Brent VanNorman Believes His Business Background Would Help As Mayor

Next week, Tulsa voters will cast their ballots to choose the city's next mayor.

We are inviting candidates to share their plans ahead of the election. Brent VanNorman is running for the job and said he views the Mayor as the CEO of the city.

See Previous Interviews with Monroe Nichols and Karen Keith

LeAnne Taylor: Talk to us a little bit about what brought you to Tulsa, because you're not native from around here, but the grandkids, huh? Correct?

VanNorman: Exactly, yes. So we have three grandkids. They live in Midtown. Our son went to ORU back in 2008 and so that really was a drawing card for us. We wanted to be around family. We chose Tulsa or anywhere else, and decided to make this our home and where we hope to live the rest of our lives.

Taylor: It's kind of one of those things that it's like, I moved to a town and now I want to be the mayor.

VanNorman: Yeah, didn't start off that way. I started off running for city council, but then shortly thereafter, got recruited to make a switch from city council to Mayor.

Taylor: What characteristic qualities do you bring to the race? What would make you a good mayor?

VanNorman: Yeah, I think the background that I have is varied. I started off working for a CPA firm. I then went to seminary, was a pastor for almost 10 years, then went to law school, practiced law as a patent attorney, and still a lawyer. Today, I've helped run three different businesses. So I think the combination of that Tulsa has a budget of $1,000,000,000.30 500 employees, and so I think it really is a business. And I think if you were looking for a business, a CEO, which is what the Tulsa mayor, really is, you'd look for someone with a background that's diverse and has significant business experience.

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Taylor: We're trying to ask similar questions to each of the candidates, and one of the questions asked earlier this week included your first 100 days, what do you see that? How will that unfold?

VanNorman: Sure. Well, I think the first thing is, there's a lot of assessing you need to do, and you really need to we all have our plans and goals and things we've campaigned on, and we say those things with a straight face. But the reality of it is, when you get in there, things are going to be a little different than what you anticipated. But really, I think beyond that, my first focus will be on the homelessness situation because it's such a crisis right now went up by 26% last year that the current regime has a housing-first approach. And I would take a slightly different approach and have a really a therapy-first approach. Homelessness, I don't believe is primarily a housing issue. It's complicated, but it's primarily a drug addiction issue and a mental health issue, and so we really need to provide treatment. Just throwing up housing and putting people in it will not solve homelessness. We need to treat the whole person, the physical component of it, the mental, emotional components of it, and the spiritual component. And there's some great organizations in our area that are doing a fabulous job with that. I want to come alongside those organizations and really support them.

Taylor: One of the things I watched in your promotional campaign was the business aspect that you're going to bring. Do you want to roll out the red carpet, not red tape? I would push back a little bit on that, because I think Tulsa has done a really good job, and I think we're in a really good place. What would you do differently that Mayor Bynum has not done?

VanNorman: Well a couple of things. One, I think the issue of permitting. I have talked to literally dozens of contractors and people trying to get permitting through quickly. And right now it's taking months, if not years, to get permitting, and so I think that has to be streamlined. There are options available. One of those is with private contractors that have been certified to be able to do the permitting. And so it would give people an option over just coming to the city. And I think that competition would be very healthy. And so I'd like to get the permitting process down to days, weeks at the most.

Taylor: I know that this is a time that you're getting out. We only have a few more days left before the vote. What do you think you will be doing over the next few days? I mean, who are you meeting with and what will get you to the finish line?

VanNorman: Yeah, so meeting with a number of people in the media, doing interviews. We've continued to go out door knocking, and we have massive efforts. We have a great ground game going right now. Have, you know, 30 volunteers that will probably show up tonight to do texting and calling, and so it's just getting the communication out there. I feel like if people knew who I was and knew the message, I would definitely win this election. The key is getting beyond that point where people are unaware. So many doors we knock on, they don't, first of all, even know there's an election on August 27. And secondly, then they don't know who the candidates are. So it's an informational process, and we just have to spit, you know, bridge that gap over these last few days.

Taylor: Brent, we appreciate you coming in. Wish you all the best.