On Aug. 27, Tulsans will vote for their next mayor. The three highest-polling candidates are Karen Keith, Brent VanNorman, and Monroe Nichols. Public Radio Tulsa is interviewing all three candidates ahead of the vote.
VanNorman is President of the investment company TriLinc Global, and a former CPA, attorney and pastor. We spoke with VanNorman to discuss what he wants to accomplish as mayor and address questions that have come up in his campaign.
Max Bryan: Why did you decide to run for mayor?
Brent VanNorman: Well, I started off running for city council. I actually did my kickoff, and someone approached me shortly thereafter and said, “We think you’re better suited to run for mayor.” And so I decided to throw my hat into that ring. My grandson Wolfie asked me the same question — why do I want to be mayor? And I said, “Well, buddy, it’s because I want you to love growing up in Tulsa. I want you to love it so much that you decide to stay here and raise your family here.
MB: Just briefly, can you touch on some of the main things to accomplish as mayor?
BV: Starting off with helping Tulsa become more business-friendly. I want to change the mindset so that people recognize they’re the customers, and that staff recognizes they’re the customers. I’d like the experience to be like going to Chick-Fil-A — you get a great experience when you go there. We’ve got to streamline the permitting process — there’s already something in place, the state has approved it, that we can have private contractors that are licensed to give permits, and that will expedite that process so that you could get that in days or weeks as opposed to months and years.
We’ve got to address homelessness. It’s a complicated issue — it’s not a one-size-fits-all. But it is not primarily a housing issue for most — it’s a drug addiction issue and a mental health issue for most. And we have to address those to get people to go from being homeless to being productive members of society.
Public safety, from the standpoint of we’re about 140 police officers short. I’ve got some plans to do some major recruiting on that front so that we defend the police as opposed to defund the police here.
And I would say last, to come alongside the public schools and to work with the superintendent there, Dr. Ebony Johnson. I think she’s doing a fabulous job; I want to assist her in every way I can.
MB: On that note, you’ve said homelessness is a mental health and drug addiction issue, but academic research has consistently pointed out that cities that have sharp rises in rent have the biggest increases in homeless population. Apartment List, which tracks rental data, shows Tulsa is currently in the top 10% of U.S. cities when it comes to month-over-month rent increase. Do you have any plans to incorporate affordable housing into your plans to address homelessness?
BV: Yes, and for some people, it is a housing issue. They don’t have a drug addiction issue, they don’t have a mental health issue. For those, it is purely a housing situation.
What we start with is building affordable single family homes. That would be my plan, is to help contractors and help subsidize single-family homes so that people who are renters right now can buy a home affordably and begin to build equity. That would open up rental space, then, when they move out. Yes, we will need more multi-family, but I think if you start with multi-family, you never give people the opportunity to buy a home. And I want to see people buy a home, build equity, because that’s one of the primary sources for generational wealth for people.
MB: You’ve been criticized on the campaign trail for not having experience in the public sector, and for only having moved to Tulsa three years ago. Given these realities, why should people vote for you to be mayor?
BV: I think if you look at my background as having been a CPA, having been a pastor, having been an attorney and helping run three businesses — the city of Tulsa is a billion-dollar budget, 3,500 employees. It’s a business. It needs a CEO.
I often equate it to Oklahoma City, which has a mayor and the city manager, and the city manager is really the CEO of the company. If Oklahoma City went out and decided they wanted to hire another city manager, it would not look just internally. It would do a nationwide search. In Tulsa, the mayor is the city manager-slash-CEO. We don’t need to do a nationwide search — I chose to move here and stay here, and this is where we decided to retire and live the rest of our lives. And so we love Tulsa.
I do need to surround myself with people who have been here for awhile. So that’s really the key, in any situation. You’ve got to have people who have institutional knowledge, and I intend fully to do that.
MB: You’ve been outspoken about your Christian faith on the campaign trail, including remarks to return to public officials having to be “Christians in many areas.” You’ve since clarified the remarks and said you meant Christians make good public servants. Can you give any assurances to Tulsans of different beliefs that they’ll feel welcome in this city with you as mayor?
BV: Those comments, I probably didn’t say them as clearly as I intended on saying them. My intent was to say I would love to see more Christians run for office, but that’s not to the exclusion of anyone else. I would never favor a policy where only Christians could hold public office; that would be crazy. With our faith, I hope it informs us to be gracious to others, to be kind to others, to be inclusive to others — not to be critical and harsh; that’s not our job.
For me, I’m able to get along with people of multiple faiths. I’ve been part of a racial reconciliation group for four years; it’s been a wonderful experience. So I know how to reach out to people without having that harsh edge. I think if you come across in a caring and kind manner, it lowers people’s defenses, and they realize you’re a reasonable human being, and you’ll work with them.
