Miami, Oklahoma – Joe Booth Softball Complex, Public Management, and the Community-Access Test

Oklahoma’s Fields of Accountability | Original research November 3, 2026 · Website crosswalk updated November 4, 2026 | Ottawa County, Oklahoma
Facility: Joe Booth Softball Complex, Miami, Oklahoma
Jurisdiction and operating model: City of Miami Parks and Recreation / Sports & Recreation; City-operated recreational softball league
Years examined: 2007–2026 archival facility labels; 2024 and 2025 municipal recreational-league reports; FY 2024–25 through FY 2026–27 budget narratives and schedules
Evidence status: Municipal webpages and budget reports verified; historic Hidden Valley/USSSA row-level extraction reconciled; executed event agreements, deposits, facility-specific revenues, and detailed games/venue schedules not yet obtained.

Editorial distinction. This research is an examination of how a public sports facility is governed and how its benefits can be measured. A missing contract, an unlabeled receipt, or an unanswered research question is not evidence of wrongdoing. The figures below are historical tournament models, not audited municipal proceeds or proof of a particular tournament's actual venue, income, or expenditures.

Executive Summary: Miami Is a Different Kind of Case

The City of Miami identifies Joe Booth Softball Complex at 603 12th Avenue SW as a public sports facility with bleachers, a batting cage, concessions, restrooms and security lighting. In the City's January 7, 2026 sports-program directory, it also identifies a City of Miami Youth Recreational Softball League, operating April through June at Joe Booth, and names Chuck McKibben as the municipal Sports & Recreation Coordinator. These facts establish a documented municipal operating and program relationship—not a privately presumed lease or a Tulsa-style jurisdictional question. [S1][S2]

The City’s own administrative narratives quantify local service delivery. For the 2024 season, it reports 38 softball teams, 533 girls and 224 games. For the 2025 season, it reports 40 teams, more than 500 girls and more than 200 scheduled games, together with the coordination of more than 100 coaches, field preparation, weather rescheduling and concession personnel. These are city recreational-league reports, not USSSA tournament counts, and should not be added to a separate tournament dataset. [S3][S4]

The Hidden Valley/USSSA working CSV independently associates 39 associated event keys with a Joe Booth facility label, 38 with positive team records and one unpopulated 2026 listing. Across 92 archival records, it lists 730 team entries, $150,708 in modeled entry fees, 1,803 modeled minimum games and 3,588 umpire assignment-equivalents. Crucially, the larger totals include multi-facility rows: the stricter Joe Booth-only label contains 36 event keys, 85 division records, 673 teams, $139,308 modeled fees, 1,652 games and 3,286 official assignments. The stricter label still is not a verified field-by-field schedule or a city receipt. [S10]

The City's 2024 report also identifies a continuing structural challenge: some municipal baseball and softball facilities occupy a flood zone, requiring difficult decisions about drainage, resurfacing, safety and reinvestment. This is a budget and resilience policy problem, not proof that a particular official neglected the facility. [S3]

The accountability question: How can taxpayers connect the City's documented youth participation and facility maintenance to precise operating costs, collected revenues, reinvestment decisions and accessible playing opportunities?

1. The Facility, Jurisdiction and Program Operator

Joe Booth is one of five sports complexes maintained by the City. The official facility listing gives 603 12th Avenue SW, public hours 6 a.m.–11 p.m., and City contact information. A separate municipal facility inventory in a 2023 stormwater report identifies the complex at 605 12th Avenue SW. The discrepancy is a minor address-record reconciliation item, not a finding about ownership or operation; the precise entrance or parcel address should be verified in City property records. [S1][S2][S9]

The municipal sports page distinguishes the City recreational softball program at Joe Booth from the City's recreational baseball program at Francis Morgan and the Little League Baseball Complex. Therefore this investigation does not transfer baseball participation, revenues or baseball facility management to Joe Booth. The City’s Parks and Recreation Board is part of the municipal advisory structure; the City Clerk maintains contracts and council minutes. Neither fact independently establishes that the Board or any elected official approved a particular Joe Booth tournament agreement. [S2][S6][S7]

2. Hidden Valley/USSSA: What the Source Rows Establish

The underlying research extract is AIUSSSA – HVIOG (archived master CSV). Each row is a tournament division or an event listing. We calculated team entry fees = team entries × listed entry fee and compared the result with the archive's recorded total. All 92 extracted rows reconcile to the listed row-level fee totals; blank-entry rows are counted as zero verified team entries. Event counts are based on season + parent tournament identifier, not simply the number of division rows. This avoids counting an event with multiple divisions as separate tournaments.

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Why the event count does not add across columns: the 2018 event key 2018|14584 has division rows listing Joe Booth alone and a division listing Joe Booth alongside Eric Iverson Field. Hence the site-subset event counts overlap: 36 + 4 − 1 = 39 unique associated events. Team entries and calculated fees, however, are added from separate division rows. The multi-facility totals must not be assigned exclusively to Miami municipal fields. [S10][D1]

The 2007–2024 rows with populated team fields represent historical recorded tournament divisions. One 2026 baseball listing names Francis Morgan Field and Joe Booth, but contains no populated team count or age division and a $0 model fee total. It is included in the source-row audit as an unverified listing; it does not establish that a 2026 event was played at Joe Booth. Tournament activity should not be inferred for years absent from the archive. [D1]

Annual breakdown — strict Joe Booth-only label

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The additional multi-site division rows span 2018 and 2020 and involve Eric Iverson Field at NEO, Turner Field, and Miami High School, plus the unpopulated 2026 baseball listing with Francis Morgan Field. An event's presence in a multi-site facility cell documents association, not the number of games played on each field or the beneficiary of team-entry payments. [D1]

Modeling limits: The recorded minimum-games and umpire values are archive calculations, not verified game logs or timesheets. “Official assignments” describe umpire slots across modeled games—not 3,588 separate people. Team entries are not unique athletes, households or teams over time. Entry fees are not proof of payments collected, event profit, gate receipts, concessions, lease revenue, city tax revenue, or income earned by any named director. The City's broader municipality index covers a different universe and must not be substituted for Joe Booth venue records. [S10][S11]

3. Administrative Record: What the City Itself Reports

2024 recreational softball: participation and improvements

In the FY 2024–25 Budget Message and Administrative Report, the City describes 2024 youth recreational softball as 38 teams, 533 girls, 224 games during May and June. It also reports Parks/Sports staff replaced 43 sets of bleachers across THREE sports complexes collectively: Joe Booth, the Little League Baseball Complex and Sam Wells Soccer Complex. The report does not identify how many of the 43 sets were installed at Joe Booth alone. [S3]

The report describes municipal baseball and softball complexes as vulnerable to flooding, with certain playing surfaces requiring more extensive renovation and drainage. This creates an identifiable policy tension: short-term repair and safety needs versus the risk of repeated future damage. It does not establish that Joe Booth alone has an assessed cost of any particular amount, nor that a specified drainage project was approved or completed. The necessary records are field-condition assessments, flood maps, maintenance work orders, bids and capital-improvement plans. [S3]

2025 recreational softball: a city-operated service

The June 2025 FY 2025–26 Budget Message reports a City Sports & Recreation-managed softball league with 40 teams and more than 500 girls. Staff reported scheduling 200-plus games, preparing four to five fields during the weekly operating period, coordinating with more than 100 coaches, managing weather changes and staffing summer concessions. The narrative describes the league as revenue-producing, but does not provide a facility-specific statement of amounts collected, costs paid, or net funds available for reinvestment. [S4]

The 2024 and 2025 figures are positive evidence that a municipal local-league offering exists. They do not, standing alone, determine whether registration costs were affordable to all eligible families; whether teams had equal access to premium field time; how many girls returned year to year; whether practices and tournaments displaced league play; or whether concessions revenue was earmarked for facility maintenance. Those questions need source documents rather than assumptions.

4. Governing Bodies, Administrative Actions, Budgets and Contract Visibility

The relevant public decision-maker for City property and municipal appropriations is the Miami City Council acting collectively. The budget materials identify the City Manager, finance function and public-works/parks administration as the operational structure implementing appropriated services. The publicly located budget narratives document departmental operations and finances; no meeting minutes establishing an individual councilmember vote on a specific Joe Booth lease or tournament arrangement were verified for this episode. Accordingly, no individual elected official is assigned responsibility for an unproven action. [S4][S5]

The FY 2026–27 approved budget provides a useful but limited accounting lead. In Fund 120, Parks & Recreation, it lists $50,000 approved under account 120-441-441.3011, “SPECIAL CONTRACTS,” for the Parks Division. This line is fund-wide, not labeled Joe Booth, and is an appropriation, not evidence of a completed contract, specific payee, or disbursement. The General Fund contains additional park expenditures, so the $50,000 line is neither total parks spending nor Joe Booth's operating cost. A contract ledger, vendor register and executed instruments are required to connect expenditures to the complex. [S5]

The City Clerk's official page says that, effective April 20, 2026, the City no longer accepts open-records requests via email. It identifies the Clerk as custodian of official minutes, contracts, ordinances and resolutions. A records request was sent by email on November 3, 2026, to ask the Clerk to identify an accepted filing method. The email and the Clerk’s reply are documented below; neither establishes an officially accepted filing, and the Clerk replied at 9:27 a.m. directing submission in person or by U.S. mail. This is a procedural response, not an acceptance of the formal request. [R4] [S6]

The central accountability issue is not a presumption that a private user group secretly controls a public field. It is traceability: does the City maintain one reconcilable record set connecting activity calendars, tournament reservations, actual fee schedules, program registration, field-maintenance work orders, rentals, concessions, deposits, invoices, contracts and year-end reporting?

5. How Public Decisions Shape a Healthy Community-Based Program

Affordability. A publicly maintained complex can reduce barriers for families, but publicly funded land alone does not establish low participant prices. The relevant evidence is multi-year registration schedules, scholarship or fee-waiver policies, nonresident rates, equipment support and all-in household costs. The City’s documented 2024–25 program volume makes those questions measurable; the archive’s tournament entry fees must not be substituted for family registration charges. [S2][S3][S4]

Local league stability. The City's identification of an April–June recreational softball season and consecutive reports of dozens of participating teams provide stronger evidence of a sustained local program than the tournament dataset alone. Continuity also depends on protected practice windows, rainout rules, board/department coordination, financial predictability and succession for volunteers. Obtain official season schedules and actual field permits before concluding that any tournament displaced—or did not displace—local softball. [S2][S3][S4]

Volunteers. The 2025 City narrative references more than 100 coaches. Supporting them fairly requires documented background-check rules, training and safety procedures, volunteer onboarding, predictable scheduling and transparent grievance processes. Coach volume is a reported program characteristic, not a verified head count of distinct annual unpaid volunteers. [S4]

Equitable access. Fair scheduling should be assessed across age groups, local versus traveling teams, recreational versus tournament users, field condition, accessible amenities, cost and weather replacements. Facility calendars, decision criteria and appeal procedures would provide real evidence. No preferential allocation is established by the documents reviewed here.

Transparency and reinvestment. A revenue-producing City league and a City budget line for special contracts make it possible to ask whether receipts, labor, utilities, improvements and concessions are reported consistently. Budget authorization is not a cash-basis profit-and-loss statement. A good public dashboard would show receipts, direct and shared costs, capital reserve contributions and facility closures by season, while appropriately protecting youth privacy. [S4][S5]

Competition and player development. Historical USSSA divisions demonstrate competitive-event association with the complex, while City reports document a separate community recreation base. Both can coexist. The public-interest test is whether age-appropriate practice time, introductory levels, coaching development and affordability are protected alongside destination-event revenue. The available records cannot quantify how many recreational players progressed into high school or travel softball, nor should such a path be presumed necessary for program success.

Resilience and sustainability. The City's flood-zone observation makes this a long-horizon infrastructure question. Field drainage, safe reopening rules, insurance, recovery costs, alternative scheduling and multiyear capital planning affect whether a family can rely on its season. A defensible reinvestment decision should compare verified flood recurrence, cost estimates, ongoing upkeep and usable community field-hours—not simply the amount of modeled tournament entry fees. [S3]

Responsibility distinctions. The governing body sets budgets and policy collectively; administrators schedule, maintain and administer programs within their authority; individual coaches and event directors carry out specific program functions; floodplain location and weather are structural constraints. The evidence reviewed does not establish an individual official’s unlawful conduct or a deficiency in a particular City agreement.

6. Facts, Calculations, Open Questions and Conclusions

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7. Records Still Needed — Targeted Miami Request

The November 3, 2026 comprehensive request seeks existing records rather than demanding that the City produce a new analysis: (1) property/parcel identification and jurisdiction records; (2) executed field-use, event rental, concession, sponsorship and user-group agreements for Joe Booth from 2007–2026, including amendments and insurance certificates; (3) council agendas, minutes and resolutions relating to operation, booking or material capital investments; (4) annual field calendars, reservations, softball-league schedules and tournament permits; (5) posted and applied fee schedules for residents, nonresidents, league registration, clinics, rentals and admission; (6) receipts, deposits and ledger detail for league registration, tournament use, gates and concessions, identifying receipt owner and fund where records permit; (7) expenditure ledgers, work orders and vendor agreements relating to Joe Booth; (8) Fund 120 “special contracts” payee and contract records, distinguishing Joe Booth from other park uses; (9) flood-related assessments, mitigation designs, FEMA/insurance claims if applicable, closures and maintenance spending; (10) program participation, scholarship policies and allocation standards with minor identifying information redacted as appropriate; (11) independent audits or internal reviews that actually address Joe Booth, if any; and (12) correspondence or policies concerning separation of duties and disclosures for tournament booking and City employee participation in outside sports activities, if existing.

Request status as of November 3, 2026: A signed City form and comprehensive request were attached to an email sent to the City Clerk at 9:03 a.m. requesting clarification of the authorized submission method. Because the City states it does not accept records requests by email, the City has confirmed that formal submission must occur by postal mail or in person; formal acceptance remains unconfirmed. See the request tracker below. [S6] [R1]

8. City Website Extraction — Records Found vs. Still Outstanding (November 4, 2026)

Scope and evidentiary standard. This crosswalk compares the twelve categories in the November 3, 2026 comprehensive request with the municipal-source extracts summarized in the November 4 Public Website Records Extraction Report. Partial means a related City record or summary has been identified, but the requested underlying documentation is incomplete. Not verified online means the reviewed material did not establish a responsive record; it does not mean the record does not exist. The review is not an exhaustive search of every Web TV recording or agenda packet. [R5]

What the public website does establish

• Facility and municipal operations: Joe Booth is listed at 603 12th Avenue SW, while a 2023 municipal inventory uses 605 12th Avenue SW. The City identifies a municipal youth recreational softball program at the complex. [S1] [S2] [S9]
• 2024 recreational season: City reports 38 teams, 533 girls, and 224 games. [S3]
• 2025 recreational season: City reports 40 teams, more than 500 girls, more than 200 scheduled games, and coordination of more than 100 coaches. The City describes field preparation and summer concession staffing, but does not identify Joe Booth-specific proceeds. [S4]
• Infrastructure: City reports 43 sets of bleachers replaced across three sports complexes collectively, not 43 at Joe Booth. Flood and drainage concerns appear in municipal reporting, but facility-specific losses and project costs are not established. [S3]
• Budget account: Parks Division account 120-441-441.3011, “SPECIAL CONTRACTS,” has published historical actuals and budget amounts. These are not Joe Booth-specific receipts, contracts or disbursements. [S5]

Fund 120 — published account figures (not Joe Booth-specific)

The same extracted budget schedule identifies $65,800 in FY 2022–23 improvements other than buildings and $152,850 in FY 2024–25 buildings. Neither amount can be assigned to Joe Booth without project and transaction records. Actuals must not be conflated with budget authorizations. [S5] [R5]

Twelve-category records crosswalk

Horizontally scrollable on small screens. All twelve categories remain open for underlying records; the statuses describe the website review, not a City determination of nonexistence.

Priority outstanding production — phased approach

Phase 1: Executed agreements, applied fee schedules, field reservation calendars, and actual registration, rental, gate and concession receipts/deposits. Phase 2: Fund 120 payee and transaction detail, invoices, purchase orders, and supporting projects for the $65,800 and $152,850 capital entries. Phase 3: Joe Booth-specific drainage/flood records, maintenance work orders, board approvals, financial controls and event-by-event field logs. Request original electronic files and direct URLs for any records already published. [R2] [R5]

Document download: The four-page Miami Joe Booth Public Website Records Extraction Report (November 4, 2026) is retained in the research archive. A public WordPress PDF URL has not yet been supplied; once uploaded, a download button can be linked here. [R5]

Procedural distinction: The November 3 City Clerk email provides submission instructions and recommends Web TV; it is not a substantive production of the twelve requested record categories. No accepted postal/in-person filing or receipt has been documented in the materials reviewed. [R4]

9. Open Records Request — Submission and City Response Tracker

This public chronology documents the researcher's communications with the City of Miami and distinguishes a sent inquiry from an accepted Open Records Act filing. The Clerk replied on November 3 with filing instructions. This tracker will be updated as proof of physical submission, acknowledgments, records, fee estimates, and other City communications become available.

Documented communication chronology

Scroll horizontally on smaller screens. “Awaiting” describes the documentation available for this update, not a finding of City noncompliance.

City Clerk response — analysis and implications

Documented response: On November 3, 2026 at 9:27 a.m., Melissa Moore, City Clerk, replied that legal counsel directed the City to stop accepting open-records requests by email. She instructed that the completed form be submitted in person or through the U.S. Postal Service and pointed to the City’s Web TV section as a possible source for some of the requested information. [R4]

What this establishes: The City provided a clear submission procedure and an alternative research lead. It does not establish that the November 3 email was an accepted formal filing, that any of the 12 requested record categories were searched, that documents were produced, or that the City denied access to records. The City has not supplied a fee estimate or request reference number in the correspondence reviewed.

Next step: Send the signed City request form and the comprehensive attachment to City Clerk, City of Miami, P.O. Box 1288, Miami, OK 74355, or hand-deliver them to 129 5th Avenue NW, Miami, Oklahoma. Preserve proof of delivery and add the date of receipt to this tracker. The City Clerk's response lists mmoore@miamiok.gov for general communication; this is not an authorized email filing channel. [R4]

Web TV research lead: Search the City website’s Web TV section for relevant council proceedings, budget deliberations, Parks and Recreation matters, and Joe Booth facility decisions. Any recordings located should be logged by meeting date and URL; the Clerk did not identify specific recordings or state that they satisfy the formal request.

What was requested

The comprehensive attachment covers January 1, 2007–November 3, 2026 and 12 categories: ownership and operating authority; executed agreements; council and board decisions; tournament calendars and field allocation; fees and community access; revenue and cash handling; expenditures; Fund 120 special contracts; flood and capital work; audits and financial controls; conflict and access safeguards; and verification of historic tournament venue assignments. It requests existing electronic records, reasonable redactions, staged production, and an itemized estimate before fees are incurred. [R2]

Document register and publication links

• R1 — November 3 email transmission: Sent-message PDF showing the 9:03 a.m. email and two attachments. Source retained in the research archive; public PDF URL not yet supplied.
• R2 — Comprehensive Open Records Act request: Three-page PDF dated November 3, 2026. Public PDF URL not yet supplied.
• R3 — City Request for Records/Copies form: Completed and signed five-page municipal form. Public PDF URL not yet supplied.
• R5 — November 4 website extraction report: Four-page municipal-source research comparison; public PDF URL not yet supplied.
• R4 — November 3 City Clerk response: Email from Melissa Moore at 9:27 a.m., confirming required postal or in-person submission and referencing Web TV. Public PDF URL not yet supplied.

Publishing note: Once the documents are uploaded to the WordPress Media Library, direct PDF download links can be added here. Consider redacting the requester's personal residential address, signature, and telephone number from the public copy of the completed City form while retaining the original for submission and the research archive.

Outstanding questions for the City

November 4 research update: Six categories have partial municipal website support; six lack targeted responsive documents verified online. None is shown fully satisfied. See the public-website crosswalk and [R5].

• On what date will the City receive the signed form through postal mail or in-person delivery?
• After physical delivery, what is the official receipt date or reference number?
• Which records are available electronically, and what staged production and fee estimate can be provided?
• Which requested categories, if any, have no responsive records or are held by another custodian?

Evidence standard: The City’s November 3 reply confirms the filing method, but not official acceptance of the attached records request. Later City responses will be dated, quoted accurately, and distinguished from independent analysis. No responsive municipal production has been supplied for this tracker update.

10. Right of Response

The City of Miami, its Parks & Recreation / Sports & Recreation administration, the City Clerk and historically listed event operators should have an opportunity to provide executed agreements, booking rules, verified revenues, program pricing, site-specific flood mitigation records, clarifications and corrections. The City Clerk replied November 3, 2026 with filing instructions. No official filing acceptance, interview, or records-production response is established in the materials reviewed. Relevant responses should be added with their date and a distinction between documentary evidence and the respondent's position.

11. Research Source Register and Reproducibility

The companion Day 28 Source-Row Audit CSV retains the archival event identifier, age division, facility cell, team and fee fields, calculated entry fees, modeled games, umpire assignments and a single/multiple facility status. Its Annual Summary CSV provides the strict-label series and associated-but-unassigned totals. The audit is an extracted working copy of user-provided research material, not an independently audited municipal dataset. The public facility index reconciles with associated aggregate figures, but should not substitute for archival source-row verification. [S10][D1]

Primary municipal records:

• [S1] City of Miami, Joe Booth Softball Complex public facility listing: https://www.miamiok.gov/facilities/facility/details/Joe-Booth-Softball-Complex-45
• [S2] City of Miami, Recreation/Sports, program list updated January 7, 2026: https://www.miamiok.gov/171/Recreation-Sports
• [S3] City of Miami, FY 2024–25 Budget Message and Administrative Report (June 2024), printed p. 8 (PDF p. 8): https://www.miamiok.gov/Archive/ViewFile/Item/87
• [S4] City of Miami, FY 2025–26 Budget Message and Administrative Report (June 2025), printed p. 10 (PDF p. 10): https://www.miamiok.gov/Archive/ViewFile/Item/89
• [S5] City of Miami, FY 2026–27 Approved Budget and Budget Message (June 2026), Fund 120 Parks & Recreation, PDF p. 60: https://www.miamiok.gov/Archive/ViewFile/Item/91
• [S6] City Clerk, duties and changed open-records submission policy (effective April 20, 2026): https://www.miamiok.gov/126/City-Clerk
• [S7] City Boards & Commissions, advisory and meeting records: https://www.miamiok.gov/116/Boards-Commissions
• [S8] City of Miami, Public Works overview: https://www.miamiok.gov/179/Public-Works
• [S9] City of Miami, 2023 stormwater report and municipal facility list: https://www.miamiok.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2655/Annual-Report---City-of-Miami-OK-CY-2023

Open-records request documentation (research archive):

• [R1] Kenneth Crawford, email to Melissa Moore, November 3, 2026, 9:03 a.m., subject “Formal Oklahoma Open Records Act Request — Joe Booth Softball Complex (2007–2026),” PDF printout of sent email and attachment list.
• [R2] Kenneth R. Crawford, Comprehensive Oklahoma Open Records Act Request, Joe Booth Softball Complex, November 3, 2026, three pages.
• [R3] City of Miami, Request for Records/Copies, completed five-page form, submitted as an email attachment November 3, 2026.
• [R4] Melissa Moore, City Clerk, email response to Kenneth Crawford, November 3, 2026, 9:27 a.m.; confirms postal or in-person submission and suggests City Web TV search; retained in November 3 email-thread PDF.
• [R5] Public Website Records Extraction Report, November 4, 2026, four pages; comparison of municipal-source findings against twelve request categories. Public PDF URL not yet supplied.

Research indices and dataset:

• [S10] Baseball Heaven, Sports Facilities — Hidden Valley directory (independent published aggregate index): https://www.baseballheaven.net/sports-facilities/
• [S11] Baseball Heaven, Municipalities & Public Assets (broader city-level associated event universe): https://www.baseballheaven.net/municipalities-public-assets/
• [D1] Original user research file, AIUSSSA – HVIOG (archived master CSV), filtered for Facility containing Joe Booth Sports Complex; companion extraction and calculations dated November 3, 2026 (local source file, not a municipal record).

Methodology notice: The archive’s modeled game and officiating counts represent minimum-game and staffing assumptions already present in the source columns; they do not prove completed schedules. All fees here are division-level team entries multiplied by posted team entry fee. Facility labels are textual historic designations and can contain several locations. All external links were reviewed for this episode; archive gaps and imprecise data are identified instead of being filled with assumptions.

Oklahoma’s Fields of Accountability — Real facilities. Public records. Stronger communities. Research is open to documented correction.