Amy Brown
Amy Brown is coming back to City Hall, and she’ll be working for her old boss, Mayor-elect G.T. Bynum.
Bynum, who defeated incumbent Mayor Dewey Bartlett in April, said Thursday that he has hired Brown to serve as deputy chief of staff.
“She is just one of the most competent people I have ever met in public service,” Bynum said. “So when we were thinking about people to work in the Mayor’s Office, she was at the top of the list, and I visited with her and she was very eager to come on board and help.
“She will basically be (Chief of Staff) Jack Blair’s right hand, working with him on the day-to-day management of the city.”
Brown, 28, began her career at City Hall in 2009, when she worked briefly as an aide and scheduler for then-Mayor Kathy Taylor. She returned to City Hall in 2011 as a City Council aide. She was Bynum’s aide from 2011 to 2014, when she left to attend law school at the University of Tulsa.
“I’m just really looking forward to helping GT in his efforts to unite Tulsa and renew the spirit of high ideals,” Brown said. “I think he has really already begun that work just in the way that he ran his campaign, and I am excited for the work that comes next.”
Brown will begin work part time in December, when Bynum takes office, and join the administration as a full-time employee after she graduates in May.
She turned down a job offer from one of the state’s top law firms to go back to work for her former boss.
“That is a big decision to not take on a really excellent opportunity like that in exchange for something that is kind of risky just because of the political nature of things, it’s a short-term position,” Brown said. “But I really love Tulsa. I feel like we have so much potential as a city and G.T. is putting together a team of people who will help us realize that potential, and I knew that if I didn’t join him on that team it would be something I would regret forever.”
Earlier this month Bynum announced that City Council Policy Analyst Jack Blair will serve as his chief of staff. Michael Junk, who served as Bynun’s campaign manager, will be Bynum’s deputy mayor.
“Jack understands city government as well as anyone. He understands the budget of the city, he understands all the functions of the city, whereas Michael understands federal and state government very well…” Bynum said. “Jack is going to be very, very involved — and Amy as well — with the day-to-day operations of the city, whereas Michael will be very involved in our interactions with the federal and state governments; but also, then, he is going to kind of be floating from meeting to meeting as needed. He’s basically my other set of eyes and ears.”
Bynum said he does not expect to announce any other major appointments to his administration until November. He will be sworn in to office Dec. 5.
