TAO amends committee bylaws, elects officers and adopts committee slate at annual meeting

At a Thursday, Aug. 28, meeting, the Tulsa Authority for Economic Opportunity amended its bylaws to realign committee names and scopes, elected officers for the coming year and adopted a proposed committee membership slate.

Renita (staff member) told trustees the changes were intended to align committee responsibilities with the authority’s organizing structure as it ramps up operations. She said the board would move from five to six committees, add an economic development and workforce committee, rename the personnel committee to “administration and operations,” and rename and retarget other committees so incentives, economic development and TIF-related work have clearer review paths.

The board approved the bylaw amendments, the slate of officers and the committee membership by roll call. Trustees also approved a standard consent agenda, the authority’s annual meeting schedule for 2026 and a resolution updating payroll signatories. All of those motions passed on roll-call votes with affirmative responses from the trustees present.

Trustees discussed how the incentives work and the new economic development committee will coordinate. Renita said staff expect representatives who manage incentives and workforce/economic development projects to attend overlapping committee meetings so trustees can review projects in full scope. Trustee questions focused on operational coordination — for example, how the incentives review will be bridged with broader economic development strategy — and staff said the approach would rely on joint staff attendance and practice rather than specifying cross-membership in the bylaws.

The nominating committee presented the same slate of officers from the prior year, with Mayor Monroe Nichols automatically continuing in the chair role, Andy McMillan named vice chair, a trustee listed as assistant secretary on the slate, Joan Parkhurst named treasurer and Lynn Kane, identified in the meeting as finance director, named assistant treasurer. Trustees approved the slate by roll call.

Board members said they will circulate an updated committee roster after trustees who volunteered to chair the newly created real estate & asset management committee and the new economic development & workforce committee are finalized.

The board also held an executive session on legal matters and after returning to open session authorized the board’s legal counsel to proceed as discussed in executive session (see actions list). No additional votes were taken in open session on matters discussed during the executive session beyond the authorization recorded by roll call.