Tulsa government, business and nonprofit leaders traveled to Kansas City earlier this month as part of the Tulsa Regional Chamber’s annual InterCity Visit — something the chamber has conducted the last 17 years.
This year’s trip included a quorum of city councilors and county commissioners and at least one presentation on how government, business and philanthropic sectors can work together to create a long-term vision. Then, the conversation turned to Project Nexus — sparking questions as to whether elected officials violated the Open Meeting Act. Councilors and county commissioners say they abided by the state statute throughout the visit.
First reported by the Tulsa World, Project Nexus is a roughly $900 million proposal backed by Williams to establish an arts and entertainment district on nine blocks in northwest downtown. The plan is to build 500,000 square feet of retail and office space as well as 540 multi-family housing units anchored by a soccer stadium for FC Tulsa.
According to the Tulsa World’s reporting, part of the Project Nexus plan would include eventually relocating the Tulsa County Jail and the social service agencies operating along Archer Street.
Two Tulsa County commissioners, seven members of the Tulsa City Council and Mayor Monroe Nichols made the trip Oct. 5-7. Those elected officials sat in on a presentation from former Kansas City Mayor Sly James, convened by Tulsa chamber staff.
Several sources say a chamber official told the group it was a “closed meeting” and not to discuss information shared in the presentation. The Flyer asked the Tulsa Regional Chamber if staff were aware they could be facilitating an Open Meeting Act violation by convening quorums of public officials.
The chamber called the trip “productive” in an emailed response but made no reference to the question about the Open Meeting Act.
Which elected officials made the trip to Kansas City?
- Mayor Monroe Nichols
- District 3 Councilor Jackie Dutton
- District 4 Councilor Laura Bellis
- District 5 Councilor Karen Gilbert
- District 6 Councilor Christian Bengel
- District 7 Councilor Lori Decter Wright
- District 8 Councilor Phil Lakin
- District 9 Councilor Carol Bush
- District 1 Tulsa County Commissioner Stan Sallee
- District 3 Tulsa County Commissioner Kelly Dunkerley
Project Nexus ‘part of the discussion’
The majority of past InterCity Visits have included members of the media who paid their own way and reported on information shared. That was not the case this year. No meeting agendas were posted, which is typical of public bodies when a quorum may be present, and no minutes taken.
While city and county leaders have not discussed Project Nexus in public meetings, Commissioner Stan Sallee says Project Nexus was “part of the discussion” in Kansas City.
Williams CEO Chad Zamarin participated in the conversation, with other corporate executives in attendance, such as Webco CEO Dana Weber and Bill Knight, president and CEO of Bill Knight Automotive Group. Elliot Nelson, founder and CEO of McNellie’s Group, and Philip Kaiser, a George Kaiser Family Foundation board member, also attended.
Sallee told the Flyer he and fellow County Commissioner Kelly Dunkerley attended the presentation but did not engage in discussion “to be on the safe side.”
“But it wasn’t involving any county business either,” Sallee said. “I mean, if you call the soccer field and development downtown — it’s really more city business.
“They talked just about the development, not anything in particular. Not about the building or the location or what other dollars are going to come in their view… It was more — from Williams’ standpoint — that we’re engaged. We want to see Tulsa thrive. We want to see improvements in downtown. We’d love to see the county jail gone one day — those kind(s) of things.”
Council Chairwoman Karen Gilbert, who represents District 5, has a different view of the visit and says councilors did not discuss city business on the trip.
“It was never a meeting called to order or anything like that because we went to those meetings and flipped them so people talked to us,” Gilbert said. “We didn’t bring any of our city business to be discussed in Kansas City.”
‘Risk’ of violating the Open Meeting Act
The Open Meeting Act, which regulates how governments advertise and hold meetings, applies when a majority of a public body is together conducting business of the public body.
Joey Senat, an associate professor at Oklahoma State University, says a quorum of public officials can be together in social situations as long as they do not discuss “public business.”
“The best way to define that is that something they could take action on,” Senat said. “Something that’s within their purview that they would be voting on at some point.”
However, Senat says public bodies need to use caution when they send numerous members to presentations.
“As long as it’s a majority there, they risk violating the Open Meeting Act,” Senat said. “…Even when a majority receives information about something on which they could vote, that would be a violation.”
Ethan Hutchins, Tulsa County’s communications director and public information officer, told the Flyer a recent change in state statute allows quorums of county commissioners to “attend and participate in conferences, trainings, and educational, press, and social events,” as long as “no official action is taken and any discussion of county business is incidental to the event.”
“Without additional information about the specific activities and conversations during the Regional Chamber’s InterCity visit to Kansas City, I cannot speak to the details of the trip or confirm what subjects may have been discussed…” Hutchins said. “However, the mere presence of two or more county commissioners at a conference or similar event does not, by itself, constitute a violation of the Open Meeting Act.”
Why some councilors left the meeting
In August, the Tulsa City Council approved a total of $17,500 — $2,500 for each councilor — for registration and travel costs for District 1 Councilor Vanessa Hall-Harper, Dutton, Bellis, Gilbert, Bengel, Decter Wright and Lakin. However, Gilbert says Hall-Harper did not attend the InterCity visit. District 2 Councilor Anthony Archie also did not attend.
Nichols’ travel to Kansas City, both in August for a site visit and October for the InterCity Visit, was covered by Williams. Tulsa City Council voted Wednesday night to accept two separate donations of $992 from Williams.
Bellis says she, Decter Wright and Bush eventually left the meeting to avoid creating a quorum once it was clear chamber staff were interested in a facilitated discussion after James’ presentation.
Sallee says Gilbert voiced early in the presentation that city councilors could not speak with chamber staff due to the Open Meeting Act.
“I’m a little unclear about who convened it — I think it was the chamber — but I think some of the people who might have done that just like, didn’t fully understand the dynamic of open meeting policy and stuff like that,” Bellis said. “It kind of just felt like they didn’t really get what it meant for us to like, participate in that way.”
Bellis says the entire trip was very “soccer stadium geared.” Chamber staff members and some public officials visited the Kansas City Current’s stadium on the first night of the trip. The stadium, which opened in KC’s Berkley Riverfront Park in 2024, is the first venue built specifically for a professional women’s sports team.
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