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.
Keith is the District 2 Tulsa County commissioner. We spoke with Keith to discuss what she wants to accomplish as mayor and address questions that have come up in her campaign.
Max Bryan: Why did you decide to run for mayor?
Karen Keith: Well, I decided to run for mayor because I absolutely love this city, and I have enjoyed and loved my job at Tulsa County. I feel like I have the experience to just walk in to work, because I did have the great opportunity to work with Bill LaFortune and absolutely love it, and I’m at a point in my life where there’s some things where I could help address at City Hall and make a difference because of my experience.
MB: Just briefly, can you touch on some of the main things you hope to accomplish as mayor?
KK: Absolutely. So first of all, there needs to be some work done in inspections and permitting department, and I feel like I’m in a good position to do that — I’ve been working with developers most of this past year and understand what the issues are. And you know, we have some really good people that work there. I just kind of want to change the culture and the way we’re doing some of that business at city hall.
The reason I’m so passionate about it is because it impacts homelessness. People who are trying to get affordable housing out of the ground find it very difficult to do so. Because by the time they get through that process, it costs too much money and it takes too long.
Quick example, Habitat For Humanity. They built basically two or three houses, that’s it. They should all be pre-permitted because it’s the same footprint, it’s the same house. So having those types of things available is huge. Other communities are doing this, like Wagoner and Claremore, and they’re actually having homes, duplexes, multiplexes, where a developer can go in and pick out a plan, and put it together. It’s all pre-permitted.
MB: On your campaign trail, you’ve been complimentary of the work current Mayor G.T. Bynum has done over the past eight years. Is there anything you’d do differently than him as mayor?
KK: I think he’s just done a great job, and I want to continue the efforts that he has started in the permitting and inspections process. So that — I think I would probably have a little different way of working there. But you know, he’s made so many strides on so many great things for our community in a very difficult time. You know, I think he’s done a great job for us.
MB: You’ve been endorsed by Tulsa’s Fraternal Order of Police chapter and the Tulsa Firefighters. Will these endorsements affect your relationships with the Tulsa Police and Fire departments, and if so, how?
KK: I think being able to have open conversations with these individuals [is good]. And I will tell you, we have a very professional fire department, and we have a very professional police department. And I am honored that they have given me their endorsement. They’re our front line for us as a community, and I want to be an open ear to them, and I want to work very closely with them.
With our firefighters right now, I’m excited about the work that’s going on with family and children’s services. They’re partnering with them in order to deal with the homeless. I’d like to expand that so we get that service 24/7, so instead of taking a big fire truck out, you’ve got these individuals in a little van who go out and try to get them the services that they need. So there’s some great collaborative things going on — I would like to expand that as well.
MB: You’ve been criticized by other candidates for being made aware of issues at the Tulsa County Family Center for Juvenile Justice in 2022, two years before more widespread issues came to light. In light of this, can you give any assurances to Tulsans that you’ll be transparent and communicative about issues in the city?
KK: Absolutely. And again, I think this has been politicized. We built the building, the county built the building, and it has been run by a state judge and overseen by a state agency, which is [the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs]. And I can tell you, when [issues] started happening a year ago, I sent in my chief deputy because I wanted to know what was going on. That was helpful.
We took it over when we had a judge who said, “I don’t want to do this anymore.” So we’ve taken it over, and OJA is very pleased with where things are going. After 50 years of our judiciary taking care of our juvenile center and running it, we’re doing it now. We hope it’s temporary, but we don’t know. We don’t know whether with what we’re doing is going to be the best way to go forward, but we are working very hard to make sure our youth are being taken care of. I think you have individuals who are not serious about actually fixing it, but who just want to throw some political bombs.
