<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4FADhk_1Fcx39Em00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4FADhk_1Fcx39Em00" width="600" height="454" ><figcaption>Jesse Edgar , Oklahoma City</figcaption></figure>Oklahoma Has a Housing Paradox. Land Banks Could Help Convert Part of the Problem Into a Solution.A constituent kept calling Sen. Julia Kirt about the house next door — boarded up for more than a decade, squatters coming and going, police and fire responding repeatedly. Kirt started researching land banks.As Jake Ramsey reported, Kirt held a Senate interim study on September 15 after her land bank bill died in committee this spring without a vote. Land banks are quasi-governmental entities that acquire vacant, abandoned and tax-delinquent properties, clear their legal titles and transfer them to developers or nonprofits for productive use. Twenty other states have implemented them in some form.Oklahoma’s housing numbers make the case for new tools. The state has more than 220,000 vacant housing units, including nearly 39,000 available for rent, while simultaneously running a shortage of 84,125 affordable, available units for low-income renters. The tension between those two figures is what land bank advocates say the model is designed to address.The proposal drew support from housing attorneys, Realtors, nonprofit housing organizations and rural advocates. Gregory Reading of the Absentee Shawnee Housing Authority said local builders often pass on vacant lots because clearing title costs more than the land is worth — a problem land banks are specifically designed to solve. Katrina Washington of Neighborhood Housing Services Oklahoma said cities would benefit from the revenue generated once blighted properties return to productive use.Not everyone is fully convinced. Edmond real estate broker and UCO professor David Chapman said development costs extend well beyond the land, and that Oklahoma’s income levels limit how far any land policy can drive down housing prices.Kirt acknowledged land banks alone won’t close the affordable housing gap. She called them a first step.More worth knowing: Mullin Struggling with Trump BaseMarkwayne Mullin is working to overcome hard-liners’ doubts about his leadership, his position undermined by missteps with the White House. [NYT]Corporation Commission Severance Agreements top $310,000The Oklahoma Corporation Commission has agreed to pay more than $310,000 in severance to three former employees who parted with the agency in the last 18 months, according to copies of their severance agreements. [Oklahoma Voice]Jenks Dam: Unbuilt and $100 Million Over BudgetMore than a decade ago, Tulsa County voters approved a proposal for a low-water dam and pedestrian bridge near 103rd Street and Riverside Drive. Cut to 2026, the project is now about $100 million over budget and construction hasn’t started. [Tulsa Flyer]Amber Fights BackAmber, a town of 413 in Grady County, doesn’t want a data center, but there’s little they can do to stop industry Goliaths who benefit from minimal oversight. One state lawmaker proposed a statewide moratorium on data centers that didn’t receive a hearing during the last legislative session, and at least five other bills to regulate data centers and require more transparency also failed. [The Frontier]▲=Possible paywallHappy Birthday to Gene Autry, born on this day in 1907.Ciao for now,Ted StreuliExecutive Director, Oklahoma Watch<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3IgxKp_1Fcx39Em00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3IgxKp_1Fcx39Em00" width="800" height="1000" ></figure>Help Us Make a DifferenceOklahoma needs high-quality investigative journalism. That is our mission at Oklahoma Watch. We produce stories that hold government and public officials accountable and make transparent what some prefer to keep secret. We depend on financial support from readers like you to sustain our coverage. Will you help us make a difference?<h2>Support our publication </h2>Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.</div></body>

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Oklahoma Has a Housing Paradox. Land Banks Could Help Convert Part of the Problem Into a Solution. A constituent kept calling Sen. Julia Kirt about the house next door — boarded up for more than a decade, squatters coming and going, police and fire responding repeatedly. Kirt started researching land banks.

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Oklahoma Has a Housing Paradox. Land Banks Could Help Convert Part of the Problem Into a Solution. A constituent kept calling Sen. Julia Kirt about the hou

First Watch: Stuff You Should Know

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