The Frontier: Mayor-Elect G.T. Bynum's Plans For Tulsa

Mayor Dewey Bartlett gives his final State of the City speech Tuesday. Twenty days later, on Dec. 5, Mayor-elect G.T. Bynum will be sworn in as the city’s 40th mayor.

So, with less than a month to go before he takes office, The Frontier asked Bynum to talk about what he plans to do about nine key issues he will assume from Bartlett.

Since defeating Bartlett in the June 28 election, Bynum has left his full-time job at his consulting firm, Capitol Ventures, to concentrate on his work as a city councilor and prepare for his new job.

During the campaign, Bynum set some lofty goals: to make Tulsa the best place in the state to get an education; to improve pay and benefits for public safety workers; to increase life-expectancy rates for north Tulsa residents; to better relations with Tulsa County; and much, much more.

Those are his objectives. But he will also inherit some unfinished business from his predecessor.

So, with less than a month to go before he takes office,  News On 6 partner The Frontier asked Bynum to talk about what he plans to do about nine key issues he will assume from Bartlett.

Bynum discussed upcoming issues like the proposed REI development at 71st and Riverside Drive.

Do you support the REI project as it is proposed for the 71st Street and Riverside Drive site? Why? If not, what would you like to see there? And in what time frame would you like to see that issue resolved?

Bynum: “I want the chance as mayor to sit down with both sides of the proposal and see what compromise can be developed. I actually don’t think the two sides are that far apart, and the city should have been a better facilitator of those discussions from the beginning.

“I also want the citizens of Tulsa to have their voice heard on this, as they have been paying for the maintenance of that land for decades. But I would like the opportunity to present any compromise proposal that can be agreed upon to them, and to get their feedback. In fairness to the developers and to the citizens, I hope to have this resolved early in my administration.”

See his full answer to this questions and many more including:

Contracts with police and firefighters
Leasing or selling parks
City/County jail agreement
Vision Tulsa

All at The Frontier