Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols released two executive orders to combat housing and homelessness in the city during his first months in office.

Nichols was elected at the end of last year and during his campaign for mayor, he promised to achieve functional zero homelessness in Tulsa by 2030. He said that means homelessness in the city will be “rare, brief and nonrecurring."

“There’s been a lot of talk of how we reach that goal,” Nichols said during a press conference at City Hall, “but we’re ready to move beyond talk and formalize our commitment to getting there.”

The first of the executive orders, signed by Nichols at the end of February, tasked a team with improving permitting, zoning and inspection rules to accelerate the growth of the city’s housing stock.

Nichols also said the city will partner with developers, offering reduced permit fees, fast-tracked approvals and dedicated support to revitalize vacant and blighted properties.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Nichols announced his latest set of efforts – focused on increasing shelter access, reducing eviction rates and creating a citywide coordination system for addressing homelessness.

He said it will include creating a Tulsa “encampment decommissioning team” of existing city staff, service organizations and tribal partners.

He said previous efforts at combatting homelessness have lacked coordination. Renewed efforts under his administration will be “aggressive,” Nichols said.

“It’s not just going to be about removing an eyesore for some, it's going to be about making sure that we can put people on a better pathway,” Nichols said.