About
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G.T. Bynum was elected to the Tulsa City Council in 2008. In 2011, he was selected by his colleagues to serve as the youngest City Council Chairman in Tulsa history. He has also served the residents of Council District 9 longer than any councilor in the district's history. During his time on the Tulsa City Council, GT has focused on fiscal restraint, public safety, and infrastructure. He led the 2013 effort to enact the largest streets improvement package in the City's history, authored the first City sales tax cut in Tulsa history, crafted budget amendments putting Tulsa Police Department helicopters back into service and doubling the number of Police academies, 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. GT previously worked on the senior management team for Williams & Williams Worldwide Real Estate Auction - one of the largest real estate auction companies in the world. Before that, he was employed by the Tulsa Area Chapter of the American Red Cross where he assisted in the largest sheltering operation in Tulsa Red Cross history following the 2007 ice storms. He spent six years in public service working in the United States Senate for Senators Don Nickles and Tom Coburn. He assisted Senator Nickles in the development and maintenance of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigational System, which leads to the Tulsa Port of Catoosa, and he helped in the federal clean-up efforts related to the Tar Creek Superfund Site - the nation's largest toxic waste site. GT also worked on the staff of Senator Tom Coburn when Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast. He represented Senator Coburn in the creation of legislation with Democratic Senator Barack Obama to establish a single oversight entity for the response. GT currently serves on the Board of Directors for Leadership Oklahoma and the Advisory Board for the University of Oklahoma School of Urban Design. He has previously served as a board member for Leadership Tulsa and the Tulsa Historical Society. GT attended Eliot Elementary in the Tulsa Public Schools system. He is a proud graduate of two institutions operated by the Augustinian Order of the Catholic Church: Cascia Hall Preparatory School and Villanova University, where he served as Student Body President. Councilor Bynum is a graduate of Leadership Oklahoma and Leadership Tulsa. He is a member of Christ the King Parish and earned his Eagle Scout designation in high school as a member of Troop 73. In 2011, he 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.
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