TULSA, Okla. — Approximately 559 people from 16 faith groups and advocacy organizations turned out for ACTION Tulsa's Mayoral Accountability Session on July 28 inside Trinity Episcopal Church.
"I think this might be the first of its kind in this kind of format," Sheyda Brown from Terence Crutcher Foundation told 2 News.
Sunday's town-hall-style event gave voters a chance to engage directly with three of Tulsa's August 27 mayoral election candidates.
The three candidates present were Tulsa County Commissioner Karen Keith, State Rep. Monroe Nichols, and businessman Brent VanNorman.
"It's not an open forum," Brown added. "It's not just a 'Let's hear the candidates set their platform.' It's really, 'Let's have the candidates hear our stories and hear what's important to us.'"
Situations raised by various community leaders Sunday afternoon ranged from north Tulsa neighborhoods without street lighting, stray dogs keeping kids from walking to school, a lack of crosswalks, expanding Tulsa Fire Department's Alternative Response Team to immigrant community concerns, and more.
"My kids need streetlights and my community deserves not to live in darkness," one panelist said.
"Stray dogs pose a serious risk to students and their families," another panelist added before candidates answered their plans for each issue.
All promised to meet the needs presented by various community leaders, but each tried to stand out in their responses.
"What I would leave here with if I was a constituent is being really happy and excited that we have folks who are running for mayor who are committed to that agenda," Rep. Nichols told 2 News. "How we get there we didn't get to talk about a whole lot, but I think the great thing is that there are folks who are committed."
"This was exciting," Keith said. "I've never experienced anything quite like this in my 16 years of service. And I love that the community came together. They did the work and then they came in with their ideas and put those to us."
"And in this group, the action group is so non-partisan that they truly embrace that. And I really appreciate that," VanNorman added.
Brown hopes the event draws more Tulsans to vote on Aug. 27 and, above all, to care.
"We're looking forward to working with whoever gets elected on the issues we care about — streetlights, stray dogs, public transportation, mental health crises," Brown said. "We want to see a Tulsa where everyone thrives."
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