KRMG In Depth: Former city councilor Karen Gilbert’s comeback campaign

Former Tulsa City Councilor Karen Gilbert had no plans to run for elective office again when she left the council seven years ago.

She tells KRMG she’s been perfectly happy serving as Executive Director of Tulsa Crime Stoppers, working with neighborhoods on public safety.

[ Hear the KRMG In Depth Report with Karen Gilbert HERE ]

But a few months back, she began hearing from her former constituents.

“We had several different interviews, lots of discussions, and they had asked me ‘will you please run again?’” Gilbert told KRMG Monday.

“So you were essentially drafted?” our reporter asked.

“I was drafted, yes,” she replied, and said the primary reason for the constituents’ concerns was that they felt the incumbent, Councilor Grant Miller, wasn’t getting the job done.

“They feel like their concerns have fallen on deaf ears,” Gilbert told KRMG Monday.

The issues themselves are fairly mundane - potholes, speed bumps in neighborhoods, timely trash pick-up - but in the aggregate, they concerned enough people that she felt she had to step up and offer to serve again, Gilbert says.

She says her former constituents remember that she always held monthly meetings at the Nathan Hale City-County Library, and that she was always willing to bring along police officers, city employees, or anyone else qualified to address their concerns or questions, a practice she plans to return to if elected.

As for her opponent, State Democratic Chair Alicia Andrews, Gilbert says she doesn’t know her - hasn’t even met her - so doesn’t have much to say about her (similar to what Andrews told KRMG about Gilbert ).

She said at this point, there’s been no discussion of a debate or forum for District 5 voters, but says there’s still a possibility that could happen.

Asked about any priorities she would have if returned to the council by voters, Gilbert said one issue she’d like to tackle is commercial real estate sitting vacant.

“We have the Promenade right in the center of District 5, so right in the center of Tulsa,” Gilbert noted. “And it’s vacant. So - what are we doing to improve that? What are we doing to see what we can do to entice businesses, other property owners to come and take a look at it and give us some suggestions of what we can do?”

The 2024 municipal elections for Tulsa are scheduled for August 27th.