Link to the livestream: 11:55am
5-10-22
Sworn in as the 40th Mayor of Tulsa in 2016, Mayor G.T. Bynum is using data and innovation to bring people together and make our city globally competitive. To accomplish this, Mayor Bynum is focused on fiscal responsibility, public safety, infrastructure, and equality of opportunity for all Tulsans. This approach has already yielded the successful recruitment of the two largest new employers in the history of Tulsa, while outpacing both the state and the nation in job growth.
Mayor Bynum worked closely with the Tulsa City Council to fund the sharpest increase in police hiring in Tulsa history, while simultaneously implementing one of the most comprehensive community policing programs in the United States. Under his Administration, the City opened its own municipal jail with an emphasis on innovative diversion programs while also opening the Tulsa Sobering Center, which offers treatment for those suffering from drug and alcohol addiction. Mayor Bynum led Tulsa to pilot the Better Way program, which provides honest work and social service assistance for the city’s panhandler and homeless population.
Mayor Bynum has made equality of opportunity a cornerstone of his Administration. Under his leadership, the City established the Tulsa Equality Indicators report which uses data to measure inequality across a variety of factors. He established the Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Equity to implement the Resilient Tulsa Strategy, the city’s first strategic plan to address issues of racial disparity. Mayor Bynum launched the New Tulsans Initiative, which is focused on making Tulsa a beacon of freedom and opportunity for immigrants all around the world.
Mayor Bynum’s Administration is simultaneously implementing the largest streets improvement program in Tulsa history (Improve Our Tulsa) and the largest economic development capital improvements program in Tulsa history (Vision Tulsa). He continues to receive national recognition for his initiatives to empower everyday citizens through programs like the Urban Data Pioneers and the Civic Innovation Fellowship.
Because of his leadership and vision for Tulsa, Mayor Bynum was selected for the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative in 2018 and was presented the International Cities of Service Engaged Cities Award. His TED Talk on replacing partisanship with policy has been viewed over 940,000 times by people all around the world.
Prior to his election as Mayor, Bynum served for eight years on the Tulsa City Council. During that time, he was elected as the youngest City Council Chairman in Tulsa history.
During his time as a city councilor, he led the successful effort to enact the largest streets improvement package in the city’s history, authored the first city sales tax cut in Tulsa history, doubled the number of police academies to increase manpower, authored legislation creating the first municipal rainy day fund in Oklahoma and coordinated efforts to establish the first municipal veterans treatment court in the United States.
Before serving as Mayor of Tulsa, Bynum served as the managing partner of Capitol Ventures, and before that worked in the United States Senate for Senators Don Nickles and Tom Coburn. Bynum is a proud graduate of two institutions operated by the Augustinian Order of the Catholic Church: Cascia Hall Preparatory School in Tulsa and Villanova University, where he served as Student Body President.
Mayor Bynum comes from a family dedicated to public service and he and his wife, Susan, are the proud parents of Robert and Annabel – the sixth generation of Bynums to call Tulsa home.
Chair of the Day
Mayor David Holt became Oklahoma City’s 36th mayor in 2018. He was elected in 2018 with 78.5 percent of the vote, the largest percentage achieved by a non-incumbent since 1947. In 2022, he was re-elected with more votes than any candidate for Mayor since 1959. Holt is the first Native American mayor of Oklahoma City. At the time he took office, Holt was the youngest mayor of Oklahoma City since 1923 and the youngest mayor of a U.S. city with more 500,000 residents.
Mayor Holt’s “One OKC” message reflects his belief that Oklahoma City can continue to thrive only if we set aside the things that divide us and find common purpose.
In his second year in office, Mayor Holt recorded his signature achievement, shepherding the development and successful passage of MAPS 4, an ambitious, nearly $1 billion package that will address 16 critical challenges and opportunities.
Mayor Holt has quickly emerged as a national leader among mayors. In 2020, he was elected by his peers as a Trustee of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the highest level of leadership in the organization. He also serves as Vice Chair of the U.S. Conference of Mayors International Affairs Committee. In 2020, he was also elected to the Board of Directors of the National League of Cities (NLC). He is a member of the NLC 2020 Presidential Election Task Force and is co-chair of NLC’s Reimagining Public Safety Task Force. Mayor Holt is also an advisory council member for Accelerator for America, and a member of the 2019-2020 Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative.
A month after taking office, Mayor Holt was named one of the “Ten Outstanding Young Americans” under the age of 40 by JCI USA (Jaycees). As Mayor, Holt has also received the Visionary Award from the OKC Black Chamber, the Outstanding Civic Leader Award from the Asia Society of Oklahoma, the Shadow & Act Award from the Ralph Ellison Foundation, the Outstanding Elected Official Award from the Oklahoma State Medical Association, the Legacy Award from the Lynn Institute, the Aspire Award from OKC Young Professionals, the Inspiring Hope Award from Upward Transitions, the John A. Reed, Jr. Spirit of the Community Award from Fairview Baptist Missionary Church, the Service Above Self Award from the Rotary Club of Oklahoma City, and the Key Contributor Award from the Oklahoma Academy.
Mayor Holt was born and raised in Oklahoma City. The son of a teacher and a social worker, Mayor Holt has had family in Oklahoma City for the better part of a century. He graduated from Putnam City Public Schools as a National Merit Scholar before receiving his B.A. from George Washington University and his law degree from Oklahoma City University.
Mayor Holt had already served a U.S. House Speaker, a U.S. President, a Lt. Governor and Members of the U.S. House and Senate when he became chief of staff to his predecessor, Mayor Mick Cornett, at age 26. He served five years in that position before being elected to the Oklahoma Senate, where he served almost eight years.
Mayor Holt is also the author of the 2012 book “Big League City: Oklahoma City’s Rise to the NBA,” which chronicles Oklahoma City’s renaissance leading up to that time.
Mayor Holt is a licensed attorney and works for a family-owned investment company in Oklahoma City. He and his wife Rachel, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs, have two children, George and Margaret. The Holts are members of St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church. Mayor Holt is also a member of the Osage Nation.