TULSA — The outgoing mayor and the mayor-to-be for the City of Tulsa held a joint news conference Thursday to discuss the transition.
Mayor G.T. Bynum pointed out that Mayor-elect Monroe Nichols had actually worked in the executive offices at City Hall before he did, as part of Mayor Kathy Taylor’s administration.
“The most important thing that our team here at City Hall can do over the next 25 days is to provide him all the support, and whatever he needs, to start strong on December 2nd when he is sworn in as mayor,” Bynum said.
He said they had a good conversation about what the next 25 days would look like, and that he shared a memo he had spent weeks preparing, talking about some of the things he wished he’d known before taking office.
For his part, Nichols took time to remark about County Commissioner Karen Keith, whom he beat to win the office of mayor.
He said they’ve both tried, but failed, to connect by phone since the election.
“I can’t say enough good things about her service at this point, ” he said, “and I want to leverage that as we continue to build an excellent city here.”
Asked if he anticipated a role for her in his administration, he said he didn’t know, and needs to discuss that situation with her.
He fielded questions about the Beyond Apologies initiative for north Tulsa, the Juvenile Justice Center and its ongoing issues, and the investigation into the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
KRMG asked about staffing, and whether he anticipated any sweeping changes in personnel.
No, he said, he expects that most city employees will remain on the team.
“You go through campaigns, and you talk about a lot of things that need to be fixed, and that‘s the nature of a campaign,” Nichols said, “but there’s a whole lot of things that we get right, and the employees at city hall are a big reason why we get those things right.
Nichols said he’s not prepared yet to name his transition team publicly, but would do so soon.
He’ll be sworn in officially at roughly 2:00 p.m. on December 2nd.