TULSA, Okla. — A town hall was held on Thursday evening with two of the candidates wanting to be the next mayor of Tulsa.

Homelessness, education, public safety, tribal issues, and the economy were just some of the topics discussed.

The event was held at the Southminster Presbyterian Church in Brookside.

The Tulsa mayoral candidates include Tulsa City Councilor Jayme Fowler, Tulsa County Commissioner Karen Keith, and State Representative Monroe Nichols.

Two of the candidates faced questions from the Tulsa community on several issues.

Only two of the candidates were at the town hall as Karen Keith pulled out because she came down with flu.

In August 2023, Keith said she wanted to focus on poverty and homelessness.

“I want to continue the positive trajectory we have going and want to make sure that we don’t stall out here. There’s got to be what’s next,” Keith said.

Thursday’s town hall gave members of the public the chance to ask questions and find out a bit more about the candidates.

The community packed out the church to hear from the candidates.

FOX23 spoke with some of the crowd after the event who gave their reaction.

“I thought it was really good because they hit in a lot of things that people wanted to hear. The race situation, the homelessness, they didn’t just, you know completely ignore the really big problems and our education system,” said Pam Williams, a community member.

“Homelessness, economic development, infrastructure, of course schools are very important. Both of them addressed those issues very well. It’s going to be a tough decision,” said Mike Buchert, another community member.

Nichols says he wants to be mayor because he thinks Tulsa has a lot of potential.

“The challenges, the named challenges that we all know about. Whether it’s homelessness, education, public safety, those types of things. But it’s really about unleashing the potential of this community. I think we have a real option, Tulsa, to do just that and so I’m really bullish on where we can go in the future. I’m running for mayor because I love this community I love the people in this community and think we can just be that next great American city,” Nichols said.

Nichols told FOX23 his main priorities.

“There’s questions on can leaders meet the challenge on homelessness. There’s questions on can a mayor really impact a child’s education, certainly can. We get a handle on making people feel safe in this community. I’ve heard those things over and over and over again tonight. I think we’re going to spend the next several months, the three campaigns and maybe some additional ones talking about those issues,” Nichols said.

Fowler discussed his reasonings for running for mayor.

“I have a servant’s heart and you have to have a servant’s heart. You really want to make sure that you’re a good steward, that you leave the city better than what you got it and I really want to make sure that Tulsa, all Tulsans, have an incredible bright future,” Fowler said.

Fowler told FOX23 his top 3 aims for the city.

“Address our unhoused in a positive constructive way. Number two is that our education, public education, outcomes need to be better and I think that’s people on the education side of our city need to be open to change. Number three, we’ve got to grow the city,” Fowler said.

Tulsa’s current mayor, G.T. Bynum, says he’s not running again after he’s finished his second term.

Bynum’s already said he won’t endorse any of the candidates but wants to help all of them so Tulsa can decide on the person they want to take over his job.