All right, we are live and I do have extra copies of the acknowledgement.

Oh, okay.

Well prepared.

Miss Christopher, you don't do that.

Oh, yes.

All right.

Sorry.

Go ahead.

Okay, so we'll go ahead and get started.

Today is July.

I mean, I'm sorry, Lord, June twenty-six.

And it is one oh four PM.

Welcome to all of our our guests here in the room today.

Let's go ahead and I'll do the call too.

The roll call.

Commissioner Aduni.

Oh.

Commissioner Armstrong.

Commissioner Advance.

Present.

Oops.

Commissioner Taylor West.

I'm present.

Uh Commissioner Dr.

Carency Wilson.

Present.

Alright.

Commissioner Matisse Mason.

Present.

Commissioner Keith Mays.

Commissioner, I should say, Deputy Mayor, Crystal Reyes.

Commissioner Greg Taylor.

I was waiting to say you hear something.

And I feel like I'm missing someone myself.

Councilwoman.

Councilwoman.

She's in the building because I walked in behind.

Oh yeah, she's Commissioner Demol.

Damali Wilson.

Commissioner DeMarty Wilson.

She will be absent today.

Oh, we'll talk about you.

Okay, so we says uh Commissioner Dooney is here.

You want to lead us off in our ancestral acknowledgement.

Fortunately, I put it on top.

All right.

Let's take a breath.

Center ourselves in our purpose and our destiny.

As we repeat the uh ancestral acknowledgement together, with hearts full of gratitude to our ancestors.

We come together at this time to build a future for our descendants.

May our ancestors plain burn within us.

Illuminate our way.

Teach us to see the light of God's wisdom that serves us as a beacon eye to keep us grounded from both nearby and distant challenges.

We are exactly where we need to be right now.

May the ancestors' legacy inspire us to walk faithfully in your life.

Give us awareness and a sense of our origins.

Open up the doors of communication.

Open up the doors of understanding.

Open up the doors of restoration.

Let us invest in building inspiration for the next generation.

May your will be done.

I say I may have to run.

Yes.

So we have Commissioner Greg Taylor in the building.

So now we have four, but we can vote on our meeting minutes.

So the meeting minutes that you have is for May 15th.

If you could just take some time to go over that.

And this is actually short compared to what we normally have on meeting minutes.

So you just take some time to look over that and then I'll be ready for your motion to approve.

Sorry, I'm not on the state.

I'm sorry.

I should have said that.

All right.

You need more time.

I'll uh make a make a motion to approve the minutes.

All right.

I second.

All right.

So Commissioner Mason has made a motion to accept the meeting minutes for May 15, 2026.

Commissioner Evans.

Second.

All in favor.

Any opposed?

All right.

I'm understanding.

I'll have stains.

Oh.

All right.

So I'm gonna go ahead and do our chair report.

Um I have a lot on here.

Um, but we'll get through this.

Madam Chairman, I just have something to say.

I want to commend you and um council Paul Harper on all your hard work.

I am so excited about the um equity reports, and I know that you all had very much a part of those results, and so I just want to replace it.

Thank you.

You're so sweet.

People are gonna start seeing my ugly craft.

Okay, so with the report, uh good afternoon, commissioners.

Um, I'd like to begin by thanking each of you for your continued commitment to the work of Beyond Apology.

Um, every committee has contributed to moving this work forward, and I'm grateful for your dedication to ensuring that Tulsa continues to pursue meaningful repair.

Our education, land, and health committee has been killing the game, y'all, like seriously.

Um, I have not seen any committee work as hard as these committees, and so I'm super excited.

Um, but since our last meeting, I have been focused on one of the priorities that emerged from our discussions developing a policy response to the discovery and treatment of black ancestral remains and cultural artifacts connected to racial violence.

Um, as I had talked before, um, if you all remember from our policy committee, we um we we met at breakfast.

I don't know if y'all remember that we had breakfast and we talked about um how the indigenous community has um has this thing called NAGPRA, and NACPRA uh it protects indigenous um remains and artifacts that come from the ground, and so um, and it's a it's a federal policy as well, but there is nothing for us at all.

So um, as we are bringing remains from the mass grave, we need to have a protocol or process on how to memorialize them because there's nothing documented on how to do that from our cultural uh point of view, right?

Uh or perspective, and we need to have that in place, and then also um as the burning, thank you, Benny, as the burning witness museum and experiences still is where we've been working so hard.

Um, and I hope you all have been following on Facebook, the burning witness, because the artifacts are like amazing that is coming that we're that that you know that's coming to be a part of it, and so there's a lot in that, and how those artifacts were discovered was through development that had happened.

Um, and they were just I don't I'm not gonna say thon and transmess it corrects me on that, but just kind of discarded, right?

It's not in importance, so um that's been one in the closet or something.

The boxes were placed in the closet, yeah.

And so um, trash in the closet.

Yeah, and then so just coming up with a way for when developers come and develop in places, especially like Greenwood, there should be a process in place on what to do when you find artifacts.

There is on a state level, but it's not what it should be, and we need to have a voice in that, and so creating a policy for that um, I believe would be instrumental.

Um, and they are archaeologists.

There's a um couple black archaeologists who have been trying to do this in New York for the longest.

Um, and so partnering with them and to bring this, yes, and so partnering with them and bringing this policy, um, I think is critical, and it will set a precedence uh for us to do this as beyond apology.

Um, so um after months of research, drafting, and collaboration, I prepared and submitted a working draft reparative ordinance master packet to Councillor Vanessa Hall Harper for review and potential consideration by the Tulsa City Council.

This has also been to the mayor's office as well.

The packet includes three components a policy memorandum explaining the need for the ordinance, a legal companion memorandum outlining the city's authority and legal defensibility, and a proposed ordinance for discussion.

The purpose of this proposed ordinance is to address a gap in municipal policy regarding the discovery protection consultation identification and reburial of black ancestral remains associated with racial violence, including victims of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre.

It is intentionally framed as a reparative ordinance, not a punitive one.

Let me repeat that it is intentionally framed as a reparative ordinance, not a punitive one, with the goal of establishing consistent procedures that protect dignity, center descendant voices, and provide clear guidance as development continues throughout Tulsa.

The proposed ordinance would, and I have it here, we can pass it, pass some down this way, and then as well as this one.

Okay.

And that's great.

Oh, this goes with it.

The proposed ordinance would require an immediate stop to disturbing activity when human remains are discovered.

Establish descended center consultation before decisions regarding removal, testing, or dispositions are made.

Make respectful reburial the default disposition, protect cultural artifacts associated with those remains.

Place the financial responsibility for compliance on developers rather than descendants or the city.

Create a cultural and racial remains review panel to provide recommendations grounded in comparative principles.

Following additional review, I also submitted revision strengthening protections for cultural artifacts recovered alongside human remains.

Those revisions clarify that artifacts connected to black ancestral life, burial practices, and the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre should be protected, preserved, and housed in community-centered institutions rather than treated as developer property.

This ordinance represents an important step in Beyond Apology's commitment to translating our recommendations into practical policy solutions.

It is currently in the hands of Councillor Hall Harper, and we look forward to continued dialogue with the city as this proposal is reviewed.

Looking ahead, it is also time for us to begin planning for our 2027 Tulsa Reparation Summit.

Our inaugural summit demonstrated the importance of bringing together local and national leaders, scholars, advocates, descendants, and community members to move the conversation from apology to repair.

I encourage each committee to begin thinking about programming, speakers, partnerships, sponsorships, and ways we can build upon the success of this year's summit.

Finally, I would like to invite commissioners to participate in a commission-wide book discussion on Tulsa speaks.

Oh God.

Yes, and I have actually ordered a copy of the book for each commissioner, because I do believe it offers valuable perspectives that can strengthen our understanding and inform our work.

And if you'd like to participate in the discussion, please let me know so we can begin planning a date and format.

As always, beyond the policy exists to help move Tulsa from acknowledgement to action, and our work is grounded in history informed by community voices and focus on creating lasting systems of repair.

And I want to thank you all for your continued service and commitment.

As soon as I get the copy of the books, I'll make sure that you all have it.

And I think it's really Vanessa I didn't even tell Vanessa's why she's looking like that.

But I think it's really important that we understand, um, like we always talk about how we got here.

Um, and it's not just also about you know the commission, but um also just wanna like highlight how things work within the city government, and because those things are important for us to understand.

And so I think it'll just give us some great reading that we can also come together and do.

Um, I want us to partner with um the Oklahoma Birth Equity Initiative because they are actually gonna do the reading as well.

So I think it's a great time for us to come together with organizations and kind of do this thing together um and have those discussions, and then we'll have the author to actually come and then we can discuss the book in detail.

Um, and I think that would be great.

So I would love if you all would participate in this.

I think it's going to be uh very educational.

I think it's going to uh help us think outside the box too and challenge us a little bit.

Um, so yeah, so that is my uh report.

Um any questions when you move on to check to the committee reports.

No, I but I do want to make a comment about um about the burial process.

I would love for, and Vanessa would tell me that ain't how the city work, but I'll but I would love for it to be like a um oh before you'd call before you dig Oki type of process.

And I know that that's more is that state?

Is that a state?

But I would love that because when because we don't know what was thrown in the trash.

Like I was thinking about BMX, and I'm not saying they did anything wrong because if I found a good plate, I may throw it.

I mean, I might throw old plate away too.

I mean, I don't know if that's what they did.

I'm not trying to say that.

But what I'm saying is that it within a certain quadrant of the city, it should be designated if you run across anything that is not dirt, that needs to be, you know, uh recognized.

And so they should have to stop what you said they're doing, you know, stop their process and then have somebody come out.

Look, but it should be like a Oki type thing too.

Like if you're in there in the quadrant, they should they should come out and mark and say, if you're in this quadrant and you're building this type of quadrant, you're legally obligated, like through the permit system, maybe.

I don't know how it would work, but I think that if we have some type of documented process, because it is a it is a it is a um privilege for them to be able to build on that land.

And so sometimes when you get when you uh get to build on historical land, there's painstaking and there are more obligations to that land.

And we need to market it as such.

So I just love the whole, I mean, I love this whole thing, but I really would like to see it go into a procedural thing that's through I don't know how we do it.

But that's what that's the work that's we're doing.

Yeah, and I would like to say as a person that built a home in 1996, a lot of plates and little gadgets that I thought was trash.

Probably was very important because I'm at 644 East Marshall Street, across from St.

Monica.

Yeah, if you write this part between one.

So I'm right there, and I and I'm still digging up plate.

Well, but they're pieces.

So I just want to say that I know that that's that's the truth.

Yeah, but it's still all around.

All of that in the bones and bodies.

But that's the case, yes, you gotta stop it.

State law, gathering place too.

Yeah.

When they started building that.

Well, now that's probably definitely that's more that's more.

Yeah, that's definitely what your body is.

Yeah, I mean, oh, I'm sorry, that's not easy.

It's not you.

But I'm just saying that I think there should be something.

I mean, I love this ordinance.

You know, but I really would like to see it go as far as a you know, legal procedure or department or whatever.

I don't know how it works, and I don't know how hard it would be, but I think it was worth it because it's a privilege to build on top of these people's lives.

You know, and and for and you know, and then you have to, and I think that it needs to be some type of contribution to the cause if you want to, you know, redesecrate the land.

That's just me talking, though.

Yeah, and I'm gonna have um Counselor Paul Harper talk about what the pro what the process would look like.

But I'll take uh Commissioner Taylor, I saw you have your hand up, and then I as a developer, I s support it also, but I just am curious what you're doing, or have you already heard pushback from developers and how how do you need to prepare yourself for that pushback if it's just people just make it happen.

At the very beginning right now, so we have they haven't seen or heard of me at all yet.

So yeah, but you know we're ready for pushback all the time, but yeah.

But yeah, I mean, I would say that when again the BMX and the extension of Langston uh facility, I mean, that's where the artifacts that we have, if Chris was speaking of, that's where they came from.

Okay, and so that was not a difficult process in the uh, and these were city projects, city developments, and so we had departments involved with uh they actually hired a firm, I can't remember the name of it, but that that was on site, and when artifacts were seen, they went in and and pulled them out.

That's how we ended up getting them in the box.

Wonderful, in the boxes, and so I I don't I don't see that as being a big pushback.

Um when you talk we talked about human remains, guys.

When hum if human remains are found, there's gonna if there's law already in place that you have to stop and they have to come in and investigate and do everything that you know that's necessary uh as it relates to that because you're talking about a human remain.

Um I do recall when the baseball stadium was being built, and you know, this is just one this was just one of those things.

There was a story and it ran one cycle.

You can't find it anywhere anymore.

So there was yeah, it uh it was on the news too that a remain was a human remain was found, but they uh remember that they buried it.

Maybe it was buried, you know, they were on a to your point, they were on a timeline of development, they'll say, We don't have that in our records.

I don't care if you do, I know what I saw on that day when I watched the news, and that that was the case, and you can't find anybody associated with that anymore.

So, anyway, this is necessary, and so um we are uh excited about, certainly I am excited about proposing this ordinance.

Um, this is a draft, this may not be what it looks like at the end, but that's an engagement process that we will be involved in as a commission uh to ensure that you know the uh that that our remains and and not remains but our uh artifacts are respected and that so that we can continue to to uh uh build the museums and and respect and learn and and yeah, to honor our history, and so I don't I don't foresee any issues, but you know you whenever you're doing anything that's that's steeped in in respect of Africans living in America, you're gonna get pushback from some people.

So we don't we won't let that deter us just like we want anything else.

But um uh the first step is getting getting the uh language.

I think you're waiting on Dr.

O'Dawale to give her input from an anthropological standpoint.

Then uh I'll I'll present it to uh the council and we'll go from there.

And I'm gonna have her come speak at our next meeting as well.

Yeah.

Well, when that when those, you know, it's an ordinance that would go through the same process as any ordinance.

So once it's uh uh the legal department will get involved in it, once it's ready, it'll go for first reading, second reading, and that's opportunity for community, not only commissioners, but anyone, uh any citizen to come in and have conversation about that.

So it's it it'll follow the same process as any other ordinance.

And even consideration if they do find human remains within that quadrant, that it has to go through the same process as they do with Oakland.

So if there's genealogical evidence that needs to be within that within that quadrant, they're gonna do it anyway for anybody, but I think that if it's within the quadrant of where you know there were our remains could be, then they should give a special consideration to make sure that it's not a part of the the massacres, yeah, you know, to isolate it from that.

I mean, I'd like that to be added.

Yeah, and I think there's yeah, and I I think they're doing a great job so far with how they are respecting the remains and things like that, but what we do again in this in the ordinance, we need to what kind of flag is going over the the the coffee because that's important.

We not to just keep going back back, but when we had the mass fairs first oversight committee, we all said we would put a black cloth over them and instead of the Tulsa flag, and now the Tulsa flag has a leaning, but that doesn't mean that that's still the problem.

No, how how has community and descendants have had a say in how does that what what does that process look like, right?

And so we have to have that, and as we're revearing um these victims we need to also have a process what does that look like you know um because the last time we had one that I was a part of there was a a um a guy in a kilt playing a bagpipe you know and then we're that's not the way we funeralize our our ancestors so it's important that we have that process in place so we can't say oh well they didn't do this and that so now there's a process that we were involved in and planning and putting together and so that's a it's not to to say that we I mean we appreciate how Tulsa's partner with us on that.

And it's not to say anything against Tulsa but it is to say we're gonna glorify and like we would on our normal funeralization and then we're gonna give it the respect as we would any other culture.

I think about you know you be just coming back from Germany surely they wouldn't put a a you know um traditionally swastika flag over even though it may be something different.

Some people say it means something different I don't know but my point is they wouldn't put that over you know any Jewish remains if they found it would be taken to jail immediately in Germany.

Right and so my point is is that it's not to say anything against what it is now it's to say they didn't get their correct penance at that time and let's go ahead and fix that.

Absolutely I didn't realize the peanuts Vanessa gave me were hot and our mouth is burning.

Um so um so yeah so there's that and then um uh for our committee reports um I well first let me say um the Greenwood trust did have an update um so we have two of our commissioners um who will serve on the Greenwood Trust um and I did find this out in a um article no one told me not that they have to but I found out an article a news article um but it was uh commissioner uh the Molly Wilson and commissioner Phil Armstrong so they will um represent beyond apology um or the Greenwood Trust advisory group I have to look back at it um so congratulations to commissioner wilson and commissioner armstrong on that no are they representing us as the commission or are they just having to be commissioners I'm I won't I mean congratulations is either way it's great I'm glad to have a voice there but I just wanted to know what that role was you know I don't know maybe we no on the on the website uh when they're no they they they're noted as their name and members of the oh good okay good so they're official voice okay so if I want to fuss up we haven't met or anything like that because I'm on there as well um as a city council district but once I think those questions are about to be meeting okay I got three people um I think so what was the question are there any descendants because they're still adding oh that's your adding just asking if there's any descendants I didn't see any when I looked last but I don't know that was before I went to Germany so I can't remember I didn't look since then.

But you move on the website.

Well if they don't have any descendants that are looking then you guys should look at jack well and Evans.

The clear evidence there um and um and so I think it's really nice.

Yeah and so um I don't have any updates people always ask me all the time for updates on it but um you'd have to look online on the Greenwood Trust and then get those updates um so um also uh housing does not have a report um but land does, I know.

So housing and land is together, so I'm sorry, I I shouldn't have said that you didn't.

Um, so housing and land.

No, wait, no, no, no.

Housing is not because yeah, and and let me say about the housing.

Housing, we've been kind of just like holding out because we're trying to see how much is going to be raised for the the 24 million that we did recommend.

Um, so it's kind of hard to put not I mean you know what I mean to we know we've already had a plan, it just needs money to go behind it, and so once we we can do more with that once we know where we're going.

Um education um has been killing the game, as I said, also one of our committees is there any no one's here from education.

Well uh Dr.

Conversing Wilson is online.

Um Dr.

Mr.

Dooney, anyone has a report they want to read from education?

Um if I can get online, I have the notes.

I wasn't at the last meeting.

No, you weren't, and I I had uh opportunity I was looking at last night.

Um I can't really report.

I I commended them on the work that they have been doing.

I don't understand it because it's all academic and that's way above, you know, I'm grassroots person, so I don't really understand all of the language and the codes and acronyms and stuff.

So, but I do know that Dr.

Curtis has a program that she is uh uh trying to get uh she's she's talking with the city of Tulsa, she's talking with two one one, she's talking and United Way, and it's an all-encompassing app or website where people where people can go and get resources.

And it's supposed to combine all of the resources from the city into this database.

It's it's just in the idea stages right now, but it sounds fantastic, and I applauded them because I've always um advocated for all of these resources.

When I went to Tulsa Parks, I was surprised that all the programs are there for you because we're looking at at programs that we can partner with in education.

They have a multitude of programs already established, but if our community can get to those programs, and and the way that it's set up is it's really awesome.

It's an AI dream, but um it's supposed to be confidential, they only need the information for matching them with the resources.

So my question was, so everybody gonna get a number?

And she said, No, it's just the program is just focused on the resources and the needs of that particular family or whatever is needed, and it sounds really great.

And I'm sorry, I know I can't get online, so I uh that's okay.

We have the I had uh notes and everything that I was going to um to use, but I can't find them now.

But anyway, that it's it's uh really it's really going.

I I don't understand all of it, but it's really going well.

If you'd like to send me your notes after I can share them with the commissioner to follow up.

Okay, thanks.

All right.

Well, that's good.

We and um I do have some notes from so I can I can't.

Yes, it's awesome.

All right, so health and wellness committee have anything.

Yes, um, we've met and and so we've we've elected our we've elected our officers and we've and so our our um our co-chair is is Tomika Gray at Crossover and Crossover offers a multitude of different services and and wellness initiatives, and so looking at partnering with them to in their upcoming events so we can have representation at their events and and then and just combine and and build off of each other.

They're partnered with the Ascension St.

John's health initiative.

To Bed Rock, she's part of the Bed Rock Initiative also.

That's good.

Y'all are doing amazing.

Yeah, that's good.

Thank you.

Alright, so community economic and land development.

Okay, Chair.

I defer to you.

Okay, thank you.

Um the that committee, the the land, or community economic and land development, has been meeting pretty consistently.

Um we have some heavy hitters on it, and and so really excited about the development.

And so lately we've been focused on more so identifying land and and doing the research in that area.

So we're gonna be meeting.

Our next goal is to meet in person next month.

We've been meeting, we've been beating pretty regularly, like you know, weekly or bi-weekly, so we're gonna move those meetings to two uh monthly meeting just so we can be able to be mindful of everybody's time because everybody is busy, but um really excited about the progress that we're making so far and the expertise that's on the committee.

Are you guys seeing how you can partner with like um a way home for Tulsa and Tosa Housing Solutions and some of the uh some of the uh money that's available there as a as a committee or not at the moment, um we're still in the we're still in the infant stages, so we haven't gotten that far yet.

Oh, pop in one of the infants.

You're welcome to come come join us.

That sounds exciting.

Thank you.

Yeah, something counselor you want to do.

Oh, okay.

Did was did you talk last meeting of CU Chair?

You mentioned the officers last meeting.

No, did you mention all the other I just want to mention the other?

No, I don't think we hadn't elected our officers yet, so thank you for bringing that to my attention.

So we did elect our officers for that committee, and so I'm the chair and um the co-chair is William Deuce Tisdale, and then we have we have Commissioner Greg Taylor as the is our secretary.

And then the other members just for your information are Carlos Moreno, of course, DeMale, uh, and then Tim Newton, uh Chacuso Puta, and can I add a Tuli?

Adatula.

I saw that else.

I was like, wow, go ahead then.

I told y'all we can a lot of developers just I am really proud on how far we've came, and I know like this work is it's the slow work, right?

It is a slow work, but I'm really proud of how far we've came.

And so even though things um we get I I we all have been discouraged a lot, but you all are still working, and that's where the work is is with the people.

It's the grassroots work that really makes the difference, and so I'm so proud of y'all.

I really am.

Um I really really am.

I cannot say that enough.

Um I this is this is good.

The the infrastructure has been laid, and so now it's time for us to just start this.

So I'm so excited about it, and again, people are watching.

We do have all the support from first repair, NARC, and Cobra.

Um, so people are you know they're they're ready to help us, and so I said the infrastructure has been laid and we're moving, yeah.

I'm so proud of y'all.

I really really am, and I'm not gonna be a crab baby, but I'm really proud of you guys.

Um there's no report from systems change, financial compensation, and I guess really um policy.

What we talked about with this, that's systems change and cultural identity.

So um that's we can kind of count that in there.

There are any old business.

Oh, thank you.

So um I had a meeting with um our state representative Ronald Stewart, um, who we lovingly call Stu.

Um, but uh we talked about um there's an ordinance that was passed in Illinois on their state government, but that's uh our council counselor Hall Harper, uh, was wanting to do this in Oklahoma, um, where they have actually passed a bill to pay for ancestry DNA kids.

Uh for for black Emma Stonians, and so I think that would be something great that we could do.

Um Stu talked about, well, don't we stop calling him Stu representative state representative Ronald Stewart talked about ways to move through that.

We know we are in a super red state, and so like something like that is you know, highly unlikely, but we um still want to be able to to kind of push that.

So that's something under our cultural identity uh committee that we can still work and push and um NSC how what can we do on a city level as well?

So I don't see why we need to limit ourselves.

I still think we can push some state things and city things uh for beyond apology and so um get fed.

Yeah, clothes mouse don't get fed.

I mean, we're building the infrastructure for the work, so why not you know do that?

And so I think that's a great thing, Commissioner.

I'm just gonna add that we talked about that when we first formed the commission.

We talked about having DNA for the end for the descendants to make sure that they were descendants.

So that was already in our plan.

Right.

But this was you know, the ancestry kit shows which tribe you belong to the further back with the ancestry.

Um what's the name of that one and that funding?

I think ended.

She would the era was here.

Yeah, that's done.

But that was the beginning of that.

So you definitely would love to see that.

Well, what's the what's the name of the because you did that one?

Is it just ancestry?

It's African African ancestry.

African accession.

That's the one that really goes in.

That's the one we want to do.

Yeah.

But that's that's what we want to uh forward.

Well, to have fun.

It's very expensive.

It's about 300 a test.

Oh, 100%.

It depends, but the best way to be prohibitive.

Patrick code, lineage.

You got the uh and Patrick Land.

Yeah, but that's depending on your sex, okay.

No, my my mother's lineage is all Oklahoma, Texas.

So it would be the patch.

Yeah.

So I had to find a cousin to take the test.

Well, and it's really great that he would have the courage to work on a bill that you know may not get the traction that would give him the success for the principal.

And that's how you really make, I mean, you know, some of the work doesn't get the fluff and get shown, but but making the statement and putting it in record is is courageous.

And so we applaud him for partnering with us in that way.

That's why we need lobbyists.

Yeah.

We got you.

Absolutely.

Go up there and get them straight now at the capital.

Absolutely.

All right, so is there any old business?

All right, any new business?

Any announcements or public comments?

And that goes for out here too.

You guys know I always have things to talk to you about.

Um, just want to make sure that you have on your radar and on your schedule the Title V and Beyond Apology Commission's entry on your wife.

That calendar invite has been updated to reflect uh the 830 to 230 time on that day.

8 30 will be kind of check-in and uh very light um snacks and coffee, of course, coffee, lots of coffee, um, with programming starting at nine and ending at 2 30.

Um, your vice chair will be um one of our presenters, all of the commissions will be presenting on various topics.

So we're really excited to have you all represented in that space.

Um also uh I know the equality indicators report was mentioned earlier.

Um really glad that uh the 2025 edition is out and making sure that you saw my email that you all are invited to kind of the launch uh event um with Tulsa Area United Way on July 7th.

Okay.

Um, that in person spots have already built up, but there is a virtual option, which is essentially unlimited.

So you can still join that way.

Um back to later in July, also in collaboration with the Title V commissions.

Um we are kind of taking over uh July's uh Pub Club, which is a type rose kind of casual monthly social event.

Um this will be a great way for you all to chat with young professionals that are interested in getting involved civically, and so um definitely encourage you all to attend that'll be the evening of July 21st.

And uh we're working to have at least three commissioners from each commission to be there to be able to talk with uh the young professionals present.

So if you're available and interested that day, please let me know and I will put that on your calendar.

All right.

Can I just say about the uh oh go ahead?

Did you want to say um yeah, I just want to follow up to the quality indicators.

Um I had a chance to to read over the 2025 equality indicators, and the justice theme is actually the worst that it's been in its in since the inception of the equality indicators.

And so I think that's something for us to take note of, but not just to take note of, but to as we do our work to center that and to build off of that to try to work towards equity, and then I have a follow-up question to that.

Um, because now that the MTL grant has that that's ended, and there's um the new executive order.

I didn't really notice um much of a is there an increase in the in the budget for the the office for resiliency and equity, an increase in the budget, I don't believe so to be able to encompass everything that's that's being put with you all and also for programming or anything to address the injustices.

I'd have to double check, but I don't think there was an increase.

Like if you're saying absorbing the MITO grant, things like that.

I have to double check, but I don't think so.

I think it's ending this year.

Actually, I think DeAndre's Deontre is on.

She's specific.

I'm here.

Hi Deontree.

Hello everyone.

So thank you so much, Commissioner Monday, for noting that the Matilde grant is reaching its conclusion.

This actual sunset date is September 30th.

So there are still some moving components of that grant in terms of how we are utilizing funds to increase some of these outcomes or improve, I should say, these outcomes in some of these areas.

I think that having discussions with community leaders, which is on my list to do, and looking for additional resources out of the city is top of mind and one of our priorities as we roll into the next fiscal year.

So while we don't have an increase in our budget to supplement what we're not going to have in federal grants, we are being just as resourceful and taking the initiative and being intentional about filling those gaps from the city's perspective.

I hope that's helpful.

Yes, that's helpful.

Thank you.

And on the equity indicators, I think the decline in the um positive numbers in it is because the outreach was bigger.

So they were asking more people, not just the specific, you know, like when they do the equity indicator, they get the information.

Normally they're like a small group of people that they're serving, or asking.

But this year I think it was a little bit wider scope, is it?

And so now they're getting people.

Oh, wait, I wouldn't necessarily agree with that with that assessment.

I think that's well, I would.

Well, I I I apologize, I have to interject.

When you're talking about the equality indicators, it is not done based on a survey.

They are looking at census data, they're looking at different kind of data points to to to articulate that.

And Melanie Pulture, she's over that.

Yeah, she she they look at national reports of the last range of.

I thought it was like local, but they were they went to they're looking at that.

Well, they look at any number of of uh uh data points to get that, but some of them are national parts, census data, U.S.

Census, they're not they look at a lot of different reports nationally, and I'm sure locally as well.

But when you go to that meeting on July 7th, uh either, I know like you said, they're they're full.

Uh they filled up before the council could get in.

It was asked for slides right away.

Yeah, I'll be in my note, but I'm just saying, so to her point, you can log in uh and and and uh watch and listen to the virtual option and hopefully virtually there'll be questions well uh an opportunity for everyone to ask questions, but she will explain that in detail, but whenever they do that report because they do it annually, they explain the whole process and how they gather that data.

Well, thank you for the clarification.

Yeah, thanks for the clarification.

And Melanie, and all our methodology, right?

And let me just even add if you even uh look at the equality indicator, go towards the index or the appendices, and they will show you where they that information came from.

Okay, I'll look a little for us.

So they have to look at the same every data point every year.

That's how you can determine it doesn't increase or decrease or an improvement or that's what I thought had white.

That's what I thought had walked.

I'm sorry.

Yeah, thanks for the clarification.

So I mean, but what I will say to follow up to that, you know, is we it's we center our work and working towards equity and justice because the the justice theme has never improved.

It's it's constantly gotten worse.

And so this year is the the disparity has dropped by 10 points.

And so where we where we look at the the justice or the lack of justice, and we center our work, a big part of the work is funding.

We you know the equity cannot be built if there's not the if there's not the funding to be able to invest in the solutions and solutions that are led by people who are directly impacted, and and so that's um DeAndre.

I appreciate the you know the the effort to be able to look outside of the city for the for funds, but that's also part of the city's responsibility.

So with that, I concur.

It's true.

Thank you.

And uh speaking of just I'm gonna ask Justice for Greenwill have do y'all have updates like what you all been working on?

Um maybe something we can be collaborative with or or help in some kind of way.

Um as of right now, there's nothing on the horizon.

We are in the planning phase.

This is something we can work for this year.

Um, we organized those.

Okay, that's one that's uh working with uh the census by creeks, um, and just bring things down, you know, with the order.

Um, just trying to make sure that they are working to get back into their nation.

And those are the I would say a high level thing you have going on right now.

So we'll we'll get in contact with you because we kind of get more.

Okay.

And I uh I don't know if you all were.

Maybe we did do a resolution uh for the creek nation.

Uh for freedmen, uh sending the um to the tribes.

We did do that, and um, so that that resolution exists.

You can add that as well to whatever it is for the black folks as well.

All right, can I just say one more thing about okay?

So, um with the um the event in July, the uh commission's retreat.

Um I just wanted you guys to know that the uh topic is unlock your leadership potential, how every commissioner is a leader regardless of the former title role.

So I wanted to make sure that I canvas you, all our commissioners, especially the ones that are just like you said, killing it in the committees to see, you know, get some pointers for you guys so I can add that into you know how the commission uh you know are using even our committees to lead in the community unsung.

That's kind of how I want to go with it.

So I I'll send out a I'll have Miss Christie send it to Christy to send out an email so that we can I can get everybody's input while I'm compiling the uh presentation.

Okay, thank you.

All right, is there a motion to Luxuran?

So moved.

I second.

Alright, all in favor.

Aye.

All right.

Good meeting, guys.

Thanks.

We know today.

Watch more and learn with us as we uncover the places that shape Tulsa.

One historic property at a time.

If you've driven down South Memorial Drive between East 71st Street and East 81st Street, you have been treated to somewhat of a roller coaster ride over the last couple of years.

We only had a certain amount of money, and we didn't have enough money to raise the storm inlets three inches to match the three inches of asphalt that was added on top of the concrete.

Now we're going to go in and fix those storm inlets.

We're going to bring those storm inlets up and completely take those dips out.

So it'll be a smooth ride on the outside lanes going northbound up and south up.

So we identified some funding resources.

$75,000 from Vision allocated funds for District 8, which I get to represent.

And then I with a map out of the district 7 community development funds for $150,000 total.

And then $100,000 from the city's general fund, which will be used to repair the inlets to bring those inlets up to grade and to smooth out the ride for all of us on Memorial.

Thank you for everyone's patience as we identified this new funding source to now elevate the drainage for our stormwater drains and to smooth out the road.

I think you'll find a smoother ride as you head north or south on South Memorial Drive in South Tulsa.

After a very short time frame for construction, we'll have smooth lanes just as I think the vast majority of our constituents want.

This summer, I think we will finally get to a place where it's smooth sailing, no more dips in the road, and no potholes.

I'd like to say thank you.

We cannot have the equipment that we have without the support of Tulsa's tax uh payers.

All of the trucks that the Tulsa Fire Department uh buy.

We keep them consistent with one manufacturer.

That allows us to ensure that our fleet mechanics know exactly what they're working on.

Daily checks and maintenance and keeping these vehicles in tip top shape really provides effective response, but it also ensures that everyone, public, firefighters, and the community as a whole are safe when we're operating in the areas.

Some of the important things to look for are how body panels are fit, how the paint is, is it durable?

You want to make sure it's gonna last because this is the city's investment uh for 10 plus years.

We want to get as much out of this truck as we can.

Right behind our people, this is the most expensive thing that we purchase from the time we design and purchase uh an engine is 36 months.

We want consistency to buy a certain number each year to replace um a certain number of engines, certain number of ladders and specialty units every year.

These trucks are kind of a final evolution in probably three versions that we've built over the last four or five years.

We like a little bit shorter length.

Um it's a little bit easier to move within apartment complexes and and some of our two-lane South Tulsa roads.

This is a point of pride for the fire department, and the firefighters that are assigned to this vehicle will take care of it, inspect it and ensure it's working.

They're passionate about that that work.

Investment up front equals quality and safety over time.

Ensures that uh we have readiness and readiness is the most important part for us is having the ability to receive the alarm quickly, get out the door, having confidence in that equipment, making sure it's ready to go, and that it performs effectively is key to saving lives and property.

Starting in 2024 and continuing over the next four years, the city of Tulsa will start installing new automated water meters at more than 145,000 residential locations across the city.

The program is known as True Reads.

While the city of Tulsa has had a reliable process for reading and changing out water meters for many years, automated meter reading technology has improved to the point that it now makes financial and operational sense to make the switch.

These new meters will minimize property access needs, control meter reading costs, cause fewer employee injuries, eliminate estimated bills, and deploy more environmentally friendly technology.

While there isn't much you need to do, we do want you to be aware that work will happen in your yard sooner or later.

Before contractors even touch that meter in your yard, you will have advanced notification and day of notification.

First, the city will maintain a regularly updated online map showing neighborhoods where meters are currently being installed.

That map can be found online at city of Tulsa.org forward slash true reads.

Second, one to two weeks before your meters installed, a door hanger with more information will be left on your door.

And finally, the day of your meter installation, you will be personally contacted by the contractor with a knock on your door.

While your meters being changed, you will be briefly without water for a maximum of 30 minutes.

And once crews are finished, all we ask is that you run your water for a few minutes to build pressure back up in your lines.

And that's because any time water is turned off, there is a chance your system will lose some pressure, and you could see cloudy water until it's restored.

Lastly, while contractors work to swap your meter out, they'll also perform what's known as a lead service line inspection.

Lead, which is a toxic metal that was used in plumbing materials in the past, can cause adverse health effects.

While we don't think there are many, if any lead service lines remaining in our system, we do want to find, document, and remove any lead that may be left in our system.

As part of the automated meter reading installation process, crews will do a quick check of the service line material and results of that lead inspection will be made available on the online map.

For more information and to see a detailed list of frequently asked questions about the process, along with the map that we mentioned earlier, visit cityoftulsa.org forward slash true reads.

Can you show me 97 on my A12 on second?

Place, please.

I was raised on a farm growing up.

I was raised to respect animals and care for them.

My heart is really just to care for these animals when they don't have anyone else to care for them.

We have a ton of strays in the city limits of Tulsa, and a lot of people just see them as strays that you know they might just be on the streets forever.

They still deserve every chance that a dog has that is owned or cared for.

That's really my heart is to care for those animals that don't have an owner, to bring them here, give them a soft bed to lay on, give them food and water to where they can go out and get a loving home to continue their life into.

Good girl.

The most important part to me for this job is to, you know, build a relationship with the community.

If your dog doesn't have a dog house or it needs a tie out to where it can't get loose, I want them to feel comfortable enough to come to us to where we can give them those resources.

We're not here to just write you tickets or you know, take your dog.

We're here to give you the resources that the community needs to be able to let you keep your dog.

Because a lot of times the dog can be a big part of your family and for your kids and everything.

We're not here to just take those animals.

We're here to give you those resources, give you dog food, cat food, anything that you need to let you keep your dog in the best way that you can.

Come on, Tweedy.

I think a lot of people don't realize if there's a stray baby goat, if there's a pig, we have to go get those animals.

And sometimes it can get a little hairy, you know.

If you're trying to wrangle a pig and you're chasing it, sometimes it gets a little crazy, but it definitely makes it fun.

Good girl.

We're here, you know, 24-7 to help the community.

Those are the relationships that I want to build with the community.

It's to know that we're here for them.

We're here to care for them and their animals.

Being in animal welfare is not just for the animals, it's for the people just as much as the animals.

Welcome to Tulsa, the oil capital of the world.

In this episode of our historic preservation series, we explore the church.

A story written not in brick alone, but in belief, community, and truthfully bold design.

In Tulsa's Cathedral District, rising spires and stained glass tell the story of a city shaped by faith and architecture.

These houses of worship reflect both spiritual devotion and the ambition of a growing city.

Let's take a look at three of Tulsa's most iconic sacred spaces.

First, the Boston Avenue Methodist Church, a national landmark of Art Deco architecture.

Completed in 1929, this church broke from tradition with its vertical lines, abstract ornamentation, an innovative design by architect Bruce Goff and artist Ado Robinson.

From its soaring central tower to its streamlined detailing, the building blends modernism with reverence.

It's not just one of Tulsa's greatest architectural achievements, it's one of the most important art deco churches in the country.

Next, the Holy Family Cathedral, the spiritual heart of Tulsa's Catholic community, built in 1914 in the neoclassical style.

The cathedral's masonry walls and steel framed spires are faced with stone and brick.

The 251 feet tall main spire is faced with four large clocks, and its design evokes the great European cathedrals as one of the oldest churches in Tulsa.

Holy Family is more than a place of worship.

It's a foundation stone in the city's story.

And finally, at the corner of 11th and Boulder stands First Methodist Church, the third home for a congregation, whose story stretches back to Tulsa's earliest days.

Founded in 1886, the church built a modest white chapel.

And as the city expanded, so did the congregation.

First into a red brick church at 9th and Boulder, then in 1921 into this grand structure that still welcomes worshippers today.

Built in the perpendicular Tudor Gothic style.

The church's design draws the eye heavenward with pointed arches and vaulted ceilings, an architectural expression of reverence.

Its cruciform layout, a cross shape, anchors the building in Christian tradition.

A symbol that this church, like its people, is grounded in faith.

These churches remind us that Tulsa's past wasn't just built with industry and ambition, but with faith, artistry, and community at its core.

Watch more and learn with us as we uncover the places that shape Tulsa, one historic property at a time.

One hundred years ago, the Spavanaugh Water Project transformed the future of Tulsa.

In 1924, Tulsa embarked on one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in the country with a goal of getting clean, reliable water to the city.

In the early 1900s, Tulsons used water from springs, wells, and the Arkansas River, which was full of gypsum, salt, and silt.

People used to say that after you took a bath, you dried off, and then you dusted off.

In 1908, during a hunting trip, a group of influential Tulsans came upon Spavanaugh Creek, a crystal clear, spring-fed stream.

In the summer of 1921, the City Water Commission hired 28-year-old civil engineer W.

R.

Hallway to conduct surveys to determine if Spavanaugh Creek water could be brought to Tulsa by gravity flow.

In his report on October 24th, Hallway confirmed this was possible.

And a month later, the Citizens of Tulsa passed a $6,800,000 bond issue by an overwhelming margin to fund the Spavina Water Supply Project.

Hallway was hired to design and build what was one of the largest water projects in the nation.

Construction took two years to complete at a cost of seven and a half million dollars.

Spavenaugh Dam is two-thirds of a mile long, five stories high, and impounds eight and a half billion gallons of water in Spavanaugh Lake.

When first built, the reservoir became the largest lake in the state of Oklahoma.

Water from Spavanal Lake flows by gravity to the city of Tulsa, 54 miles away.

This original flow line was the longest raw water line in the United States at the time of construction.

Over its length, the pipeline drops by an elevation of only 90 feet.

Crosses under two rivers, over eight creeks, and tunnels through a 200-foot-tall ridge.

On November 17, 1924, Tulsons lifted glasses of clean and clear water to toast the completion of the Spavanaugh Water System.

After construction was complete, Hallway allowed the Tulsa mayor to put his final $15,000 paycheck in a bottle to float through the flow line, where he caught it as it came out at Mohawk.

Today, the city of Tulsa provides an average of 105 million gallons of refreshing award-winning water to over 650,000 customers in and around the Tulsa metropolitan area every day in 1924.

The Tulsa World wrote oil may have built Tulsa in the past, but Spavanaugh water will be the product by which the future will be built.

Because this is a sparsely populated area, there was no development that was occurring out here.

It was important that we try and figure out how to activate this corridor for future development.

And I think by doing this, we've created a place where small developers or even larger developers can look at this and it be an attractive place to spur growth and development.

I think it's important that when we invest in ourselves, investors will invest in us.

When we first brought this issue to the attention of our district, everyone was a little bit overwhelmed by the fact that we had citizens that didn't have the basic necessity.

Most of us, when we turn on our water, we expect that clean, clear water is going to come out of our faucet.

Everybody got behind this initiative.

So thank you for going down this journey with us and making sure that we invest in our district and its future potential.

We knew that we needed to address mental and behavioral health in a larger scale.

One is a co-response model, and it is a team that is staffed with two individuals, a firefighter paramedic who is trained in crisis intervention, and a COPS clinician from Family and Children's Services.

And so the COPS clinician is a licensed professional counselor, and the TFD paramedic is someone who has had extra training in mental health and de-escalation techniques.

And this unit responds to mental or behavioral health crisis calls throughout the city of Tulsa.

Art One is able to respond to any age individual in crisis.

And we do see a big need in the 18 to 45 range.

We also know that about 20% of Art 1's responses are to unhoused individuals.

There's a lot of work being done, not just locally but nationally with addressing mental health.

We were out ahead of the game in regards to a lot of the other cities in America in trying to address our needs within our community.

How can we better serve it?

What we found was early on, we were seeing some of these people called 911 who just needed this assistance.

And so these programs were invented very early on to meet that need.

And it's proven to be so valuable when we look at the resource that Art One provides to the community with the ability to have the paramedics and provide a medical evaluation of someone who's in crisis to rule out any physical health needs, along with that clinician to address the psychological needs of that individual who's in crisis.

Another big thing that Art One does is they've responded what we call high utilizers or people who are calling 911 a lot, looking for help.

So Art One can also respond to those individuals and start social services.

So we're very big on addressing social determinants, which is education, employment, health care, social and community context.

We want to address those items to improve somebody's life situation.

The benefit of having FEMA and Children's Services along with us is that we have that clinician there.

They can schedule an appointment for that individual to go in and get checked.

When we're not able to accomplish that, we take that individual to what we call sometimes an alternate destination.

So they may go to a crisis care center or an urgent recovery center or somewhere where it's going to best benefit that individual in that moment who's in crisis.

9-1-1 and public safety have done an incredible job of responding to an emergency incident, intervening and taking care of that situation.

But moving forward, we've got to find ways to continue that relationship with those individuals to make sure those needs are met.

And that's really where the follow-up piece comes in.

If a unit responds to an individual on Monday, a case manager is going to follow up with them on Tuesday or Wednesday that week and make sure their needs are being met.

This is so important when you're talking about providing a continuum of care, meaning a care that just doesn't stop on that response, but it follows what that individual stays with them.

We can connect people very quickly to those resources, and we have that institutional knowledge to know what's the best resource for that person.

We can really begin to move the ball forward in helping our most vulnerable populations in Tulsa to be in better situations.

Welcome to Tulsa, the oil capital of the world.

In this episode of our historic preservation series, we explore cultural destinations.

The spaces where Tulsa came together to be entertained, inspired, and connected, whether through music, film, or storytelling.

These iconic venues have helped define Tulsa's cultural identity.

They reflect not only the city's love of the arts, but also its enduring commitment to preservation, creativity, and community.

Let's take a look at three of Tulsa's most beloved cultural landmarks.

First, Cain's Ballroom, where Western Swing was born and legends still take the stage.

Built in 1924 as a garage, Keynes was converted into a dance hall academy and soon became home to Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys.

With its spring-loaded maple dance floor, Neon Glow, an intimate stage.

Keynes has hosted everyone from country pioneers to punk icons.

Known as the Carnegie Hall of Western Swing, it remains a living piece of Tulsa's musical legacy.

Today, it continues to operate as one of the region's premier music venues, drawing national touring acts and loyal local crowds.

Next, Circle Cinema.

Tulsa's oldest operating movie theater and a hub for independent film.

Opened in 1928 as a silent movie theater.

The circle has survived fires, closures, and shifting trends.

But its mission remains the same to bring meaningful, thought-provoking cinema to the community.

Restored with care.

The theater blends historic charm with modern programming.

It's more than a place to see a film.

It's where Tulsa comes to think, discuss, and dream.

It regularly hosts screenings, film festivals, and community events, keeping its screens and conversations alive.

And finally, the Museum of Tulsa History, nestled in the heart of Woodward Park, located in a 1919 Italian Renaissance revival mansion.

That was originally the home of oilmen and philanthropist Sam Travis.

The museum preserves Tulsa's collective memory through exhibits, archives, and artifacts.

One of the first grand residences in what became known as Tulsa's Millionaire Row.

The venue is surrounded by the blooming landscapes of Woodward Park.

This property is as much about reflection as celebration.

A place where the stories of Tulsa's neighborhoods, industries, and people are honored and shared.

The museum hosts rotating exhibits, lectures, and public programs that invite the community to engage directly with Tulsa's past.

These venues remind us that history isn't only built in stone or steel.

It's also written in cheers, laughter, and applause, and the stories we pass on.

Watch more and learn with us as we uncover the places that shape Tulsa, one historic property at a time.

Alternate Response Team 2 is a very innovative program.

So R2 is staffed with two sworn firefighter paramedics who are community paramedicine trained, which means they have extra training in mental health, they have extra training in taking care of wound management.

We have basically stuck a hypothetical fire station right in the center of downtown Tulsa and said any medical call that comes in within the IDL or downtown Tulsa, Art 2 will respond to.

They will also respond and provide outreach services and wellness checks for un-house population within the IDL.

So when they're not on a run, when they're not providing medical coverage, they're out there making sure people are as healthy as they possibly can be.

They provide blood pressure checks, they check pulse rates.

Whether you're a house or homeless, doesn't really matter.

Do you have the medications that you need to manage your health conditions?

They provide water on hot days, they make sure you're warm on cold days.

And R2 coordinates very well with our community partners, making sure that we're coordinating our efforts with everyone else.

The impact they've had has been significant.

As soon as they're done with that call, they're going to go over there and have conversations with people and say, hey, are you working with somebody right now?

Do you have a plan?

If not, we can help you coordinate that effort.

We can get you help you get housing.

We can help you get food.

What we love about the Tulsa Fire Department and what this program's been able to do is we work with everybody within the community.

So we're utilizing every resource that we have within the city of Tulsa to get the best outcomes for these individuals.

It does have that follow-up mechanism very much like Art 1 and CRT, where the buck doesn't stop at the call.

Someone's staying with them, someone who has been unhoused for five years, had some history with alcohol, and they stayed with this individual, built rapport, and started with just outreach, just having conversations and sticking with them, walked him through the steps, filled out housing applications with them, made sure the gaps were filled in service delivery.

After five years, this person's house now.

They've actually got a dog living within their apartment.

I mean, the best that we've ever seen them and living their best life, and that's really our hope through these programs is we can help facilitate that.

Whenever I pull up a heat map, we continue to see some of our greatest responses in the downtown area.

And when we begin to dive into what that looks like and why so, we do see unhoused population in the downtown area, and we see a great response to there.

We've been able to determine a lot of information that we didn't know before.

Busy times of the day, demographics that we're responding to, and really focus our approach to helping those individuals and really meeting those needs where they're at.

We want to provide what we call a community health needs assessment with R2 and really determine hey, when this unit's going to go, they're going to ask more questions than maybe you would traditionally see on a fire tracker and angelist response.

They're going to get into depth of what's going on with that individual.

You know, that call came in as a chest pain, but what was it really?

I do talk to a lot of different departments across the U.S., and so we're seeing cities want to adopt this.

There is models that are similar, but they've not had the impact.

And I think the difference you see is R2 is able to respond to real-time 911 calls in place of other apparatus, but they also provide those other social services that are really critical to getting the outcomes you need.

All these units, whether it's CRT, ART 1 or ART 2, they're able to let law enforcement ambulances, fire trucks go back in service to be ready to respond to fires, critical emergencies, and let these units spend the extra time with people in mental health crisis or unhoused populations and not rush that.

You don't want to rush those situations.

You want to spend the extra time.

I believe very strongly that R2 is a model for the future.

Right now it's just in downtown Tulsa.

I see this as something that you could really implement citywide.

You don't see this anywhere else in America.

So I'm excited because I love when we are able to push the bar forward and really set an example on a national stage, and that's exactly what we're doing with R2.

Hi, I'm Sherry Carrier, Director of Tulsa Animal Services.

I want to take a moment to share a little bit about the incredible work happening behind these doors.

Every single day, our team is here, taking in lost, abandoned, and injured animals, giving them the care that they need, and working hard to find safe and loving homes.

It's easy to think that this is just a city service.

But behind the scene are real people.

People who love animals and pour their hearts into this work.

Even on our toughest days.

We're proud to say it's making a difference.

Our save rate has jumped from 67% in 2018 to nearly 80% today.

Thanks to adoptions, foster homes, and the incredible support of our community.

One of the biggest lifesavers, Spain Neuter.

Preventing unwanted litters means fewer animals entering our shelters and more resources for every pet who needs us.

Thank you for standing with us.

Together, we're creating a safer, more compassionate Tulsa for animals.

Recycling rent is easy.

But do you know what happens when you don't think before you throw and contaminate your blue recycling cart?

The city of Tulsa produces 450 tons of contaminated waste per month.

That's almost 5,500 tons per year that will now be going straight to the land zone.

To put into perspective how much waste that is, it's equivalent to 250 Golden Driller statues.

Think before you throw and keep recycling clean and waste free.

For more information about the correct way to recycle, please visit Tulsa Recycles.com.

The Tulsa Professional Connector Program will help you build a professional network and get in touch with highly networked individuals and professionals in your field of expertise.

To learn more, visit our webpage and contact us.

Welcome to Tulsa, the oil capital of the world.

In this episode of our historic preservation series, we explore river views, the grand homes that overlook the Arkansas River and reflect Tulsa's lasting connection to its natural landscape.

For more than a century, the river has shaped the city's layout, its neighborhoods, and its sense of beauty.

These historic properties near its banks are more than homes.

They're places where art, industry, and civic life converged.

Let's take a look at three of Tulsa's most iconic riverside estates.

First, Harweldon Mansion, Tulsa's storybook manor, overlooking the Arkansas River, built in 1923 by Oilman Earl Harwell.

This English tutor style estate blends gothic arches and hand-carved detailing.

The exterior facade consists of brick, stone window surrounds, balustrade and stone coins at the corners leading up to the slate roof.

Inside, the home featured custom furnishings, a music room, and one of the city's earliest residential elevators.

Today, Harweldon operates as a cultural and event center, welcoming guests from around the world for weddings, concerts, and arts programming all with a river view.

Next, the Lee Clinton House, an understated gem tucked into the curves of Riverside Drive.

Constructed in 1919, this elegant colonial revival home belonged to civic leader and businessman Lee Clinton, founder of Union National Bank, and co-founder of the Tulsa Stockyards, along with oil man William G.

Skelly.

With its classical detailing and perfectly manicured grounds, the home reflects quiet confidence and refined taste, privately owned and beautifully preserved.

It's one of the few original homes in the area that still retains its historic charm along Tulsa's most scenic stretch.

And finally, the Dresser Mansion, where Italian Renaissance Flair meets Tulsa's oil era opulence.

Built in 1919 for oil executive Carl Dresser.

This mansion draws on Mediterranean design with arched logias, ornate ironwork, and a red tile roof.

Designed for entertaining, the home once hosted lavish parties with views stretching across the river valley, now restored and used as a venue.

Dresser Mansion continues to host celebrations, echoing its original purpose as a home made for gathering.

The Arkansas River shaped Tulsa's growth and offered a scenic corridor for some of the city's most remarkable residences.

These iconic properties remind us that Tulsa's past wasn't just built, it was carefully placed with beauty, nature, and legacy in mind.

Watch more and learn with us as we uncover the places that shape Tulsa.

One historic property at a time.

But this new trail system is a part of a grassroots effort to improve the quality of life for Tulsons right here on the West Side, especially near Bell's Park.

This trail also serves the wider Tulsa community by providing beginner level trails for those who are new to mountain biking, as well as a downhill bike only section for intermediate riders.

And Turkey Mountain is right next door.

Fundraising and the kind people that give us dollars to operate allows us to offer all these programs free to the district and free to the kids.

We'll have storage for all our surplus inventory, a bike workshop, we'll have offices, a classroom for training, workshops, team building, and then we'll also be able to host our volunteers here.

We really see a secondary use as a community spot.

Other community partners can come out here, do some training, team buildings.

We love Bell's Park, and the best is yet to come.

Every year around the 4th of July, our shelter fills up with pets who ran off during fireworks.

Most of them live just a few houses away from where they're found.

That's why Tulsa Animal Services partnered with Tulsa Fire to bring microchip scanners to every fire station in our city.

If you find a lost pet, you can now stop by any Tulsa Fire Station and ask a firefighter to scan for a microchip.

No shelter visit required.

The scanner will show a chip number that can help you contact the owner directly through an online lookup system.

Most pets aren't truly lost.

They just need a little help getting home.

This partnership helps us keep animals in their neighborhoods where they belong.

Our fire stations are already part of the community.

This is one more way we're stepping up to keep Tulsa families two-legged and four-legged safe and together.

Because the best place for a pet is home.

TFD CARES stands for Community Assistance, Referrals and Educational Services.

It really seeks to connect 911 high utilizers and vulnerable populations to those critical community resources to help improve the lives of individuals within our community.

And the University of Tulsa did a study on CARES back in 2017, and from January to March, we had about a 70% reduction in 911 usage by connecting vulnerable populations in our community to social determinants of health.

And our scope and scale has grown.

We are now working with local community partners, whether it's hospitals, behavioral health partners, or other vital community resources to really connect individuals to those services.

We get referrals in from all different kinds of partners, whether it's hospitals, the fire department, sometimes the police department, or the aimless service in town.

And I think what makes TFD CARES really strong and really a great program is connected and integrated with all the community support structures in place.

We have two very good case managers that really navigate these community resources.

Ascension St.

John and the Czech Foundation is who supports our case managers and helps to integrate those within the Tulsa Fire Department.

We go all over Tulsa.

We are connecting with individuals.

When that referral comes in, we'll send a case manager to someone's house and identify hey, what's going on today?

We'll address those social determinants of health.

We'll create goals off of that.

And we utilize a system called gelatin to communicate and connect with all those community partners, and it helps us to kind of capture our workflow and the work that's being completed.

But our case managers, they stay with those clients until those needs are met.

They're working with them, they're navigating things like hand bars, wheelchair ramps, food insecurity, medication adherence.

They also help with individuals who are not currently housed.

We also send a firefighter paramedic or a community paramedic to the home, and they'll try to make that home safer, and they'll work with those residents or those community members to make sure that their home is a safer place to live, that they're reducing falls or reducing injuries, and ultimately having better health outcomes.

We thought was very important moving forward in the growth of this program, being an extension of the hospitals and helping firefighters reduce those 911 calls.

One thing we're really proud of with TFD CARES is their impact that they're making and the results because that's what matters to us.

How are we improving that individual's life?

And so TFD CARES has been able to reduce 911 utilization by 80%.

We've been tracking this data through Gelata since 2023.

We're getting help to those individuals in need.

About 52% of the time, we're able to take care of those needs within two weeks.

We're trying to use this information in different parts of Tulsa to be more proactive in helping our citizens and our community members.

Social services has got to be a part of public safety.

The benefit is incredible, and as we continue to try to address root cause issues, why is that individual calling 911?

Programs like TFD CARES answer that call and they get to those root cause issues and help improve that person's life.

The overdose response team was created to address a prevalent community need in Tulsa, and that's overdoses.

We've seen opiates causing a lot of havoc within our community, not just in Tulsa or Oklahoma, but really nationally.

Public safety, where there's fire and police are responding to right around eight to ten overdose calls a day.

We created a specialized team that has a community paramedic along with a peer recovery support specialist or someone with lived experience to respond to real-time overdose calls and provide follow-up to individuals who have overdose within our community.

So the lived experienced individual, that's someone who has used some sort of substance in the past and recovered.

I've always had a passion for addiction recovery, things like that because I'm in recovery myself from drugs and alcohol.

So when the opportunity came up, I snagged it up.

I was very excited to be a part of it.

And I still am.

I love it.

It's probably my favorite day out of the week because it's a chance for me to give back to the community that I came from.

I've been in recovery for five years from drugs, and I haven't drank in like 10 years.

I came from a pretty tough background, lots of trauma growing up.

Got in trouble a lot as a kid, been homeless.

I've been part of domestic violence and everything from alcohol to prescription opiates to methamphetamine.

So when I first got clean, I decided I wanted to be a part of the movement for recovery.

And I got into working at a drug and alcohol treatment center for several years, and I really loved it.

And what that gives us is the ability for someone to really connect on a personal level and say, hey, I've been in a similar situation before, but I've recovered.

So the overdose response team is meant to complement the current infrastructure we have in place that will go identify individuals who have overdosed, build rapport, connect to services, and stay with them until they've gotten the help they need.

Are you on a housing list?

Yeah.

Yeah?

Good.

How long have you been on it?

With the interactions that we've made, we're slowly building relationships with people through outreach.

I think there's a trust there that some programs don't get.

Thank you.

This is a model that has worked in other cities.

We went and looked in specifically San Antonio.

Oklahoma City implemented this program in August 2023 to address these needs.

And what these previous communities have found is they're able to get people help earlier in the substance addiction than they were previously.

We do emphasize the harm reduction supplies and the hands on CPR and some of that education because we're very passionate about giving someone another chance to get it right.

And so the harm reduction boxes to complement our overdose response team.

We put those boxes in areas of our community where we see the most overdoses.

And so we have these at a couple fire stations, easy access to NARCAN Leave Behind Kids, as well as fentanyl test strips and education pamphlets.

We want to prevent someone from losing their life.

I think in some areas we've seen a significant drop in overdoses, and our hope is that we're playing a role in that by giving out Narcan and test strips and things that people might need so they uh have a chance to stay alive.

You don't gain recovery by force.

You've got to want it for it to be successful.

So we're just there to help guide that situation and keep people safe for as long as we can.

I think another part of it is people seeing us out and about all the time in these areas.

They know that if they wave us down, we'll stop.

We'll give them whatever it is that they need, even if it's just somebody to listen to them.

And so I think that can build a bridge with certain members in our community to sit there and say, hey, you know, we're just here to lend a helping hand.

It helps to humanize the situation, I think.

You got this?

All right.

And that's something we're very passionate about is continuing to move that ball forward with these individuals and making sure they know this is the things available to help you, and we can help walk alongside you during that process.

But we'll also do follow-ups with them with their family, see if we can connect them to resources or get them to treatment or get them harm reduction supplies, whatever it is that they need is what we're there to do.

And whenever anybody's asked us for help, we've been there and we'll help them.

I would say we're continuing to address this issue within our community and really make sure we're providing resources, whether that's response, somewhere to go.

We want to make sure that we have the best system in America here in Tulsa.

The NCI pilot program is all about empowering neighborhoods.

We're giving communities tools, resources, and the confidence they need to take charge and create real meaningful change.

Neighborhood associations, local leaders, and neighbors come together with city departments to identify their top needs and then build a plan to tackle them.

We started by looking at the NCI reports and identifying the neighborhoods with the highest priority needs.

It established a cross departmental task force, got together with them and looked at the resources we could provide the neighborhoods.

These departments that we worked with were police department, animal services, code enforcement, and public works.

Suburban Hills was a perfect fit for this program.

Their participation shows just how much this community values growth and togetherness.

The city has helped a lot.

It's full of resources and guidance, and they're still there for me if I need them.

The Sequoia neighborhood shine through this program.

They set ambitious goals, work together, and they achieved every single one of them.

Now they have the skills and momentum to keep pushing their community forward.

Just seeing some neighbors and residents really engage in the process.

They were the ones that championed going out into the neighborhood, passing out information, doing door hangers, knocking on doors, and that allowed us to have a little bit more sense of what was really going on in the broader community.

The Charles Page neighborhood has been an inspiring part of this pilot.

They're building the kind of community they want to live in.

The neutering and spade program.

That was a huge success.

The neighborhood cleanup was a huge success.

I'm so grateful that we still have them as we made forwards.

Once you build the partnerships with the city, they're going to continue with us.

The city departments involved worked hard, the neighborhoods worked hard.

We couldn't have done it without their support and their involvement.

Together, we're creating neighborhoods where every voice matters, and every block has a strong story worth telling.

Zoning requirements state how people can use land in certain areas.

In order to use the land in a different way, the owner needs to get permission from the city.

Any rezoning application requires notice to the public in the form of posted signs, a newspaper section, and mailed notice to the property owners within 300 feet of the lot.

The application fee covers these costs and the planning office sends the notifications out.

The notices must be mailed, posted, and published at least 20 days before its appearance before the planning commission.

TMAPC then holds a public hearing.

Applicants may be called to the podium to speak, and the interested parties are allowed to give public comments for or against the request.

The commissioners then deliberate.

If recommended for approval, the application moves on to the city council.

The application appears on council agendas three times.

The first appearance is at the council's committee meetings.

The planning commission staff gives and explains a recommendation based on the application's consistency with policy and intent of the comprehensive plan.

This appearance is only a discussion, not a vote.

Counselors and planning office staff are the only ones permitted to participate in discussion.

But the public is permitted to view and attend the meeting.

Another public hearing is held to give an opportunity for citizen input before the council vote.

The applicant is again allowed to make a presentation.

The city council then votes to either approve the application, approve it with modifications, or deny it.

In most cases, the application needs a simple majority to pass.

If the application passes, it then appears at the following city council meeting as an ordinance reflecting the council vote to implement the decision.

This is a huge point of pride for us in Tulsa to be home to an Olympic sport, to have USA BMX locating their headquarters here in Tulsa.

It puts us on the national and international map when it comes to athletics in this space.

Excited about I think what it means for our community today, but also very excited about the next generation of BMX athletes that I think this facility is going to inspire right here in our city.

Nice.

It's super sick to have the racetrack here.

And then whatever, you know, potential opportunities that come with it of them putting their HQ here.

It's awesome.

Awesome to see.

Plus foreign and national Olympians coming here.

All of a sudden it kind of puts it in perspective of the whole, the whole project.

We have pump tracks, we have STEM education, so there'll be science experiments going on with BMX bikes, if you can believe that.

At the same time, too, they could look into that track, and we could have either the U.S.

national team or a foreign Olympic team in their training during the day.

At night and after school at switches, so we'll have private coaching training for your parents who want to get their kids into BMX but haven't never done it before.

We teach them how.

But then you're also going to have the competitive racers that have been doing it for a while, their families practicing once a week, racing here.

Hey Tulsa, welcome back to the top recycling play of the day.

Team Johnson is facing off against a tough competitor.

Plastic.

Don't trust those numbers on the bottom.

You have to stick to what you know.

Only bottles and jugs found in the kitchen, bath, or laundry.

They're quick to pick up and empty those bottles before sinking that shot.

Always empty your bottles before recycling.

Score big by recycling your plastic bottles and jugs.

Learn more at Tulsa Recycles.com.

The Canis Latrans, also known as the Coyote, Coyote, or Prairie Wolf, has been spotted in all areas of Tulsa.

Coyotes migrated to the Tulsa area beginning in the early 20th century when forest fragmentation and the extermination of larger predators like red and gray wolves led to their spread eastward.

Many strategies have been tried to rid urban areas of coyotes, but the effort is often costly and ineffective.

Coyotes are notoriously hard to catch and don't survive relocation.

Any area cleared of coyotes will quickly be repopulated.

Coyotes do provide an essential role in the ecosystem by helping to control the rodent population.

They are predators of geese, squirrels, mice, moles, gophers, possums, and other small animals.

While rodents make up a majority of their diet, coyotes also feed on fish, insects, blueberries, apples, prickly pears, persimmons, peanuts, and carrots.

Although their diet includes a variety of foods, coyotes have been known to kill small pets.

The best way to protect pets is to avoid attracting coyotes near your home by following these four best practices.

Best practice number one, supervise pets.

While coyotes don't usually attack humans, your pets can be a target.

Coyotes may see large dogs as rivals and small dogs and cats as prey.

Always walk your dog on a leash.

Keep cats indoors.

Letting cats roam free is also a violation of City of Tulsa ordinances.

And the best way to protect your pets is to not leave them outside unattended, especially at dusk through dawn when coyotes are more active.

In some cases, coyotes can climb fences.

Best practice number two: remove food attractive.

Remove bowls of pet food.

Keep trash cans securely closed.

Pick up any fruit or nuts from your yard.

Best practice number three.

Remove possible shelters.

Eliminate places for a coyote to make a den, like access under a deck or large bushes.

Cut down any tall grass or brush that could provide shelter for coyotes.

Best practice number four: respond appropriately during encounter a coyote, stand your ground.

Don't turn your back or run away.

The coyote can reach speeds of 40 miles an hour.

Top speed of a human is 28 miles an hour.

Stay away from injured, cornered, or nursing coyotes.

Slowly back away.

Most importantly, use hazing techniques to discourage coyotes you come across.

Act large, yell, clap your hands, use a noisemaker, throw sticks at the coyote's feet, hit hands, etc.

Hazing helps keep wild animals wild as coyotes can become a nuisance or aggressive when they lose their fear of people.

If you see a coyote that seems aggressive, or if you have more questions, call a Tulsa County game warden with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

They can connect you with a licensed nuisance wildlife control operator.

Do not contact the Tulsa Animal Shelter as it does not handle wildlife issues.

By following best practices, you can help limit negative interactions between people, pets, and the urban wildlife we live alongside.

But it also showed the strength of local partnerships.

Over the past year, several application stations have been held with several community organizations providing community resources and one-on-one help for tenants applying to the program.

The City of Tulsa is receiving a second round of emergency rental assistance funds from the U.S.

Department of Treasury, and work is expected to start in 2022.

The goal is to continue providing housing stability for Tolsans and prevent eviction.

For more information to see whether you qualify for the emergency rental assistance program, visit City of Tulsa.org slash ERAP.

Hey Tulsa, welcome back to the top recycling play of the day.

Team Johnson is looking to defend their title against aluminum and steel cans.

Bob, most people think of the kitchen for this opponent, but aluminum and steel cans like empty shaving cream cans also play extremely well in bathrooms all over Tulsa.

That is nothing but bin, Bob.

Wow, right into the bin.

King Johnson has buttoned up another win.

Score big by recycling your aluminum and steel cans.

Learn more at Tulsa Recycles.com.

Do you know what happens to all of the waste we leave behind in our yards, driveways, and streets?

Runoff water carries all of the trash, chemicals, and other pollutants straight into our storm drains, which lead to miles and miles of pipes and drains right below our feet that drain directly into our rivers and streams.

Along the way, all of the trash, chemicals, and pollutants add up.

Until even something small, like one cigarette butt, one oil spill, or one pile of leaves, accumulates inside our drains and pipes and becomes a big problem, causing blockages in the system and pollution in our rivers and streams.

The waters we fish and play in.

The water that sustains our wildlife.

By protecting what goes into our drains, we can save our streams.

You and I can do our part together.

Welcome to Tulsa, the oil capital of the world.

In this episode of our historic preservation series, we explore the opulent homes of Tulsa's early oil titans.

These men shaped the future, the barons.

Situated south of downtown is one of Tulsa's most prestigious historic neighborhoods, Maple Ridge, adjacent to the iconic Woodward Park, grand 20th century homes, front tree-lined boulevards, timeless architectural styles and details tell the story of a city built on oil.

Let's take a closer look at three of Tulsa's most iconic homes.

One of Tulsa's most notable homes, this Georgian revival style mansion, built in 1923, was home to William G.

Skelly, a prominent figure in Tulsa's oil and radio industries.

Skelly purchased this neoclassical house not long after it was constructed in 1924.

The three-story mansion is approximately 10,000 square feet, seated on a spacious wooded corner lot.

Exterior walls are composed of red brick masonry, and the home features a striking green tile roof.

The main feature of the ground floor is the long 40-foot dining room.

A large second floor veranda with iron rail and iron staircase offered access to the yard to entertain Skelly's elite guests.

The home remained in the Skelly family until 1968 and remains one of Tulsa's premier historical homes.

Nestled within the neighborhood stands a captivating model of early 20th century architecture.

Constructed in 1915, this two-story mission revival home was designed by esteemed architect Noble B.

Fleming, whose work significantly shaped Tulsa's architectural landscape during the oil boom era.

The home showcases hallmark features of the mission revival style.

The all brick exterior, red tile roofing, and arched entryways are its defining characteristics.

Inside, the residence boasts original quarter sawn, oak mill work, intricate ceiling structures, and drawn glass windows that frame views of downtown Tulsa.

This residence not only embodies the elegance of its era, but also serves as a testament to the visionaries who propelled Tulsa into its golden age.

Another early land developer targeting oil producers and business elite was real estate developer Grant Stebbins.

A lucrative land offer attracted former Congressman Bird McGuire.

Mr.

and Mrs.

McGuire built their home in 1916.

With native red sandstone, a notable Tulsa builder, John Blair, designed the house using a Frank Lloyd Wright theory.

Mrs.

McGuire handpicked each stone.

The stately Maguire home was one of the first built in the new subdivision, and Tulsa's golden age of oil production and real estate development was off to the races.

The homes of Tulsa's barons remind us of a time when ambition and architecture rose together as living monuments to the city's bold beginnings.

Watch more and learn with us as we uncover the places that shaped Tulsa.

One historic property at a time.

They're starting off slow today, probably trying to figure out what to do with those styrofoam plates since they're not recyclable.

Completely empty cardboard boxes dumped in the cart.

Score big by recycling your cardboard and paper.

Learn more at Tulsa Recycles.com.

And every stream.

Water impacts the world around us every day.

We may not know it or even see it.

But all the little things we do can build up in a big, big way.

Together, we can make a difference.

A difference in our streams.

A difference in our water.

In our city.

Every yard, every street, every neighborhood is an opportunity to help protect our water, our wildlife, and our community.

You and I can do our part together.

Welcome to Tulsa, the oil capital of the world.

In this episode of our historic preservation series, we visit one of Tulsa's most charming and distinctive neighborhoods, Swan Lake.

Nestled just east of downtown, the Swan Lake Historic District offers a peaceful oasis of early 20th century homes and elegant apartment buildings.

Centered around a tranquil pond that gives the neighborhood its name.

This area was once a streetcar suburb.

A place where Tulsa's growing middle and upper middle class found escape from the hustle of the city.

Let's take a closer look at some of the district's most iconic properties.

These homes represent a time when thoughtful planning and picturesque design gave shape to a neighborhood unlike any other in the city.

At the heart of the Swan Lake neighborhood lies its namesake lake, a peaceful pond today, but once the centerpiece of a bustling amusement park in the early 1900s, it quickly became a popular weekend destination for Tulsa families during the oil boom.

This man-made body of water was part of a private recreation area, complete with boat rides, a dance pavilion, and even a small zoo.

Though the amusements are long gone, the lake remains a serene reminder of a bygone era.

As Tulsa expanded, the demand for multi-unit housing grew.

In 1918, Samuel Augustus Orcutt responded to that need by constructing the first apartment building in what would become the Swan Lake Historic District.

This marked the beginning of Orcut's development enterprise, which would shape the neighborhood for decades.

Thanks to his efforts, Swan Lake now boasts more apartment buildings from Tulsa's boom era, spanning the 1920s through the late 1930s than any other neighborhood in the city.

As Tulsa's oil industry boomed and oil fortune soared, areas like Swan Lake became havens for industry leaders, managers, and visionaries.

Standing proudly at the edge of the lake is 1583 Swan Drive, the first home built along Swan Lake, completed in 1919.

This stately Italian Renaissance residence was designed by Noble B.

Fleming, an architect from Kansas City whose work also includes Tulsa's beloved garden center at Woodward Park.

The home was commissioned by J.

M.

Hayner, president of the Monarch Royalty Company, a firm heavily involved in oil leasing and mineral rights during Tulsa's boom years.

As one of the first to settle on the lake, Hayner helped set the tone for a neighborhood that blended natural beauty with architectural grace.

From craftsman bungalows to classical revival and tutor revival, Swan Lake is a showcase of architectural grace, each street a reflection of Tulsa's early 1900s aspirations.

Watch more and learn with us as we uncover the places that shape Tulsa.

One historic property at a time.

Hey, Tulsa, welcome back to the top recycling play of the day.

Team Johnson is facing off against one tough competitor, glass.

That's right.

Only glass bottles and jars are recyclable.

Don't even think about sinking a drinking glass or mirror.

Always good to empty your glass bottles and jars before recycling.

These two get it, emptying both bottles from far out, and they remove the lids.

Learn more at Tulsa Recycles.

Today, as Tulsa Transit continues to evolve, we're excited to share a significant chapter in our journey.

Enter the era of Aero, where the bus rapid transit takes center stage.

Look ahead to the planned Route Sixty Six BRT line, set to redefine our city's transit network, reducing travel time and enhancing the way Tolsans navigate their city.

Welcome to Tulsa, the oil capital of the world.

In this episode of our historic preservation series, we journey east of downtown to explore two of Tulsa's most charming early 20th century neighborhoods, Yorktown and Gillette.

Developed during Tulsa's rapid post-oil boom growth.

These districts were shaped by a rising middle class, oil workers, business owners, and civic leaders, who brought with them pride, ambition, and a love for craftsmanship.

Let's take a look at a few of the standout homes.

Our first stop is the illustrious Gillette Mansion.

Constructed in 1921, this three-story Gothic Tudor masterpiece was the residence of J.

M.

Gillette, an important merchant, real estate entrepreneur, an oil man, and the namesake of the surrounding Gillette Historic District.

Gillette cited his home outside the city limits.

The mansion grounds included a natural stone goldfish pond, handcrafted concrete tables and benches, and a clay tennis court.

Crafted with brick, stucco, and heavy timber.

The mansion boasts rock accents, multi-paned leaded glass windows set within cutstone gothic arches, and a slate roof.

Its grandeur stands as a testament to Tulsa's oil boom era and the architectural ambition it inspired.

Next, we visit 1731 South Yorktown Avenue, a charming tutor-style duplex built in 1940.

This 1200 square foot residence reflects the architectural trends of the time.

With its brick facade and characteristic design elements, duplexes like this were often home to middle-class professionals, bank clerks, and laborers, drawn to the neighborhood's quiet streets and proximity to downtown.

It exemplifies the city's mid-century residential expansion, and the move towards more modest yet stylish, multi-family middle-class dwellings.

Our final feature is the Craftsman Bungalow, constructed in 1923.

This 1700 square foot residence embodies the craftsman ethos with its emphasis on handcrafted woodwork and a welcoming front porch.

It offers a glimpse into the architectural preferences of Tulsa's residents, favoring functionality blended with aesthetic appeal.

The classic craftsman bungalow, the home features broad eaves, exposed rafters, and a welcoming front porch that speaks to the American arts and crafts movement.

Houses like this typically sheltered young families and skilled tradespeople, offering an affordable yet stylish entry into homeownership.

Two classic neighborhoods from Tulsa's Golden Age.

Still alive today.

Watch more and learn with us as we uncover the places that shape Tulsa.

One historic property at a time.

On average, we have 200 collisions between an automobile and a pedestrian every single year.

Of those, a very high number results in injury or death.

This is a serious problem that impacts all of us.

And we can do our part in taking precautions and minimizing risks by using crosswalks and sharing the road with pedestrians.

The first thing is pedestrians can only cross the street in a designated crosswalk.

When you're in this crosswalk, pedestrians have the right of way.

One thing to keep in mind if you're lucky enough to find this, find yourself a button.

Push your button, these sides will illuminate, allowing you to then cross the street.

Secondly, pedestrians must walk along this sidewalk and not in the street.

If you're walking adjacent to the street and no sidewalk has been provided for you, you need to walk as close to the curb as possible while facing oncoming traffic.

Finally, blind pedestrians always have the right of way over all other pedestrians and vehicles.

Blind pedestrians must indicate this right of way by holding out horizontally a white cane in the direction they wish to travel.

The Tulsa Police Department takes this issue very seriously.

We are here to protect all citizens of Tulsa.

Any violation, particularly by motorists putting other Tulsa'sons' lives at risk, you're gonna get a ticket.

Help us keep you from getting a ticket and help keep Tulson safe.

We all have a responsibility to share the road.

Together, we can be kind and make streets a safer place for everyone.

It's membership based those in the Dawson community will have a free membership.

For community members who are outside of Dawson they can purchase a membership for a very nominal fee.

It is a cashless grocery so that means that there will be no cash that transfers on site.

You can use your bank card you can use your snap card or you can upload cash onto your bizarre card much like you would at the laundry mat.

We're hoping to connect with our Oklahoma producers so our farmers here in Oklahoma to be able to provide a market for them.

Started in 2012 trip to Indonesia and living with the farmers overseas and so I want to kind of connect those two bubbles together to create something that would be more in the farmers' favor and the community itself.

It's to provide healthy food at a nonprofit cost in an area that is considered to be a food desert.

On top of that we have a mission to make sure our children do not go without food.

So the bazaar is prepared to feed one free meal per child for all 450 students that go to school in the Dawson neighborhood K-12.

It's just going to be a much needed connection point for the community this is phase one currently in this project and phase one is the grocery store and the food trucks we are trying to decrease our carbon footprint so our store we ran completely on solar energy.

Our packaging will be biodegradable packaging our bags will be cloth bags that will be reusable they have applied and received ARPA funding I chose to use 5000 of the district three funds to help with infrastructure the main goal of this initiative is to restore humanity and since it gave life to these communities I think it will be life changing.

Having good healthy access to food at a reasonable price in this community will be a game changer.

So it really provides a sense of ownership of belonging that this is the Dawson neighborhood market is Flet Rock Creek and that is a partnership with the Tulsa Housing Authorities 36 North and so it will be as some would like to call it the Turkey Mountains of North Tulsa.

This project will provide biking and walking trails, connection with nature, very excited about the possibility of having a fishing pond.

Having access to all of these amenities in this area is going to be new for the entire area of North Tulsa the need is great.

It always has been when it comes to being able to safely exercise, walking by, and learn about nature.

I'm excited not only for the community as a whole, but particularly for the students.

There are several schools in the immediate area, and this could be an outdoor learning experience.

It just will be enhanced with these outdoor amenities for the community to India.

We have held community meetings, my town hall meetings concerning this project, and it received overwhelming support.

The future is very bright for this project when you consider the housing that is returning to the area.

Not only the apartments that are owned by Tulsa Housing Authority, but also several hundred homes will be built in that immediate area as well.

And so having this immunity in that house is all in the same immediate area is very broad for this community.

Welcome to Tulsa, the oil capital of the world.

In this episode of our historic preservation series, we head downtown to explore the boom, an era when Tulsa soared upward on steel and ambition.

Fueled by oil money and optimism, the city's skyline became a canvas for architects, artisans, and entrepreneurs who believed there was no limit to what Tulsa could be.

From grand hotels to gleaming towers, the art deco designs of the 1920s and 30s reflect a city at the height of its confidence.

Let's take a closer look at four iconic landmarks from Tulsa's golden age.

First, the Phil Cade and the Phil Tower, two masterpieces born of oil and vision, commissioned by oil magnate Wade Phillips.

These buildings were designed to complement one another inside and out.

The Phil Tower, completed in 1928, blends gothic revival with art deco, rising 24 stories with ornate terracotta detailing and a signature green tile roof.

Just across the street, the Philcade opened in 1931, flaunting pure Art Deco glamour from its gilded lobby to its geometric flourishes.

Together, they form a striking architectural dialogue, capturing both the romance and the reality of the oil boom.

Next, the Minx Adams Hotel, once the social centerpiece of downtown Tulsa, built in 1927, the hotel was a symbol of prosperity and polish with Italian renaissance styling, intricate terracotta, and a two-story grand ballroom.

During the oil boom, it welcomed dignitaries, deal makers, and dreamers from all over the world.

It blends historic elegance with modern energy.

An enduring tribute to Tulsa's roaring 20s, rising above fourth in Boston is one of downtown Tulsa's most striking silhouettes, the Cosden Building, now known as the Mid Continent Tower.

The original 16-story structure was a symbol of oil boom ambition.

Commissioned by oilman Joshua Cosden, a man often called the Prince of Petroleum.

Originally completed in 1918, its most eye-catching chapter came decades later.

When in 1984, an extraordinary engineering feat nearly doubled its height.

Rather than demolish the original structure, architects and engineers built a 20-story tower directly above it, cantilevered over the historic building with a hidden steel frame.

The result is a seamless blend of past and present, a modern high rise perched atop a century-old skyscraper, mirroring its style so perfectly, it's often mistaken as a single, unified design.

Today, the mid continent tower stands as a testament, not just to Tulsa's architectural legacy, but to its visionary spirit, where preservation and progress rise side by side.

These iconic buildings remind us of a time when Tulsa was growing fast, thinking big, and laying the foundation for the city we know today.

Watch more and learn with us as we uncover the places that shape Tulsa.

One historic property at a time.

If you've driven down South Memorial Drive between East 71st Street and East 81st Street, you have been treated to somewhat of a roller coaster ride over the last couple of years.

We only had a certain amount of money, and we didn't have enough money to raise the storm inlets three inches to match the three inches of asphalt that was added on top of the concrete.

Now we're going to go in and fix those storm inlets.

We're going to bring those storm inlets up and completely take those dips out.

So it'll be a smooth ride on the outside lanes going northbound up and southbound.

So we identified some funding resources.

$75,000 from Vision Allocated Funds for District 8, which I get to represent.

And then I, with a map out of the district 7 community development funds for $150,000 total.

And then $100,000 from the city's general fund, which will be used to repair the inlets to bring those inlets up to grade and to smooth out the ride for all of us on the Morales.

Thank you for everyone's patience as we identified this new funding source to now elevate the drainage for our stormwater drains and to smooth out the road.

I think you'll find a smoother ride as you head north or south on South Memorial Drive in South Tulsa.

After a very short time frame for construction, we'll have smooth lanes, just as I think the vast majority of our constituents want.

This summer, I think we'll finally get to a place where it's smooth sailing, no more dips in the road, and no potholes.

I'd like to say thank you.

We cannot have the equipment that we have without the support of Tulsa's taxpayers.

All of the trucks that the Tulsa Fire Department uh buy.

We keep them consistent with one manufacturer.

That allows us to ensure that our fleet mechanics know exactly what they're working on.

Daily checks and maintenance and keeping these vehicles in tip top shape really provides effective response, but it also ensures that everyone, public, firefighters, and the community as a whole are safe when we're operating in the areas.

Some of the important things to look for are how body panels are fit, how the paint is, is it durable?

You want to make sure it's gonna last because this is the city's investment uh for 10 plus years.

We want to get as much out of this truck as we can.

Right behind our people, this is the most expensive thing that we purchase.

From the time we design and purchase uh an engine is 36 months.

We want consistency to buy a certain number each year to replace um a certain number of engines, certain number of ladders and specialty units every year.

These trucks are kind of a final evolution in probably three versions that we've built over the last four or five years.

We like a little bit shorter length.

Um it's a little bit easier to move within apartment complexes and and some of our two-lane South Tulsa roads.

This is a point of pride for the fire department, and the firefighters that are assigned to this vehicle will take care of it, inspect it and ensure it's working.

They're passionate about that work.

Investment up front equals quality and safety over time.

Ensures that uh we have readiness and readiness is the most important part for us is having the ability to receive the alarm quickly, get out the door, having confidence in that equipment, making sure it's ready to go, and then it performs effectively is key to saving lives and property.

Starting in 2024 and continuing over the next four years, the city of Tulsa will start installing new automated water meters at more than 145,000 residential locations across the city.

The program is known as True Reads.

While the city of Tulsa has had reliable process for reading and changing out water meters for many years, automated meter reading technology has improved to the point that it now makes financial and operational sense to make the switch.

These new meters will minimize property access needs, control meter reading costs, cause fewer employee injuries, eliminate estimated bills, and deploy more environmentally friendly technology.

While there isn't much you need to do, we do want you to be aware that work will happen in your yard sooner or later.

Before contractors even touch that meter in your yard, you will have advanced notification and day of notification.

First, the city will maintain a regularly updated online map showing neighborhoods where meters are currently being installed.

That map can be found online at city of Tulsa.org forward slash true reads.

Second, one to two weeks before your meters installed, a door hanger with more information will be left on your door.

And finally, the day of your meter installation, you will be personally contacted by the contractor with a knock on your door.

While your meter's being changed, you will be briefly without water for a maximum of 30 minutes.

And once crews are finished, all we ask is that you run your water for a few minutes to build pressure back up in your lines.

And that's because any time water is turned off, there is a chance your system will lose some pressure and you could see cloudy water until it's restored.

Lastly, while contractors work to swap your meter out, they'll also perform what's known as a lead service line inspection.

Lead, which is a toxic metal that was used in plumbing materials in the past, can't cause adverse health effects.

Well, we don't think there are many, if any lead service lines remaining in our system, we do want to find, document, and remove any lead that may be left in our system.

As part of the automated meter reading installation process, crews will do a quick check of the service line material, and results of that lead inspection will be made available on the online map.

For more information and to see a detailed list of frequently asked questions about the process, along with the map that we mentioned earlier.

Visit cityoftulsa.org forward slash true reads.

Can you show me 97 on my A12 on a second?

Place, please.

I was raised on a farm growing up.

I was raised to respect animals and care for them.

My heart is really just to care for these animals when when they don't have anyone else to care for them.

We have a ton of strays in the city limits of Tulsa, and a lot of people just see them as strays that you know they might just be on the streets forever.

They still deserve every chance that a dog has that is owned or cared for.

That's really my heart is to care for those animals that don't have an owner, to bring them here, give them a soft bed to lay on, give them food and water to where they can go out and get a loving home to continue their life into.

Good girl.

The most important part to me for this job is to, you know, build a relationship with the community.

If your dog doesn't have a dog house or it needs a tie out to where it can't get loose, I want them to feel comfortable enough to come to us to where we can give them those resources.

We're not here to just write you tickets or, you know, take your dog.

We're here to give you the resources that the community needs to be able to let you keep your dog.

Because a lot of times the dog can be a big part of your family and for your kids and everything.

We're not here to just take those animals.

We're here to give you those resources, give you dog food, cat food, anything that you need to let you keep your dog in the best way that you can.

Come on, Tweedy.

I think a lot of people don't realize if there's a stray baby goat, if there's a pig, we have to go get those animals.

And sometimes it can get a little hairy, you know.

If you're trying to wrangle a pig and you're chasing it, sometimes it gets a little crazy, but it definitely makes it fun.

Good girl.

We're here, you know, 24-7 to help the community.

Those are the relationships that I want to build with the community, to know that we're here for them.

We're here to care for them and their animals.

Being an animal welfare is not just for the animals, it's for the people just as much as the animals.

Welcome to Tulsa, the oil capital of the world.

In this episode of our historic preservation series, we explore the church.

A story written not in brick alone, but in belief, community, and truthfully bold design.

In Tulsa's Cathedral District, rising spires and stained glass tell the story of a city shaped by faith and architecture.

These houses of worship reflect both spiritual devotion and the ambition of a growing city.

Let's take a look at three of Tulsa's most iconic sacred spaces.

First, the Boston Avenue Methodist Church, a national landmark of Art Deco architecture.

Completed in 1929, this church broke from tradition with its vertical lines, abstract ornamentation, and innovative design by architect Bruce Goff and artist Ado Robinson.

From its soaring central tower to its streamlined detailing, the building blends modernism with reverence.

It's not just one of Tulsa's greatest architectural achievements, it's one of the most important art deco churches in the country.

Next, the Holy Family Cathedral, the spiritual heart of Tulsa's Catholic community, built in 1914 in the neoclassical style.

The cathedral's masonry walls and steel framed spires are faced with stone and brick.

The 251 feet tall main spire is faced with four large clocks, and its design evokes the great European cathedrals as one of the oldest churches in Tulsa.

Holy Family is more than a place of worship.

It's a foundation stone in the city's story.

And finally, at the corner of 11th and Boulder stands First Methodist Church.

The third home for a congregation, whose story stretches back to Tulsa's earliest days.

Founded in 1886, the church built a modest white chapel, and as the city expanded, so did the congregation.

First into a red brick church at 9th and Boulder, then in 1921 into this grand structure that still welcomes worshippers today.

Built in the perpendicular Tudor Gothic style.

The church's design draws the eye heavenward with pointed arches and vaulted ceilings, an architectural expression of reverence.

Its cruciform layout, a cross shape, anchors the building in Christian tradition.

A symbol that this church, like its people, is grounded in faith.

These churches remind us that Tulsa's past wasn't just built with industry and ambition, but with faith, artistry, and community at its core.

Watch more and learn with us as we uncover the places that shape Tulsa.

One historic property at a time.

In 1924, Tulsa embarked on one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in the country with a goal of getting clean, reliable water to the city.

In the early 1900s, Tulsons used water from springs, wells, and the Arkansas River, which was full of gypsum, salt, and silt.

People used to say that after you took a bath, you dried off, and then you dusted off.

In 1908, during a hunting trip, a group of influential Tulsons came upon Spavanaugh Creek, a crystal clear spring fed stream.

In the summer of 1921, the City Water Commission hired 28-year-old civil engineer W.

R.

Hallway to conduct surveys to determine if Spavanaugh Creek water could be brought to Tulsa by gravity flow.

In his report on October 24th, Hallway confirmed this was possible, and a month later, the citizens of Tulsa passed a six million eight hundred thousand dollar bond issue by an overwhelming margin to fund the Spavanaugh Water Supply Project.

Hallway was hired to design and build what was one of the largest water projects in the nation.

Construction took two years to complete at a cost of seven and a half million dollars.

Spavanaugh Dam is two-thirds of a mile long, five stories high, and impounds eight and a half billion gallons of water in Spavanaugh Lake.

When first built, the reservoir became the largest lake in the state of Oklahoma.

Water from Spavanall Lake flows by gravity to the city of Tulsa, 54 miles away.

This original flow line was the longest raw water line in the United States at the time of construction.

Over its length, the pipeline drops by an elevation of only 90 feet.

Crosses under two rivers, over eight creeks, and tunnels through a 200-foot tall ridge.

On November 17, 1924, Tulsons lifted glasses of clean and clear water to toast the completion of the Spavanaugh water system.

After construction was complete, Hallway allowed the Tulsa mayor to put his final $15,000 paycheck in a bottle to float through the flow line, where he caught it as it came out at Mohawk.

Today, the city of Tulsa provides an average of 105 million gallons of refreshing award-winning water to over 650,000 customers in and around the Tulsa metropolitan area every day.

In 1924, the Tulsa World wrote Oil may have built Tulsa in the past, but Spavanaugh Water will be the product by which the future will be built.

Because this is a sparsely populated area, there was no development that was occurring out here.

It was important that we try and figure out how to activate this corridor for future development.

And I think by doing this, we've created a place where small developers or even larger developers can look at this and it be an attractive place to spur growth and development.

I think it's important that when we invest in ourselves, investors will invest in us.

When we first brought this issue to the attention of our district, everyone was a little bit overwhelmed by the fact that we had citizens that didn't have the basic necessity.

Most of us, when we turn on our water, we expect that clean clear water is going to come out of our faucet.

Everybody got behind this initiative.

So thank you for going down this journey with us and making sure that we invest in our district and its future potential.

And so the COPS clinician is a licensed professional counselor, and the TFD paramedic is someone who has had extra training in mental health and de-escalation techniques.

And this unit responds to mental or behavioral health crisis calls throughout the city of Tulsa.

Art One is able to respond to any age individual in crisis.

And we do see a big need in the 18 to 45 range.

We also know that about 20% of Art One's responses are to unhoused individuals.

There's a lot of work being done, not just locally but nationally with addressing mental health.

We were out ahead of the game in regards to a lot of the other cities in America and trying to address our needs within our community.

How can we better serve it?

What we found was early on, we were seeing some of these people called 911 who just needed this assistance.

And so these programs were invented very early on to meet that need.

And it's proven to be so valuable when we look at the resource that Art One provides to the community with the ability to have a paramedic and provide a medical evaluation of someone who's in crisis to rule out any physical health needs along with that clinician to address the psychological needs of that individual who's in crisis.

Another big thing that Art One does is they've responded what we call high utilizers or people who are calling 911 a lot looking for help.

So RT1 can also respond to those individuals and start social services.

So we're very big on addressing social determinants, which is education, employment, health care, social and community context.

We want to address those items to improve somebody's life situation.

The benefit of having family and children's services along with us is that we have that clinician there.

They can schedule an appointment for that individual to go in and get checked.

When we're not able to accomplish that, we take that individual to what we call sometimes an alternate destination.

So they may go to a crisis care center or an urgent recovery center or somewhere where it's going to best benefit that individual in that moment who's in crisis.

911 in public safety has done an incredible job of responding to an emergency incident, intervening and taking care of that situation.

But moving forward, we've got to find ways to continue that relationship with those individuals to make sure those needs are fed.

And that's really where the follow-up piece comes in.

If a unit responds to an individual on Monday, a case manager is going to follow up with them on Tuesday or Wednesday that week and make sure their needs are being met.

This is so important when you're talking about providing a continuum of care, meaning a care that just doesn't stop on that response, but it follows what that individual stays with them.

We can connect people very quickly to those resources, and we have that institutional knowledge to know what's the best resource for that person.

We can really begin to move the ball forward in helping our most vulnerable populations in Tulsa to be in better situations.

Welcome to Tulsa, the oil capital of the world.

In this episode of our historic preservation series, we explore cultural destinations.

The spaces where Tulsa came together to be entertained, inspired, and connected, whether through music, film, or storytelling.

These iconic venues have helped define Tulsa's cultural identity.

They reflect not only the city's love of the arts, but also its enduring commitment to preservation, creativity, and community.

Let's take a look at three of Tulsa's most beloved cultural landmarks.

First, Canes Ballroom, where Western Swing was born and legends still take the stage.

Built in 1924, as a garage, Canes was converted into a dance hall academy and soon became home to Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys.

With its spring-loaded Naple dance floor, Neon Glow, an intimate stage.

Keynes has hosted everyone from country pioneers to punk icons.

Known as the Carnegie Hall of Western Swing, it remains a living piece of Tulsa's musical legacy.

Today, it continues to operate as one of the region's premier music venues, drawing national touring acts and loyal local crowds.

Next, Circle Cinema.

Tulsa's oldest operating movie theater and a hub for independent film opened in 1928 as a silent movie theater.

The circle has survived fires, closures, and shifting trends.

But its mission remains the same: to bring meaningful, thought-provoking cinema to the community.

Restored with care.

The theater blends historic charm with modern programming.

It's more than a place to see a film.

It's where Tulsa comes to think, discuss, and dream.

It regularly hosts screenings, film festivals, and community events, keeping its screens and conversations alive.

And finally, the Museum of Tulsa History, nestled in the heart of Woodward Park, located in a 1919 Italian Renaissance Revival Mansion.

That was originally the home of oilmen and philanthropist Sam Travis.

The museum preserves Tulsa's collective memory through exhibits, archives, and artifacts.

One of the first grand residences in what became known as Tulsa's Millionaire Row.

The venue is surrounded by the blooming landscapes of Woodward Park.

This property is as much about reflection as celebration.

A place where the stories of Tulsa's neighborhoods, industries, and people are honored and shared.

The museum hosts rotating exhibits, lectures, and public programs that invite the community to engage directly with Tulsa's past.

These venues remind us that history isn't only built in stone or steel.

It's also written in cheers, laughter, and applause, and the stories we pass on.

Watch more and learn with us as we uncover the places that shape Tulsa.

One historic property at a time.

Alternate Response Team 2 is a very innovative program.

So R2 is staffed with two sworn firefighter paramedics who are community paramedicine trained, which means they have extra training in mental health, they have extra training in taking care of wound management.

We have basically stuck a hypothetical fire station right in the center of downtown Tulsa and said any medical call that comes in within the IDL or downtown Tulsa, R2 will respond to.

They will also respond and provide outreach services and wellness checks for unhoused population within the IDL.

So when they're not on a run, when they're not providing medical coverage, they're out there making sure people are as healthy as they possibly can be.

They provide blood pressure checks, they check pulse rates.

Whether you're a housed or homeless, doesn't really matter.

Do you have the medications that you need to manage your health conditions?

They provide water on hot days, they make sure you're warm on cold days.

And R2 coordinates very well with our community partners, making sure that we're coordinating our efforts with everyone else.

The impact they've had has been significant.

And I believe the reason is they take the extra time to spend with individuals.

As soon as they're done with that call, they're going to go over there and have conversations with people and say, hey, are you working with somebody right now?

Do you have a plan?

If not, we can help you coordinate that effort.

We can get you help you get housing.

We can help you get food.

What we love about the Tulsa Fire Department and what this program has been able to do is we work with everybody within the community.

So we're utilizing every resource that we have within the city of Tulsa to get the best outcomes for these individuals.

It does have that follow-up mechanism very much like Art 1 and CRT where the buck doesn't stop at the call.

Someone's staying with them, someone who has been unhoused for five years, had some history with alcohol, and they've stayed with this individual, built rapport, and it started with just outreach, just having conversations and sticking with them, walked them through the steps, filled out housing applications with them, made sure the gaps were filled in service delivery.

After five years, this person's house now.

They've actually got a dog living in their apartment.

I mean, the best that we've ever seen them and living their best life, and that's really our hope through these programs is we can help facilitate that.

Whenever I pull up a heat map, we continue to see some of our greatest responses in the downtown area.

And when we begin to dive into what that looks like and why so, we do see unhoused population in the downtown area, and we see a great response to there.

We've been able to determine a lot of information that we didn't know before.

Busy times of the day, demographics that we're responding to, and really focus our approach to helping those individuals and really meeting those needs where they're at.

We want to provide what we call a community health needs assessment with R2 and really determine, hey, when this unit's going to go, they're going to ask more questions than maybe you would traditionally see on a fire trucker and angelist response.

They're going to get into depth of what's going on with that individual.

You know, that call came in as a chest pain, but what was it really?

I do talk to a lot of different departments across the US, and so we're seeing cities want to adopt this.

There is models that are similar, but they've not had the impact.

And I think that the difference you see is R2 is able to respond to real-time 911 calls in place of other apparatus, but they also provide those other social services that are really critical to getting the outcomes you need.

All these units, whether it's CRT, R1 or R2, they're able to let law enforcement, ambulances, fire trucks go back in service to be ready to respond to fires, critical emergencies, and let these units spend the extra time with people in mental health crisis or unhoused populations and not rush that.

You don't want to rush those situations.

You want to spend the extra time.

I believe very strongly that R2 is a model for the future.

Right now it's just in downtown Tulsa.

I see this as something that you can really implement citywide.

You don't see this anywhere else in America.

So I'm excited because I love when we are able to push the bar forward and really set an example on a national stage, and that's exactly what we're doing with R2.

Hi, I'm Sherry Carrier, Director of Tulsa Animal Services.

I want to take a moment to share a little bit about the incredible work happening behind these doors.

Every single day our team is here.

Taking in lost, abandoned, and injured animals, giving them the care that they need, and working hard to find safe and loving homes.

It's easy to think that this is just a city service.

But behind the scene are real people.

People who love animals and pour their hearts into this work, even on our toughest days.

We're proud to say it's making a difference.

Our save rate has jumped from 67% in 2018 to nearly 80% today.

Thanks to adoptions, foster homes, and the incredible support of our community.

One of the biggest lifesavers, spay and neuter.

Preventing unwanted litters means fewer animals entering our shelters and more resources for every pet who needs us.

Thank you for standing with us.

Together, we're creating a safer, more compassionate Tulsa for animals.

Recycling rent is easy, but do you know what happens when you don't think before you throw and contaminate your blue recycling cart?

The city of Tulsa produces 450 tons of contaminated waste per month.

That's almost 5,500 tons per year that will now be going straight to the land zone.

To put into perspective how much waste that is, it's equivalent to 250 golden driller statues.

Think before you throw and keep recycling clean and waste-free.

For more information about the correct way to recycle, please visit Tulsa Recycles.com.

The Tulsa Professional Connector Program will help you build a professional network and get in touch with highly networked individuals and professionals in your field of expertise.

El Programmates roles.

To learn more, visit our webpage and contact us.

Welcome to Tulsa, the oil capital of the world.

In this episode of our historic preservation series, we explore river views, the grand homes that overlook the Arkansas River and reflect Tulsa's lasting connection to its natural landscape.

For more than a century, the river has shaped the city's layout, its neighborhoods, and its sense of beauty.

These historic properties near its banks are more than homes.

They're places where art, industry, and civic life converged.

Let's take a look at three of Tulsa's most iconic riverside estates.

First, Harweldon Mansion, Tulsa's storybook manor, overlooking the Arkansas River, built in 1923 by Oilman Earl Harwell.

This English Tudor style estate blends gothic arches and handcarved detailing.

The exterior facade consists of brick, stone window surrounds, balustrade and stone coins at the corners, leading up to the slate roof.

Inside, the home featured custom furnishings, a music room, and one of the city's earliest residential elevators.

Today, Harweldon operates as a cultural and event center, welcoming guests from around the world for weddings, concerts, and arts programming all with a river view.

Next, the Lee Clinton House, an understated gem tucked into the curves of Riverside Drive.

Constructed in 1919, this elegant colonial revival home belonged to civic leader and businessman Lee Clinton, founder of Union National Bank, and co-founder of the Tulsa Stockyards, along with oil man William G.

Skelly.

With its classical detailing and perfectly manicured grounds, the home reflects quiet confidence and refined taste.

Privately owned and beautifully preserved.

It's one of the few original homes in the area that still retains its historic charm along Tulsa's most scenic stretch.

And finally, the Dresser Mansion, where Italian Renaissance Flair meets Tulsa's oil era opulence.

Built in 1919 for oil executive Carl Dresser.

This mansion draws on Mediterranean design with arched logias, ornate ironwork, and a red tile roof.

Designed for entertaining, the home once hosted lavish parties with views stretching across the river valley, now restored and used as a venue.

Dresser Mansion continues to host celebrations, echoing its original purpose as a home made for gathering.

The Arkansas River shaved Tulsa's growth and offered a scenic corridor for some of the city's most remarkable residences.

These iconic properties remind us that Tulsa's past wasn't just built, it was carefully placed, with beauty, nature, and legacy in mind.

Watch more and learn with us as we uncover the places that shape Tulsa.

One historic property at a time.

The trail system at Bail Park opened in the fall of 2022 after a hundred and ninety thousand dollar donation.

You know that for decades, the West Side has geographically been cut off from many amenities and services.

But this new trail system is a part of a grassroots effort to improve the quality of life for Tulsons right here on the west side, especially near Belch Park.

This trail also served the wider Tulsa community by providing beginner level trails for those who are new to mountain biking, as well as a downhill bike-only section for intermediate riders.

And Turkey Mountain is right next door when riders are ready to take on.

Park your car, get out, enjoy the trails.

There's not much traffic.

It's building confident cyclists in great Tulsans through community engagement.

We do a third-grade bike PE program where we're there for four days doing a condensed bike club curriculum where we're teaching them safety practices and skill building.

The after school program generally operates for fourth and fifth graders and in middle school.

Fundraising and the kind people that give us dollars to operate allows us to offer all these programs free to the district and free to the kids.

We'll have storage for all our surplus inventory, a bike workshop, we'll have offices, a classroom for training, workshops, team building, and then we'll also be able to host our volunteers here.

We really see a secondary use as a community spot.

Other community partners can come out here, do some training, team buildings.

We know that being outside is really really healthy for us mentally and physically.

So spaces like this that do this kind of programming should be available to everyone in our city, and we want to make sure that every Tulsa has the opportunity to get outside and enjoy.

We love Bell's Park, and the best is yet to come.

Every year around the 4th of July, our shelter fills up with pets who ran off during fireworks.

Most of them live just a few houses away from where they're found.

That's why Tulsa Animal Services partnered with Tulsa Fire to bring microchip scanners to every fire station in our city.

If you find a lost pet, you can now stop by any Tulsa Fire Station and ask a firefighter to scan for a microchip.

No shelter visit required.

The scanner will show a chip number that can help you contact the owner directly through an online lookup system.

Most pets aren't truly lost.

They just need a little help getting home.

This partnership helps us keep animals in their neighborhoods where they belong.

Because the best place for a pet is home.

TFD CARES stands for Community Assistance Referrals and Educational Services.

It really seeks to connect 911 high utilizers and vulnerable populations to those critical community resources to help improve the lives of individuals within our community.

And the University of Tulsa did a study on CARES back in 2017, and from January to March, we had about a 70% reduction in 9-1-1 usage by connecting vulnerable populations in our community to social determinants of health.

And our scope and scale has grown.

We are now working with local community partners, whether it's hospitals, behavioral health partners, or other vital community resources to really connect individuals to those services.

We get referrals in from all different kinds of partners, whether it's hospitals, the fire department, sometimes the police department, or the aimless service in town.

And I think what makes TFD Care's really strong and really a great program is we're connected and integrated with all the community support structures in place.

We have two very good case managers that really navigate these community resources.

Ascension St.

John and the Czech Foundation is who supports our case managers and helps to integrate those within the Tulsa Fire Department.

We go all over Tulsa.

We are connecting with individuals.

When that referral comes in, we'll send a case manager to someone's house and identify, hey, what's going on today?

We'll address those social determinants of health.

We'll create goals off of that.

And we utilize a system called gelatin to communicate and connect with all those community partners, and it helps us to kind of capture our workflow and the work that's being completed.

But our case managers, they stay with those clients until those needs are met.

They're working with them, they're navigating things like hand bars, wheelchair ramps, food insecurity, medication adherence.

They also help with individuals who are not currently housed.

We also send a firefighter paramedic or a community paramedic to the home and they'll try to make that home safer, and they'll work with those residents or those community members to make sure that their home is a safer place to live, that they're reducing falls, reducing injuries, and ultimately having better health outcomes.

We thought was very important moving forward in the growth of this program, being an extension of the hospitals and helping firefighters reduce those 9-1-1 calls.

One thing we're really proud of with TFD CARES is their impact that they're making and the results because that's what matters to us.

How are we improving that individuals' life?

And so TFD CARES has been able to reduce 911 utilization by 80%.

We've been tracking this data through gelatin since 2023.

We're getting help to those individuals that need about 52% of the time we're able to take care of those needs within two weeks.

We're trying to use this information in different parts of Tulsa to be more proactive in helping our citizens and our community members, social services has got to be a part of public safety.

The benefit is incredible, and as we continue to try to address root cause issues, why is that individual calling 911?

Programs like TFD CARES answer that call and they get to those root cause issues and help improve that person's life.

The overdose response team was created to address a prevalent community need in Tulsa, and that's overdoses.

We've seen opiates causing a lot of havoc within our community, not just in Tulsa or Oklahoma, but really nationally.

Public safety, whether it's fire and police are responding to right around eight to ten overdose calls a day.

We created a specialized team that has a community paramedic along with a peer recovery support specialist or someone with lived experience to respond to real-time overdose calls and provide follow-up to individuals who have overdose within our community.

So the lived experienced individual, that's someone who has used some sort of substance in the past and recovered.

I've always had a passion for addiction recovery, things like that because I'm in recovery myself from drugs and alcohol.

So when the opportunity came up, I snagged it up.

I was very excited to be a part of it.

And I still am, I love it.

It's probably my favorite day out of the week because it's a chance for me to give back to the community that I came from.

I've been in recovery for five years from drugs and I haven't drank in like 10 years.

I came from a pretty tough background, lots of trauma growing up.

Gotten trouble a lot as a kid, been homeless, I've been part of domestic violence and everything from alcohol to prescription opiates to methamphetamine.

So when I first got clean, I decided I wanted to be a part of the movement for recovery.

And I got into working at a drug and alcohol treatment center for several years, and I really loved it.

And what that gives us is the ability for someone to really connect on a personal level and say, hey, I've been in a similar situation before, but I've recovered.

So the overdose response team is meant to complement the current infrastructure we have in place that will go identify individuals who have overdosed, build rapport, connect to services, and stay with them until they've gotten the help they need.

Are you on a housing list?

Yeah.

Yeah?

Good.

How long have you been on it?

With the interactions that we've made, we're slowly building relationships with people through outreach.

I think there's a trust there that some programs don't get.

Thank you.

This is a model that has worked in other cities.

We went and looked in, specifically San Antonio.

Oklahoma City implemented this program in August 2023 to address these needs.

And what these previous communities have found is they're able to get people help earlier in the substance addiction than they were previously.

We do emphasize the harm reduction supplies and the hands-on CPR and some of that education because we're very passionate about giving someone another chance to get it right.

And so the harm reduction boxes complement our overdose response team.

We put those boxes in areas of our community where we see the most overdoses.

And so we have these at a couple fire stations, easy access to Narcan, leave behind kids, as well as fentanyl test strips and education pamphlets.

We want to prevent someone from losing their life.

And our hope is that we're playing a role in that by giving out Narcan and test strips and things that people might need so they uh have a chance to stay alive.

You don't gain recovery by force.

You've got to want it for it to be successful.

So we're just there to help guide that situation and keep people safe for as long as we can.

I think another part of it is people seeing us out and about all the time in these areas.

They know that if they wave us down, we'll stop.

We'll give them whatever it is that they need, even if it's just somebody to listen to them.

And so I think that can build a bridge with certain members in our community to sit there and say, hey, you know, we're just here to lend a helping hand.

It helps to humanize the situation, I think.

You got this?

All right.

And that's something we're very passionate about is continuing to move that ball forward with these individuals and making sure they know this is the things available to help you, and we can help walk alongside you during that process.

But we'll also do follow-ups with them, with their family, see if we can connect them to resources or get them to treatment or get them harm reduction supplies, whatever it is that they need, is what we're there to do.

And whenever anybody's asked us for help, we've been there and we'll help them.

I would say we're continuing to address this issue within our community and really make sure we're providing resources, whether that's response, somewhere to go.

We want to make sure that we have the best system in America here in Tulsa.

The NCI pilot program is all about empowering neighborhoods.

We're giving communities tools, resources, and the confidence they need to take charge and create real meaningful change.

Neighborhood associations, local leaders, and neighbors come together with city departments to identify their top needs and then build a plan to tackle them.

We started by looking at the NCI reports and identifying the neighborhoods with the highest priority needs.

It established a cross-departmental task force.

Got together with them and looked at the resources we could provide the neighborhoods.

These departments that we worked with were police department, animal services, code enforcement, and public works.

Suburban Hills was a perfect fit for this program.

Their participation shows just how much this community values growth and togetherness.

The city has helped a lot.

The Sequoia neighborhood shine through this program.

They set ambitious goals, work together, and they achieved every single one of them.

Now they have the skills and momentum to keep pushing their community forward.

Just seeing some neighbors and residents really engage in the process.

They were the ones that championed going out into the neighborhood, passing out information, doing door hangers, knocking on doors, and that allowed us to have a little bit more sense of what was really going on in the broader community.

The Charles Page neighborhood has been an inspiring part of this pilot.

They're building the kind of community they want to live in.

The neutering and spay program, that was a huge success.

The neighborhood cleanup was a huge success.

I'm so grateful that we still have them as we move forward.

Once you build the partnerships with the city, they're going to continue with us.

The city departments involved worked hard, the neighborhoods worked hard.

We couldn't have done it without their support and their involvement.

Together, we're creating neighborhoods where every voice matters and every block has a strong story worth telling.

What is zoning?

Zoning requirements state how people can use land in certain areas.

In order to use the land in a different way, the owner needs to get permission from the city.

The application will go to the Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission, the City Board of Adjustments, or the County Board of Adjustments, depending on the type and location of the request.

TMAPC handles zoning changes, subdivisions, and comprehensive plan amendments.

After filling out the proper application, Tulsa Planning Office staff will check to make sure everything is in order.

They then assign the application a case number and pass it to the planning commission with a recommendation on what to do.

Any rezoning application requires notice to the public in the form of posted signs, a newspaper section, and mail notice to the property owners within 300 feet of the lot.

The application fee covers these costs, and the planning office sends the notifications out.

The notices must be mailed, posted, and published at least 20 days before its appearance before the planning commission.

TMAPC then holds a public hearing.

Applicants may be called to the podium to speak.

If recommended for approval, the application moves on to the city council.

The application appears on council agendas three times.

The first appearance is at the council's committee meetings.

The planning commission staff gives and explains a recommendation based on the application's consistency with policy and intent of the comprehensive plan.

This appearance is only a discussion, not a vote.

Counselors and planning office staff are the only ones permitted to participate in discussion, but the public is permitted to view and attend the meeting.

The next appearance is at the city council's 5 p.m.

council meeting.

Another public hearing is held to give an opportunity for citizen input before the council vote.

The applicant is again allowed to make a presentation.

The city council then votes to either approve the application, approve it with modifications, or deny it.

In most cases, the application needs a simple majority to pass.

If the application passes, it then appears at the following city council meeting as an ordinance reflecting the council vote to implement the decision.

This is a huge point of pride for us in Tulsa to be home to an Olympic sport.

Uh to have USA BMX locating their headquarters here in Tulsa.

It puts us on the national and international map when it comes to athletics in this space.

Excited about I think what it means for our community today, but also very excited about the next generation of BMX athletes that I think this facility is going to inspire right here in our city.

Sick to have this here, because then you know now we got a place to call home right here in Tulsa, right here in our hometown, man.

It's nice.

It's super sick to have the racetrack here.

Um, and then whatever, you know, potential opportunities that come with it of them putting their HQ here.

It's awesome, awesome to see.

When I I talk about the impact, not only for STEM education, but then what we're we're trying to grow and build in Greenwood and North Tulsa, plus the races, plus foreign and national Olympians coming here, all of a sudden it kind of puts it in perspective of the the whole, the whole project.

We have pump tracks, we have STEM education, so there'll be science experiments going on with BMX bikes, if you can believe that.

At the same time, too, they could look into that track, and we could have either the U.S.

national team or a foreign Olympic team in their training during the day.

Uh at night and after school, it switches.

So we'll have private coaching uh training for your parents who want to get their kids into BMX but haven't never done it before.

We teach them how.

Uh, but then you're also gonna have the competitive racers that have been doing it for a while, their families practicing once a week, racing here.

I know that this community is going to rally around USA BMX for decades to come because of this facility.

Hey Tulsa, welcome back to the top recycling play of the day.

Team Johnson is facing off against a tough competitor, plastic.

Don't trust those numbers on the bottom.

You have to stick to what you know.

Only bottles and jugs found in the kitchen, bath, or laundry.

They're quick to pick up and empty those bottles before sinking that shot.

Always empty your bottles before recycling.

Score big by recycling your plastic bottles and jugs.

Learn more at Tulsa Recycles.com.

The Canis Latrans, also known as the coyote, coyote, or prairie wolf, has been spotted in all areas of Tulsa.

Coyotes migrated to the Tulsa area beginning in the early 20th century, when forest fragmentation and the extermination of larger predators like red and gray wolves led to their spread eastward.

Many strategies have been tried to rid urban areas of coyotes, but the effort is often costly and ineffective.

Coyotes are notoriously hard to catch and don't survive relocation.

Any area cleared of coyotes will quickly be repopulated.

Coyotes do provide an essential role in the ecosystem by helping to control the rodent population.

They are predators of geese, squirrels, mice, moles, gophers, possums, and other small animals.

While rodents make up a majority of their diet, coyotes also feed on fish, insects, blueberries, apples, prickly pears, persimmons, peanuts, and carrots.

Although their diet includes a variety of foods, coyotes have been known to kill small pets.

The best way to protect pets is to avoid attracting coyotes near your home by following these four best practices.

Best practice number one, supervise pets.

While coyotes don't usually attack humans, your pets can be a target.

Coyotes may see large dogs as rivals and small dogs and cats as prey.

Always walk your dog on a leash.

Keep cats indoors, letting cats roam free is also a violation of City of Tulsa ordinances.

And the best way to protect your pets is to not leave them outside unattended, especially at dusk through dawn when coyotes are more active.

In some cases, coyotes can climb fences.

Best practice number two, remove food attractive, remove bowls of pet food.

Keep trash cans securely closed.

Pick up any fruit or nuts from your yard.

Best practice number three.

Remove possible shelters.

Eliminate places for a coyote to make a den, like access under a deck or large bushes.

Cut down any tall grass or brush that could provide shelter for coyotes.

Best practice number four.

Respond appropriately during encounters.

If you do encounter a coyote, stand your ground.

Don't turn your back or run away.

The coyote can reach speeds of 40 miles an hour.

Top speed of a human is 28 miles an hour.

Stay away from injured, cornered, or nursing coyotes.

Slowly back away.

Most importantly, use hazing techniques to discourage coyotes you come across.

Act large, yell, clap your hands, use a noisemaker, throw sticks at the coyote's feet, hit hands, etc.

Hazing helps keep wild animals wild as coyotes can become a nuisance or aggressive when they lose their fear of people.

If you see a coyote that seems aggressive, or if you have more questions, call a Tulsa County game warden with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

They can connect you with a licensed, nuisance wildlife control operator.

Do not contact the Tulsa Animal Shelter as it does not handle wildlife issues.

By following best practices, you can help limit negative interactions between people, pets, and the urban wildlife we live alongside.

More than 27 million dollars has been distributed and rent utility payments to more than 6,000 homes and 3,000 landlords by the city of Tulsa, Tulsa County, and Restore Hope.

2021 proved to be another challenging year for many Tulsans, especially those living under the area median income.

Many tenants facing eviction and others behind on rent and utility payments.

But it also showed the strength of local partnerships.

Over the past year, several application stations have been held with several community organizations providing community resources and one-on-one help for tenants applying to the program.

The city of Tulsa is receiving a second round of emergency rental assistance funds from the U.S.

Department of Treasury, and work is expected to start in 2022.

The goal is to continue providing housing stability for Tulsons and prevent eviction.

For more information to see whether you qualify for the emergency rental assistance program, visit City of Tulsa.org/slash ERAP.

Hey Tulsa, welcome back to the top recycling play of the day.

Team Johnson is looking to defend their title against aluminum and steel cans.

Bob, most people think of the kitchen for this opponent, but aluminum and steel cans like empty shaving cream cans also play extremely well in bathrooms all over Tulsa.

That is nothing but bin, Bob.

Wow, right into the bin.

Team Johnson has buttoned up another win.

Score big by recycling your aluminum and steel cans.

Learn more at Tulsa Recycles.com.

Do you know what happens to all of the waste we leave behind in our yards, driveways, and streets?

Runoff water carries all of the trash, chemicals, and other pollutants straight into our storm drains, which lead to miles and miles of pipes and drains right below our feet that drain directly into our rivers and streams.

Along the way, all of the trash, chemicals, and pollutants add up until even something small, like one cigarette butt, one oil spill, or one pile of leaves accumulates inside our drains and pipes and becomes a big problem, causing blockages in the system and pollution in our rivers and streams.

The waters we fish and play in.

The water that sustains our wildlife.

By protecting what goes into our drains, we can save our streams.

You and I can do our part together.

Welcome to Tulsa, the oil capital of the world.

In this episode of our historic preservation series, we explore the opulent homes of Tulsa's early oil titans.

These men shaped the future, the barons.

Situated south of downtown is one of Tulsa's most prestigious historic neighborhoods, Maple Ridge, adjacent to the iconic Woodward Park, Grand 20th century homes, front tree-lined boulevards, timeless architectural styles and details tell the story of a city built on oil.

Let's take a closer look at three of Tulsa's most iconic homes.

One of Tulsa's most notable homes, this Georgian revival style mansion, built in 1923, was home to William G.

Skelly, a prominent figure in Tulsa's oil and radio industries.

Skelly purchased this neoclassical house not long after it was constructed in 1924.

The three-story mansion is approximately 10,000 square feet, seated on a spacious wooded corner lot.

Exterior walls are composed of red brick masonry, and the home features a striking green tile roof.

The main feature of the ground floor is the long 40-foot dining room.

A large second floor veranda with iron rail and iron staircase offered access to the yard to entertain Skelly's elite guests.

The home remained in the Skelly family until 1968 and remains one of Tulsa's premier historical homes.

Nestled within the neighborhood stands a captivating model of early 20th century architecture.

Constructed in 1915, this two-story mission revival home was designed by esteemed architect Noble B.

Fleming, whose work significantly shaped Tulsa's architectural landscape during the oil boom era.

The home showcases hallmark features of the mission revival style.

The all brick exterior, red tile roofing, and arched entryways are its defining characteristics.

Inside, the residence boasts original quarter sawn, oak mill work, intricate ceiling structures, and drawn glass windows that frame views of downtown Tulsa.

This residence not only embodies the elegance of its era, but also serves as a testament to the visionaries who propelled Tulsa into its golden age.

Another early land developer targeting oil producers and business elite was real estate developer Grant Stebbins.

A lucrative land offer attracted former Congressman Bird McGuire.

Mr.

and Mrs.

McGuire built their home in 1916 with native red sandstone and notable Tulsa builder, John Blair designed the house using a Frank Lloyd Wright theory.

Mrs.

McGuire handpicked each stone.

The stately McGuire home was one of the first built in the new subdivision, and Tulsa's golden age of oil production and real estate development was off to the races.

The homes of Tulsa's barons remind us of a time when ambition and architecture rose together as living monuments to the city's bold beginnings.

Watch more and learn with us as we uncover the places that shaped Tulsa, one historic property at a time.

Hey Tulsa, we have a crushing recycle play of the day for you.

Team Johnson versus paper and cardboard.

They're starting off slow today.

Probably trying to figure out what to do with those styrofoam plates, since they're not recyclable.

There's the big play we were waiting for.

Boom!

Completely empty cardboard boxes dunked in the cart.

Score big by recycling your cardboard and paper.

Learn more at Tulsa Recycles.com.

With every raindrop.

And every stream.

Water impacts the world around us every day.

We may not know it or even see it.

But all the little things we do can build up in a big, big way.

Together, we can make a difference.

A difference in our streams.

A difference in our water.

In our city.

Every yard, every street, every neighborhood is an opportunity to help protect our water, our wildlife, and our community.

You and I can do our part together.

Welcome to Tulsa, the oil capital of the world.

In this episode of our historic preservation series, we visit one of Tulsa's most charming and distinctive neighborhoods, Swan Lake.

Nestled just east of downtown, the Swan Lake Historic District offers a peaceful oasis of early 20th century homes and elegant apartment buildings.

Centered around a tranquil pond that gives the neighborhood its name.

This area was once a streetcar suburb, a place where Tulsa's growing middle and upper middle class found escape from the hustle of the city.

Let's take a closer look at some of the district's most iconic properties.

These homes represent a time when thoughtful planning and picturesque design gave shape to a neighborhood unlike any other in the city.

At the heart of the Swan Lake neighborhood lies its namesake lake, a peaceful pond today, but once the centerpiece of a bustling amusement park in the early 1900s, it quickly became a popular weekend destination for Tulsa families during the oil boom.

This man-made body of water was part of a private recreation area, complete with boat rides, a dance pavilion, and even a small zoo.

Though the amusements are long gone, the lake remains a serene reminder of a bygone era.

As Tulsa expanded, the demand for multi-unit housing grew.

In 1918, Samuel Augustus Orcutt responded to that need by constructing the first apartment building in what would become the Swan Lake Historic District.

This marked the beginning of Orcutt's development enterprise, which would shape the neighborhood for decades.

Thanks to his efforts, Swan Lake now boasts more apartment buildings from Tulsa's boom era, spanning the 1920s through the late 1930s than any other neighborhood in the city.

The Orcut apartments remain a cornerstone of Tulsa's shift toward urban living.

As Tulsa's oil industry boomed and oil fortune soared, areas like Swan Lake became havens for industry leaders, managers, and visionaries.

Standing proudly at the edge of the lake is 1583 Swan Drive, the first home built along Swan Lake, completed in 1919.

This stately Italian Renaissance residence was designed by Noble B.

Fleming, an architect from Kansas City, whose work also includes Tulsa's beloved garden center at Woodward Park.

The home was commissioned by J.

M.

Hayner, president of the Monarch Royalty Company, a firm heavily involved in oil leasing and mineral rights during Tulsa's boom years.

As one of the first to settle on the lake, Hayner helped set the tone for a neighborhood that blended natural beauty with architectural grace.

From craftsman bungalows to classical revival and tutor revival, Swan Lake is a showcase of architectural grace, each street a reflection of Tulsa's early 1900s aspirations.

Watch more and learn with us as we uncover the places that shape Tulsa.

One historic property at a time.

Team Johnson is facing off against one tough competitor, glass.

That's right, only glass bottles and jars are recyclable.

Don't even think about sinking a drinking glass or mirror.

Always good to empty your glass bottles and jars before recycling.

These two get it, emptying both bottles from far out.

And they remove the lids.

Score big by recycling your glass bottles and jars.

Learn more at Tulsa Recycles.com.

In the rich fabric of Tulsa's history, where transit has woven itself into the daily lives of residents since 1968.

We take pride in serving the transportation needs of this vibrant community.

Today, as Tulsa Transit continues to evolve, we're excited to share a significant chapter in our journey.

Enter the era of Aero, where the bus rapid transit takes center stage.

The Peoria Aero BRT transformative force has doubled ridership connecting Tulsans to progress and prosperity.

Look ahead to the planned Route 66 BRT line, set to redefine our city's transit network, reducing travel time and enhancing the way Tulsans navigate their city.

Celebrate with us as we mark a significant milestone.

Two million riders in 2023.

The community echoes with the voices of riders, employees, and partners, each contributing to the vibrant life that is Tulsa Transit.

Anticipation builds as we proudly unveil our new names.

Say hello to Metrolink Tulsa, your main bus service, along with MicroLink and Link Assist.

As MetroLink Tulsa evolves and finds new ways to serve residents, witness the joy of riders boarding Metrolink Tulsa, realizing our mission to safely link people, places, and communities in Oklahoma.

Welcome to Tulsa, the oil capital of the world.

In this episode of our historic preservation series, we journey east of downtown to explore two of Tulsa's most charming early 20th century neighborhoods, Yorktown and Gillette.

Developed during Tulsa's rapid post-oil boom growth.

These districts were shaped by a rising middle class, oil workers, business owners, and civic leaders, who brought with them pride, ambition, and a love for craftsmanship.

Let's take a look at a few of the standout homes.

Our first stop is the illustrious Gillette Mansion.

Constructed in 1921, this three-story Gothic Tudor masterpiece was the residence of J.

M.

Gillette, an important merchant, real estate entrepreneur, an oil man, and the namesake of the surrounding Gillette Historic District.

Gillette cited his home outside the city limits.

The mansion grounds included a natural stone goldfish pond, handcrafted concrete tables and benches, and a clay tennis court.

Crafted with brick, stucco, and heavy timber.

The mansion boasts rock accents.

Multi-paned leaded glass windows set within cutstone gothic arches and a slate roof.

Its grandeur stands as a testament to Tulsa's oil boom era and the architectural ambition it inspired.

Next, we visit 1731 South Yorktown Avenue, a charming tutor-style duplex built in 1940.

This 1,200 square foot residence reflects the architectural trends of the time.

With its brick facade and characteristic design elements, duplexes like this were often home to middle-class professionals, bank clerks, and laborers, drawn to the neighborhood's quiet streets and proximity to downtown.

It exemplifies the city's mid-century residential expansion.

And the move towards more modest yet stylish, multi-family middle-class dwellings.

Our final feature is the Craftsman Bungalow, constructed in 1923.

This 1,700 square foot residence embodies the craftsman ethos with its emphasis on handcrafted woodwork and a welcoming front porch.

It offers a glimpse into the architectural preferences of Tulsa's residents, favoring functionality blended with aesthetic appeal.

The classic craftsman bungalow, the home features broad eaves, exposed rafters, and a welcoming front porch that speaks to the American arts and crafts movement.

Houses like this typically sheltered young families and skilled tradespeople, offering an affordable yet stylish entry into homeownership.

Two classic neighborhoods from Tulsa's Golden Age.

Still alive today.

Watch more and learn with us as we uncover the places that shape Tulsa.

One historic property at a time.

On average, we have 200 collisions between an automobile and a pedestrian every single year.

Of those, a very high number results in injury or death.

This is a serious problem that impacts all of us.

And we can do our part in taking precautions and minimizing risks by using crosswalks and sharing the road with pedestrians.

The first thing is pedestrians can only cross the street in a designated crosswalk.

When you're in this crosswalk, pedestrians have the right of way.

One thing to keep in mind: if you're lucky enough to find this, find yourself a button, push your button, these sides will illuminate, allowing you to then cross the street.

Secondly, pedestrians must walk along this sidewalk and not in the streets.

If you're walking adjacent to the street and no sidewalk has been provided for you, you need to walk as close to the curb as possible while facing oncoming traffic.

Finally, blind pedestrians always have the right of way over all other pedestrians and vehicles.

Blind pedestrians must indicate this right of way by holding out horizontally a white cane in the direction they wish to travel.

The Tulsa Police Department takes this issue very seriously.

We're here to protect all citizens of Tulsa.

Any violation, particularly by motorists putting other Tulsans' lives at risk, you're gonna get a ticket.

Help us keep you from getting a ticket and help keep Tulson safe.

We all have a responsibility to share the road.

Together, we can be kind and make streets a safe for place for everyone.

The bazaar is a micro neighborhood grocery.

So Micah Grocery Store has a very small footprint and it's specified for smaller communities.

It's membership based.

Those in the Dawson community will have a free membership.

For community members who are outside of Dawson, they can purchase a membership for a very nominal fee.

It is a cashless grocery.

So that means that there will be no cash that transfers on site.

You can use your bank card, you can use your snap card, or you can upload cash onto your Bizarre card, much like you would at the laundromat.

We're hoping to connect with our Oklahoma producers, so our farmers here in Oklahoma to be able to provide a market for them.

Started in 2012 trip to Indonesia and living with the farmers overseas, and so I wanted to kind of connect those two bubbles together to create something that would be more in the farmers' favor and the community itself.

It's to provide healthy food at a non-profit cost in an area that is considered to be a food desert.

On top of that, we have a mission to make sure our children do not go without food.

So the bazaar is prepared to feed one free meal per child for all 450 students that go to school in the Dawson neighborhood, K through 12.

It's just going to be a much needed connection point for the community.

This is phase one currently in this project, and phase one is the grocery store and the food trucks.

We are trying to decrease our carbon footprint.

So our store we ran completely on solar energy.

Our packaging will be biodegradable packaging, our bags will be cloth bags that will be reusable.

They have applied and received ARPA funding.

I chose to use 500,000 of the district three funds to help with infrastructure.

The main goal of this initiative is to restore humanity and since it gives life to these communities.

Having good healthy access to food at a reasonable price in this community will be a game changer.

So it really provides a sense of ownership of belonging that this is the Dawson neighborhood market.

The project is Flat Rock Creek, and that is a partnership with the Tulsa Housing Authorities 36 North.

There are several schools in the immediate area, and this could be an outdoor learning experience.

We have held community meetings, my town hall meetings concerning this project, and it received overwhelming support.

The future is very bright for this project.

When you consider the housing that is returning to the area, not only the apartments that are owned by the Tulsa Housing Authority, but also several hundred homes will be built in that immediate area as well.

And so having this immunity in the houses all in the same immediate area is very bright.

Welcome to Tulsa, the oil capital of the world.

In this episode of our historic preservation series, we head downtown to explore the boom.

An era when Tulsa soared upward on steel and ambition.

Fueled by oil money and optimism, the city's skyline became a canvas for architects, artisans, and entrepreneurs who believed there was no limit to what Tulsa could be.

From grand hotels to gleaming towers, the art deco designs of the 1920s and 30s reflect a city at the height of its confidence.

Let's take a closer look at four iconic landmarks from Tulsa's golden age.

First, the Philcade and the Phil Tower, two masterpieces born of oil and vision, commissioned by oil magnate Wade Phillips.

These buildings were designed to complement one another inside and out.

The Phil Tower, completed in 1928, blends gothic revival with art deco, rising 24 stories with ornate terracotta detailing and a signature green tile roof.

Just across the street, the Philcade opened in 1931, flaunting pure Art Deco glamour from its gilded lobby to its geometric flourishes.

Together, they form a striking architectural dialogue, capturing both the romance and the reality of the oil boom.

Next, the Minx Adams Hotel, once the social centerpiece of downtown Tulsa, built in 1927.

The hotel was a symbol of prosperity and polish, with Italian Renaissance styling, intricate terracotta, and a two-story grand ballroom.

During the oil boom, it welcomed dignitaries, deal makers, and dreamers from all over the world.

It blends historic elegance with modern energy.

An enduring tribute to Tulsa's roaring twenties.

Rising above fourth in Boston is one of downtown Tulsa's most striking silhouettes, the Cosden Building, now known as the Mid Continent Tower.

The original 16-story structure was a symbol of oil boom ambition.

Commissioned by oilman Joshua Cosden, a man often called the Prince of Petroleum.

Originally completed in 1918, its most eye-catching chapter came decades later, when in 1984, an extraordinary engineering feat nearly doubled its height.

Rather than demolish the original structure, architects and engineers built a 20-story tower directly above it, cantilevered over the historic building with a hidden steel frame.

The result is a seamless blend of past and present.

A modern high rise perched atop a century-old skyscraper, mirroring its style so perfectly, it's often mistaken as a single, unified design.

Today, the mid-continent tower stands as a testament, not just to Tulsa's architectural legacy, but to its visionary spirit, where preservation and progress rise side by side.

These iconic buildings remind us of a time when Tulsa was growing fast, thinking big, and laying the foundation for the city we know today.

Watch more and learn with us as we uncover the places that shape Tulsa.

One historic property at a time.

So we identified some funding resources.

$75,000 from Vision allocated funds for District 8, which I get to represent.

And then I with a map out of the District 7 community development funds for $150,000 total.

And then $100,000 from the city's general fund, which will be used to repair the inlets to bring those inlets up to grade and to smooth out the ride for all of us on Memorial.

Thank you for everyone's patience as we identified this new funding source to now elevate the drainage for our stormwater drains and to smooth out the road.

I think you'll find a smoother ride as you head north or south on South Memorial Drive and South Tulsa.

After a very short time frame for construction, we'll have smooth lanes, just as I think the vast majority of our constituents want.

This summer I think we'll finally get to a place where it's smooth sailing, no more dips in the road, and no potholes.

I'd like to say thank you.

We cannot have the equipment that we have without the support of Tulsa's tax uh payers, all of the trucks that the Tulsa Fire Department uh buy.

We keep them consistent with one manufacturer.

That allows us to ensure that our fleet mechanics know exactly what they're working on.

Daily checks and maintenance and keeping these vehicles in tip top shape really provides effective response, but it also ensures that everyone, it's public, firefighters, and the community as a whole are safe when we're operating in the areas.

Some of the important things to look for are how body panels are fit, how the paint is, is it durable?

You want to make sure it's gonna last.

Because this is the city's investment for 10 plus years.

We want to get as much out of this truck as we can.

Right behind our people, this is the most expensive thing that we purchase.

From the time we design and purchase uh an engine is thirty-six months.

We want consistency to buy a certain number each year to replace um a certain number of engines, certain number of ladders and specialty units every year.

These trucks are kind of a final evolution in probably three versions that we've built over the last four or five years.

We like a little bit shorter length.

Um, it's a little bit easier to move within apartment complexes and and some of our two-lane South Tulsa roads.

This is a point of pride for the fire department, and the firefighters that are assigned to this vehicle will take care of it, inspect it and ensure it's working.

They're passionate about that that work.

Investment up front equals quality and safety over time.

Ensures that uh we have readiness and readiness is the most important part for us is having the ability to receive the alarm quickly, get out the door, having confidence in that equipment, making sure it's ready to go, and then it performs effectively is key to saving lives and property.

Starting in 2024 and continuing over the next four years, the city of Tulsa will start installing new automated water meters at more than 145,000 residential locations across the city.

The program is known as True Reads.

While the City of Tulsa has had reliable process for reading and changing out water meters for many years, automated meter reading technology has improved to the point that it now makes financial and operational sense to make the switch.

These new meters will minimize property access needs, control meter reading costs, cause fewer employee injuries, eliminate estimated bills, and deploy more environmentally friendly technology.

While there isn't much you need to do, we do want you to be aware that work will happen in your yard sooner or later.

Before contractors even touch that meter in your yard, you will have advanced notification and day of notification.

First, the city will maintain a regularly updated online map showing neighborhoods where meters are currently being installed.

That map can be found online at cityoftulsa.org forward slash true reads.

Second, one to two weeks before your meters installed, a door hanger with more information will be left on your door.

And finally, the day of your meter installation, you will be personally contacted by the contractor with a knock on your door.

While your meters being changed, you will be briefly without water for a maximum of 30 minutes.

And once crews are finished, all we ask is that you run your water for a few minutes to build pressure back up in your lines.

And that's because any time water is turned off, there is a chance your system will lose some pressure, and you could see cloudy water until it's restored.

Lastly, while contractors work to swap your meter out, they'll also perform what's known as a lead service line inspection.

Lead, which is a toxic metal that was used in plumbing materials in the past, can cause adverse health effects.

Well, we don't think there are many, if any, lead service lines remaining in our system.

We do want to find, document, and remove any lead that may be left in our system.

As part of the automated meter reading installation process, crews will do a quick check of the service line material, and results of that lead inspection will be made available on the online map.

For more information and to see a detailed list of frequently asked questions about the process, along with the map that we mentioned earlier.

Visit city of Tulsa.org forward slash true reads.

Can you show me 97 on my A12 on a second?

Place, please.

I was raised on a farm growing up.

I was raised to respect animals and care for them.

My heart is really just to care for these animals when when they don't have anyone else to care for them.

We have a ton of strays in the city limits of Tulsa, and a lot of people just see them as strays that you know they might just be on the streets forever.

They still deserve every chance that a dog has that is owned or cared for.

That's really my heart is to care for those animals that don't have an owner, to bring them here, give them a soft bed to lay on, give them food and water to where they can go out and get a loving home to continue their life into.

Good girl.

The most important part to me for this job is to, you know, build a relationship with the community.

If your dog doesn't have a doghouse or it needs a tie out to where it can't get loose, I want them to feel comfortable enough to come to us to where we can give them those resources.

We're not here to just write you tickets or you know, take your dog.

We're here to give you the resources that the community needs to be able to let you keep your dog.

Because a lot of times the dog can be a big part of your family and for your kids and everything.

We're not here to just take those animals.

We're here to give you those resources, give you dog food, cat food, anything that you need to let you keep your dog in the best way that you can.

Come on, Tweedy.

I think a lot of people don't realize if there's a stray baby goat, if there's a pig, we have to go get those animals.

And sometimes it can get a little hairy, you know.

If you're trying to wrangle a pig and you're chasing it, sometimes it gets a little crazy, but it definitely makes it fun.

Good girl.

We're here, you know, 24-7 to help the community.

Those are the relationships that I want to build with the community.

It's to know that we're here for them.

We're here to care for them and their animals.

Being an animal welfare is not just for the animals, it's for the people just as much as the animals.

Welcome to Tulsa, the oil capital of the world.

In this episode of our historic preservation series, we explore the church.

A story written not in brick alone, but in belief, community, and truthfully bold design.

In Tulsa's Cathedral District, rising spires and stained glass tell the story of a city shaped by faith and architecture.

These houses of worship reflect both spiritual devotion and the ambition of a growing city.

Let's take a look at three of Tulsa's most iconic sacred spaces.

First, the Boston Avenue Methodist Church, a national landmark of Art Deco architecture.

Completed in 1929, this church broke from tradition with its vertical lines, abstract ornamentation, an innovative design by architect Bruce Goff and artist Ado Robinson.

From its soaring central tower to its streamlined detailing, the building blends modernism with reverence.

It's not just one of Tulsa's greatest architectural achievements, it's one of the most important Art Deco churches in the country.

Next, the Holy Family Cathedral, the spiritual heart of Tulsa's Catholic community.

Built in 1914 in the neoclassical style.

The cathedral's masonry walls and steel-framed spires are faced with stone and brick.

The 251 feet tall main spire is faced with four large clocks, and its design evokes the great European cathedrals.

As one of the oldest churches in Tulsa, Holy Family is more than a place of worship.

It's a foundation stone in the city's story.

And finally, at the corner of 11th and Boulder stands First Methodist Church, the third home for a congregation, whose story stretches back to Tulsa's earliest days.

Founded in 1886, the church built a modest white chapel.

And as the city expanded, so did the congregation.

First into a red brick church at 9th and Boulder, then in 1921 into this grand structure that still welcomes worshippers today.

Built in the perpendicular Tudor Gothic style.

The church's design draws the eye heavenward with pointed arches and vaulted ceilings.

An architectural expression of reverence.

Its cruciform layout, a cross shape anchors the building in Christian tradition.

A symbol that this church, like its people, is grounded in faith.

These churches remind us that Tulsa's past wasn't just built with industry and ambition, but with faith, artistry, and community at its core.

Watch more and learn with us as we uncover the places that shape Tulsa.

One historic property at a time.

One hundred years ago, the Spavanaugh Water Project transformed the future of Tulsa.

In 1924, Tulsa embarked on one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in the country with a goal of getting clean, reliable water to the city.

In the early 1900s, Tulsons used water from springs, wells, and the Arkansas River, which was full of gypsum, salt, and silt.

People used to say that after you took a bath, you dried off and then you dusted off.

In 1908, during a hunting trip, a group of influential Tulsans came upon Spavanaugh Creek, a crystal clear spring-fed stream.

In the summer of 1921, the City Water Commission hired 28-year-old civil engineer W.

R.

Hallway to conduct surveys to determine if Spavanaugh Creek water could be brought to Tulsa by gravity flow.

In his report on October 24th, Hallway confirmed this was possible.

And a month later, the citizens of Tulsa passed a $6,800,000 bond issue by an overwhelming margin to fund the Spavanaugh Water Supply Project.

Hallway was hired to design and build what was one of the largest water projects in the nation.

Construction took two years to complete at a cost of seven and a half million dollars.

Spavanaugh Dam is two-thirds of a mile long, five stories high, and impounds eight and a half billion gallons of water in Spavanaugh Lake.

When first built, the reservoir became the largest lake in the state of Oklahoma.

Water from Spavanall Lake flows by gravity to the city of Tulsa, 54 miles away.

This original flow line was the longest raw water line in the United States at the time of construction.

Over its length, the pipeline drops by an elevation of only 90 feet.

Crosses under two rivers, over eight creeks, and tunnels through a 200-foot tall ridge.

On November 17, 1924, Tulsons lifted glasses of clean and clear water to toast the completion of the Spavanaugh water system.

After construction was complete, Hallway allowed the Tulsa mayor to put his final $15,000 paycheck in a bottle to float through the flow line, where he caught it as it came out at Mohawk.

Today, the city of Tulsa provides an average of 105 million gallons of refreshing award-winning water to over 650,000 customers in and around the Tulsa metropolitan area every day.

In 1924, the Tulsa World wrote, oil may have built Tulsa in the past, but Spavanaugh water will be the product by which the future will be built.

It was important that we try and figure out how to activate this corridor for future development.

And I think by doing this, we've created a place where small developers or even larger developers can look at this and it be an attractive place to spur growth and development.

I think it's important that when we invest in ourselves, investors will invest in us.

Most of us, when we turn on our water, we expect that clean, clear water is going to come out of our faucet.

Everybody got behind this initiative.

So thank you for going down this journey with us and making sure that we invest in our district and its future potential.