A. Written Basis for Denials and Rejections.
Whenever any City department, employee, inspector, official, or administrative staff member denies, rejects, disapproves, withholds, or refuses any permit, license, inspection approval, application, plan, certificate, request, or other staff-determined approval, the City shall provide the applicant a written explanation at or before the time of denial.

The written explanation shall identify:
1. The specific action denied or rejected;
2. Each factual reason for the denial or rejection;
3. The specific Norman City Charter, ordinance, code section, adopted regulation, state law, federal law, or other binding legal authority relied upon for the denial or rejection;
4. The specific change, correction, or additional information required for approval, if any; and
5. The available appeal or review process.

B. No Uncited Denials.
No denial or rejection described in subsection A shall be valid unless it is supported by at least one specific citation to binding legal authority. General statements such as “does not meet code,” “does not match plan,” “staff does not approve,” or similar conclusions shall not be sufficient unless accompanied by the specific cited authority and factual explanation.

C. Standard Operating Procedures.
Each City department shall maintain written standard operating procedures for the department’s recurring daily operations, including permit review, inspections, enforcement actions, application processing, public-record handling, complaint handling, and any other process that affects rights, property, licenses, permits, or access to City services.

D. Training Before Independent Authority.
No City employee or staff member shall be assigned independent authority to approve, deny, reject, inspect, enforce, cite, or otherwise make determinations affecting the public until the employee has received training on the applicable standard operating procedures and the laws, ordinances, and regulations governing that authority.

E. Public Availability.
Department standard operating procedures required by this section shall be public records and shall be made available on the City’s website, except for portions that are lawfully confidential under state or federal law.

F. Implementation.
The City shall adopt or update required standard operating procedures within one year after this section becomes effective. This section shall be self-executing to the maximum extent permitted by law.

A. Inflation Adjustment.
The compensation for the Mayor and City Council members established by this Charter shall be adjusted to preserve the same purchasing power as the compensation amount originally established in the Charter.

B. Immediate Adjustment.
Within thirty days after this section becomes effective, the City shall calculate the inflation-adjusted equivalent of the original Charter compensation amount using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), or the nearest successor index published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, from the date the original compensation amount became effective through the most recent complete calendar year.

C. Annual Adjustment.
Beginning the next fiscal year after the immediate adjustment, and each fiscal year thereafter, the compensation for the Mayor and City Council members shall be adjusted once per year by the percentage change in CPI-U for the most recent complete calendar year.

D. No Reduction Below Original Real Value.
Annual adjustments shall not reduce compensation below the inflation-adjusted value required by this section unless required by state law.

E. Publication.
The City shall publish the calculation, index used, period measured, and resulting compensation amounts on its website each year.