Former Edmond mayors rebuke city management after pullout of park
EDMOND, Okla. (KFOR) - A letter from four former Edmond mayors criticize city management for their role in last week's failure of the possibility of Uncommon Ground park.
The letter was dated June 8th and addressed to Edmond Mayor Darrell Davis as well as the City Council members. It details complaints about more than just the pull-out of the 62-acre statue park.
| Edmond city management blamed for Uncommon Ground park pullout >
"The loss of Uncommon Ground, the most amazing park proposed in Edmond in the last five decades, along with the dismissal of concerns by citizens on the proposed city services building at a cost of over 44 million dollars, the disconcerted road construction, the calloused disregard of Edmond organizations like UR Special, and many other wayward decisions, give us pause. This is a very nice and polite way of saying 'things are not going well,'" part of the letter states.
Uncommon Ground was to be donated in part by the French Family Connection Foundation. The city was to cover an estimated $5 million.
After a heated and almost five-hour-long council meeting the charity pulled out, partially blaming city management.
| Edmond sculpture park plans scrapped by developers >
In a statement about the pull-out, City Manager Scot Rigby said:
I am sorry to hear of Mr. French’s decision to not move forward with the Uncommon Ground project. I know both the city and Mr. French’s team were earnestly engaged in working through the details of this exciting project. After last Council meeting’s approval of Uncommon Ground’s site plan, I thought we were positively moving in the right direction. I would hope in the coming days we may have the opportunity to visit with Mr. French and his team to discuss how the project could move forward.
Edmond City Manager Scot Rigby
The letter is signed by Patrice Douglas, Saundra Naifeh, Dan O'Neil, and Elizabeth Waner. All of whom served as Mayors at one point for the city.
"This letter is about a wrong direction. A direction that does not value our most vulnerable citizens like at-risk children. A direction that does not consult and listen to input from citizens on traffic, on public expenditures like the City Complex, on modification of city ordinances for funding of community organizations and city parks, on a direction that does not value real input on economic development. A direction that lacks transparency. A direction that does not value Edmond's quality of life - a quality of life that cities and towns all over America seek to emulate," the letter states.
As of Friday, Edmond Mayor Davis declined to comment on the letter.
As for the park, KFOR asked the Project Lead Randell Shadid who said several times they were done and that nothing could get them to pick it back up.