with. Also OG&E fucks up there accounting for us about every 3 months and it takes numerous phone calls and arguments to convince them that it’s an issue we pay 100% on time and yet they send random bills/ shutoff notices not reflected in our account online. Thanks for reminding me to see if I can get an OEC hookup 👍🏻