 She returned to Tulsa in 1977 and became executive director of the Metropolitan Tulsa Citizens Crime Commission.Savage went on to become chief of staff to then-Tulsa Mayor Rodger Randle before eventually winning the seat herself in a 1992 special election to fill Randle's unexpired term.Savage served as mayor of Tulsa from 1992 to 2002, and was the first woman to hold that office.