Brandon Mull is a candidate in Ward 1 in the upcoming City Council election on Tuesday, February 10th.
Mull, who has lived in Sapulpa since 1988, has lived in the same house since 2000, and also runs Water Street Tattoo, a business he says has been affected by the decisions the city has made, and it ultimately inspired him to run for City Council.
“Some of the things happening down here, it doesn’t seem like people that have a business downtown are having a voice in, so I want to represent the people that aren’t being heard,” he said.
When asked to elaborate, Mull said, “I’ve been down here eight and a half years, and I’ve had three council members come through the door—one of them was related to me announcing that I was running, and the other was another individual trying to sell me something. So they aren’t really representing the people, it seems, when they don’t come through and talk to the people about the things being voted on and the projects being done downtown. If the people aren’t being asked for their input on it, directly, then they’re not being heard.”
Mull said that more emphasis needs to be placed on streets and sidewalks outside of the downtown corridor.
“The majority of the town doesn’t even have sidewalks anywhere,” he said. “So when people walk somewhere, they’re walking on the edge of the street … everything is being focused in this little strip down here, and the rest of the town is just kind of being pushed aside. I think we need to build up the entire town, not just downtown. I work downtown, but that doesn’t mean that that’s the only place that needs attention.”
It should be noted that the City of Sapulpa has spent significant funds outside downtown. In the 2020 GO Bond, Proposition A was most famous for its downtown renovation portion, even though more than half of it was dedicated to streets outside of downtown, including the expansion of Ozark Trail ($1.29 million), the traffic light at 49th W. Ave ($2.14 million), and widening and resurfacing East Dewey and Mayfield streets ($2.06 million). Additional projects from that bond include police station upgrades, a new fire station, an upgrade to McGoy Park, a new ADA playground at Liberty Park, improvements to the Sapulpa Youth Sports Complex, and the Booker T. Washington Rec Center, which broke ground in December. All of these projects are outside of the downtown business district.
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Mull also brought up what he sees as a problem with a lackluster turnout in municipal and bond elections due to an uninformed public.
“Usually, it’s close to 1,000 people that vote for everything, out of a town of 23,000 people—that’s not a fair representation of the town’s consent for what happens,” he said.
“There needs to be something done to get more people out to vote, and to get them to understand that when they don’t go and vote, they still pay the bill at the end of the day, anyway,” he said. “So why don’t you go and have your voice heard on whether you want these things to pass or not?”
Mull suggested the City’s way of informing the public needed to be updated beyond a flyer in a water bill. “I get my water bill, I don’t even open it. I just pay it online, because I see that it’s due. So that’s not necessarily a way to get people’s attention.”
“I think, something along the lines of the digital billboards that you can put at the corners of the main square and have public announcements on them, the way that some of the banks have—we could do the same thing for the city.”
Watch the full interview to get Mull’s opinions on other items, including Sapulpa’s Route 66 Christmas Chute and what he would do differently if elected.
2026 City Council Election Information
Wards 3 and 5 are also being contested, and those elections will take place on Tuesday, April 11th. Wards 2 and 4 do not have contenders, so the incumbents in each of those seats (Vice-Mayor Carla Gunn and Mayor Craig Henderson, respectively) will retain their positions for another term.
Sapulpa City Council Election Candidates
Ward 1
- Elizabeth Nicolas (Incumbent)
- Brandon Mull
- Mike Harris
Ward 2
- Carla Gunn (Incumbent)
Ward 3
- Alexander Hamilton (Incumbent)
- Charlie Leroy Harrison
Ward 4
- Craig Henderson (Incumbent)
Ward 5
- David Mortazavi (Incumbent)
- Kent Glesener
