The City of Tulsa has a mayor-council form of government. This form of government has been in place since 1989, at which time Tulsa converted from a city commission form of government. The mayor is elected by the entire population and each of the 9 Councilors are elected from districts based on population.
Tulsa is the county seat for Tulsa County. Within the boundaries of the city and surrounding county are tribal lands belonging to and governed by various Native American nations.
The current mayor of Tulsa is Mayor Monroe Nichols, a Democrat, who was first elected in 2024.
The current auditor of Tulsa is Nathan Pickard. The auditor is elected independently of the City Council and Mayor to ensure the auditor can act in an objective manner. Pickard was first elected in 2024. The city auditor term is currently two years, but will become a term of four year term starting with the 2026 elections.[ citation needed ]
The 2018-2021 Tulsa City Council [1] has a historic super majority of women. [2] The Chair and Vice-Chair of the Tulsa City Council are one year appointments which are nominated and elected by the Councilors each December. All 9 seats on the Council are nonpartisan and are elected by the voters of Tulsa in August (General Election) or November (Run Off Election) every other year. [3]
| Name [4] | District | Year First Elected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vanessa Hall-Harper | District 1 | 2016 | |
| Anthony Archie | District 2 | 2024 | |
| Jackie Dutton | District 3 | 2024 | |
| Laura Bellis | District 4 | 2022 | |
| Karen Gilbert | District 5 | 2024 | Previously served 2011-2018 |
| Christian Bengel | District 6 | 2022 | |
| Lori Decter Wright | District 7 | 2018 | |
| Phil Lakin, Jr. | District 8 | 2011 | |
| Carol Bush | District 9 | 2024 |
Until 2007, City Hall was located in the civic center, a sector of downtown that included most governmental services, including the Federal Courthouse, Tulsa County Courthouse, Tulsa City-County Library, and The Convention Center. In 2007 Mayor Kathy Taylor proposed to move City Hall from its civic center location to One Technology Center, on the northwest corner of Second Street and Cincinnati. Taylor argued that a recent study showed the move would save $15.2 million over a 10-year period. Most of the savings would come from the new energy efficient building. [5] The move then allowed the former City Hall property to be redeveloped into a new Aloft Hotel, [6] to support the BOK Center. The conversion was completed in 2013. [7]
On July 12, 2007, the Tulsa City Council voted 8-1 to move the City Hall to One Technology Center. [8]
Tulsa's first city office building was a two-story brick building constructed in 1906 at 211 West Second Street. Primarily intended as a fire station, it included administrative offices and a police station. The city jail was in the basement. [9] The city quickly outgrew that facility and began renting office space in the privately owned Reeder Building.
In 1917, Tulsa government offices moved into a much larger facility at Fourth and Cincinnati, formally called the Tulsa Municipal Building, to house city services. This served the city until the 1960s, when the Civic Center building was opened. [10] The Municipal Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C on July 18, 1975. Its NRIS number is 75001574. [11]
Tulsa is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa metropolitan area, a region with 1,034,123 residents. The city serves as the county seat of Tulsa County, the most densely populated county in Oklahoma, with urban development extending into Osage, Rogers and Wagoner counties.
Michael B. Coleman is an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as the 52nd mayor of Columbus, Ohio. He was the first African-American to serve as the mayor of Ohio's capital city.
BOK Center, or Bank of Oklahoma Center, is a 19,199-seat multi-purpose arena and a primary indoor sports and event venue in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. The two current permanent tenants are the Tulsa Oilers of the ECHL and the Tulsa Oilers of the Indoor Football League, both teams owned by Andy Scurto. The BOK Center was the former home of the Tulsa Shock of the Women's National Basketball Association and the Tulsa Talons of the Arena Football League.
Kathryn Louise Taylor was elected the 38th mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma on April 4, 2006, in the city's largest voter turnout for a mayoral election. She defeated Republican incumbent Mayor Bill Lafortune to become Tulsa's second female mayor.
Tom Adelson is an American politician from Oklahoma. He was an Oklahoma State Senator representing the 33rd Senate District, located in Tulsa County, from 2004 to 2012. Adelson is a Democrat who was first elected in 2004. Prior to his election, Adelson served Governor of Oklahoma Brad Henry's first Oklahoma Secretary of Health from 2003 to 2004.
The government of Portland, Oregon is based on a city commission government system. Elected officials include the mayor, commissioners, and a city auditor. The mayor and commissioners are responsible for legislative policy and oversee the various bureaus that oversee the day-to-day operation of the city. Portland began using a commission form of government in 1913 following a public vote on May 3 of that year. Each elected official serves a four-year term, without term limits. Each city council member is elected at-large.
The Hillsboro Civic Center is a government-built, mixed-use development in downtown Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. The development includes the city hall for the county seat of Washington County, located west of Portland, Oregon. Covering 6 acres (24,000 m2), the Civic Center has a total of over 165,000 square feet (15,300 m2) in the complex. The total of six stories for the main structure makes the building the tallest in the city, tied with Tuality Community Hospital. In addition to government offices, the Civic Center includes retail space, public plazas, and residential housing. The complex was built to centralize city government functions under one roof.
Downtown Tulsa is an area of approximately 1.4 square miles (3.6 km2) surrounded by an inner-dispersal loop created by Interstate 244, US 64 and US 75. The area serves as Tulsa's financial and business district; it is the focus of a large initiative to draw tourism, which includes plans to capitalize on the area's historic architecture. Much of Tulsa's convention space is located in downtown, such as the Tulsa Performing Arts Center and the Tulsa Convention Center, as well as the BOK Center. Prominent downtown sub-districts include the Blue Dome District, the Tulsa Arts District, and the Greenwood Historical District, which includes the site of ONEOK Field, a baseball stadium for the Tulsa Drillers opened in 2010.
Wigan Council, or Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council, is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. It is a metropolitan borough council and provides the majority of local government services in the borough. The council has been a member of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority since 2011.
Seattle City Hall is the home of the offices of the mayor and city council of Seattle, Washington, located between 4th Avenue and 5th Avenue in the downtown area of the city. Most city departments have their offices in the nearby Seattle Municipal Tower. In 2003, the Seattle city government moved into a new, "green" city hall building. Until 1962, the city government operated from the King County Courthouse, alongside the King County government. The new City Hall and Plaza, together with the adjacent Seattle Municipal Tower, Seattle Justice Center, and (unbuilt) Civic Square, comprise the Seattle Civic Center.
Oneok Field is a baseball park in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Located in the historic Greenwood district adjacent to downtown Tulsa, it is the home of the Tulsa Drillers of the Texas League. The stadium is named for Oneok.
The 2009 Tulsa mayoral election was held on November 10, 2009, to elect the mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma. It resulted in the election of Dewey F. Bartlett Jr., the Republican candidate.
Arthur Robert Outlaw was a Mobile- area businessman, community leader, and politician, who served as Public Safety Commissioner (1965-1969) on the City Commission, and co-terminous as President of the Commission and Mayor of Mobile in 1967-1968. At that time, the mayor's title was co-extensive with the presidency of the City Commission, and was rotated for one-year terms among the three city commissioners. In 1984 he was elected as Finance Commissioner.
Dewey Follett Bartlett Jr. is an American politician and businessman who served as the 39th Mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma. An oil industry executive and political figure in Tulsa, Bartlett was the Republican nominee for mayor of Tulsa in the 2009 election, and was elected as Tulsa's 39th mayor on November 10, 2009. He was re-elected in 2013, but was defeated in his second reelection bid in 2016.
The government of the City of Los Angeles operates as a charter city under the charter of the City of Los Angeles. The elected government is composed of the Los Angeles City Council with 15 city council districts and the mayor of Los Angeles, which operate under a mayor–council government, as well as several other elective offices. Under the California Constitution, all judicial, school, county, and city offices, including those of chartered cities, are nonpartisan. The current mayor is Karen Bass, the current city attorney is Hydee Feldstein Soto and the current city controller is Kenneth Mejia.
George Theron Bynum IV is an American politician and lobbyist who served as the 40th mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma, from 2016 to 2024. Bynum was first elected to the Tulsa City Council, representing the ninth district in 2008 as a Republican and served four terms before running for mayor in 2016.
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The 2022 Tulsa municipal elections were held on August 23, 2022. A top two runoff election was scheduled for November 8 if no candidate received a majority vote. All nine city council seats and the city auditor are elected to two year terms. The filing period was June 13–15. Incumbent Mayor G.T. Bynum would not be up for reelection until 2024. All nine city council seats will have contested elections. City Auditor Cathy Carter was re-elected without opposition.
The 2024 Tulsa municipal elections are scheduled for August 27, 2024, to elect the mayor of Tulsa, city auditor, and all nine city councilors. A top two runoff election is scheduled for November 5 if no candidate receives a majority vote. All nine city council seats and the city auditor are elected to two year terms. The mayor of Tulsa is elected to a four-year term. The filing period is June 10–12. Incumbent mayor G. T. Bynum is not seeking reelection.
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