OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Greater Tulsa African American Commission (GTAC) Meeting - June 23, 2026

City Council — Tuesday, June 23, 2026
BodyTulsa, Oklahoma
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, June 23, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:04:56
Transcript — Verbatim
0:16

Alright, we are live.

0:27

So our vice chair, you are welcome to call the load to order.

0:32

And introduce our guest speakers.

0:35

Thank you.

0:35

You need help lineup.

0:37

All right.

0:38

And 5 35, I'll call our meetings before.

0:42

We have a second.

0:44

A motion on the event.

0:45

Okay.

0:45

We don't have to use that.

0:47

Yeah, the meeting has been under eight.

0:49

Thank you.

0:50

And I'll turn it over to our guest speaker for tonight.

0:53

If you have anything you would like to present at the board or a podium before you can.

0:57

Thank you.

1:16

Good afternoon.

1:17

My name is Alicia Myers, and I am one of the City of Tulsa's neighborhood liaisons.

1:24

And I will be assisting our neighborhood coordinator.

1:32

Good afternoon, everybody.

1:33

My name is John Heatherington.

1:35

I'm your neighborhood programs coordinator with Alicia in the Tulsa Planning Office.

1:40

This evening we'll be presenting to you our neighborhood conditions index report.

1:45

And we'll have a conversation with you all about our neighborhood programs and how they are informed by this report.

1:51

So we're very happy to introduce this unique resource the city has put together.

2:00

Just an outline of what we'll be looking at is what is the neighborhood conditions index?

2:04

How is it made?

2:05

What is it?

2:07

Two is how to interpret your report, and third, um action planning or how to organize your neighborhood to address the data points you find in there to make improvements with your neighbors.

2:22

So first, what is the neighborhood conditions index?

2:27

Tulsans love their neighborhoods, and they want to improve their neighborhoods, but it's not always clear what to do or how to get started.

2:43

Both the assets and strengths of your neighborhood, what you can lean on, what you can draw from, as well as uh gaps or perhaps areas that need some improvement.

2:54

We will make it very easy to identify and act upon.

2:58

And to make it even easier to interpret, we have designed it to look a lot like a health report.

3:06

And we've used color codes to say, hey, green, you're doing great.

3:09

Yellow, maybe you want to take a look.

3:12

Red, this is something you might want to pay attention to.

3:17

We organized it into nine chapters that reflect the comprehensive plan.

3:22

So I have the nine chapters up here.

3:24

And as you'll see in a moment, it's broken down into multiple data points under each chapter.

3:31

So interpreting a report.

3:34

This is the first page, and you'll see there is a uh a map of the area that is your uh what we call it the area, it's the neighborhood statistical area, and then you can see a map of the city itself and where your neighborhood is located or that reports located.

3:55

There's also the overall scores, the sort of grand total summary scores from zero to one to five, and the priority group, uh, which is underneath.

4:05

The priority group is actually used to help the city determine which neighborhoods to focus resources on.

4:12

And it's based upon the overall score.

4:17

These are the nine chapters, and then an example of the category scores for each chapter.

4:23

And as you can see underneath the multiple data points that informed those uh category scores.

4:31

As I said before, we we use uh a number from zero to five.

4:36

The top 25% scoring data points in a given neighborhood will be green.

4:42

The middle 50 is gray, and then the lowest scoring 25% are red.

4:47

So you can easily see, and this is comparing your area against the Tulsa average.

4:54

Um so you can very quickly see, like, wow, as compared to other Tulsa neighborhoods, of which we've set out 80.

5:01

Well, we're doing very well here, or maybe we don't have as much, say, tree canopy coverage as other neighborhoods in comparison.

5:08

Or perhaps if it's gray, we're right in the middle, we're right in the average.

5:13

This is page four, it's an area snapshot, and it's just statistical data.

5:18

Who lives in the neighborhood and the demographics of the people and the resources such as libraries and restaurants, for example, that are nearby, access to trails.

5:27

It's just the um the uh just the ordinary data.

5:33

And then we have a glossary of terms.

5:34

There's a lot of plannerly language in here.

5:37

We try to make it accessible, but if there's any question as to what does this mean or how did you score being close to sidewalks or trails?

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Community Engagement████████████████████████████████████████████44%
Public Safety█████████████████████████████29%
Personnel Matters█████████9%
Procedural████████8%
Racial Equity█████5%
Youth Programs███3%
Workforce Development██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Greater Tulsa African American Commission (GTAC) Meeting - June 23, 2026

The Greater Tulsa African American Commission (GTAC) held its regular meeting on June 23, 2026, beginning at approximately 5:35 PM. The agenda included a presentation on the Neighborhood Conditions Index (NCI) from the Tulsa Planning Office, committee reports, a vote to reappoint a commissioner to the Human Rights Commission, a presentation from the Battered Women's Justice Project (BWJP), new commissioner introductions, and announcements. A photo of attendees was taken after adjournment.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the previous meeting were approved by unanimous voice vote on a motion by an unnamed commissioner with a second. No changes were proposed.

Discussion Items

  • Neighborhood Conditions Index Presentation: John Heatherington (Neighborhood Programs Coordinator) and Alicia Myers (Neighborhood Liaison) from the Tulsa Planning Office presented the updated Neighborhood Conditions Index (NCI) report. The NCI rates 80 neighborhood statistical areas (NSAs) across the city on a 0–5 scale using nine chapters aligned with the comprehensive plan. Data points are color-coded green (top 25%), gray (middle 50%), and red (bottom 25%) relative to the Tulsa average. The report is intended as a conversation starter, combining hard data with residents' lived experiences. Presenters gave an example from the Sequoia neighborhood, where high loose animal complaints (score of 0) combined with teacher-reported truancy led to action. They also promoted four programs: NCI Workshops (free neighborhood-level sessions), NCI Collaborative (year-long intensive with up to 3 neighborhoods), Neighborhood Academy (three-session leadership training), and Neighborhood Connect (connecting associations for collaboration on common goals). Lexi (staff) will email access instructions for reports.
  • Executive Committee Report: The Chair reported on a focus committee meeting held previously (July 16 follow-up meeting scheduled at 10:00 AM). Discussion included a partnership with Burnham Todd from the mayor’s office on a survey to benchmark conditions for African Americans in Tulsa, possibly conducted every year or two, to guide city efforts. Census and community input were also discussed.
  • Policy Committee Report: The committee had not yet met for June but planned to discuss strategic planning, census, local elections, and expanding newsletter reach via NABJ at Tulsa Community College (Dr. Gilwin). The committee is also developing a "Black Tulsa Guide" reminiscent of a modern Green Book, inspired by Nico Asamoa Caesar’s earlier guide.
  • Education Committee Report: The committee will meet on the first Monday of each month. Work is underway for the upcoming Educator’s Award named after Dr. Wimberley, with Tracy Love Chandler leading. A letter was sent to the mayor on June 10 requesting an October appearance; a follow-up was planned. The committee is collaborating with community back-to-school events and will hold a Zoom call with Dr. Wimberley to discuss the award.
  • Human Rights Commission Report: No update due to a scheduling conflict; updates will appear in the next newsletter.
  • Reappointment of Human Rights Commission Representative: The mayor’s office requested a formal vote to reappoint Commissioner Larissa McNeil as GTAC’s representative on the Human Rights Commission. A motion was made and seconded, passed by voice vote unanimously. Commissioner McNeil also produces the monthly newsletter.
  • New Commissioner Introductions: Three new commissioners introduced themselves: Michelle Burdot, Program Coordinator at Green Book Cultural Center (30 years), historian/tour guide, after-school/summer programming, recent African American Leadership Academy graduate, current president of the recently relaunched NAACP branch in Tulsa; Simone Giddens, Tulsa Remote participant, works in higher education ed-tech (admissions), DEI co-chair at Tyros, Leadership Tulsa 360 graduate, Advancement Team member at Junior League; and a third commissioner whose name was not clearly transcribed.
  • Battered Women’s Justice Project (BWJP) Presentation: Amaldi Parker Elder, director of the Advocacy Center on Systems Change, presented BWJP’s work in Tulsa. BWJP is a national legal resource center with seven centers focusing on gender-based violence. A task force was formed in 2023 under Mayor Vynham, with 11 agencies appointed (TPD, DA, sheriff, DV court, DHS, DIVIS, Family Safety Center, Still She Rises, Justice Link, Native Alliance Against Violence). Mayor Nichols will sign a new executive order to formalize the task force and potentially add tribal and community partners. BWJP uses a coordinated community response model. Elder shared a specialized Power and Control Wheel for Black women, developed in New Orleans, to illustrate how oppression intersects with intimate partner violence. She emphasized the need to connect healthcare and medical systems, and invited GTAC to share community connections and feedback. Elder commended the fatherhood program (Birthright Living Legacy) as a potential prevention partner. Commissioners asked about including healthcare and the medical sector.
  • Announcements: Rudisill Regional Library will close on Saturday, June [unspecified], and reopen in the fall in a new building. Excellence Academy, a Black-led, community-built private Christian school (pre-K through 12), launched and will be located in the Edge of the Ridge facility next summer. It will operate year-round with 354 additional instructional hours per year for North Tulsa students, capturing school choice dollars.

Key Outcomes

  • Minutes Approved: Unanimous.
  • Reappointment Vote: Commissioner Larissa McNeil was officially reappointed as GTAC’s representative to the Human Rights Commission (unanimous).
  • Presentations Acknowledged: The NCI report and BWJP presentation were received and noted. Staff will share slides and resources.
  • Adjournment: The meeting adjourned by unanimous voice vote.

Meeting Transcript

Alright, we are live. So our vice chair, you are welcome to call the load to order. And introduce our guest speakers. Thank you. You need help lineup. All right. And 5 35, I'll call our meetings before. We have a second. A motion on the event. Okay. We don't have to use that. Yeah, the meeting has been under eight. Thank you. And I'll turn it over to our guest speaker for tonight. If you have anything you would like to present at the board or a podium before you can. Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Alicia Myers, and I am one of the City of Tulsa's neighborhood liaisons. And I will be assisting our neighborhood coordinator. Good afternoon, everybody. My name is John Heatherington. I'm your neighborhood programs coordinator with Alicia in the Tulsa Planning Office. This evening we'll be presenting to you our neighborhood conditions index report. And we'll have a conversation with you all about our neighborhood programs and how they are informed by this report. So we're very happy to introduce this unique resource the city has put together. Just an outline of what we'll be looking at is what is the neighborhood conditions index? How is it made? What is it? Two is how to interpret your report, and third, um action planning or how to organize your neighborhood to address the data points you find in there to make improvements with your neighbors. So first, what is the neighborhood conditions index? Tulsans love their neighborhoods, and they want to improve their neighborhoods, but it's not always clear what to do or how to get started. Both the assets and strengths of your neighborhood, what you can lean on, what you can draw from, as well as uh gaps or perhaps areas that need some improvement. We will make it very easy to identify and act upon. And to make it even easier to interpret, we have designed it to look a lot like a health report. And we've used color codes to say, hey, green, you're doing great. Yellow, maybe you want to take a look. Red, this is something you might want to pay attention to. We organized it into nine chapters that reflect the comprehensive plan. So I have the nine chapters up here. And as you'll see in a moment, it's broken down into multiple data points under each chapter. So interpreting a report. This is the first page, and you'll see there is a uh a map of the area that is your uh what we call it the area, it's the neighborhood statistical area, and then you can see a map of the city itself and where your neighborhood is located or that reports located. There's also the overall scores, the sort of grand total summary scores from zero to one to five, and the priority group, uh, which is underneath. The priority group is actually used to help the city determine which neighborhoods to focus resources on. And it's based upon the overall score. These are the nine chapters, and then an example of the category scores for each chapter. And as you can see underneath the multiple data points that informed those uh category scores. As I said before, we we use uh a number from zero to five. The top 25% scoring data points in a given neighborhood will be green. The middle 50 is gray, and then the lowest scoring 25% are red.

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