We are live.

They still do exactly good.

Alright, I'm gonna call this meeting to order.

This, of course, is the April 2026 regular meeting of the Human Rights Commission of the City of Tulsa.

We do have a quorum.

And what is probably gonna be uh customary for me, I'm always gonna go a little out of order from the agenda.

Uh actually, why don't we start by considering approval of the minutes and then we'll see what's ready to be the next of our multiple presentations?

So you uh would have been provided the copy of the March 26 meeting minutes for advanced review.

Is there any discussion or any corrections that anyone needs?

Do I have a motion to approve those March meeting minutes?

A motion to approve.

I got a motion to have a second.

Second.

All those in favor say aye.

Any opposed say nay.

The March regular meeting minutes of the Union Rights Commission are approved as presented.

Uh would you prefer us here friends from Compassionate Tulsa join?

Do we want to uh defer the time to them next?

Does that work?

Uh if our friends of Compassionate Tulsa are ready.

I want to invite uh members to present the compassionate Tulsa Award.

Our friend Scott.

How are you doing?

Good.

The floor is yours.

All right.

I need a mic.

Can everybody hear me?

Good.

Radio voice.

Yeah.

Well, what's the old saying?

Grow where you were planted.

Well, Heather Lindville and her staff at Wildflower Cafe have certainly done that.

You'd be part of the fun.

She and her staff began handing out simple sack lunches to the homeless, as Heather stated in the Tulsa World article about her restaurant.

Often they only wanted coffee and someone to listen to them.

Lynnville and her staff continued to practice even though they received complaints from their landlord and some from some of the businesses in the area.

When her lease was up for renewal, that was one of the factors in deciding to move to their present location downtown, where she was assured that would not be a problem.

When I called, and this is something I want to stress when I called Heather to tell her that the compassionate Tulsa wished to give her our award, uh, she said, can you give it to the whole staff?

Then she explained that she had once questioned whether she should continue the practice of giving to those on the street.

And it was her staff that insisted that it was the right thing to do.

Lynnville in the Tulsa World article, this is a quote.

Lynnville credits her staff for helping change her perspective to see that these acts of kindness were truly a way of expanding one of the ideas that underlie the Wildflower Cafe philosophy.

That it is there to serve the community, regardless of the people who might make up that community.

If you're trying to hand out another quote from the Tulsa World from the Wildflower, is if you're trying to hand out all kinds of goodness, then you're going to end up receiving all kinds of goodness.

And if you're just being nasty, well, that's going to come back to this is without a doubt.

Doubt, a belief that compassionate Tulsa holds.

And for that reason, and the actions of you and your staff, Heather, at the Wildflower Cafe.

We were honored to present you with the Compassionate Tulsa Award.

Yeah.

Um, well, I just obviously want to thank all of you for this um recognition.

It means the world to us.

It means that our good deeds are not going unnoticed or um deserved.

And so I also want to take a minute and tell my whole staff back there.

There's a whole crew of them.

Um thank you for everything.

You guys are why we are what we are.

Every day, you're the face of kindness to people who need it.

So I love you.

And thank you all so much.

Thank you.

Did you make clear the new location?

Yeah, we're gonna be at the old first Christian church.

It's on ninth and uh our tenth and boulder, ninth and tenth and boulder, I guess, because it's a whole city block wide, but we're gonna be on the bottom south end, so we'll have lots of different, it won't just be a restaurant, we're gonna also have a garden outside that we have a lot of help with.

Um, and we're gonna have a grocery eventually, we're gonna have vendors, um, but we're also gonna have a venue that we can have events at.

So we'll have a restaurant, but we'll have all that other stuff too.

And so it's just a huge blessing that we were given this opportunity, and um, yeah.

Thank you guys so much.

Thank you for the example that you guys set uh for what it looks like to be a good neighbor in this city.

I ate at Wildflower a lot, look forward to continuing to do that, and there are not a lot of business owners who are taking the the position that you guys are in terms of supporting the community.

So I definitely want to thank you for that.

Thank you, and definitely recognize you from this.

You guys are awesome.

I hope you have a good day.

Thank you for all your hard work as well.

We appreciate you.

Nicely said, and also a nice transition to our next agenda item, which is our very own commissioner.

Their commission's Fourth Amendment Worksite Playbook, which is understanding it is about what small businesses like restaurants and other organizations can do when it comes to uh Fourth Amendment uh protections.

Yes, and actually it came about with all that's happening with immigration and all the well everyone is trying to see uh how to help in a way that it's legal and that it's not breaking the law in any way, but see how they can protect um customers and uh the their staff on especially those sites because we we never know.

So we came about well, we started seeing what other organizations were making in other places, and actually this uh fourth title for uh work the playbook was already being implemented in other sites, so we kind of took some of that, applied it to our businesses, and the idea is to um that's the idea to um have a friendly handbook to offer guidance to aim to reduce the risk of illegal practices around unconstitutional search seizure, which is happening a lot, and we're giving materials to aim to encourage employers and managers to better understand their rights and equip them with new insights to further ensure a safe work environment for their employers, employees.

Um as I said before, the source of information was the 4AW system that or for a free organization that provides they provide trainings and toolkits to support their education, um, and it's how to how to interact with federal agents, how to safeguard employees in the event of unconstitutional entry by federal agents, which is happening a lot and how to avoid revealing private information about the employees.

Um thankfully here in Tulsa we haven't had that as much as in other places, but in some ways it's starting to happen, so that's why we thought that it was good to get them know.

Um over a six-month period, the commission contributed to assign this product with in three primary ways resource adaptation, so taking all the resources that other organizations have already and make a summary and see how we could apply them to our city and resource promotion and distribution.

How are we gonna make people know that there's that and and make it to their so that they can get it?

And um approving the toolkit that's official commission backed product.

So that's what has happened already.

It has been approved.

And for instance, the outline, what it really does is management questions for discussions.

Um a lot of people have bits and pieces of different oh, we can do that, or we should do that, or what this is kind of telling them, well, help organize all those resources, help them know what it's you know that they really can do legally and what it's unconstitutional, so that they don't have to go into that room.

Um the management of checklist.

So they they can create a safe business environment.

So check what they really have and see what they're lacking for and what other resources they have so that they can get those.

And what to do when federal agents enter in your place of work.

So that's the idea of the handbook.

And the main goals is supporting a demonstrated need.

We've exploring that where we can be most helpful given local and national fears surrounding immigration policy.

This approach stood out because it's unique, practical, and relevant to a wide population.

The next one is helping businesses build smart protocols.

Many restaurants and small businesses are already creating their own safety plans, yet some haven't had time to even know how to start.

This playbook offers reliable information and helps them think through legal protections.

They might not have considered.

The playbook gives us a way to engage the community right now by using resources that already have been better and training services.

People can already access all those videos and people that can do those trainings.

And we can move quickly and meet people where they are.

Whether they are just curious or in need of some more support.

And so the next steps that's pretty much where we are now is the distribution and the resource tracking, so understanding who is getting to and how many people is getting to the evaluation and understanding levels of engagement with restaurants and other customers facing businesses, and future playbook ideas.

So what are the topics that we're still missing that we need to be implementing?

So pretty much this is the handbook.

I guess uh uh Lexi send you or you have copies of it pretty much, and there's some videos that you can access there and all of that.

That's great.

So that's pretty much it.

Is there any questions?

How is it getting distributed now?

Well, now we're uh on the businesses that we have, even with uh Hispanic Affairs Commission, there's several people that are connected to different committees.

So we're making it uh let them know that we have those and uh you know just promoting it that way.

Is there any help that we can do to distribute?

Well, the same way.

If you if you know businesses that are really needing it right now, let them know that there's that resource and that we can make it, you know, go to them, or if they need to have any more questions, it's in Spanish too.

So we have already translated it, so it's in Spanish as well.

So that that would be other questions.

Amanda, would you say that this is uh a resource that is exclusively for businesses that have Latinx uh employees, or is it for everything?

No, for every every because uh immigration is not just going mainly, obviously has been for Latinx, but this uh any immigrant now it's in this Hispanic.

So that's why we have it in both languages.

I think one we can one thing we can do is share it with your employer if your employer is a traditional employer with an HR department, because I think you're right.

We we're all sort of in silos trying to navigate this in some ways it feels like the first time.

I mean just given the tone and and and headlines that are very divisive and concerning.

Uh what I like about this is it chunks it out into what to do before you ever have an event, but what to do during an incident and then what to do in the aftermath of an incident and really sort of actionable ways that speak to like HR and other groups, and uh so I thought that just to be helpful to sort of add to our own organization, which was thinking about it, but this was a great way for them to sort of have some objectivity and understand what others are saying about topics.

So uh get this easy thing to do.

Um other questions or thoughts for Amanda, but appreciate this is an incredible um idea of what a commission can do.

Applaud uh the commissioners do all.

Thank you, thank you.

Yeah, thank you for helping.

That's important when we all can do something about it.

Thank you so much.

Appreciate you.

Uh and I'll use next if you have anything, but I I got some things I want to cover, and you were a partner on some of these, so I'll speak to both of us first.

Uh first and foremost, I want to congratulate Commissioner Meadows, who was recently featured in an article in Tulsa World that is titled uh Anthony Meadows, wheelchair athlete makes strides with the Tulsa's best kept secret.

I thought it was a great article.

I hope others saw it in the paper.

Uh was it front page or the front page or it's hard to tell anymore.

It was a slow those days.

Oh come on, come on now.

Uh uh, the best kept secret I think you were referring to was the center for individuals with physical challenges.

You yourself are a uh a well-kept secret in some ways.

Uh I really enjoyed your your candor and honesty about your own journey and just sort of your sort of world view and then kind of how you're trying to impart your wisdom onto others.

I thought it was really powerful and inspiring.

So thank you for doing that, and do read it if you have it, or Lexi, if you could maybe circulate that in the future.

Uh and I swear this is gonna feel like a shameless plug, it's completely unrelated, but uh ever since I met Anthony, I was reminded how long it's been since I toured the center.

I don't even remember if I toured the center since it was massively renovated and all redone.

There's that incredible looking facility on the corner of 11th in Utica.

Uh so for about a year and a half I've been saying and threatening to have a tour.

And when this article came up again, I'm like, we gotta make this happen.

So uh he connected me with someone at their shop, and what we've decided is um Lexi will send out just a little email.

And if any of you would like to sort of offer some opportunities in which you would have availability to go toward the center, it might be more efficient uh for the center to host as many of us that can make it.

So I say all that to say I would love to set up an opportunity where they would walk us through the facility, which is amazing, talk to us about their mission and make sure uh we are continuing to educate ourselves on uh the why and the what of what of the work that the center does.

Anything to add, Anthony?

Um through renovations currently and hopefully be down within within a year and a half, and right now we're at 80,000 uh square feet, so hopefully we will get to 100.

That's it.

80.

Yes, yeah, it's a massive city.

You're doing renovations again, expansion or yes, we're moving up.

Oh my gosh, the second board work?

That's incredible.

That's all.

So you say when we come tour, we need to wear finishes.

You should wear tennis shoes, yeah.

You see it.

Uh well, thank you.

I look forward to uh suddenly an opportunity to tour the facility uh despite uh being under further renovations.

Uh most of you within reach have this flyer in English or Spanish.

I did have the opportunity to hear from the city auditor's office again.

You may remember uh that we did have a visit by the city author, auditor Nathan Picard, he was a guest speaker, uh, right after he started, and we learned about his work as the auditor and what he was trying to accomplish.

And a year later, uh they are on their second annual survey that they call evaluate the 918, uh, which is not to be confused with the dispensary of a very similar name.

Yeah, um I Google searched it and had looked a little harder than I meant to, but you'll find uh Elevate the 918 is a survey from the Tulsa Auditor.

Um, and what it does is it's a litany of all the city services, and it invites Tulsans to opine on their opinion and and and thoughts on the city services individually and then collectively, kind of what's on their minds as Tulsons, what they think the city can do better, what they're pleased with the city's efforts, and the auditor's office is use this information to really drive uh conversation, drive inquiries, and look for opportunities for improvement.

I saw uh what are not ready for prime time, but they're doing some heat maps and visual representations of the survey responses.

Uh so you can see not just kind of where people live that have responded, but what the opinions are of different services, say, for example, fire and police.

You can look at sort of the opinion of Tulstons based on where they live in the community, and you'll certainly see differences.

Uh I know the auditor was shooting for 1,200 respondents, and they have or soon will exceeded that goal, so that is the good news.

Uh the bad news is that those 1,200 respondents are not very geographically spread across the city.

Uh you can imagine it's the usual suspects.

Maybe people that live further out in Tulsa are not as well represented.

It's onesies and twosies.

Uh Spanish speakers are not as well represented as they should be, despite the survey being in Spanish.

So I a couple things.

Take it upon yourself to fill out the survey.

It's about 10 minutes.

Uh spread it across your networks.

Definitely uh invite Spanish speakers, invite those people that don't maybe live in the heart of Tulsa, but are still very much Tulsons.

Uh, we really want to um make sure that this instrument is as effective as it can be by being as representative as it can be.

And I'll just give one story.

I was talking to someone recently who is a Tulson, and that person lives outside the Tulsa Public School District in East Tulsa.

They live in BA schools, but they live outside the BA city limits.

So when last Tuesday, or two Tuesdays ago, there's a vote for the Tulsa school bond, they could not vote.

And when there was a vote on the same night for the BA bond, they couldn't vote for that either.

But they're just as much of a Tulson as I am.

So the idea is that Tulsa is very geographically spread.

We all have similar but different experiences in the same community.

We really want to take it upon ourselves to make sure that this survey is getting a far reach and that we are doing our best to help the auditor uh add some data to the to their uh inquiry and analysis.

Any questions about the elevate the 918?

I have a question, maybe you know, Drew, or maybe you like so you know.

Um, is the city auditor's office did do they have like point people if I wanted to, for example, bring like there's a community event.

Hey, can somebody from the auditor's office come and like you know help administer this survey?

Because it is a it is pretty lengthy and there's not a paper version, so just thinking about like that's how you know you can get more numbers.

Do you know if they have people that are going out, or is it mostly like share the link?

I'm not aware of them proactively doing that already.

And I know that Nathan and Dr.

Mike Stout with the auditor's office would probably be very excited to be invited to an opportunity like that.

Okay.

So I would say just reach out to the two of them if if you need their emails, let me know.

And it doesn't hurt to ask.

Yep.

Yeah, thanks.

To be clear, you're talking about assistance completing.

Yeah, I'm sure they would welcome that feedback.

I'm sure they've thought of it, um, and it'd be interesting to see what they have to do to help with that.

Yeah.

And then relatedly, promotion.

I do know they're holding the survey open longer because the the mayor is once again doing his community tour, a lot of community conversations.

I know Nathan and his team show up at all those meetings.

They want to make sure people are aware.

So I do think there'll be continued promotion, but that doesn't necessarily address access that might be a barrier for some people.

So I uh I will make sure they get that feedback.

Any other comments on the elevate the 918?

Um last meeting I invited several of you to schedule a one-on-one meeting with me and Dr.

Rogers.

Uh, I wanted to just make sure we had a uh a chance to sort of check in and understand any ideas you had for speakers and goals, things you wanted to accomplish, concerns, and six of you uh scheduled and we we manage those.

I think almost all those are with you.

Great conversations.

I know that every person we talked to had good ideas.

Uh really appreciated that candor and your just the different perspectives you brought to those conversations.

There are also some themes, I think, across everyone.

Um, and I know that specifically there's some work tied to succession and kind of the future of the human rights commission.

So people voice some things that maybe aren't gonna be solved right now, but the things we need to think about as people roll off as as things that people have carried, uh they need to find good homes, and we need transition of certain responsibilities.

So more to come.

Uh, I say all that to say I'm gonna report out next time because I want to offer uh some remaining folks the opportunity to conduct those interviews.

There's at least one more scheduled.

I will recirculate that opportunity.

You're not gonna hurt my feelings if you don't do it.

Um you're more than welcome to uh get on the calendar with us for half an hour, and we'd love to finish those interviews, and then maybe we can sort of tag team on what we heard and what I think might be pretty actionable coming out of those conversations.

And I want to thank you all for taking the time to meet with us, those 30 minutes.

I feel like it's been a powerful 30 minutes because we've been able to stay on topic and get it done just like that.

So those meetings, sometimes those 30-minute meetings is really very useful, and I find them very useful.

So thank you all for saying yes to that.

So and thanks for starting.

Yeah, I agree.

Uh, last for for me, I um was talking to Whitney and and commented that I had never attended a the uh 2S LGBTQIA plus committee that is uh was set up uh under the Human Rights Commission as a committee uh focus, and I you know, other than relying on Whitney to sort of report out to us what they are working on, um I wanted to kind of build that bridge and make sure I got to listen directly.

So I had that opportunity last week.

It was great to just hear the conversation.

I don't want to, I don't want to I want to let you sort of drive the conversation, but there's some exciting things that are percolating.

There's one in particular that I haven't even followed up with you that are really interesting to think about what's possible in the space.

So uh it was just great opportunity for me to listen and learn and meet some people I hadn't met before, and uh I'm cautiously optimistic that they have a pretty strong agenda and things they want to accomplish, and I'll let Whitney kind of be point.

Uh but I want all of us to continue to learn about that work because it's definitely a part of this work.

Anything to add to that, Whitney?

No, we appreciate you coming.

I think it's great whenever we can cross-pollinate amongst the different commissions and committees.

So thank you for taking the time to do that.

Uh, to that point, I probably should attend a fair housing committee and uh other committees, uh, veterans and whatnot.

I think there's all these sort of conversations, and it's hard to keep tabs on everything.

So just showing up and listening was was a great way to do that, and I'll make that effort to the rest of these um subcommittees that are under the HRC.

Anything to add overview on comments before we talk about our projects?

All right.

You know, we have two goals currently.

One is to uh improve the access to the city's human rights complaint process, and the other involves improving the representation geographically across the authorities, boards, and commissions.

Regarding the first one, last time Commissioner Roberts shared a report she put together that compared peer cities and what they were doing in the space, uh, how their uh processes were arguably more modern and efficient and leveraging technology than ours.

And I'll tell you that Commissioner Eller Murray has agreed to be the point personal network, but she unfortunately has not been able to attend our last two meetings.

She'll be back next meeting and kind of take the reins on the updates.

But one of the things that taught off the press is Lecendra Carter, who is the city's compliance officer who we've heard from several times, was not able to make it today.

But she let us know that she had an update regarding progress on the electronic complaint system.

The City of Tulsa's chief information officer, the CIO, has agreed to meet with several members of the resilience and equity team to discuss the system that they hope to develop.

He expressed confidence in the city's internal capabilities to build the system, which is great news given the significant costs that we'd previously anticipated.

She will keep us updated as those conversations internally move forward.

She's also going to be scheduling a few tracking system demonstrations over the next couple weeks.

She's inviting any of us as HRC commissioners to join the demonstrations as your schedules allow.

They'll all be held remotely to begin to sort of pilot and test out what might be possible when it comes to using technology when it comes to having Tolson's file human rights complaints.

Unrelatedly, but I hope relatedly.

We do have a meeting with Tyrants and his team to talk about the scope of that work, and I don't know anything yet, but I at least want to learn more about what they are doing and describe the situation we're encountering with a sort of digital divide and how they might be able to lend some expertise and see if we can't align those stars into how we can leverage some free expertise across the city to come back with something that's actionable.

Joyce, anything to add?

I know you and I have talked.

Yeah, we um one thing that I did mention in our last meeting was that one of the barriers was the charter, and it wasn't really specifically the charter itself, it was the ordinance.

So that is something else that we need to look at and update.

Completely agree.

I think at the end, I'm not trying to well, maybe I am trying to lower the bar.

I think at the end of the day, we can work with Lakendra and others in the city, like the legal department, draft up what passes muster in terms of potential ordinance change, and then I think we need to find a champion, say in city council that wanted to potentially move that forward.

Uh, and I think we can do that grunt work, set the table for success, but that's about the extent of I think what we could do, and I totally agree with you that the ordinance itself is pretty foundational.

Uh, and then these sort of other related aspects are also, I think we can champion and push them along.

And Lakendra was pretty eloquent last time about how important it is to have outsiders sort of helping her.

Uh it's difficult to push from within.

So I think we'll continue that on a month-to-month basis.

We'll know more after these upcoming conversations, and I'm hopeful that we can at least articulate what we think are next steps, uh, and that's the only way we're going to move the ball forward.

Any other questions about goal number one?

Um, I just wanted to get a little bit of feedback on the fair housing complaint and the human rights complaint are kind of together.

So I do suggest that if you have the capacity just to try to get onto the city's website and try it yourself.

I think so many times I have facilitated it, like the Tulsa Library.

I've actually done that at Rudisil one time when I was there.

Um, but I think when you wait to do it, it's very awkward and it's not as easy to navigate.

So if you could try it on your own and give feedback, I know Lakendra is kind of helping support the initiative of moving it forward.

However, if you know what it is baseline and kind of why they ask certain questions, because they're required or they need to move forward.

It's easier to navigate it with feedback instead of let's create it from scratch.

So I just would suggest that.

And you can even do it yourself, and on comments put like HRC draft, or I'm just checking this out, hi Lakendra, because she's going to receive all of them.

You don't have to move it completely forward, but that way you have it from the start to the end.

Because it is hard to navigate or to get feedback when you've never used the tool before.

Sorry.

Uh just a couple of other things to add to that great update.

Um, another piece of conversation that we've been having is you know, um, and this kind of connects back to something that Commissioner Barros raised around the auditor survey is uh like yes, having that online system is gonna make the form vastly more accessible for folks versus like it can only be done on paper and either mailed in through snail mail or physically dropped off at the clerk's office.

Um we know that like even having it digitally is still not going to capture everybody, right?

Um so we are kind of thinking through some other like maybe lower barrier auxiliary um expansions that we can make, like is it possible to have an external drop box at City Hall so that people can come slip it through um a drop box after hours on the weekend on a you know city holiday when maybe they have flexibility outside of typical working hours to hand in that paper form or um and I don't want to like steal any of um your thunder, but um the two S LGBTQIA plus committee has talked about what if we are able to work with trusted community organizations that can supply paper copies of the forms.

So if somebody you know has experienced something that they think like might be uh discrimination complaints, they could go to a trusted community organization, like okay or El Centro or the Dream Center.

So I'm just throwing places out there we haven't worked with any of them yet, uh, but to be able to access paper copies of the form and then maybe even have somebody help sit down and walk them through that form.

So um if you think of other kind of like additional you know ways that we can help get this resource out to the community, building a an online system is is really great and I I personally believe will really accelerate um the access that we're able to provide Tulsons, and there are other you know, that's gonna take time and and capacity, um and there are other things that we can be doing as well.

So I know that the committee plans to start like a list of community organizations that they could start working with, and I could definitely see that expanding to um c organizations that are trusted by other um parts of our community, and so looking forward to that.

Can I add some?

So we had tried that three years ago the fair housing complaint form was separate than the human rights complaint form, and now they're merged together.

We had a lot of success once it was developed, and we kind of walked through the questions.

We offered case managers uh like a way home for Tulsa partners or the library.

I Sarah over at Nathan Hale was a really strategic to try if you think she's retired now, but that was a really great partnership.

But what we noticed was the most impactful because the folks that we weren't getting complaints were were the folks who actually need it, and they didn't necessarily always know how to use electronic, you know, like those kind of capacities.

So what we saw was really significant is when we learned the form, it was really quick.

211 was open at that time to doing some of that because a lot of the folks are gonna need to file the complaint were accessing two on one resources as well.

So again, I think once it's like easy to navigate the questions, it's just the hiccup of now that you facilitated the complaint, you still have to sign or you still have to have something kind of official done.

But again, I think there's gonna be real fantastic opportunities for communities to want to step up and support it.

I think it's just the hiccup of now of the paperwork that needs to happen.

Um does it have to be um notarized?

No, no, it does not.

Okay, it just has to be sent to you.

Okay, okay.

Another another model, I think what what you're sharing um is making me think of um another model that I'm working on for something else is kind of a like a referral process, right?

Where like the if the main barrier is filling out the form, like is there a pre-step that can trigger like somebody reaching out to that person, right?

And so the referral can happen through a trusted organization or the individual themselves just answering like you know, some questions, some basic questions that then you know like Kendra's team says, okay, let me call that person and like actually walk them through and like do the intake.

Um another thing that I've seen work um is when you have organizations like 211 or people who are already kind of providing a lot of social services where you are doing intake questions, adding a question that might again just sort of uh let somebody know that there could possibly be an issue, right?

And like um, you know, uh yeah, a question that that triggers then somebody saying, Hey, that question said yes, um, let me do a follow-up with that person.

It doesn't have to be within that organization, but there's like some kind of data sharing flow that occurs.

So um, so nobody because I think there's the barrier of like I know that I have a problem, so let me like there's like the person that knows they have a problem and let me fill out the form, but then there's the people who don't know that they have that problem, and we want to make sure to like reach them, right?

So anyway, just making use of yeah, the organizations and the social service providing that's already happening.

Yeah, I think all that's great.

Thank you.

One thing that I want to put uh a finer point on that you shared.

Um you kind of you you mentioned Lakendra's team.

Yeah, it's a end draft.

Okay, just making sure that everybody understands this.

And I know the Kendra would love to have a team, and so if you want to be in there.

Yeah, but Lakendra's team is LaCendra, yes.

The royalty.

Yes, yes.

Duly noted, I'm taking notes from all of your comments here.

Uh, yes, like that's that's important commentary and context.

So more to come.

Um shifting to goal number two, or again I'm in chitting.

Uh, that is the goal to improve at least geographic representation across the city's authorities, boards, and commissions.

Commissioner P.

Lavar is out of the country, so I am speaking on her behalf.

She's done a lot of work uh in this space.

Let me just remind you where we left off.

On March 20th, we had previously signed off on a two-page letter, a memo that we sent to Tulsa City Council and the mayor's office.

Uh, I ended up as the chair being the emailer of that memo.

I'll tell you within 72 hours or less, I had three city councillors respond independently.

Uh, one of them was curious about other data we might have age, gender, race.

Uh, one of them was curious about best practices from other communities, how they handle uh appointments and the process to put their residents on ABCs, and another was curious about recruitment strategies that might address the perceived imbalance.

Um we specifically received an invitation from Councillor Archie to present to a committee of the city council, and as it stands, we have asked if the committee meeting on May 20th might be the appropriate meeting to present uh on this topic to address some of their questions and frame this and seek their help and thought partnership in this effort.

Uh we've got her back.

I think May 20 is as early as we would be ready.

Um I suspect it will be May 20 or later.

We will rely on Councillor Harchie to help us find the right time and place to have that conversation.

Uh the good news is about May 20th is that would put a human rights commission meeting May 18th.

You could see a final draft of that presentation, and all of you could continue to give inputs and we can make last minute adjustments.

I will also tell you that we did reach out to the mayor's office and did get a meeting on April 28th.

So separately we'll be hearing from the mayor's team about how they view and operate placement onto authorities, boards, and commissions.

If you don't know, most if not all of these, I don't want to say appointments, these sort of nominations come from the mayor's office to the city council.

Uh then the city council votes uh to seat them or not.

Generally they do seat them.

Uh unrelatedly, there's been some recent press on a little bit of a conversation among the council and the mayor about a particular appointment.

That's just happenstance that we are also raising the same issue about uh how the process works.

We certainly do not want to step in the middle of that conversation between those two bodies.

So I want to step delicately here.

I think it's our job to sort of use data as a flashlight, data uh as a way to drive a conversation.

And um, I think let me tell you what next steps are.

Um Councillor Pilovar has drafted a working document that she sent to the committee and those that have put their hand up and said they're interested in helping put together a presentation.

Uh it really focuses on the front of the process, which is the recruitment process and the application process and how we might offer ideas to make those processes yield different results.

We know that the post-apointment, meaning the orientation for new uh commissioners, the onboarding process, all the things that happen after that are really being looked into by the city auditor.

So I think we want to stay out of that space, and we really want to think about the front of the pipeline.

How do people get uh pulled into the process where they might be nominated and approved?

Uh saying all that, there's a great draft that is currently receiving feedback.

You'll see the final draft by the next meeting.

But I would like to take this time to pick back up on that conversation we started last time on what might be some ideas that we offer up to the council and the mayor's office as potential ways to improve and widen the net to recruit Tulsons to put their hand up and fill out an application and potentially be seated on an ABC.

Does that make sense?

Last time I think we voiced some ideas.

Uh, they were kind of into the ether, and I'd like to sort of maybe after we've slept a few times, sort of dust off what might be a top five ideas that we can certainly share with Commissioner P.

Livar when she returns, ultimately trying to land on a handful that we would take forward to the city council for consideration.

I'll start us off.

I remember you had one about being a lot more intentional about connecting with the neighborhood associations.

What I like about that one is there's a number of neighborhood associations that are active across the community, and they have contact information registered with the city, they do meet routinely, and like nothing else I can think of, they literally represent the entirety of Tulsa geographically.

So that feels like a really smart uh effort that could be reconstituted if it doesn't currently exist.

Other ideas to improve representation.

You know, people in the even meet up teaches as well.

Well, teachers is hard because of the time that the meetings are during the day, but administrators and counselors that would be ideal.

Were you talking about the working in neighborhoods or what was the organizations?

Like the HOAs or yeah, so the city has been making an effort to like help residents establish neighborhood associations, which are a little bit different from HOAs, but I think it works the same.

But in terms of like what we'd have access to as the city, I think it would be neighborhood associations.

So the um it's called neighborhood academies, right?

Um, like part of as part of the planning office, like they they have been helping to establish a lot of neighborhood associations around the city.

So that's what I was speaking to.

That's a great idea.

Um, I wouldn't discount the HOAs.

Just I'm I'm from East Tulsa, so uh the drive is considerable, but the um we have our annual meeting coming up in May.

So, like and we only meet once a year.

So, if if not that meeting, um, a lot of them have Facebook groups representing their um neighborhood association or HOA or whatever those those are, and so just those should be on file with networking in neighborhoods, and so just getting like a uh access to those.

Also, what is that app that it's not ringed?

Yeah, next door is it next door.

Yes, next door is an option.

It is in every neighborhood.

Um being on it.

A lot of people are on it.

I have muted lots of but the very um involved neighbors would see that and have an outlet uh uh for their volunteer energy.

Yeah, so it would be very meeting coming up.

Who would be best to come and speak at that to talk about these opportunities with the city?

Say again, I'm sorry.

Say we have an HOA meeting coming up.

I have one.

Also, who would be best from the city to come speak at that?

She also mentioned PTAs, which I think is very similar idea.

So to that point, I I will diplomatically, I know they know this, but I think if if counselors are feeling they are under underrepresented, at the end of the day, I think they're gonna be the best at their town halls, their networks, you know, they they live in those communities, they're as connected as anyone, and I think they're gonna have to really inspire recruits and pump up people that live in their district and really encourage them to put their hand up and take the opportunity.

I think that's gonna be the best source is people personally asking their neighbors and friends that they'll live near them to do that.

Um, another thing to keep in mind, and you're seeing it a little bit in the conversation currently about refilling a seat or renewing a seat, is it's not just about where people live, right?

It's about a skill set, and so many of these authorities and boards and commissions require a specific skill set.

Uh, I know someone that's been before the Historic Preservation Commission many times, or if you've driven to a board of adjustment meeting, it's quite a professional skill set to understand how to do that work equitably and accurately.

Um I wouldn't say that every commission has the same sort of learning curve, and I don't want that to be a closed door, but it's that it's that overlap, and I know it exists of a person that lives in the right part of town that you're trying to represent and has the rights professional or personal skill set, and that's a little bit harder.

Uh, it's not just about where people live, it's about their appropriateness of skill.

Um I don't want to forget either that this data we have to my understanding is a snapshot of where people lived when they applied.

So I think I narrowly have just moved when I applied, but people move all the time.

So I don't want to um over, I don't want to I think I think that our report is a very valid snapshot of where people were living at the moment, but it's not dynamic and it doesn't uh account for for movement among sitting commissioners.

So I do think there's a little work to do on data refinement.

Um other ideas about things we could do to stir up attention.

Does anyone does anyone how did a quick poll?

How did you all find out about the current commission you're on?

How did how did you I'll uh I'll start with you, Whitney.

How did you find out about the commission that you're on?

How did you end up applying?

I think that Josiah Robinson did a really phenomenal job and restarting the two SLGBTQIA plus committee.

He was having one-on-one, like very grassroots organizer type meetings with people in the community to get on the committee, and then of course working with him, and um he resigned meaning to focus on some other things and just having had been working on the committee, I think was a great entry point to then learn more about the commission and see how my skill set could intersect well with the commission.

And then TIPRO's, they've done a few different um events that I've supported in our 918 lead program.

We were very focused on getting the word out about young professionals could and should also be interested in stepping up to try and serve on authorities, boards, and commissions.

Two things one is it sounds at the end of the day, it was about someone the personal personal requests from someone you trusted and made a personal request to view.

I think that's what it's gonna take, one person at a time.

And the other thing is it doesn't have to be a full commission seat, it could be on a committee.

I think it's a great on board to these opportunities both ways.

It lets you test it out and lets them test you out.

Uh Joyce, do you remember how you uh got on the commission initially?

Um how you heard about it.

How I heard about it.

Um I'm on the board at the Indian Healthcare Resource Center, and we needed a representative on the Greater Tulsa Area Indian Affairs Commission, and I was elected to do that.

Had you ever thought about being on authority board commission board?

No, I have not.

Andrea I'd asked you, but it's been a minute.

It has been a minute.

More than a minute, more than a few minutes.

At the time I was recruited by someone in the mayor's office.

It was in 2013.

So it was recruited by somebody in the mayor's office that was working to fill the positions, and I don't know how she thought of me.

Um I think probably it had to do with some of the work I had been doing through the church I was attending at the time.

So Anna, do you remember how you became aware of the opportunity?

Yeah, I got an email from the chief of staff.

So same kind of yeah, the mayor's office, yeah.

So the mayor's office recruited you, gotcha.

How about you?

Uh at the time I was working at Tulsa.

Well, I'm still working at Tulsa Tate, but my position was director of uh diversity, equity, and inclusion and inclusion.

And I was just looking for ways that I can use some of my pre my set skills in my position to help uh city of Tulsa.

And then this commission came up.

But you filled out the whole application and then waited for the call?

Yeah.

Uh I I remember a co-worker was talking about the sales tax commission.

I'm like, how did you get on the sales section?

Oh, yeah, fill out one of these.

And I was a little bit of professional jealousy and why I was envious of the sales tax commission, but it was.

And uh it took a minute to put it in and kind of forgot about it, and then got the call quite a bit later, um, not for sales tax, but for this.

So but it was really about seeing someone else do it and getting curious for some you.

Uh just recruited from the past fair housing chair.

Okay.

She was on the HRC and she was in charge, and she said I was loud and I needed more things to do, and that's what happened.

In a good way.

In a good time, uh I got that is sort of fill your own seat, right?

Like you want to roll off, that's great.

We all deserve how to do that.

Like just ideally what Josh did.

Yeah, maybe that was the moral of your story.

Yeah, I agreed.

I think that's great.

Dave?

I was uh appointed the housing authority commission by Mayor Bynum.

Okay.

Or law enforcement type work within that agency.

And then human rights commission now.

But she got cancer and came off of this committee.

And then Mayor Bonham asked if I would fill them here for that.

Say just to give a perspective from law enforcement into this room, which I find very well you were so much more than law enforcement, but I don't think that's that's how I got here.

Awesome.

Thank you.

Uh Josh has probably been a minute.

It has been a minute.

Um 2018, I was uh uh recruited by the mayor's office.

I I've been doing a lot of work within the city and just with parade and veterans and uh a lot of programs we started, and so we were in the same place, same time, and he asked if I wanted to step into this role.

It's so obvious, and we'll have this conversation with the mayor's office, is they they had a lot of sway in the space, and if they want to have that intentionality about two two equal folks, if they want to maybe think about that sort of geographic spread, they they have certainly the power to be more intentional about where they're um filling seats.

So that's interesting.

Um in 2016, I was part of the Type Pros uh project to get out the vote.

Um, and so we started working with the mayor's office in the chamber, obviously, very closely with that.

And then in 2018, I ran for city council, and that's how I met and got to really have conversations with GT.

In 2022, 23.

Um, the women's commission was focusing on the child care gaps um that we've got in the city where we've got year-long wait lists, like you have to put the waitlist kid on the wait list before you they're even born, as soon as you know you're pregnant, and like in the gaps of how much it costs 12,000 $800 to $1,500 a month.

Um, and anyway, I'm very passionate about that.

And so uh whenever I attended a couple of those committee meetings, uh the mayor uh reached out and asked if I'd be interested in joining the women's commission, and so I joined, and then they needed a seat for the human rights commission, and I was like very passionate about that.

Excellent, Barissa.

I think I cheated.

Um GPEC just has a few seats that are uh give I don't want to say given to but appointed to certain positions, and so as African American Resource Center Coordinator, there is a seat for um that position, and because that's our work.

Um I was pulled in, and then as far as the HRC when former Commissioner Radney rolled off to have to take care of her mom that we were asked if anybody wanted to fill in, and I agreed to do it.

That's not cheating.

That's the same, that's the same for kids.

Yeah, yes, filling an organization seat on your commission.

And that further, not in a bad way, but it further complicates how you solve the puzzle.

It's not just about where they live, it's about a skill set, and in some cases it's about filling a role for a nonprofit or another uh the library system.

So all those things sometimes don't yield the results that you want.

So that's an interesting thing about the restrictions of the chess the chess board, if you will, and how how to fill it out, uh, given these things you have to place with people that represent certain organizations, if that makes sense.

Anthony.

I was on a board for Tulsa Parks um accommodation and inclusion, and from there, my current employer basically once she became the director of the center, she thought about me first because she was on one of the boards, and she would like Anthony.

This would be perfect for you.

I don't feel like my voice really fits that uh that part of you.

So she said you will fit that uh even better than me.

So I just got appointed from her and just came in the planet.

That's awesome.

Last but not least.

Well, um I I started being an activist for the immigrants since pretty much since I came to the United States that was part of my coming in.

And um I knew several people that were in the Hispanic Affairs Commission.

So I started just sitting there as a visitor for uh years, maybe one or two years, and then when there was an opening, they invited me, and so I joined, but that's been so many years, and then um being there, uh Carlos was that the chair was the one that was coming here, and at some point um I don't remember if it was because we changed the chair or uh, but he he was having a lot of other things to do, and he asked wanted in.

I thought that this was pretty well related to everything else that I do.

So that's how I came in.

Thank you for humoring me with that.

That was very interesting.

Um we have five minutes left to recap on this one.

Uh we will get you a uh final draft that you can uh continue to comment on at the next meeting, and after that, we expect to have an opportunity to present to city council committee.

Uh we've also meet with the mayor's office and understand kind of what their ideas about how to make the process work the best that we can make it work.

Uh appreciate your attention and championing of this issue in our time remaining.

Um what we'll do next time, it's it's listed here as a placeholder, but next time we'll ask you to approve this presentation and the recommendation that we finalize on before we head forward to report back to the city council and the mayor's office.

Do anyone on our various committees, any of our advocates or Title Five Commissioners on other title five missions have any updates or calls for action?

We're working on the Greater Tulsa Area Aid and Affairs Commission is working on Native American Day.

This will be our 10th annual Native American Day, and we are starting to meet monthly, and we'll proceed to um meet bi weekly.

And anyway, we're working on it.

Looking forward.

Yeah, I know it's a big successful event.

Yes.

Uh with a big budget.

I'm not jealous of at all.

Uh and you have a big event.

Remind me when and where?

It it is um this year, is it October?

Oh my god, what October is it 10th?

So close.

October 19th.

It's always the third Monday in October.

Third Monday.

I thought it was the 12th.

TVD, October.

It's indigenous pupils, yes.

Yes, yes.

Oh, okay.

It's usually the third Monday of October.

Okay.

The 12th.

Well, yes, at Dreamkeepers, yes.

And so we'll be starting renovations at Dreamkeepers Park.

Probably after I think Native American Day.

So anyway, I'll be able to provide more information.

We will be meeting soon again.

Excellent.

Keep us posted.

Other updates from those Hispanic Student Affairs Commission, one of the big events that we have yearly is the Tomashi Vera Awards celebration, and we're having it on May 14th at the library, the central library.

And you are invited.

Well, recognize the students, Hispanic students of the different districts that have excelled in not only grades but in their involvement with a community.

And uh that are in about to graduate, they're in 12th grade.

And uh we award heroes, what we call heroes, these people not necessarily Hispanic, but are working with things that have to do with education in our community to help you know our students, our community too.

So it's May 14th at the Tulsa Library at 5 30.

The doors open at 5 30, ceremony begins at 6 00.

Okay.

Great.

Can I have 15 seconds?

Of course.

Tulsa Area Fair Housing.

Um so the Fair Housing Committee, this is April.

I just totally forgot.

It is April.

This is Fair Housing Month.

Um, if you or your community or an organization you work with is interested in fair housing education, we can come to you or we can host it at an event, so let us know.

We typically host that in October.

Um, but again, it's fair housing month, so if you hear of anything or see anything that you don't feel is appropriate in fair housing, please give me a call.

Thank you.

Any old business?

Any new business?

Any public comments?

Hearing none, I would take a motion to adjourn.

Nice.

Do I have a second?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed say no.

The meeting is adjourned.

Thank you all for being here.

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