I think the problem is he portrayed himself as something that doesn't appear to be the case. A Republican. His cabinet nearly entirely consists of Democrats.
And you're right, I'm sure Kathy Taylor had nothing to do with the campaign of Bynum.
I didn’t see anything about the political affiliation of his staff in the story cited. Unless you are inferring that anyone who would have worked under Taylor, has been a teacher, urban planner, is black, Hispanic, female, or a combination of any of those must be a Democrat. The only hint in the bios to anyone’s political affiliation was that Michael Junk had worked for Senators Coburn and Inhofe.
“I love reading books about how coaches put teams together, and both Bill Belichick and Mike Krzyzewski — two of the greatest coaches of the last 50 years, in different sports — both focus on getting the best players that they can and then figuring out the system to use those players,” Bynum said. “These are just people I wanted to get on the team, and we would figure out the right fit.”
With the core four in place, Bynum began looking for the best people he could to help him accomplish his goals. That meant finding individuals who were smart, loved the city and were willing to work hard, he said.
Age and political affiliation never entered the conversation.
“I still, right now, don’t know what their political affiliations are (and) don’t care about their age, though now, looking at the group after the fact, I recognize that it is a young group,” Bynum said. “But Michael and I both came from an environment working in (U.S.) Senate offices, where that is the norm. That is not unusual. You have a lot of responsibility thrown at you.”
In his new staff, Bynum believes he has found a group similarly drawn to big challenges — in this instance in the Mayor’s Office.
This, right here, is how you build successful coalitions. You don’t focus on the differences, you focus on similarities which will move your ideals or causes forward. It also does not appear that the greater majority were picked due to being party loyalists or due to personal patronage which were two issues that defined the awful administration of Mayor Bartlet. (sic) That’s how we keep ending up with useless re-treads like Clay Bird and Terry Simonson- they keep being selected for their “experience” because they’ve been around forever regardless of the merits of their work, integrity, or lack thereof.
Bynum’s broad appeal crosses many party lines. I believe that is a very good thing for Tulsa.