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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

October 19, 2026 Regular Meeting of the Tulsa Human Rights Commission

City Council — Monday, October 19, 2026

BodyTulsa, Oklahoma

SessionCity Council

DateMonday, October 19, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 3:30:00

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Unassigned speaker

0:00

I don't know.

Unassigned speaker

5:04

We are

Speaker 1

5:05

now

Speaker 2

5:05

live.

5:05

I appreciate it.

Speaker 3

5:06

Good afternoon, everybody.

5:08

I'm Drew France, the chair of the Human Rights Commission, and I call this meeting to order.

5:12

This is the October 2026 regular meeting of the Human Rights Commission of the City of Tulsa.

5:16

And we don't yet have a quorum, but we are only one short, so I'm hopeful that we'll get a quorum.

5:20

And if we don't, we will just not take any official action.

5:24

Still plenty going on today.

5:32

She's gonna take notes and support us while Lexi's out on fall break.

5:35

Natalie, do you mind telling us what role you perform for the city?

Speaker 4

5:38

Hi, I'm Natalie Russell.

5:40

I'm the opioid abatement response coordinator.

5:42

Um I'm in the same department as Lexi, and I basically manage the state-level opioid settlement grant.

5:51

It's awesome.

5:52

Thank you.

Speaker 3

5:53

What does that mean?

5:54

What's that what's a day in the life of the opioid abatement officer?

Speaker 4

5:57

Um managing the grant, so processing invoicing, making sure we're meeting our grant deliverables, um, quarterly reporting, monthly to quarterly reporting.

6:09

Um it's a lot to juggle.

6:14

We'll just put it in that little bitty nutshell.

Speaker 3

6:16

What types of services is that is that work providing?

Speaker 4

6:20

The first grant cycle we worked with Tulsa Public Schools, uh Tulsa Fire Department.

6:25

Are you guys familiar?

6:26

Have you heard of there's a lot of RTs, but the overdose response team so this grant funds uh with the fire department, and then we also did zero overdose training in the communities with the first grant, the second grant.

6:43

Um we were conditionally awarded, so technically we have it, but it's not official because we don't have the grant agreement signed

Speaker 5

6:52

yet.

Speaker 4

6:52

But this one will continue that ORT.

6:55

Um, and then we'll also be introducing uh medications for opioid use disorder for your creators.

Speaker 3

7:03

Thank you so much.

7:04

Appreciate you helping while Lexi is out and uh look forward to working more and learning more from you.

7:10

Uh, we're gonna skip the meeting minutes since we don't have a quorum.

7:14

Um get right to our our guest speaker to be respectful of his time.

7:19

Uh and have our guests come up.

7:21

Um hopefully you've met uh Brentham Tom Tom.

7:25

I see him uh everywhere in the community.

7:27

He's mayor nickels deputy chief of staff, and he's here today to tell us about his work for the city, how the scope of that work intersects with the interests of the human rights commission, and take a few of our questions.

Unassigned speaker

7:36

I appreciate him making time for us.

Speaker 3

7:38

Awesome.

7:38

So

Speaker 2

7:38

just

Speaker 3

7:39

here.

Speaker 2

7:40

Awesome.

7:40

Thank

Unassigned speaker

7:40

you.

Speaker 2

7:41

Uh no big formal presentation for you guys today.

7:45

I appreciate you guys.

7:46

Um again, if we haven't got a chance to meet, uh, my name is Brentum Todd, uh Deputy Chief of Staff to Mayor Nichols.

7:52

Um staff about a year and a half now, and so really enjoying um you know running alongside this administration helping uh improve Tulsa as best as possible.

8:02

Um lifelong Tulson, born and raised here.

8:05

Um definitely did not like have any ambition to go into politics.

8:11

I just try to show up, been in nonprofit work, been in some for-profit work, but try to show up and add value wherever I am.

8:16

And so uh I was at a point uh and got a call to come and be a part, and so this is just how I'm showing up.

8:23

Much um, you know, kind of kind of in a way similar to how you all you know felt the call and urge to be a part of something like this of showing up adding value in this space in human rights.

8:34

So I I appreciate you.

8:35

I uh a part of what I do works with supporting Title 5 Commission specifically, as well as the Beyond Apology uh Commission, and I know alongside Lexi and the DRE team, um, we get to work with you guys interchangeably uh throughout different times, and I'm visiting each one of the commissions this fall that I help um work with and talk about how important it is to continue to represent the diverse voices that the city holds.

9:10

Obviously, um in the mayor's office there are only so many of us, um, but you all get to almost serve as an extension of what we do every single day by not only um you know bringing recommendations that you come up with as as you represent the different communities that you do, um, but also by continuing to help spread the word about what is going on.

9:33

There are so many people who are in their everyday lives that don't get as much visibility, even though we have an amazing uh system like TGov and these meetings are open for anyone to come to.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Historic Preservation█████████████████████21%

Human Rights Commission████████████████16%

Public Engagement█████████9%

Water And Wastewater Management██████6%

Public Safety█████5%

Procedural████4%

Stormwater Management████4%

Animal Welfare████4%

Mental Health Awareness████4%

Summary of Proceedings

October 19, 2026 Regular Meeting of the Tulsa Human Rights Commission

Chair Drew France called the October 19, 2026 regular meeting of the Human Rights Commission to order. A quorum was not immediately present, preventing formal action, but the meeting proceeded with discussions and a presentation from a guest speaker.

Guest Speaker & Discussion

Brentum Todd, Deputy Chief of Staff to Mayor Nichols, addressed the commission. He expressed the mayor's office appreciation for the commission's role in representing diverse voices and acting as a recommending body, emphasizing the importance of aligning 2027 recommendations with the mayor's six core priorities to leverage existing momentum.
Todd highlighted the significant challenge of recruiting qualified Tulsans to serve on the city's Authorities, Boards, and Commissions (ABCs), describing it as a constant struggle to maintain a strong pipeline of candidates. He encouraged commissioners to actively help build this pipeline.

Public Comments & Testimony

A member of the public raised a concern about the difficulty of getting a city code violation regarding a sidewalk addressed, expressing frustration with being directed back and forth between the police department and the 311 system. Chair France acknowledged the difficulty and offered to assist in routing the complaint to the appropriate department after the meeting.

Discussion Items

2027 Goals & Learning Agenda: Chair France presented a summary of a survey completed by 10 commissioners. Proposed topics for the 2027 calendar included learning from peer cities about human rights complaint processes, improving language access and 311 referral systems, disability rights, fair housing, immigrant and 2SLGBTQIA+ rights, mental health access, veteran issues, and facilitating constructive dialogue. A commissioner strongly advocated for directly including community residents as speakers to ensure initiatives are done 'for them', not 'to them'. The commission agreed to form a working group to develop a structured 2027 learning calendar.
Improving Human Rights Complaint Process: LaKendra reported ongoing progress on digitizing the complaint process, including work on automated email response templates, a reference number structure, and a dedicated email address. Commissioners expressed interest in publicly publishing aggregated complaint data to increase transparency and measure progress.
Authorities, Boards, and Commissions (ABCs) Representation: The commission discussed methods to improve outreach in underrepresented districts. Suggestions included adding demographic questions to the application form (pending legal review) and creating better promotional materials. The discussion connected directly to Todd's earlier comments on the need for a stronger applicant pipeline.

Key Outcomes

No official votes were taken due to the lack of a quorum.
The commission will finalize its 2027 goals and learning agenda at the next meeting on November 16, 2026 at 3:30 PM.
Ideas regarding the complaint process and ABC representation will be forwarded to city staff for feedback.
A working group will be established to schedule guest speakers and plan the 2027 calendar.

Committee Reports

Fair Housing Committee: Shifted its senior services fair housing summit to Spring 2027 to better coordinate with partners during Fair Housing Month.
2SLGBTQIA+ Committee: Distributed information on the human rights complaint process at the October 17th Pride Parade. The committee is also exploring a partnership with OSU for a community survey.
Veterans Affairs: Commissioner Starks announced the November 11th Veterans Day Parade, projected to be the largest in Tulsa history with over 140 floats, 5,000 marchers, a live performance of the 1812 Overture by the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra with four howitzers, and a military flyover.
Native American Affairs: The Dreamkeepers Award Ceremony honoring 12 individuals is scheduled for November 17th.
Asian Affairs: Commissioner B highlighted effective bilingual outreach flyers used by other commissions as a model for the HRC.

Announcements

Mayor Nichols' community conversations on public safety: October 26th - November 5th.
Black Educator Excellence Award Ceremony: October 27th.
Tulsa Equality Indicator Summit: November 4th.
Asian Affairs Luminary Award Ceremony: November 9th.
Humanitarian of the Year Award Ceremony: December 10th.

Meeting Transcript

I don't know. We are now live. I appreciate it. Good afternoon, everybody. I'm Drew France, the chair of the Human Rights Commission, and I call this meeting to order. This is the October 2026 regular meeting of the Human Rights Commission of the City of Tulsa. And we don't yet have a quorum, but we are only one short, so I'm hopeful that we'll get a quorum. And if we don't, we will just not take any official action. Still plenty going on today. She's gonna take notes and support us while Lexi's out on fall break. Natalie, do you mind telling us what role you perform for the city? Hi, I'm Natalie Russell. I'm the opioid abatement response coordinator. Um I'm in the same department as Lexi, and I basically manage the state-level opioid settlement grant. It's awesome. Thank you. What does that mean? What's that what's a day in the life of the opioid abatement officer? Um managing the grant, so processing invoicing, making sure we're meeting our grant deliverables, um, quarterly reporting, monthly to quarterly reporting. Um it's a lot to juggle. We'll just put it in that little bitty nutshell. What types of services is that is that work providing? The first grant cycle we worked with Tulsa Public Schools, uh Tulsa Fire Department. Are you guys familiar? Have you heard of there's a lot of RTs, but the overdose response team so this grant funds uh with the fire department, and then we also did zero overdose training in the communities with the first grant, the second grant. Um we were conditionally awarded, so technically we have it, but it's not official because we don't have the grant agreement signed yet. But this one will continue that ORT. Um, and then we'll also be introducing uh medications for opioid use disorder for your creators. Thank you so much. Appreciate you helping while Lexi is out and uh look forward to working more and learning more from you. Uh, we're gonna skip the meeting minutes since we don't have a quorum. Um get right to our our guest speaker to be respectful of his time. Uh and have our guests come up. Um hopefully you've met uh Brentham Tom Tom. I see him uh everywhere in the community. He's mayor nickels deputy chief of staff, and he's here today to tell us about his work for the city, how the scope of that work intersects with the interests of the human rights commission, and take a few of our questions. I appreciate him making time for us. Awesome. So just here. Awesome. Thank you. Uh no big formal presentation for you guys today. I appreciate you guys. Um again, if we haven't got a chance to meet, uh, my name is Brentum Todd, uh Deputy Chief of Staff to Mayor Nichols.

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