G.T. Bynum: A Republican mayor's plan to replace partisanship with policy
G.T. Bynum is using data-driven outcomes and trackable goals to break down historic lines of division. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
of my hometown, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
a two-term incumbent,
the classic partisan playbook.
of Donald Trump.
that he sent to President Obama
were coming to Tulsa.
made me look like Voldemort,
in the mail, like this.
labor union has endorsed]
most liberal labor union,"
the Tulsa Firefighters Union,
running for president
in his final year in that office,
never find the time to get together
the Tulsa mayor's race.
hits you in a campaign,
how you're going to respond,
with partisanship,
against someone,
behind a common vision?
to respond not with a negative ad
find even sexier --
increasing per capita income in our city,
throughout the campaign,
in a very transparent way,
when we did that.
populations in the country,
don't just run companies,
institutions and nonprofits,
to sacrifice today
can have a better future,
of a circus promoter ...
of a young Orville Redenbacher ...
of Republicans and Democrats.
and that approach so novel?
philosophical disagreements
the red meat out to the base
is that to win an election,
basest, divisive instincts.
wins an election like that,
about how can we change that dynamic.
is replaced with policy?
bipartisan movement across this country
is a guy named Mitch Daniels.
as George W. Bush's budget director,
a broad range of federal programs
and project results.
over a thousand federal programs.
had their funding reduced
demonstrate success.
a well-publicized increase in funding
that did demonstrate success,
was never really popular with Congress,
to state programs,
that could not demonstrate success,
increased funding for those programs
the number of state troopers
is the president of Purdue University,
tuition levels for students there flat
applied this at the federal level,
the code for cities
able to do in New York City
Mayor of New York,
on a monthly, even an annual basis,
allocated based on those statistics.
so that crime statistics
even hourly basis,
would be allocated
were occurring today
they were occurring last quarter.
and he applied it in Baltimore.
that were most problematic for Baltimore
when you apply data in real time
violent crime in Baltimore
what some other city was doing.
could be used to all of the problems
to issue after issue in Baltimore,
by mayors across the country
of our greatest challenges.
is a very simple one --
that you want to achieve;
by which you can track progress
cheaply and quickly;
you think would work,
that don't work,
into those strategies that do.
to address housing issues
to reduce their crime rates
not just for their city
bringing resources together
and abandoned properties.
if we aren't clear in what our goals are
and evaluation to accomplish them.
and we've found in implementing this,
as a contrast to creativity.
is actually quite the opposite.
for creative problem-solving,
different strategies quickly,
things that you can test out.
that you can come up with
and then you double down on that.
that it lends itself to creativity
those old silos of ownership
all the stakeholders in your community
or crime-fighting or education
to address your common goal.
common city initiatives,
now repeatedly,
morale at the city --
unless you've got happy employees;
throughout our community.
to things that are not so traditional
what cities are responsible for,
graduation rates,
that we face as a city.
African American community in the country.
was known as Black Wall Street.
in American history.
was burned to the ground,
African American part of our city
than a kid that's born elsewhere in Tulsa.
of that awful event,
every tool that we can
party registration cards
you voted for for president
the decade of life
from these kids right now.
and black folks,
members of the city council,
an equal shot at a good life in our city,
they happen to be born in.
done it before us.
they're willing to build,
to build a city
use evidence, data and evaluation
where Barack Obama never carried
our philosophical disagreements
that unite us.
that is presented by innovation
for our neighbors.
to a better future for us all.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
G.T. Bynum - Mayor of Tulsa, OklahomaG.T. Bynum is using data-driven outcomes and trackable goals to break down historic lines of division.
Why you should listen
G.T. Bynum the 40th Mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Prior to his election as Mayor, Bynum served for eight years on the Tulsa City Council. During that time, he was elected as the youngest City Council Chairman in Tulsa history.
Throughout his time in Tulsa city government, Bynum has focused on fiscal restraint, public safety and infrastructure. He led the successful effort to enact the largest streets improvement package in the city's history, authored the first city sales tax cut in Tulsa history, doubled the number of police academies to increase manpower, authored legislation creating the first municipal rainy day fund in Oklahoma and coordinated efforts to establish the first municipal veterans treatment court in the United States.
In 2011, Bynum was selected as an Aspen Institute Rodel Fellow, a program which seeks to bring together 24 of the nation's most promising young elected leaders on a bipartisan basis, explore the responsibilities of public leadership and assist them in achieving their fullest potential in public service.
In 2014, Bynum was selected as the only city councilor in the nation to participate in the Moneyball for Government Fellowship Program, which aims to assist local governments in achieving better results with limited budgets through increasing the use of data, evidence and evaluation when spending taxpayer money.
Bynum is a proud graduate of two institutions operated by the Augustinian Order of the Catholic Church: Cascia Hall Preparatory School in Tulsa and Villanova University, where he served as Student Body President. He previously worked as the managing partner of Capitol Ventures, and before that in the United States Senate for Senators Don Nickles and Tom Coburn.
Mayor Bynum comes from a family dedicated to public service and he and his wife, Susan, are the proud parents of Robert and Annabel --the sixth generation of Bynums to call Tulsa home.
G.T. Bynum | Speaker | TED.com