Mayor Dewey Bartlett Addresses State Of The City

Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett addressed the Chamber of Commerce with his annual State of the City address. He spoke about some of the city's successes and the upcoming Vision 2025 vote.

Bartlett said business is booming in the city and others are taking notice.

The mayor has several times over the years made big announcements in this speech - none of that Tuesday, but a clear indication the mayor figures the next big deal for Tulsa is the renewal of the Vision sales tax - with some of it split off for public safety.

The city council and the county are not on board yet with that plan.

"The Vision 2025 sales tax of six-tenths of one penny expires at the end of 2016. Tulsans will have a crucial vote to extend that tax in order to continue our progress," he said.

"That means it’s once again a time for questions, analytical discussion and tough decisions and setting priorities."

Read His Speech

The speech attracted a big crowd to the Convention Center - 1,200 people - a full room to hear the Mayor's talk. It was a Chamber of Commerce crowd - with business and political leaders from all over the county.

It was mostly a cheerleading speech, with the mayor laying out a list of a dozen big retail announcements over the last few years. 

"Major retailers are definitely taking notice.  They're coming to our Tulsa team and realizing that the buzz is real.  That is success."

Bartlett's theme was "Be the Reason." Bartlett encouraged attendees to be the reason someone visits Tulsa and moves to Tulsa.

Be The Reason Video

The mayor noted the city is working to preserve oil jobs, that could be in danger because of low prices, and recruiting new aviation workers to Tulsa.
One of those initiatives announced here three years ago - an aviation academy for high school - opened this week.

City of Tulsa 2015 State of the City Video