Proposals to give a formal name to the new public safety facility and to establish a police advisory committee will top the agenda when the City Council meets today in regular session.
The regular meeting will begin at 2 p.m. in the auditorium of Lawton City Hall, Southwest 9th and C, but council members also will convene at 1 p.m. to receive and discuss a management and operations efficiency report it commissioned earlier this year. Both meetings are open to the public, but residents are reminded that masks or face coverings are mandatory inside city hall and social distancing protocols are being observed.
The proposal to name Lawton’s new public safety facility — nearing completion east of downtown — comes after nearly a year of discussions by city officials, including a four-member council study committee. The Lawton Public Safety Center is to become the new home to Lawton Police Department and the city jail, Lawton Municipal Court, and the firefighting crews of Central Fire Station when it opens in early 2021.
The name issue arose in January but came up again in June with a movement among residents to name the facility after the late C.H. Brazzel, who died in a traffic accident in January. Brazzel had served as Lawton police officer for 45 years until his death, and also had a reputation for helping residents outside his official dutis. Others also had suggested naming the facility after Heck Thomas, a noted lawman in what was then Indian Territory and Lawton’s first police chief.
Members of the study committee analyzed suggestions from residents and city staff before coming up with its proposal: Lawton Public Safety Center. Ward 8 Councilman Randy Warren, one of the committee members, said in June the committee was leaning toward a plan that would erect a statue in Brazzel’s honor near the entrance of the new public safety facility, in a landscaped area on the complex’s north end. City officials said they still are investigating that possibility.
In other business, the council will consider creating a Citizen’s Police Advisory Committee to improve relations and communications between the police department and the community. The proposal, under discussion since earlier this year, comes with an accompanying City Council Policy that would set the details of that committee, to include membership and duties.
The new ordinance specifies the committee is designed “for the purpose of building stronger relations between the Lawton Police Department and members of the community.” The committee is to be comprised of seven voting members, who will be citizens of the community, and three non-voting members to represent Lawton Police Department, the City Council and Fort Sill. Specific creation and rules are set by the council policy, with duties ranging from maintaining a partnership between the police department and community, to listening to citizen concerns and attitudes toward policing; to providing recommendations and suggestions to the chief of police.
The policy also specifies limits on the committee’s powers, to include: receiving any confidential information related to pending, current or forthcoming civil or criminal litigations; participating in or having access to any protected or confidential files related to disciplinary actions; and releasing any written or oral report of any activity to anyone other than the police chief or city manager. Disciplinary measures shall remain the sole responsibility of the police chief, the policy states.
A nominating committee comprised of representatives of community entities will select the citizen members.
The council also will consider a professional services contract with MA+ Architecture LLC, Oklahoma City, to create design plans for completing renovation of three floors in Lawton City Hall. Those renovations would provide another 27,600 square feet of space inside the former Lawton High/Central Junior High School: the second and third floor of the north wing and the third floor of the south wing. While some of that now-empty space is being used, the project will restore the floors to full use, giving the building six useable floors.
City Manager Michael Cleghorn has said opening those three mostly-unused floors would allow them to relocate the IT and Finance offices now located in the deteriorating City Hall Annex. Renovations for some of those IT functions already has begun in the north wing.
MA+ Architecture’s contract will include reviewing already renovated space to see if it can accommodate existing or new city offices, as well as adding a parking lot on the west side of the building. The $5.466 million cost of that comprehensive renovation comes from the 2019 Capital Improvements Program.
In other business, the council will consider:
• Meeting in special session at 1 p.m. to hear the results of the management operations, staffing and efficiency report commissioned from Novak Consulting Group. The review was to look at every city department for management and operation practices, and today’s presentation is expected to contain findings, analysis and recommendations to improve the efficiency of city operations.
