 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 Republican Dewey F. Bartlett , Jr. who won the 2009 election and took office on December 7 , 2009 . Another Tulsa political figure , Jim Inhofe , who now represents Oklahoma in the United States Senate , served as the mayor of Tulsa early in his political career . 
