Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum touted his accomplishments in office one last time this week.
Bynum will step down as mayor of Tulsa in December. He served eight years in the city's highest office after spending eight years as a city councilor.
Public Radio Tulsa compiled five key takeaways from Bynum's final State of the City address, which he delivered Thursday afternoon at the Cox Business Convention Center.
1. Tulsa is transforming.
Bynum touted construction efforts like Santa Fe Square, Zink Lake, Discovery Lab, USA BMX and Scheels in his speech. He also mentioned Gathering Place, which began construction while he was on city council and completed when he was mayor.
“Our work to build the city that we want to leave to future generations is easily the most visible change over the last eight years,” Bynum said.
2. Equity is a priority.
Bynum said women now comprise 51 percent of city authorities and boards, mirroring Tulsa’s demographics. He also said city staff under his leadership conducted a study to find and address pay discrepancies among city employees they “didn’t even know existed."
He talked up the new Beyond Apology Commission, which explores reparations for descendants of the Tulsa Race Massacre. A report with the commission's same name listed things like housing and educational opportunities as possible reparations for descendants and north Tulsa as a whole.
“(Reparations) often never gets past debate over one form of reparations — levying a tax to make cash payments to descendants. But that is only one option,” he said.
Bynum has consistently opposed a lawsuit by the two remaining Race Massacre survivors asking for cash payments from the city for its role in the attack.
3. Tulsa is no longer flood-prone.
Bynum said Tulsa was known as one of the most flood-prone cities in the country in the 1970s.
The city now has the best federal flood-prone rating. It’s one of only two cities in the country to achieve this, Bynum said.
“Thanks to decades of commitments by votes and city officials, we have gone from one of the worst to one of the best when it comes to flood protection,” Bynum said.
Bynum’s announcement follows the 2019 Arkansas River flood, which tested the integrity of Tulsa County’s levee system. The state passed a bill this year to allocate money to improve the levees.
4. Fiscal responsibility is a priority.
Every budget passed under Bynum’s administration was balanced, the mayor said.
Bynum also said each budget was passed unanimously because the mayor’s office and city council worked together.
“Having inherited a multi-million-dollar deficit, we leave Mayor (Monroe) Nichols with a budget surplus. Having inherited total cash reserves of approximately $19 million, we leave with him over $50 million,” Bynum said.
5. Bynum is happy with his successor's vision.
Incoming Mayor Monroe Nichols ran his campaign for the city’s highest office on ending homelessness, improving public safety and advocating for youth in Tulsa.
Bynum says he isn’t offended or intimidated by Nichols’ vision.
“I had friends reach out and ask me how I was taking his assertion that things are going to be so much better after I’m out of office and he gets in,” he said. “My response to them is the same as what I’ll tell you today: I love it. I want a mayor who will challenge us to be better and aim higher.”
Nichols will be sworn in as mayor Dec. 2, Bynum’s final day in office.
