Mr. Roland received his request in the form of a written memo dated Oct. 20, 2009 signed by the director of Human Resources, Jeff Wilkie.  This memo (see below) states that 8 employees received “stipends” in December of 2008 for “improvements found” and “acknowledgement of completion” of a certain city training program.

The memo does not state how much each stipend was. However, Mr. Wilkie confirmed to Bill Roland verbally that each stipend was $2500.   That would be a total of $20,000 given out in bonuses.

About a month after these stipends were handed out, the mayor sent out an email to all city employees that read in part (emphasis mine):

We have a duty to keep the City’s finances on firm ground. And with the economy stalling and tax revenues falling, that necessarily  involves making some hard choices. Nothing would please me more than to avoid some of the choices that will likely confront us in balancing our FY09-10 budget. But in the current economy, the only wise course is to prepare for the worst. All Tulsans should be confident that we will watch the City’s economy and budget closely over the next few months and take whatever actions are necessary to ensure that we deliver a sustainable balanced budget.

From my management team, to supervisors to all employees we must work together to emphasize responsible fiscal management. Therefore, until further analysis of the City’s economic outlook can be determined and effective immediately, all departments must engage in practices that either cut expenses or are revenue neutral. This means:

1. Placing a hold on hiring and promotions, including temporary employees;
2. Requiring that all overtime be approved in advance by supervisors. It goes without question that Supervisors should use sound judgment and common sense in making such decisions, particularly if overtime is required to deal with an emergency or public safety situation;
3. Supervisors will evaluate existing purchase orders to reduce obligations;
4. Unless it is revenue neutral (both in terms of cost and resulting overtime), no new travel will be approved until further notice;
5.Within seven days, all supervisors will report status of previously stated fuel reduction goals. Fuel savings are subject to recapture and may not be used for other purposes.

It would appear that these bonuses, or “stipends” as they are called in the memo, were given out shortly before the real budget crunch started happening.  Then again….  it was becoming obvious several months before these bonuses were given out that the budget was going to be in trouble.

As stated in the previous post on this subject, the amount is quite small when compared to the entire budget of the City.  However, it is disconcerting that a select few, priveleged employees – apparently all from the same work group – received more money in the form of a stipend than what most city employees earn in one month.

A young, male Walmart employee working on the same aisle noticed me looking at the dinners and started laughing with this annoying nose-snorting thing.  Quizzically, I check my fly to be sure it isn’t wide open.  When I see that it isn’t, I inquire, “Why are you laughing?”

With about three teeth in his head and spit escaping from his mouth while he talked/laughed, he blurts, “Those sat on the back dock all night and thawed out.”

“Are you serious?” I inquire.

“Yeah, I found them this morning and since they were still cold, they told me to put them back in the freezer.”

“Oh”.

Go Walmart Go.

I called Mr. Roland and spoke with him about this issue.  He tells me that Jeff Wilkie, the city’s interim HR director, verbally confirmed to him that 12 human resources employees did, indeed, receive $2,500 “stipends” – allegedly for their “superb” participation in a certain training program conducted by the city for city employees.  This verbal confirmation occurred about 2 weeks ago from the date of this post.

Mr. Wilkie notified Mr. Roland that he will comply to the FIA request in the form of a written statement, which has yet to be received.

While $30,000 may not seem like a lot when compared to the entire budget, I would consider it not a very good idea – at least for the sake of appearances – to be passing out extra money when there is reportedly no extra money to be had.

Updates will be posted as they are received.

The city is going to have to cut approximately $3 million more out of this year’s fiscal budget.  This is in addition to cuts already made, including furlough days, reduced wages, and hiring freezes.

Emory Bryan, in his report today on KOTV, made a good point that a lot of Tulsans do not know about (video).  It pertains to which departments should be getting cut this go-around (emphasis mine):

The cutbacks will impact basic city services like police, but not utility service because that’s self supporting.
The cuts will come in the city’s general fund. That pays for police, fire, streets and parks.

If you’ve ever wondered about your water or sewer service facing diminished service levels…  don’t worry, they’re completely safe.  These services are what’s called “Enterprise” fund departments.  What this means is this:  When you pay your utility bill, guess where that money goes?  Goes into a fund that is COMPLETELY SEPARATE from the city’s general fund which is funded by local sales tax. Public works is a utility, and you pay them with your monthly utility bill.  That’s how they maintain their service levels despite the fact that sales tax revenue is down.  It is really not much different than ONG or PSO.  You get billed by them and that is what they operate from.

Technically, the departments that might need to worry are police, fire, and parks.

Now, that said, I believe that we citeewurkors should all pull together to get through this tough time. I’m willing to take a few furlough days as a public works employee, even if it means the mayor will take money out of the Enterprise fund and somehow get it into the general fund.  (I’ve never understood how that is done legally, but I digress….)

However, there is one thing the mayor and I do agree on.  When she  gathered us all up to talk about the furlough plan, she mentioned one thing:  funding certain core city services through local sales tax is a bad idea.  She never offered alternatives, but I agreed nonetheless.  Perhaps diversifying funding for the general fund would be in order.  Ah heck.. what do I know….  I’ll just leave that to the creative accountants budget folks.

So… the next time you hear someone complaining about public works having whatever million dollars worth of overtime..  just remember where that money comes from.  Your utility bill.  Not your taxes.

Thank you, drive through.

I did eat out this evening, though….   Man was it worth it.  Went to Olive Garden at Utica Square.

I’m a big meat and potatoes kind of guy so I ended up with this dish called Steak Toscano.

mmm….   cow….  medium rare thank you very much.

Of course, no meal would be complete without cheesecake.  I love cheesecake.  Cheesecake is seriously the food of the gods.

I ordered the White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake.

heaven…

But the best part of this rare evening out?  The company.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers later arrested Roberto Salvador Alvelais-Torres — a man they described as an illegal immigrant. An affidavit for a warrant to search Alvelais-Torres’ Chevrolet Suburban states that he admitted to a state trooper that he was the driver who hit Duffield.

The affidavit, signed by Trooper Randall Clark, indicates that Trooper Joel Franks located the Suburban — which had a damaged front-end — in a Sinclair Refinery parking lot near 31st Street and Southwest Boulevard. Franks then found Alvelais-Torres at work at the refinery, the document says.

I was hoping that the Tulsa World would follow up and hold Sinclair to the fire as to why a purported illegal alien – now alleged murderer – was working for them.  Surely they know that Oklahoma recently passed HB 1804 which strictly tightens down on employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens.

This is really sad for the Duffield family and my heart goes out to them.

Were this my relative, I would definitely be inquiring of Sinclair why this man was working for them.  Had Sinclair not enabled this person to work here, Mrs. Duffield would still be here with us today.

Contact Sinclair and ask them what the deal is.  I’ve used their contact form, but have not yet received a response.  When I do, I will post here for you to read.

I get the strange feeling that somebody is watching me.  I look over and see this:

It’s a fuzzy picture, but yes that is an Oklahoma gray tree frog.

So…  instead of screaming like a little girl and running through the house with shampoo in my hair, I very calmly and politely ask, “Could you pass the soap, please?”  I finish my shower with this frog just sitting there being still hoping I don’t see him.

Kermit now lives in my front yard somewhere.

http://meeciteewurkor.wordpress.com/

Comments will not be accepted on the old archives site.
I got some good laughs reading through some of that old stuff…. wow.

I can’t remember where I heard about this movie, Fireproof.  I watched it last night.  Wow.

Here’s a trailer:

In the movie, a book is referenced called The Love Dare.  It’s a 40 day journey where you do one thing each day to dare yourself to love.  Day one in the movie was to have patience and to be kind.  It went on and on until day 40 …  well, I won’t spoil the movie for you.

If you’re serious about your marriage or are just curious, this could be one way to get you to take a closer look at yourself and that special partner of yours.

I’m not married anymore, but I’m going to buy the book regardless.  Perhaps the practice will come in handy one day…

Be sure and read the recipe first, or the following won’t make much sense to you.

The one step that takes the longest is getting your Fels Naphta bar melted.  The recipe I came up with utilizes a crock pot, which is much easier than using your stove top.  Remembering that you should never bring the soap to a boil, it generally takes 6-8 hours in a crock pot to fully melt the soap.

So here’s sort of a “preemptive strike” type of solution to make it easier.  After you have your first batch of soap done and are using it, let’s go ahead and get our fels naphta bar ready for the next batch.

What you need:

• Crock pot
• metal mixing bowl that fits in the crock (optional)
• fels naphta bar
• 1.5 quarts of water

I use a metal mixing bowl that fits into my crock pot.  I find it easier to manipulate the soap, but this is optional.

First pour 1.5 quarts of water into your crock pot and set the bar of fels naphta into it.

If your crock pot has a “keep warm” setting, use this setting.  Let it sit overnight.  NEVER use the high setting or allow the mixture to boil.  You’ll have a nice yellow, bubbly mess if you do!

After the bar is completely melted, stir the mixture up really well.

Allow to cool completely, preferrably overnight.

The mixture will gel just like jello only a little thicker (see the spoon sticking up by itself?)

Now take a butter knife and slice the gelled up soap into even slices or squares or circles, however you feel at the moment.  Place them into a gallon-sized plastic storage bag:

Store in a cool, dry place.  The next time you are ready to make more laundry soap, it will only take you about five minutes to melt your fels naphta bar instead of 6 hours!

Ta da….