Amairani Torres-Chamu knows firsthand how hard it is to feel represented as an immigrant, especially when she could not yet cast a vote.
Being part of the Greater Tulsa Area Hispanic/Latinx Affairs Commission allowed her to build a bridge between community members who have felt similarly and city officials.
“It can feel very hard to feel like you have a space when it comes to local government decisions and politics,” said Torres-Chamu, a former commission chair.
Torres-Chamu is one of many local leaders in the Latino community who have served on the city commission. Established decades ago, the commission is one of six representing different communities and is made up of 15 mayoral- and county-appointed volunteers.
A community member should reach out to the commission if a city service isn’t accessible to them or could be better suited, said Carlos Bejarano, who recently completed a term as chair.
“We could look into it, we could talk to the city and whatever department is managing that and maybe try to come up with some kind of resolution to make it better for the services that are being offered to the Hispanic community,” Bejarano said.
Community members can also reach out if:
- they want to express their opinion to a particular council member;
- speak at a commission meeting during public comment;
- feel as if the commission should have a stance on a city ordinance;
- if they think commission can help with a particular situation in a neighborhood.
In addition to advising, the group also celebrates community members through an annual awards ceremony. The Tomás Rivera Recognition of Excellence in Education Awards honors high school seniors and local heroes supporting education in the Latino space.
Fatima Linares, commission member and chair for the group’s education committee, said the award started small but has continued to grow.
The commission brings together the awardees, their family and friends, the mayor’s office and local law enforcement for the award ceremony each May. It allows the students and families to feel seen by local officials, she said.
“Sometimes as an immigrant, we shut ourselves down because we might get intimidated or we don’t see people that represent us or that look like us in bigger rooms,” Linares said. “So having them be in that room and being recognized, I think it’s just a fuel. It’s a fuel that they need to continue to move on with their dreams.”
This year’s nominations open Jan. 23. The award ceremony is scheduled for May 14 at Central Library.
In 2026, the commission hopes to increase its community involvement at events. The plan is to determine which events would be the most impactful for the commission to participate in, Bejarano said.
“All the commissioners are volunteers, they all have individual jobs,” he said. “So there’s a difference between the desire to want to participate and then the capacity to actually be able to do it. So we want to make sure that we are doing it with intention.”
This year, the commission will also launch a handbook explaining the constitutional rights of restaurant owners and their employees “at risk of unconstitutional search.” Restaurants across the country have been targets of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids.
“This playbook is essentially like an eight-page document where it’s a checklist for managers to understand what are the considerations and what are the conversations you need to have as leaders in the event of an unconstitutional search,” said Jackiez Gonzalez, the newly elected chair.
The commission meets at 5:30 p.m. every second Thursday of the month at City Hall, located at 175 East 2nd Street, 10th Floor, North Conference Room.
Meetings are open to the public. You can also listen online here. To apply to be a commissioner, click here.
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