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.

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’ve watched two mayors come and go (yes, Taylor is going…or not) the last 8 years.  When LaFortune took office he brought with him his own agenda, applied said agenda, wrecked some long-standing processes, and then he was gone.  In come Taylor who brings her own agenda, applies said agenda, and now she will soon be gone.  Guess who is left behind to clean up the mess?  We citeewurkors who have committed ourselves to the citizens of Tulsa as a long-standing career.

For some reason, this reminds me of a science fiction book by Larry Niven.  He wrote a book called the Mote in God’s Eye.  In this book Niven describes an isolated civilization called the Moties.  The Moties have this serious problem where they will die an agonizing death if they do not give birth to offspring.  Not wishing to have an agonizing death, this results in cyclic population explosions for the Moties that always result in wars and essentially near-extermination back to their stone age days.  Then they begin again.  The Moties have tried and tried to stop these cycles of the rise and fall of their civilization.  They always try to figure out solutions toward the end of a cycle but always fail.

The city of Tulsa is like this in some ways.  We have cycles that repeat generally every four years.  For the most part, department managers are able to keep a good semblance of normalcy and can protect established civil services from meddling by the ever-changing administration in the form of the Mayor.  But sometimes the head honcho inflicts damage that is difficult to recover from.

Take for example Taylor’s policy of furloughing city employees.  While I wish these were not necessary, I understand that they are and will adjust my budget accordingly.  However, the last time this happened under LaFortune the city incurred massive expenses in the form of a lawsuit from certain citeewurkors just because of the way the furloughs were implemented.  One astute worker pointed out to the mayor when she gathered us all together with a question:  “Why are we going down this road again?”  One astute city attorney responds by saying a certain judge overturned a certain judgment.

Why risk it, Mayor?  While I hate to even say this, the solution provided for in the Charter appears to be layoffs in the affected fund area.  I’m not sure why this is so hard to understand.  Perhaps I do not fully comprehend the black and white rules that we all live by, but I’d say I’m pretty sure of what I read.  Somebody please enlighten me if I’m wrong.

Surely with all the brains we have working for the city, there is a way to come up with a solution that will not appear to violate anything.

All that said, I will have to concede one point the Mayor made.  Funding city government via sales tax has the disadvantage of being subject to a poor-performing economy.  I have no illusions of proposing solutions to this except maybe to figure out a better way to fund those areas of city government that rely upon sales tax revenue.  How that could come about is for those with bigger brains to discuss.

In any case, this brings me to the title of this post.  I submit to you that Tulsa would benefit from hiring a city manager.  This city manager would not be subjected to political whims every four years or influenced by lobbying interest groups and yes…  unions.  He or she would be concerned with one thing:  operating the various city departments in the most effective and efficient manner.  As a hired hand, it wouldn’t matter if he or she were a Donkey or an Elephant.  He or she would also have no need to hire a “cabinet” or create positions of vague description with high salaries.

Then we could just kick the mayor into a figurehead status instead of a jumping ramp to another political office.

Mayor Taylor had a meeting with city employees today at 9:30am (05-01-2009) regarding furlough days and/or pay reductions.

Full Playlist Here, or watch in sequence below after the jump.

NOTE: Comments are welcome, but remember this is a public web site and comments are visible to anybody in the world with an Internet connection.

http://www.newson6.com/global/story.asp?s=10287641

original video files cut up with PiTiVi

KOTV coverage

KOTV video:

Fox23 Video

Fox23 coverage
Fox23 coverage 2
Fox23 coverage 3
Fox23 coverage 4

Tulsa World
Tulsa World 2
Tulsa World 3

W.R. Holway designed the Spavinaw System in the early 20s to bring clean water to Tulsa. Mr. Holway’s sons, Don and Bill, talk about their father and the historic Spavinaw project which still brings water to Tulsa.

Video after the jump.

This first part is about 8 minutes of video about the history of Tulsa’s water system.  You should find it very interesting.  The video was created by the Tulsa Municipal Utility Authority. (video after the jump) enjoy..

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma recently was selected through a competitive process to be the City of Tulsa’s health insurance provider, effective July 1, 2009. According to Mayor Kathy Taylor, City of Tulsa, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma was chosen because of “competitive and flexible benefits available to our diverse workforce.”

In particular, the City of Tulsa was attracted to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma’s health and wellness programs, including implementation of new, on-site, free health care clinics for City employees and dependents.

“In addition to being the least expensive option for our employees, Blue Cross and Blue Shield also allows us to maintain important employee benefits and also expand benefits, such as on-site health clinics,” Taylor said. “Keeping the City’s and employees health care costs stable is important, particularly in these economic times.”

“We also are excited that OSU Medical College is a part of our program,” Taylor added Encouraging healthier lifestyles and making health care more accessible to our employees was a major point for us. “A healthier workforce contributes to increased productivity and a decrease in overall health care costs. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma’s health care programs not only encourage our employees to live healthier lives, but they also reward them for the healthy choices they make through the Blue PointsSM program.”

“We could not be more proud to welcome the City of Tulsa in to the Blue Cross and Blue Shield membership,” said Bert Marshall, president, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma. “As a major employer in Tulsa, we are dedicated to making a positive impact on the health care industry as well as on the city and throughout our state. We’re Oklahomans serving Oklahomans.”

The Mayor also sent out this email on the 17th announcing the change from long-time carrier, Community Care:

Exciting Healthcare Coverage News! Enrollment is May 1-30!!

I know that good, affordable healthcare coverage is important to you (and your family). Cities and companies across our state and nation are seeing increased costs not only in premiums but decreased benefits that cost employees money out of their pocket. To be sure we had the best product at an affordable cost, insurance companies were asked to submit competitive proposals this year. The initial proposals came in with increases of 10% -24% in costs for you and for the City. With the economy this year, we knew you didn’t want to see that kind of increase and neither did the City. Our goal was to keep costs as close as possible to current costs and not decrease benefits substantially. Also, employees have done such a great job this year with our new emphasis on health and wellness-we wanted to be able to encourage your good habits and provide opportunities for more!

I am happy to say thanks to the work of a great team-we have reached this goal!

The Blues-Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma (employing over 1,200 people in Tulsa alone!) will be our insurance partner effective July 1, 2009

What does this mean to you?
1. Family premiums will decrease. Individual premiums will be stable.
2. Deductibles will carry over from our existing carrier to our new insurance partner.
3. PPO plan design gives you more choices when it comes to choosing your healthcare provider throughout the state
4. NEW*.Health care clinics ON SITE at two city facilities three days a week for several hours each day
5. NEW Exciting additional health and wellness programs and initiatives, allowing you to earn points for engaging in healthy activities-points can be redeemed for things like Nintendo Wii Fit or various retail gift cards!
6. Zero deductible for prescriptions
7. A national network of providers that will ensure coverage for employees with out-of-state dependents
8. One plan-three service options providing flexible choices at the time service is given
9. Emergency/urgent care coverage while traveling out of state or abroad through the BlueCard(sm) Program
10. A GREAT website with lots of information about the plan and tips on health and wellness (Visit it today at www.bcbsok.com)
11. And a lot more information to come with your April 30 paycheck

The City of Tulsa employee Health Fair will be in May and Blue Cross will help us make it the BEST ever, with online access and extended hours to make it more convenient for you and your family to participate in health assessments!

If you have questions-send them to communicationdept@cityoftulsa.org under subject: Healthcare coverage, and we will post answers to the frequently asked questions on the Intranet. In the coming weeks, we will bring more information directly to you.

We are excited to partner with a top rated company financially, a company that values and supports your health—-and will be a great partner for Tulsa. We think you will be pleased too. We are most happy to have been able to ensure that our employees did not have to increase their out-of-pocket costs to maintain important health care benefits.

Thanks for being a part of the Tulsa team!

Sincerely,

Kathy Taylor
Mayor

While I’ve never had issues with Community Care, I welcome this change of pace.  I’m wondering if the recent controversy with Community Care and the Hillcrest network influenced the decision to change providers.

As is in my nature, I became curious as to the bidding process and began navigating the dense and confusing jungle known as the City of Tulsa Purchasing web site.  I finally found on this page what I believe to be documentation of last year’s bidding process and have provided documentation links below.

These appear to be the pricing bids from last year. (doc)  Since that is a word doc and some people have a hard time with those, I’ve made it into a Google document that can be viewed in your browser.

There are also various pdf files associated with the same pricing document.

I’ll comment more on this a bit later, and when I find copies of this year’s bidding process, I’ll post those, as well.

In the meantime, I thank Mayor Taylor for her and HR’s efforts at getting us the best value possible, and I have full faith that the resulting employee-paid premiums will be as low as possible, although I fully expect the out of pocket expense to be higher.  I only say this, because history has shown this to always be the case.