Around Tulsa
Mayor Candidates Promote their Plans
The Tulsa Mayor race election takes place on August 27th (a runoff would occur on November 5th if no candidate takes 50% or more of the vote). Mayor GT Bynum is stepping down after his 2nd term which has opened the door to new candidates.
I had the opportunity to hear from two of the leading candidates in the last few weeks.
Brent Van Norman (Republican) is the latest to join the race after Jayme Fowler dropped out. Van Norman has a unique career, starting of as a CPA, then becoming a pastor in Holland, Michigan. In his late 30’s he went to law school, became an attorney, and has had his hand in many business ventures since then.
In his campaign kickoff speech, Van Norman stressed the importance of family and being pro-business to grow prosperity in Tulsa. To illustrate, he explained how graduating from high school (or college), getting a job, getting married, and having kids – in that order – is the surest way to keep people out of poverty. He added that every school classroom should have a sign showing that order of events.
Van Norman also touted how he has worked on several government contracts in multiple cities and has seen up-close how having efficient contract systems make business and development much easier – and by contrast, how cities who don’t have that efficiency make economic expansion more difficult. Lastly, he mentioned the need to crack down on crime and how criminals should not feel emboldened to walk out of retail stores with stolen goods and not have any repercussions for it.
Karen Keith (Democrat) is the current Tulsa County commissioner for the 2nd district (overseeing west Tulsa, and much of Brookside and downtown). This position oversees several responsibilities for Tulsa County including budget, finance, infrastructure, public services and policymaking.
The jurisdiction of what is considered City vs. County responsibility is typically written into State laws or charter / municipal codes.
Keith visited the Tulsa Real Estate Investors Association and responded to a wide range of questions from attendees. She advocated for fixing the issues regarding permitting for investors.
City permits are a complicated issue for investors because of the time associated with obtaining permits, the complexity of the process, and the difficulties in adhering to the regulatory compliance policies. Keith emphasized fixing this problem as a central focus of her campaign platform.
I asked Keith 3 questions unrelated to real estate. The first was if she leaned more liberal or conservative. She responded how the race was less about partisan politics and more about “getting things done” and didn’t want to wedge herself into either camp.
The next question was if she should expand or shrink the DEI office that Mayor Bynum established. Keith responded that she didn’t know enough at the present time to address that budget item. She mentioned how she was hyper-focused on other topics that were unrelated to this office.
For context, Mayor GT Bynum established the Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Equity (MORE) in January 2021. It’s purpose is to work “in partnership with five commissions who represent and advocate for women, Latinos, African Americans, and Native Americans, and human rights in Tulsa” and the “Chief Resilience Officer…serves as the Mayor’s liaison to the LGBTQ community.” Currently the office is appropriated at least $303k of the City’s $982 million budget.
The final question I asked dealt with animals at public parks – “recent data has shown that the pit bull dog breed is involved in more violent incidences than other dog breeds. Would you be open to restricting pit bulls from public parks?” Keith responded with a few anecdotes. One was how her niece owns two pit bulls who are “sweet boys” and how a lady on a trail in Sand Springs was attacked by a pit bull recently. While she was not in favor of restricting certain dog breeds at public parks, she advocated for holding dog owners responsible whose dogs are involved in violent attacks.
Both candidates present candor and experience on pressing hot button topics in Tulsa. It should be an exciting race for all.
Quotable:
Aristotle on the Happy Life.
“What the perfect man finds most desirable, therefore, is the exercise of virtue…We may say that we choose everything for the sake of something else, excepting only happiness; for it is the end…Again the happy life is thought to be that which exhibits virtue; and such a life must be serious and cannot consist in amusement…It is held that things of serious importance are better than laughable and amusing things, and that the better the organ [of] the man, the more important is the function.”
- Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics Book X
Around the Web:
Congressman Thomas Massie compares the hills of Kentucky to famous epic.
CR Wiley on Making Men Pious Again
https://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=32-05-030-f