James Wagner

What the office can decide

Mayor Monroe Nichols announced Wagner’s expanded assignment in February 2025. The department includes the Tulsa Planning Office, neighborhood work and code enforcement; the deputy role also oversees the Office of Performance and Accountability and reports to the City Administrator. The same reorganization assigned housing staff to the Mayor’s Housing Advisor and made Animal Services a separate department. Earlier biographies describing Wagner’s broader City Experience portfolio therefore cannot be read as a current organization chart. He manages administrative work within adopted policy; the Tulsa City Council retains its legislative and budget role. Department leadership does not make him a councilor or give him an individual vote on every board supported by planning staff.

Education and regional planning

Institutional biographies identify Wagner as a Tulsa native with a finance bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma State University and master’s degrees in city and regional planning and civil engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology. The degree years were not established. Before City Hall, he worked as INCOG’s principal transportation planner. GFOA identifies his work on the regional transit plan, Peoria bus rapid transit planning and the bicycle/pedestrian master plan. The City also describes an earlier adjunct teaching role in the University of Oklahoma–Tulsa urban-design program; that is not evidence of a current faculty appointment.

Career & public service

1. Before City Hall

   Regional planning

   INCOG transportation work and earlier OU–Tulsa teaching; exact dates unresolved.

   City of Tulsa — Wagner appointed WIN director ↗GFOA — James Wagner biography ↗
2. Before February 2019

   Performance and innovation

   Led the City performance office.

   City of Tulsa via VNN — Finance appointment ↗
3. 2017

   Urban Data Pioneers

   Helped establish community data-analysis program.

   Harvard Data-Smart — Urban Data Pioneers ↗Results for America — James Wagner ↗
4. February 2019

   Finance director

   Appointment announced February 5; performance office moved into Finance.

   City of Tulsa via VNN — Finance appointment ↗
5. October 13, 2022

   Working In Neighborhoods

   Appointed director while initially continuing as interim Finance director.

   City of Tulsa — Wagner appointed WIN director ↗
6. February 2025

   Expanded administrative role

   Nichols announced deputy-administrator assignment and departmental realignment.

   City of Tulsa — administrative reorganization ↗
7. 2026

   Continuing civic roles

   Current City, transit, pension and Modus rosters document separate responsibilities.

   City of Tulsa — Planning and Neighborhoods ↗MetroLink Tulsa — current board and staff ↗City of Tulsa — retirement-plan governance ↗Modus — 2026 board ↗

People, institutions and the relationships between them

Following the connections

Each step below represents a documented relationship. Dates and roles belong to the individual links; a path can span different periods.

Documented relationships

15 documented relationships · Historical and current roles remain distinct.

Dated public records

Compensation & campaign finance

Code enforcement and the backlog

Code enforcement investigates nuisance, zoning and property-maintenance violations and prioritizes immediate hazards. In July 2026, KJRH reported more than 2,700 low-priority complaints awaiting attention. A resident criticized delays and the refusal to create duplicate cases. Wagner said duplicate reports would enlarge the backlog; after the station raised a sightline hazard, he elevated that case for immediate inspection. He described planned additional staffing and early notifications to property owners. Those were proposed responses at the time of reporting, not verified proof that the backlog subsequently fell. The example shows an administrator’s discretion over operational priorities within an enforcement system whose delays affect residents directly.

From performance work to finance and neighborhoods

Wagner led the City’s performance, strategy and innovation office before his February 2019 appointment as Finance director. The City moved that office with him into Finance. His tenure included the pandemic’s fiscal disruption: Governing reported a Tulsa hiring freeze in March 2020 and quoted his uncertainty about the combined effects of shutdowns and falling oil prices. In October 2022, Mayor G.T. Bynum appointed him Working In Neighborhoods director, initially retaining him as interim Finance director during the replacement process. That announcement records a change of assignment, not an exact final date for his Finance duties.

Transit: planning, trusteeship and changing titles

Wagner’s transportation work predates his City finance role. Public Radio Tulsa identified him as a Tulsa Transit trustee at the first Aero station groundbreaking in January 2019; his institutional biography connects him to the earlier Peoria planning effort. MetroLink Tulsa’s April 2026 packet contains March 24 minutes naming him chair and recording his request that auditors present future audits to the board. The operator’s current roster instead lists him as a member and Emily Hall as chair. The City’s general board list still calls him chair. The supported present claim is continuing trusteeship; the precise officer-transition date remains unresolved. Board oversight is separate from the general manager’s daily operations.

A separate role in employee pensions

The Municipal Employees’ Retirement Plan Board establishes investment policy, authorizes plan payments and hears appeals. Wagner occupies a department-head or elected-official seat, with a published term ending December 31, 2026. Members act collectively and are appointed through the mayor and Council process. A November 2024 Council agenda proposed his reappointment for that expiration date; an agenda records proposed business rather than proving the confirmation vote. Older professional biographies call him the pension board chair, but this profile uses the narrower trustee role supported by the current City roster. Retirement-plan assets are employees’ pension resources, not Wagner’s personal holdings.

Modus and the boundary between institutions

Modus’s 2026 board page identifies Wagner as a member and gives his City deputy-administrator affiliation, confirming which James Wagner it means. The nonprofit describes a mission centered on transportation access. Its latest listed IRS return describes a staffed driver program and lists Wagner as a director. These records document board service; they do not establish that he owns Modus, directs its day-to-day work or controls its access to municipal funding. His nonprofit role and transit trusteeship connect institutions working on mobility, but shared personnel alone do not prove a contract or coordinated decision.

A dated nonprofit compensation disclosure

Modus’s return for July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025, submitted May 14, 2026, reports US$0 for Wagner in each of the three compensation columns on page 7, Part VII, row 10. That section reports compensation for calendar 2024. The figures cover the nonprofit and related-organization compensation described by the form; they do not establish his City salary, total earnings or financial interests. The return’s amended box is unchecked, and no newer return was listed in the index reviewed.

Residents, universities and public data

Harvard’s Data-Smart account traces Urban Data Pioneers to teams of residents and City employees analyzing public questions and presenting findings to City Hall. Wagner helped establish the program; the account identifies Ben Harris as its subsequent director. Results for America also lists Wagner as a Local Government Fellow. These are documented professional and institutional connections. The program sponsors’ accounts explain the approach and participation, but do not independently establish that each project improved services or produced the savings its advocates hoped for.

Check the record

Sources & corrections

Research checked 2026-10-04. Roles and financial figures retain their source dates. Sections appear only when supported material is available; an omitted section is not a finding that no such relationship exists.

1. Tulsa City Council · Government branches and responsibilities ↗

   Primary source · Checked 2026-09-26

2. City of Tulsa — administrative reorganization ↗

   Official announcement · Source date 2025-02-10 · Checked 2026-09-30

   Addition of two Deputy City Administrators; role announced February 10, implementation anticipated by March 9, 2025.

3. MetroLink Tulsa — current board and staff ↗

   primary · Checked 2026-10-04

   Board roster identifies Emily Hall as chair, Emeka Nnaka as vice chair and Scott Marr as general manager. Current roster takes precedence for title over conflicting City vice-chair entry; exact chair election/reappointment date unresolved.

4. City of Tulsa — Hall board seats ↗

   primary · Checked 2026-10-04

   THA seat 5, appointed February 25, 2026, term January 20, 2029. MTTA seat 5 still vice chair, first appointment February 7, 2018, term July 31, 2026. Do not treat expired term as current reappointment evidence.

5. City of Tulsa — Planning and Neighborhoods ↗

   primary · Checked 2026-10-04

   Names James Wagner as deputy administrator; links planning, neighborhoods and code enforcement.

6. City of Tulsa — Wagner appointed WIN director ↗

   primary · Source date 2022-10-13 · Checked 2026-10-04

   October 13, 2022 appointment effective immediately; interim Finance continuation, prior INCOG/OU roles and education. Historical duties, not the present organization chart.

7. GFOA — James Wagner biography ↗

   primary · Checked 2026-10-04

   Undated historical Finance biography; degrees, transportation planning projects and earlier board offices. Current title superseded; do not use old budget size or chair labels as current.

8. City of Tulsa via VNN — Finance appointment ↗

   primary · Source date 2019-02-05 · Checked 2026-10-04

   City-supplied release published February 5, 2019, edited March 11, 2021; appointment effective immediately and OPSI transfer. Not independent reporting.

9. City of Tulsa — code enforcement ↗

   primary · Checked 2026-10-04

   Nuisance, zoning and property-maintenance enforcement; priority levels and voluntary-compliance tools.

10. KJRH — code-enforcement backlog ↗

    independent-reporting · Source date 2026-07-09 · Checked 2026-10-04

    Cathy Tatom; page datePublished July 9, 2026. Wagner attributes about 2,700 Priority 3 backlog cases; resident criticism, case reprioritization, planned staffing and notifications. Later implementation not verified.

11. Public Radio Tulsa — first Aero station ↗

    independent-reporting · Source date 2019-01-15 · Checked 2026-10-04

    Matt Trotter; identifies Wagner as transit trustee at groundbreaking and describes the Vision Tulsa transit tax. Historical event, not current service specification.

12. MetroLink — April 2026 board packet ↗

    primary · Source date 2026-04-24 · Checked 2026-10-04

    Packet filed April 24, 2026 for April 28; pp 3–5 contain March 24 minutes. Wagner chaired and asked for future audit presentations. Packet minutes not independently checked against signed approval.

13. City of Tulsa — retirement-plan governance ↗

    primary · Checked 2026-10-04

    Board investment powers and mayor/Council appointment process; Wagner department-head seat, stated expiration December 31, 2026. Some other roster dates are stale.

14. Tulsa Council — Wagner reappointment agenda ↗

    primary · Source date 2024-11-20 · Checked 2026-10-04

    November 20, 2024 Council agenda item 24-1071-1 proposes reappointment ending December 31, 2026. Agenda is not itself a confirmation vote.

15. Modus — 2026 board ↗

    primary · Checked 2026-10-04

    2026 roster names James Wagner and City deputy administrator affiliation, establishing identity. Staff and board are separate.

16. Modus — original Form 990, fiscal year ending June 2025 ↗

    tax-filing · Source date 2026-05-14 · Checked 2026-10-04

    EIN 83-2356858; tax year July 1, 2024–June 30, 2025; submitted May 14, 2026, amended box unchecked. Part VII A p 7 row 10: Wagner, director; columns D/E/F each USD 0. Compensation reports calendar 2024. Visually inspected original e-file rendering. Part III describes driver program.

17. ProPublica — Modus filing index ↗

    primary · Checked 2026-10-04

    Latest listed filing is FY ending June 2025 submitted May 14, 2026; no newer/amended item shown. Index does not guarantee complete IRS processing.

18. Harvard Data-Smart — Urban Data Pioneers ↗

    primary · Source date 2019-04-24 · Checked 2026-10-04

    Betsy Gardner, April 24, 2019; community data cohorts, Wagner founding role and Ben Harris successor. Program account, not independent impact evaluation.

19. Results for America — James Wagner ↗

    primary · Checked 2026-10-04

    Local Government Fellow; historical Finance-era biography, prior planning and performance roles. Attribution to program sponsor.

20. Governing — pandemic budget pressures ↗

    independent-reporting · Source date 2020-03-18 · Checked 2026-10-04

    Alan Greenblatt, March 18, 2020; Tulsa hiring freeze, oil downturn and Wagner uncertainty about revenue effects. Historical reporting.