Eight people vying to be mayor of Tulsa, including local activist

Photo Courtesy: Tulsa County Election Board (TULSA, Okla.) Local civic leaders are rallying for change around Greg Robinson II, who announced his candidacy for mayor at the Tulsa County Election Board on Wednesday. Robinson goes up against Craig Immel, Ken Reddick, Paul Tay, Ty Walker, Zackri Leon Whitlow, Ricco Wright and incumbent G.T. Bynum in the general election on August 25. “I am deeply committed to making this city one that I can be proud of, that my family can be proud of, that our little brothers and sisters of all races and ages and backgrounds can be proud of, that our ancestors can be proud of and that those who come after us can be proud of,” Robinson posted on his campaign’s social media page. “And so this will be a campaign of WE, this will not be a campaign of me. I am simply the one standing before us saying that 'no longer will we accept getting halfway there. No longer will we accept words and not action; so we are taking bold action.'” Robinson currently serves as Director of Family and Community Engagement at Met Cares, which works to “drive advocacy, fuel positive change and encourage civic engagement by inspiring community ownership and improving and increasing educational opportunities throughout North Tulsa”, according to the organization’s website. He is also the son of Tulsa civil rights leader Greg Robinson, who passed away in 2003. The announcement came on the heels of a public statement from Bynum on Wednesday morning, who told citizens via social media he let them down in an interview with CBS News over the weekend, in which he said he did not believe race was a factor in Terrence Crutcher’s death. Crutcher, a black man, was unarmed when he was killed by a white female police officer in Tulsa in 2016. His death led to protests throughout the state. Bynum also commented on recent controversies involving the Tulsa Police Department, saying a TPD major who told a local radio station police aren’t killing African Americans as much as they should be that “I want to believe he didn’t intend to say what he did, but what he did say goes against everything we are trying to achieve in community policing. He does not speak for my administration, for the Tulsa Police Department, or the City of Tulsa. His comments are under review by the Chief’s Office. And if he didn’t mean to make the statement in the way it has been received, he owes Tulsans a clarification and an apology.” Bynum also told citizens he is working with Chief Wendell Franklin following a controversial arrest of a black juvenile in Tulsa last week, stating that “we can do better.” A runoff election, if necessary, will be November 3.