Tulsa Mayor GT Bynum and Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt at the state Capitol.

As the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread across Oklahoma, hitting the state’s two largest metros especially hard, mayors in Oklahoma City and Tulsa not only had to juggle policy decisions but also had to navigate complicated political dynamics.

“When it comes to the virus, we have seen highly mixed messages at the federal level that has caused people to define their response to the virus in political terms,” said David Holt, mayor of Oklahoma City. “I think our city really needed somebody who was at least intentionally trying to bridge those gaps in the community. Certainly, it has been an ideal of mine as mayor to work to hold together a very diverse and purple city and nothing has tested that as much as COVID-19 has,” Holt said.

In Tulsa, mayor G.T. Bynum also said local politics complicated the city’s response to the virus, especially following orders to close some businesses.

“Our culture is extremely independent and very focused on individual freedom,” Bynum said. “It creates a great challenge when you're trying to tell people everything they can’t do.”

Like most other major cities across the country, Oklahoma City and Tulsa saw coronavirus cases spike in the spring and summer, and both mayors ordered the closure of nonessential businesses, including dine-in service at restaurants, theaters, and sporting events.

Even though businesses could reopen two months ago, both mayors said the crisis remained serious and they have tried to work together to deliver a consistent message to their citizens, reminding the public why tough steps were necessary.

“I think it’s really important to remember why we’re doing this: We lost a nurse practitioner named Aimee Williams this week to COVID-19,” Bynum said during a press conference two weeks ago.

Mayors and city leaders across Oklahoma have spent the last several months trying to mitigate the spread of the virus, with each city facing its own unique set of circumstances.

But unlike most cities, Bynum and Holt said they realized the decisions they made had an impact well beyond their own borders.

“Obviously, my first priority is to do what is best for my own residents, but I recognize that the other metro mayors take a lot of direction from us, especially on a topic they aren’t staffed for,” Holt said. “I recognize that the (OKC-County Health Department) doesn’t really have the bandwidth to coordinate with 20 mayors on a regular basis, so they kind of coordinate with me so we can set the example.”

Both Bynum and Holt have said it didn’t make sense for Oklahoma City and Tulsa to be responding in different ways. Besides creating confusion in the public, differing strategies would also increase the health risk.

“Many of the tactics we used to mitigate the spread were effective only if we were both doing them. And only if a lot of other cities are doing them, also,” Holt said.

Oklahoma City and Tulsa were some of the first cities to impose business restrictions, and both mayors also lobbied for Gov. Kevin Stitt to take statewide action, which he eventually did.

Both mayors described their orders to close businesses as painful decisions. “Outside of the death of a family member, (closing businesses) was the worst day of my life,” Bynum told reporters earlier this year.

“Just driving around town, every restaurant I love to go to, I thought about all the people who worked there and how my action is impacting them today, and it makes you feel terrible. But it’s what had to be done to protect the community overall.”

While both mayors imposed executive orders in the early months of the pandemic, the city councils in Tulsa and Oklahoma City have become much more involved in recent months, which includes imposing mask mandates.

“This crisis has kind of shifted from an emergency to an ongoing challenge,” Holt said. “What I mean by that is in March it seemed very logical that this was an emergency and there wasn’t time to really consult the council. But as time went on that became a less legally defensible justification. Recently you have seen all the city’s coordinate more with their councils, which is the way it should be.”

While both mayors have played an important role in the COVID-19 response, they also acknowledge limitations to what they can do.

“The city’s role is really just to mitigate the spread,” Holt said. “People will ask me questions about things that I really don’t have anything to do with, such as hospitalizations and testing.”

Moving forward, Holt said it remains important for Oklahoma City and Tulsa to continue communicating with other cities. Holt also believes city officials have been the leaders in Oklahoma’s COVID-19 response.

“There’s been a need through this process for a high level of coordination between the cities and uniquely so because the state has been hit or miss on whether they are going to participate,” Holt said. “I can’t think of a time in my adult life where city leaders have been more prominent in meeting a challenge facing a whole country, and I think Oklahoma City leaders, whether it be city managers, mayors or councils, have certainly risen to that occasion.”

Municipal Messenger

Amid COVID-19 Pandemic, Mayors Bynum and Holt Lead Their Cities and State