Nathan Pickard

Records access, audit scope and the limits of recommendations

The auditor’s March 2025 presentation to the Human Rights Commission cites Charter Article IV: the office examines municipal accounts, reports to the mayor and council on responses to recommendations, and can require city bodies to make records, personnel and facilities available. It also identifies protection from mayoral item veto or reduction of the auditor’s budget. These provisions support institutional independence. The office’s published process says it selects audit scope, gathers evidence, seeks written management responses and follows up on corrective actions. Audit findings do not themselves amend an ordinance or implement a department’s reforms. At that commission meeting, Pickard said he was seeking legal clarity about auditing outside organizations receiving city money, including possible contractual audit rights. That dated discussion should not be read as unlimited jurisdiction over every nonprofit or contractor.

From city audit staff to business analytics

The city’s 2008 annual report lists Pickard as a senior auditor. His professional biography for the Association of Local Government Auditors describes seven years in city auditing before he helped establish an audit-analytics function at Williams. 9b’s founder biography dates that business’s start to 2018 and identifies an accounting bachelor’s degree from Northeastern State University and an MBA from Oklahoma Christian University. These education details are attributed to the company biography; graduation dates are not established here. A separate 2023 Institute of Internal Auditors program lists him as ThirdLine co-founder and head of product. Those historical business titles establish experience in audit technology. They do not establish what equity or paid outside work he retains while in office.

Career & public service

1. 2008 report

   Senior auditor on the city staff

   A dated city staff roster establishes earlier municipal employment.

   City Auditor 2008 annual report ↗
2. After city staff service · dates unverified

   Williams audit analytics

   The ALGA biography describes the move into corporate auditing.

   Association of Local Government Auditors — Nathan Pickard ↗
3. 2015

   Food-forest initiative

   Up With Trees dates the original community project idea to this year.

   Up With Trees — Pickard’s food forest ↗
4. 2018

   9b founded

   The company dates its founding by Pickard to 2018.

   9b — founder biography ↗
5. November 2020

   Architecture and neighborhood work

   The ICAA event documents the Joinery presentation and Restoration Collective founder role.

   ICAA — The Joinery and Building Culture ↗
6. March 2023 program

   ThirdLine product leadership

   The IIA lists co-founder and head of product.

   IIA 2023 public-sector conference program ↗
7. December 2, 2024

   Takes elected office

   Sworn in as Tulsa city auditor for a two-year term.

   City inauguration, December 2, 2024 ↗
8. July 2026

   Survey discussion and unopposed return

   Independent reporting documents the public discussion and uncontested election.

   Tulsa Flyer — city survey and public discussion ↗

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.

A seat where auditors and management meet

The official roster places Pickard on Tulsa’s seven-member Audit Committee from December 2, 2024. Its membership brings together the auditor, the mayor and council chair or their designees, and four citizens with financial or auditing experience. Its stated duties include reviewing audit activity, advising city officials and monitoring corrective action. This is an institutional route for following up on findings, not evidence that Pickard controls the other members’ decisions.

A board audit tests the city’s transparency practices

The published authorities, boards and commissions audit found confusion about responsibility for records and difficulty locating meeting materials. Management answered that departmental custodians already covered the bodies and that the city complied with its records executive order; the mayor’s office also offered to consolidate guidance for liaisons. A separate recommendation asked the council to revise an older library-filing ordinance. Its response remained marked pending in the version checked for this profile. The report distinguishes compliance with state meeting requirements from the practical difficulty of finding documents online. Its opening risk inventory is explicitly preliminary; those questions should not be presented as proved violations. The documented outcome is a published set of findings and responses with an open recommendation, rather than a completed systemwide reform.

Following recommendations beyond publication

The office’s Sensitive Payments summary reviews the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024, before Pickard took office. The page, last dated July 29, 2025, identifies one fire-department donation-approval recommendation as complete while travel-policy, claim-review and ethics-guidance changes were listed as in process. This offers a more specific measure of progress than the number of reports issued: whether a recommendation produces a documented change. The underlying transactions belong to the earlier review period; the report is not a claim about Pickard’s personal spending.

Residents help shape the questions

Tulsa Flyer reported on a July 14, 2026 library discussion of the auditor’s Evaluate the 918 survey. Residents raised practical concerns about utility payments, access to meeting transcripts and understandable city documents. Deputy auditor Mike Stout described the survey as a convenience sample, so its results should not be treated as a probability-based estimate of every Tulsan’s views. Pickard told the newspaper that feedback would inform audit priorities. Public participation can therefore influence what gets examined, but does not determine what an audit will find.

Neighborhood institutions beyond City Hall

Up With Trees traces Pickard’s food-forest idea to 2015: fruit and nut trees intended to support food access and education. An Institute of Classical Architecture & Art presentation in November 2020 identifies him as Restoration Collective’s founder and describes the Tisdale Food Forest among its initiatives. The same event presented the Joinery, a Tulsa infill-building project, with Pickard and its builder. These records connect his civic work to environmental education, neighborhood development and architecture. They are historical institutional accounts, not evidence of current board service, a public grant to him or city endorsement of the projects.

The present term and the next one

The city’s inauguration announcement records a two-year term beginning December 2, 2024. Tulsa Flyer reported in July 2026 that Pickard drew no opponent for reelection. The city’s election resolution specifies the next auditor term as December 7, 2026 through December 2, 2030. The future four-year term must remain separate from the tenure he was serving when this profile was checked.

Check the record

Sources & corrections

Research checked 2026-09-29. 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 Auditor — current office ↗

   Official roster · Checked 2026-09-29

   Homepage footer identifies Nathan Pickard; checked September 29, 2026.

2. About the auditor’s office ↗

   Official office description · Checked 2026-09-29

   Audit selection, scope, corrective action plans and follow-up.

3. City inauguration, December 2, 2024 ↗

   Official announcement · Source date 2024-12-02 · Checked 2026-09-29

   Auditor sworn in for a two-year term.

4. Human Rights Commission minutes and auditor presentation ↗

   Official meeting minutes and presentation · Source date 2025-03-17 · Checked 2026-09-29

   Minutes pp. 1–3; PDF page 5, slides 3–4, reproduces Charter Article IV §§1,3–5 and ordinance duties. Scanned slides visually inspected.

5. City Auditor 2008 annual report ↗

   Official annual report · Source date 2008 · Checked 2026-09-29

   Printed p. 3, audit staff. File name includes FY2008–09, but the report itself is titled 2008.

6. 9b — founder biography ↗

   Company biography · Checked 2026-09-29

   Meet our founder; education, Williams analytics work and founding in 2018. Self-description; no current equity disclosure.

7. Association of Local Government Auditors — Nathan Pickard ↗

   Professional speaker biography · Checked 2026-09-29

   Career sequence, seven years in city auditing before Williams, elected office. Speaker-supplied account; exact employment boundaries absent.

8. IIA 2023 public-sector conference program ↗

   Professional conference program · Source date 2023-03-29 · Checked 2026-09-29

   Printed p. 4: co-founder and head of product at ThirdLine. Updated March 29, 2023.

9. City of Tulsa — authorities, boards and commissions ↗

   Official roster and governing summary · Checked 2026-09-30

   Audit Committee: purpose, composition and seat 02. Parks board: advisory purpose. Performing Arts Center Trust: purpose and mayor/designee seat 01. Public Facilities Authority: purpose and mayor/designee seat 01, with listed term expiration July 31, 2026; continued service not verified.

10. Authorities, Boards, and Commissions audit ↗

    Official audit with management responses · Checked 2026-09-29

    Actual Observations 1–2 and management responses, below the separate Pre-Audit Report. Page displays Jun 30, updated Aug 20; project start September 23, 2025. Year not printed beside update; reviewed September 29, 2026.

11. Tulsa Flyer — city survey and public discussion ↗

    Independent reporting · Source date 2026-07-15 · Checked 2026-09-29

    Ginnie Graham; July 14 library discussion, convenience-sample limitation, unopposed 2026 election.

12. City of Tulsa 2026 election packet ↗

    Official election resolution · Source date 2026 · Checked 2026-09-29

    PDF p. 9, Section 4: auditor term December 7, 2026 to December 2, 2030. Future term, not current tenure.

13. ICAA — The Joinery and Building Culture ↗

    Architectural institution presentation · Source date 2020-11-10 · Checked 2026-09-29

    November 10, 2020 event and presenter biographies: Joinery project and Restoration Collective founder. Historical descriptions, not current title records.

14. Up With Trees — Pickard’s food forest ↗

    Nonprofit project account · Checked 2026-09-29

    Article dates the food-forest idea to 2015; publication date not displayed.

15. Sensitive Payments Audit Summary ↗

    Official audit follow-up · Source date 2025-02-26 · Checked 2026-09-29

    Published February 26, 2025; updated July 29, 2025. Review of fiscal year ended June 30, 2024; recommendation-status table. Page rechecked September 29, 2026; later implementation not established.