Human Rights Commission names Drew vice chair, forms two working committees and urges members to attend council ordinance vote

The Tulsa Human Rights Commission voted to make Drew France its vice chair for the remainder of 2025 and assigned commissioners to two working committees to develop outreach for complaint access and to recommend strategies for diversified appointments to city authorities, boards and commissions.

The commission’s chair opened nominations and a motion to nominate Drew France was made and seconded. The chair called the question and, after asking “All in favor,” recorded the motion as passed with no opposed votes noted. "Motion passed," the chair said.

Context and why it matters

Commissioner Josiah, who announced he would step back from the vice-chair role, summarized recent commission activity and told members a human-rights ordinance would be on the City Council calendar later in the week. He said the ordinance would update the local human-rights code to expand public-accommodation protections and identified gender identity and veteran status as included categories in the proposal; one other category in his remarks was redacted in the meeting transcript. The commission encouraged members to attend or monitor the City Council committee meeting at 10:30 a.m. and the City Council full meeting at 5 p.m. on the scheduled day to observe or speak in support.

Committee formation and membership

The commission established two working groups to advance two 2025 goals previously adopted by commissioners: 1) modernize and remove barriers to the city’s human-rights complaint filing process and related resources; and 2) increase diverse representation across city authorities, boards and commissions (ABCs). The members announced in the meeting were:

- Resources/accessibility committee: Drew France, Desiree Edwards, Josh Starks, Parisa Pilovar, Amanda Peregrina and Dave Walker.

- ABC representation committee: Casey Bocks, Larissa McNeil, Katie Ella Murray, Tamika Rogers, Anthony Meadows and Anna Burrows. Anna Burrows said she represents the community-at-large seat and that she expects to participate in the ABC work.

Commissioners discussed logistics for committee work, including the possibility of meeting before full commission meetings, holding subcommittee meetings that would not be recorded, or scheduling separate times and rooms on city floors for working sessions. The chair asked for volunteers to serve as group leads ("ring leader") and asked members to confirm any swaps or substitutions by email.

Upcoming council vote on ordinance

Josiah told commissioners a vote on a human-rights ordinance to update protections was scheduled for Wednesday, with a 10:30 a.m. committee meeting and a 5 p.m. full council meeting. He said he and Commissioner Starks had worked with city legal on draft language. Commissioners were encouraged to contact their own city councilors and to attend the meetings in person; the chair offered to help guide commissioners through the council process if they wished to observe or speak.

Ending

The commission adjourned after housekeeping and event announcements. Members were advised the commission will continue to form working plans and to coordinate schedules for committee meetings ahead of the next full commission meeting.