Law and government
A mayor-council government has been in place in Tulsa since 1989 when the city converted from a city commission government deemed wasteful and less efficient. Since the change, Tulsa mayors have been given more power in accordance with a strong mayoral system and have greater control of a more consolidated array of governmental branches. Plurality voting is used to elect mayors, who serve a term in office of four years. The present mayor of Tulsa is Kathryn Taylor, a Democrat, who previously served as Secretary of Commerce and Tourism for the state of Oklahoma. Taylor unseated Republican William LaFortune in his reelection campaign of April 2006. A notable Tulsa political figure, Jim Inhofe, who represents Oklahoma in the United States Senate, served as the mayor of Tulsa early in his political career.
A city councilor from each of the city's nine council districts is elected every two years, each serving a term of two years. Councilors are elected from their own respective districts based on a plurality voting system, and serve on the Tulsa City Council. Roscoe Turner of District Three currently serves as the council chairman along with Vice Chairman John Eagleton of District Seven. As a whole, the council acts as the legislative body of city government, which aims to pass laws, approve the city budget, and manage efficiency in city government. In accordance with the mayor-council form of government, the Tulsa City Council and the office of the Mayor coordinate in city government operations. A third body of the government, the city auditor, is elected independently of the city council and mayor to ensure that the auditor can act in an objective manner. This position serves a term of two years, and the current city auditor is Phil Wood, a Democrat.
Municipal and State laws are enforced in Tulsa by the Tulsa Police Department, an organization of about 770 officers as of 2006. In 2004, Tulsa's crime rate was 7806.1 per 100,000 people, about 1.5 times the national average. There were 58 murders, 1096 robberies, and 6,592 burglaries in 2004. The city serves as the seat of county government for Tulsa County, and lies mostly within Oklahoma's 1st congressional district, with its far northwestern areas in southern Osage County in Oklahoma's 3rd congressional district.
(Source: Wikipedia.org)
