At its Oct. 20 meeting, the Tulsa Human Rights Commission discussed modernization of the city’s discrimination-complaint intake process, plans to analyze representation across city authorities, boards and commissions (ABCs), and details for a Nov. veterans-focused Fair Housing Summit.

The vice chair reported that LaKendra Carter and Deontre recently met with the city’s IT department and the Department of Resilience and Equity to explore a secure electronic system that would allow Tulsans to submit discrimination complaints with an electronic signature and give authorized staff reporting and tracking tools. The vice chair said the city’s legal team previously suggested, if the city revisits the human rights ordinance, one change would be to remove the requirement that complaints be submitted to the city clerk — a step the commission said could support an alternative secure intake system.

Commissioners noted 311 already provides initial intake for some human-rights contacts and that integrating a future online submission system with existing customer-care tools would aid implementation. A commission member described the need for a process that is “secure,” “reasonably confidential” and provides time-stamped documentation for potential litigation.

The commission also discussed its 2025 goal to review equitable recruitment for city ABCs. Commissioners said they have demographic data by council district and other self-reported demographics and plan to convene a working group to analyze discrepancies in representation; the city auditor was identified as a potential collaborator. Commissioner Parisa and others said certain districts (First, Sixth and Seventh) appear historically underrepresented on ABCs and that councilmembers expressed interest in addressing those gaps.

Separately, the commission’s Fair Housing Committee outlined plans for a second annual Fair Housing Summit focused on veterans on Nov. (exact date in November noted by organizers). Legal Aid will provide fair housing 101 and a tenant-landlord session as it relates to veteran status; city staff, neighborhood associations and housing stakeholders were listed as expected participants. The summit will be at the Centennial Center at Veterans Park, across from the VFW, and organizers said registration is optional but helpful for planning. The commission reported about 35 registrations within two weeks of announcing the event.

Commissioners asked staff to continue stakeholder conversations with IT and legal staff and to return updates. No ordinance change or formal policy was adopted at the meeting; commissioners described the discussions as planning and goal-setting for 2025 and early 2026.