TULSA - Mayor-elect G.T. Bynum announced his staff Sunday with his campaign manager Michael Junk being named deputy mayor.
Currently, Junk, 32, serves as Bynum's Director of Transition. Junk's background includes working as the State Policy Advisor for Sen. Jim Inhofe, Administrative Director to Sen. Dr. Tom Coburn in Washington, D.C. in 2007. Junk is a Political Science graduate from OU. He will work closely with the new mayor in all areas of the city governance and will lead the city's partnership initiatives with the federal, state and tribal governments.
Junk was integral on transportation issues while working for Inhofe.
The following were also announced as Bynum's staff going forward:
CHIEF OF STAFF
Jack Blair
For the past 12 years, Blair has worked in the position of Tulsa City Council's Director of Research, Policy and Budget. Prior to that he worked as an associate in a Minneapolis law firm as project manager and attorney for the Trust for Public Land. He also was Assistant Attorney General of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.
He will work with Bynum on daily management of the city government issues. His involvement with Tulsa city government goes back to 2000. He has worked on projects that deal with both the 2004 Vision 2025 package and its extension this year, Osage Trail, Centennial Park, and Improve Our Tulsa.
DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF
Amy Brown
Brown worked as an aide to former Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor and to the City Council. She is a Political Science graduate from the University of Tulsa and currently is working on her doctorate. Brown will work hand-in-hand with Blair in the daily activities of the city government management.
Bynum calls Brown one of the most competent people he's ever met in city government and was at the top of his list of hires. She began working with Taylor in 2009 as advisor and scheduler and then came back to City Council as an aide in 2011. She is expected to work part-time for Bynum until she graduates in May. At that time she will come on board full-time.
CHIEF OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Former Mayor Kathy Taylor
The former mayor has held down positions in politics as Secretary of Commerce/Tourism and Workforce Development, Oklahoma's Chief of Education Strategy and Innovation and a resident Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics.
Taylor has been busy lately as Chair of Leadership Council for ImpactTulsa, a partnership focused on the collective impact business, education, philanthropic and civic leaders can have to increase student access in the Tulsa area. She is expected to work with Bynum on economic development issues in Tulsa.
Taylor was Tulsa's mayor from 2006-2009 at no salary, the same conditions she will be under with Bynum.
CHIEF OF PERFORMANCE STRATEGY AND INNOVATION
James Wagner
Wagner's work includes public transportation planning and bicycle/pedestrian planning for Tulsa metro area cities and counties. He is the Principal Transportation Planner for INCOG, the metro planning organization that serves Tulsa.
Among projects he has been a major participant in are the GO Plan concerning a regional transportation plan for bicycles/pedestrians, the development of Tulsa's first Regional Transit System Plan known as Fast Forward and the Peoria Bus Rapid Transit project.
CHIEF OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND POLICY
Nick Doctor
Doctor has worked for the Tulsa Regional Chamber since 2011 and currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Government Affairs. He previously had worked for the Tulsa City Council as an aide and legislative liaison.
ASSISTANT TO THE MAYOR FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND POLICY
Jonathan Townsend
Townsend is described as a city educator and activist. He majored in government at Oral Roberts University and obtained a Master's Degree from OSU. While in Stillwater, he studied Educational Leadership. After being a Tulsa educator for the past five years, he is expected to focus on education initiatives as a Bynum staff member.
ASSISTANT TO THE MAYOR FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND POLICY
Christina Starzl Mendoza
Mendoza, from Panama, became acquainted with Tulsa through the perspective of the immigrant families she served. She worked at the YWCA in Immigrant and Refugee Services. She also helped Hispanic families in increasing their learning success in the Tulsa community.
Currently, Mendoza serves as the President of Coalition of Hispanic Organizations.
MAYOR'S EXECUTIVE AIDE
Kimberly Madden
Madden is an OU graduate with a bachelor's degree in Journalism and a Master's in Human Relations. She has been an aide at the Tulsa City Council for the past two years. She will assist the mayor in scheduling and communications.
MAYOR'S AIDE
Brandon Oldham
Oldham is an OU graduate with a bachelor's degree in Public Relations and a Master's in Adult and Higher Education. His most recent work involvement has been as a staffer in higher education at OU and TU. He is expected to assist Bynum with correspondence and daily operations.
Bynum will take office on Dec. 5.
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