Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
The Greater Tulsa African American Affairs Commission (GTAC) held its regular meeting on October 13, 2026. Commissioners received committee updates, heard from a guest speaker from the Mayor's office, and discussed community concerns including early voting access, educator recognition, and the Human Rights Commission's compliance process. Public comment was also heard.
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. Art One or Alternate Response Team 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 Copes 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. 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 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 call 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 for 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 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 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 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, Canes 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 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.