Tulsa Title V Commission Meeting - October 8, 2026

The Tulsa Title V Commission convened on October 8, 2026. The meeting featured remarks and a Q&A from the City of Tulsa Deputy Chief of Staff, Brenton Todd, presentations from the Gilcrease Museum and Avanzando Juntos, and updates from several commission committees.

Consent Calendar

• The meeting minutes from September 2026 were approved. Two members who were absent for the previous meeting abstained from the vote.

Discussion Items

• Deputy Chief of Staff Visit: Brenton Todd introduced himself and thanked the commission for its work as an extension of the Mayor's office. Commissioners raised two concerns: the need for clearer timelines and communication in the city appointment process, and the need for dedicated funding for commission outreach activities and materials. Todd acknowledged these issues and suggested including operational funding needs in the commission's end-of-year recommendations for potential budget appropriation.
• Gilcrease Museum Presentation: Alejandro Garay, the new Latin American Art and Culture Curator, presented his goal of acting as a "bridge" between the museum and the Latino community. Commissioners discussed the importance of language access, affordability, and co-creating programming. A commissioner shared positive personal experiences with the museum's past children's programs.
• Avanzando Juntos Presentation: Executive Director Onelia presented the organization's work supporting small businesses through loans and education. Reported data includes serving over 2,000 participants, deploying $2.3 million in loans to 228 small businesses, and maintaining 111 active loans. The organization is applying for CDFI certification. A commissioner shared a personal testimony of receiving a critical loan from the organization during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Committee Reports:
  • Executive Committee: Beginning leadership and project planning for the next year.
  • Education Committee: Scheduled its first meeting.
  • Community Advocacy Committee: Attended Fiesta de Tulsa and Festival Americas. A draft community engagement toolkit was circulated for commissioner feedback to standardize outreach.
  • Public Safety Committee: Reported high activity in outreach, including the TB-D Faith in Blue event and Halloween events with TFD.
  • Immigration Committee: Planning a meeting with an immigration attorney. Commissioners discussed the difficulty of tracking ICE activity and detainee frequency. A commissioner expressed a belief that the Sheriff's department's perception of its relationship with the Latino community does not match the community's perception, and requested to join the next meeting with the Sheriff to clarify information pathways. The committee aims to establish quarterly engagement with the Sheriff's office.
  • Human Rights Commission: A commissioner reported that the Human Rights Commission is modernizing its complaints process to include an online filing option, moving beyond the current paper-only system. Language access is a key focus of this update.

Key Outcomes

• September 2026 meeting minutes were approved (two abstentions).
• Commission concerns about appointment timelines and operational funding were formally acknowledged by the Deputy Chief of Staff, with the direction to include budget needs in the end-of-year recommendations.
• A community engagement toolkit was introduced for commissioner review.
• The Immigration Committee will pursue quarterly engagement with the Sheriff's office for transparency.
• The commission received an update on the Human Rights Commission's modernization of its complaints system, including a focus on language access.
• A new immigrant services liaison from the Department of Resilience and Equity was introduced and will join the Immigration Committee.
• An announcement was made for the Hispanic Author Award event featuring Yui Morales on October 31st at the Martin Regional Library.