Candidates For Tulsa Mayor Discuss Ideas For Job Creation

Tulsans vote a new mayor next week. There are three major candidates in the race for the top job at city hall

Next Tuesday's election will narrow that down to two, or it could decide the whole thing.

There's probably been no greater issue over the last few years at city hall than the economy, and how government can encourage job growth, and not just jobs in city government.

Monday, Mayor Dewey Bartlett wasn't available for an interview, but we talked with the other candidates to get their thoughts on job creation.

Tulsa's economy is clearly on the up-swing, but after years of decline, jobs will be on the next mayor's to-do list.

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Former City Councilor Bill Christiansen said the mayor's office should do more to recruit employers from states where the business climate is not as friendly.

"Let's handle the domestic market first and go to those areas that have become user unfriendly, because we have a good workforce in Tulsa. We have good tech schools and we have good hardworking people in Tulsa, and I think we need to toot our own horn more than we have in the past," Christiansen said.

Current Mayor Dewey Bartlett, who campaigned the first time on getting jobs into the city, is now defending his record, noting Tulsa's unemployment is down and new jobs are up since he took office in the middle of the recession.

He's made several trips out of state and overseas to make business contacts that have resulted in additional hiring here.

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Former Mayor Kathy Taylor said she once again would use the power of the office to encourage new business startups in Tulsa, growing jobs from within.

Kathy Taylor, Mayoral Candidate: "So government doesn't create jobs, it creates the palate, sets the plate for jobs to be created. And in Tulsa, 92 percent of the companies have 100 [employees] or fewer, 84 percent have 10 or fewer--those are the jobs of tomorrow that are going to expand. And the other thing is what I started in my first term, which is to support the entrepreneurial economy."

The primary election is next Tuesday, and if any one candidate gets more than half the votes, they'll be elected. Otherwise, the top two will go into another election.

Tuesday, starting at 7:30 a.m. on Six In The Morning, candidate Bill Christiansen will join us for a question and answer session. Each of the top three candidates were invited to participate, but Kathy Taylor and Mayor Dewey Bartlett declined.