Members of the Norman City Council will meet on Tuesday to discuss Norman’s mental health response after the death of a popular business owner inside the county jail.
Several members, including Brandi Studley and Elizabeth Foreman, requested a workshop to discuss the benefits of a city-run mobile emergency management unit.
Beginning at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, this session will review the potential for a city-operated or sponsored mobile emergency unit program.
Mobile Crisis Units are staffed by mental health professionals to help keep people at risk out of prison and connected to resources. The unit will serve the 988 hotline launched in July.
According to The Transcript, the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services operates a Mobile Crisis Unit in Norman and has announced it will expand statewide in 2021 following increased funding.
Studley, who represents Ward 1, requested a study session after Shannon Hanshett’s body was found in the Cleveland County Jail on December 8.
The 38-year-old mother of two, Hanshett, died 12 days after being arrested by Norman police on charges of falsely calling 911 and obstructing a police officer.
A friend said Hanshett called the police the night he was arrested because he was having a “mental health crisis”.
After an all-nighter, Studley called on city officials and the City Council to revisit the Mobile Crisis Unit. Trustees Lauren Schuler (2nd District), Helen Grant (4th District), Foreman (6th District), Stephen Holman (7th District), and Matt Peacock (8th District) have passed this request. supported.
The council first discussed the mobile crisis unit when it considered a pilot project for the city-run program in July 2021.
However, following news that the state mental health agency already operates two facilities in Norman and plans to add more, the city council has turned its attention to homeless intervention services such as transportation for employment and housing services. , Mayor Darrell Pyle last told the transcript. Moon.
Other business
After the study session, the council will convene a regular meeting to discuss the purchase of empty hotels for affordable housing.
Proceedings are held at closed board meetings in accordance with the Open Meeting Law.
The hotel, located at 309 Center Court, has 61 rooms, the council said in September.
The price is $3.75 million.
At the time, staff did not have a quote for remodeling to fit single-room occupancy or efficient apartments. The original plan to do so was agreed to be more expensive.
Hotel renovations could cost the city half of what nursing home renovations cost, Pyle said.
