Greg Robinson challenges Mayor Bynum
The period to file for Tulsa’s August municipal elections is now over, with incumbent Mayor G.T. Bynum drawing seven challengers.
The period to file for Tulsa’s August municipal elections is now over, with incumbent Mayor G.T. Bynum drawing seven challengers. Bynum will face opposition from both the left and the right in the non-partisan race, and among the best known candidates seeking to unseat the mayor is community activist Greg Robinson. Robinson visited with La Semana about his reasons for entering the race and the changes he would like to see take place in Tulsa.
Running for mayor was not what Robinson had planned for this year, but ongoing law enforcement related racial tensions both in Tulsa and across the country, and Bynum’s reaction to these events, prompted Robinson to enter the political arena.
“The decision really came from the fact that when you look at what Mayor Bynum promised constituents, constituents that many times decided to vote for a Republican, even though they may have different political leanings, that he hadn't delivered on the guarantee that he made,” Robinson explained. “Nowhere was that more poignant for me than seeing his comment about the death of Terrence Crutcher, not admitting that the death had anything to do with racial bias, instead blaming Terrence Crutcher’s struggle with addiction for his death. That really was emblematic to me of the problem with Mayor Bynum as our leader and just made me feel like someone needed to step up and provide Tulsans with another choice.”
Robinson was part of a coalition that recently met with the mayor to push him to agree to battle the Fraternal Order of Police to finally establish an independent office to investigate and monitor police abuse and misconduct.
“The bottom line is that until we have a police department that is serving citizens and is protective, but in a supportive way,” Robinson said, “and not making them feel as if they are already criminals or being hunted in their own communities, then we’re not going to be able to truly solve this issue of mistrust between community and police.”
Robinson is a native Tulsan with deep ties to the community and an understanding of how economic opportunities, education, housing, gentrification, healthcare, and access to transportation and other public services all intertwine and connect to the issue of crime and public safety.
“When you look at what the roots of crimes are, a lot of them are rooted in mental health issues,” Robinson said. “Others are rooted in the inability of people to get the direct services that they need to get the access to amenities and critical quality of life needs that we all happened.
Robinson recognizes that Tulsa’s Latinx community shares many of the same struggles as the city’s African American population, and has been an outspoken critic of the 287(g) contract between ICE and Tulsa County.
“My commitment to the Latinx community, to all of the different perspectives that exist there, is to say we will see you, we will hear you, and City Hall with belong just as much to the Latinx community as to any community across the City of Tulsa,” Robinson vowed. “I am committed to bringing people into this administration that open the doors and ensure that the needs of the community are met and ensure that the community feels welcome everywhere in the city.”
In addition to Bynum and Robinson, the other candidates in the August 25 mayoral race are Paul Tay, Ricco Wright, Ty Walker, Craig Immel, Ken Reddick, and Zackri Whitlow. (La Semana)