At Wednesday’s Council Budget and Special Projects committee meeting, Tulsa city councilors voiced concern about the mayor’s plan to create a separate emergency management agency.
It will cost $425,000 in the new 2027 budget.
Councilors were caught off guard at the added $162,000 more than they approved for the fiscal year when still partnered with Tulsa County. They say it was not made fully transparent on how much the new agency would cost citizens.
And they were not aware of how much progress had been made.
Councilor Lori Decter Wright posted to social media that new staff had already been hired, and the former Tulsa County agency agreement had been officially canceled.
She wrote that she and other council members felt backed into a corner.
At the 1 o’clock meeting, Decter Wright doubled down.
“I feel like the vote today means we’re just not going back to the table with the county,” said Decter Wright. “We’re going to create our own thing, and it’s going to have accelerated costs. And I’m deeply uncomfortable with that. Especially with the way it was rolled out to us, and the public.”
The former agency’s previous director resigned after his arrest and resignation last year. He plead guilty to possession of child pornography and was sentenced to 10 years.
The agency also received recent criticism by Tulsans during Tornado season; citizens experienced delayed sirens or missed the outside alert entirely. The city stressed to citizens that they should be using more than one alert system during dangerous weather - saying sirens are meant for outside use, not to alert people in their homes.
Despite the past issues, some councilors say that they have not been told of any needs not being met.
Although the new budget has been approved, Tulsa City Councilors intend to explore other options – including continued collaboration with the former agency.
