WEBVTT - Tulsa Mayor on Building a City for Immigrants

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news.

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<v Speaker 2>This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Tim

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<v Speaker 2>Steneveek on Bloomberg Radio.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, if you're a regular viewer or listener of Bloomberg BusinessWeek,

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<v Speaker 3>then you know we like to check in with mayors

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<v Speaker 3>across America for a snapshot of what's going on in

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<v Speaker 3>their communities. After all, Carol, they're the ones on the

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<v Speaker 3>frontlines dealing with the macroeconomic challenges we talk about each

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<v Speaker 3>and every day, economic development, afford ole housing, rising costs,

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<v Speaker 3>not to mention the politics of it all.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it's a great snapshot of so much in our

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<v Speaker 1>world and really on the ground. GT Buying him is

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<v Speaker 1>one of those mayors. He's the mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma,

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<v Speaker 1>a city of his family has lived in for six generations.

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<v Speaker 1>And a fun fact, his great great paternal grandfather was

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<v Speaker 1>mayor as well as his maternal grandfather, so it goes

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<v Speaker 1>back many generations. We should point out to Mayor Bynham

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<v Speaker 1>in the city of Tulsa. I work with Bloomberg Philanthropies

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<v Speaker 1>and it's Cities program, but he's here away from his

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<v Speaker 1>own city and here in New York City, Mayor Biden,

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<v Speaker 1>So good to have you here with us. Welcome, Welcome.

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<v Speaker 1>We do like to talk with mayors around the country

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<v Speaker 1>because it does feel like sometimes we're looking up too

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<v Speaker 1>high and not getting down on the ground. And so

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<v Speaker 1>tell us about what you guys are seeing when it

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<v Speaker 1>comes to the economy, the needs of your citizens, kind

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<v Speaker 1>of the stress points or where there's growth. Give us

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<v Speaker 1>kind of an overview, if you will.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, I think at the local level, and I hear

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<v Speaker 2>this from my fellow mayors when we get together. One

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<v Speaker 2>that I think is really important is you never run

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<v Speaker 2>into the partisan divides that you see so much about

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<v Speaker 2>at the national level. Like when mayors get together, we

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<v Speaker 2>want to know what you're doing on homelessness, what are

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<v Speaker 2>you doing on infrastructure and public safety. So I love

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<v Speaker 2>that part of being a mayor for us. I think

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<v Speaker 2>from an economic standpoint, we definitely see the impact of

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<v Speaker 2>inflation in the impact that that's had on people's buying power,

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<v Speaker 2>and even us in operating a city government. You know,

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<v Speaker 2>we're heavily funded by sales tax and we had a

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<v Speaker 2>really from the outside looks like a nice two year

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<v Speaker 2>run where we had this massive increase in revenue, but

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<v Speaker 2>it was because of the cost of goods going up

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<v Speaker 2>and sales tax going up, and so that's eating into

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<v Speaker 2>our employees' paychecks, and so we've had to really be

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<v Speaker 2>disciplined about staying on top of that and proving increased

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<v Speaker 2>employee pay and compensation to couple with that. The other

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<v Speaker 2>big one that I hear from mayors all over America

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<v Speaker 2>really is around homelessness. That there is not a city

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<v Speaker 2>that has it all figured out. If there was, I

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<v Speaker 2>think we'd all be ripping them off and figuring out

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<v Speaker 2>how to pay for it. And instead, you just see

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<v Speaker 2>these laboratories of democracy all over America right now where

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<v Speaker 2>cities are trying out different approaches, collecting data on what's

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<v Speaker 2>working and what's not, and trying to double down on

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<v Speaker 2>those strategies that do.

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<v Speaker 3>Oftentimes, one of the reasons people find themselves on the

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<v Speaker 3>streets is because housing is too expensive, and we talk

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<v Speaker 3>about housing being affordable or the lack of affordability of

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<v Speaker 3>housing in many parts of the country to also by

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<v Speaker 3>no means immune to that. According to your own data

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<v Speaker 3>that you provided us, you need over ten thousand affordable

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<v Speaker 3>housing units in the next few years to accommodate people

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<v Speaker 3>who live there.

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<v Speaker 2>It's exactly right.

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<v Speaker 3>How are you doing it?

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<v Speaker 2>We always thought of ourselves as being a very affordable place.

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<v Speaker 2>When you compare Tulsa to the coast of the United States,

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<v Speaker 2>were incredibly affordable. But you have to take in to

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<v Speaker 2>consideration what your local per capita income is when figuring

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<v Speaker 2>that out. And so to your point, we just had

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<v Speaker 2>an independent study conducted funded by a local philanthropic foundation

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<v Speaker 2>that says that we need about thirteen thousand housing units

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<v Speaker 2>in the next ten years, and that's everything from homeless

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<v Speaker 2>shelter space to mansions and everything in between. What we've

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<v Speaker 2>tried to focus on as a city are those things

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<v Speaker 2>that the free market is not going to address, and

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<v Speaker 2>that is homeless shelter space, permanent supportive housing, and transitional housing.

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<v Speaker 2>We just passed in August a seventy million dollars voter

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<v Speaker 2>approved initiative to help subsidize those things to make it

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<v Speaker 2>more appealing for private sector developers to build that knowing

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<v Speaker 2>that they can get some support from the city for

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<v Speaker 2>doing it. We just had The other thing that we

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<v Speaker 2>tried to focus on is reducing the regulatory burden from

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<v Speaker 2>the city. We've seen a lot of cities that will

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<v Speaker 2>have a lot of incentive funding available, but the regulatory

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<v Speaker 2>burden is so great and so private sector developers still

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<v Speaker 2>don't build there. So we've reduced that significantly in Tulsa

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<v Speaker 2>because of that. Last year we had the most home

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<v Speaker 2>starts we've ever had in the history of our city.

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<v Speaker 2>But we're going to have to continue to ramp that

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<v Speaker 2>up just to catch up to the pace we need

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<v Speaker 2>to be keeping for the next decade to get the

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<v Speaker 2>amount of housing that everybody tells us we need to

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<v Speaker 2>reduce homelessness in our city.

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<v Speaker 1>All right, So there's demand for housing, no doubt about it.

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<v Speaker 1>You want to make sure it's affordable right for the

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<v Speaker 1>people who need it, And I'm just curious that at

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<v Speaker 1>the same time, then, so you want to have an

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<v Speaker 1>economy within your city and surrounding environs that can support that.

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<v Speaker 1>What are you doing on that side of the leisure.

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<v Speaker 2>I would say probably a couple big things. One and

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<v Speaker 2>I know last time I was on here we talked

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<v Speaker 2>about our focus on advance aerial mobility. Since then, we

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<v Speaker 2>were one of twenty six cities in America to receive

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<v Speaker 2>a Build Back Better Regional Challenge grant, which we're using

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<v Speaker 2>to build out the advanced aerial mobility drones, especially in

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<v Speaker 2>the Tulsa area. We've partnered with the Osage Nation to

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<v Speaker 2>build a drone testing corridor in Tulsa or in their nation,

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<v Speaker 2>their reservation that's about seventy miles long. So we're trying

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<v Speaker 2>to build that industry out. The other big thing that

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<v Speaker 2>we're doing is focusing on entrepreneurship and fostering that and

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<v Speaker 2>in particular in our immigrant community in Tulsa.

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<v Speaker 1>Did your immigrant community.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, it's largely, it's going to be well, it's all

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<v Speaker 2>over the world. We have the largest Afghan refugee community

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<v Speaker 2>in Tulsa of any city in America, heavily Hispanic, and

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<v Speaker 2>then also a significant Asian population that has come as

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<v Speaker 2>a result of refugee work that the faith based community

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<v Speaker 2>in Tulsa has been doing for decades. And so we

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<v Speaker 2>just opened up a new business incubator in probably the

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<v Speaker 2>most densely populated area of our city where the immigrant

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<v Speaker 2>community lives, to focus in particular on immigrant entrepreneurs and

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<v Speaker 2>making sure they have connections to the assets that they

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<v Speaker 2>need to build new businesses in our city. Because our

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<v Speaker 2>data we've collected shows that the inclination entrepreneurship amongst immigrants,

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<v Speaker 2>at least in Tulsa is much higher than the non

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<v Speaker 2>immigrant population, so we want to make sure they have

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<v Speaker 2>the resources they need. So there's there's a tremendous amount

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<v Speaker 2>of work that's being done. Those are just two things,

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<v Speaker 2>but you're right, we've got to keep pace with economic

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<v Speaker 2>growth to support all of this housing and the population growth.

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<v Speaker 2>We're also not to belabor the point, but we have

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<v Speaker 2>become an accidental mecca for remote work as well, and

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<v Speaker 2>I know we visit about that a bet last time, Yah,

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<v Speaker 2>you want to talk about work because the unemployment.

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<v Speaker 3>Rate relatively low in Tulsa about four percent according to

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<v Speaker 3>the Labor Department.

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<v Speaker 2>With all the.

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<v Speaker 3>Companies that you're trying to attract to the area, are

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<v Speaker 3>they going to be able to find the workers they

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<v Speaker 3>need in Tulsa?

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<v Speaker 2>We believe so for one for one big reason, well

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<v Speaker 2>two big reasons. One, we're very much focused on building

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<v Speaker 2>up quality of life in our city, so it's easier

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<v Speaker 2>for them to recruit people to Tulsa. We're on a

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<v Speaker 2>twenty year run now of major investments at our concert

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<v Speaker 2>arena that we built has been the concert arena at

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<v Speaker 2>two of the last four years. We lost out to

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<v Speaker 2>Madison Square Garden one year. We lost out to the

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<v Speaker 2>Staples Center in La one year, So I'm not bad

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<v Speaker 2>competition for concert arena in Tulsa. We just opened the

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<v Speaker 2>greatest park gift any city in American history about three

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<v Speaker 2>years ago, the Gathering Place. It's a four hundred and

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<v Speaker 2>eighty million dollar, entirely privately funded park in the heart

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<v Speaker 2>of our city. We're building a lake in the middle

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<v Speaker 2>of our city that's going to open on Labor Day weekend.

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<v Speaker 2>We're building a museum to how's the greatest collection of

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<v Speaker 2>American art outside of that owned by the federal government

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<v Speaker 2>that is in Tulsa. We just opened the Bob Dylan

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<v Speaker 2>Archive about two years ago. So there's a lot going

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<v Speaker 2>on from a quality of lifestyle and the other is

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<v Speaker 2>and I think this is really important. We want to

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<v Speaker 2>be the best city in America for immigrants. We're working

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<v Speaker 2>very hard to make Tulsa a city that really lives

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<v Speaker 2>up to the hopes and aspirations that immigrants from all

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<v Speaker 2>around the world have when they come to the United States.

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<v Speaker 2>We want them to be welcome, we want them to

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<v Speaker 2>find great jobs and opportunity in our city.

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<v Speaker 1>You're in art great city for a specific reason. Tell

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<v Speaker 1>us about what you were doing last night.

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<v Speaker 2>So The Outsiders, which I imagine a lot of your

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<v Speaker 2>listeners have either read the that's right. So The Outsiders

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<v Speaker 2>was written by a high school student in Tulsa decades ago,

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<v Speaker 2>Si Hinton. She still lives in Tulsa. Then Francis Ford,

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<v Speaker 2>a couple of made a movie that launched the careers

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<v Speaker 2>of just an unbelievable number of actors who went on

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<v Speaker 2>to have big careers. Well, now it has been made

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<v Speaker 2>into a Broadway musical and it's premiering tonight on Broadway.

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<v Speaker 2>So we have about two hundred people from Tulsa who

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<v Speaker 2>are in town to support the show that we're just

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<v Speaker 2>so proud of it and that this story written by

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<v Speaker 2>our fellow Tulson, has become a classic of American literature film,

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<v Speaker 2>and we believe it will be on Broadway as well.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, how was the show?

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<v Speaker 2>It was amazing, amazing. The performers in it are great,

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<v Speaker 2>The special effects and stage work in it. I've never

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<v Speaker 2>seen anything like it, and it they do a great

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<v Speaker 2>job of honoring the spirit of the book and the story.

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<v Speaker 2>That's so important.

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<v Speaker 3>We should note the show on Broadways, produced by Angelina

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<v Speaker 3>Jolie and again, as you mentioned, based on the book

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<v Speaker 3>by S. E. Hinton, really great stuff. It's amazing how

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<v Speaker 3>young she was when she wrote What did you Do

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<v Speaker 3>in High School? She wrote, she wrote a book.

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<v Speaker 2>I was like, Oh, can you imagine being defined for

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<v Speaker 2>your whole life by one thing you did in high school? Exactly? Yes? No, no, no,

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<v Speaker 2>most of us not.

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<v Speaker 1>Great to check in with you again, Good luck with everything,

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<v Speaker 1>have a good trip.

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<v Speaker 2>Thank you boy so much.

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<v Speaker 1>Enjoy Yeah, great to see you. Mary G. T Biham

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<v Speaker 1>of course, the mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma, joining us here

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<v Speaker 1>in our Bloomberg Interactive Brokers Studio