City Furloughs

[Wilbur]

Someone, PLEASE, help me understand....

In March, the Mayor puts in place a city-wide hiring freeze........ then over the course of not even two months, authorizes the hiring of 60 more people, then..........  announces she has no choice but to layoff 17 current employees in order to meet budget, then ..........  hires some dude as Intragovermental Affairs at $80K+, then ...... who knows what's next.

Please pass the duct tape!  My head is about to explode.

[RecycleMichael]

Many of those 60 hires were police and fire...

[tnt091605]

This is an excellent point, Shadows.  Many cities have a residency requirement for city employees.  Last I heard, over 60% of their employees live outside of Tulsa, which is a lose-lose for Tulsans.  For emergency workers, it puts them further from work in case of trouble; police cars in driveways are making some suburban city safer; and a couple of thousand employees are spending their salaries in ways that benefit neighboring, and unfortunately competing, cities.

Oh that would make the applicant pool just great.  Here you have a GED you can be a police officer.  The schools in Tulsa suck so people move to other cities including the city employees.

[tnt091605]

Possibly the Mayor could hold a "Town Hall" style meeting and give the public an opportunity to question some of these "vital services". You know a modern day approach to allow the citizens of Tulsa to become more involved in the local Government.

TulsaNow could make this happen.

The Mayor could make this happen.

These cuts affect more than just the City employees.

If she did that she might have to try and work up another fake cry.

[custosnox]

If she did that she might have to try and work up another fake cry.

Okay, I don't care much for the mayor. I think she has made a lot of mistakes.  However, nitpicking every little thing is getting petty.  I see the same things when it comes to Obama, and saw the same with Bush.  When everything you say about a person is negative (or positive), then it hurts your credibility.  If you cannot give credit where it is due, then you will be concidered a zeolot and folks will think that you are going to say whatever you want just to push your own view point.

[tnt091605]

That occured when times were better. Many of those employees don't work there anymore.

Many of those salaries are also lower than similar responsibility positions on the council staff. Most of her staff also makes less than the starting salary of a Tulsa police officer. The council chief of staff makes 15% more than the Mayor's similar person. The council has a research guy being paid $76,000 per year. Why the outrage of the Mayor's staff and silence on the Council's?

If you compare the salaries of the top people, the IT guy, Communications officer, the lawyer, the Chief of staff, etc., you will see they are right in line with similar paying jobs in other cities and the private sector.

Where did you find out the mayors staff salaries?  A starting police officer earns $38,000 a year during the 6 month academy.   Then they make $42,000.  It is hard for  me to believe that the mayors staff makes less than that.

[RecycleMichael]

read page three of this thread

[Oil Capital]

read page three of this thread

So.... I guess when you said "most of her staff also makes less than the starting salary of a Tulsa police officer" you meant to say "1 or 2 of her staff also makes less than the starting salary of a Tulsa police officer"?

[RecycleMichael]

Some of those mentioned shouldn't be considered  "her staff". Most of them were there before her and some of them, like the city Physician work independently of her.

Of the remaining ones mentioned, almost half make less than the starting pay for a police officer. Again, compare these salaries to the same jobs for the City Council and the County Commission. They are competitve, but right in line.

I am not saying that they are not overpaid nor underpaid.

[Wilbur]

I am not saying that they are not overpaid nor underpaid.

That would mean you are saying they are paid just right!

[RecycleMichael]

That would mean you are saying they are paid just right!

I think some are and some aren't. I think making a blanket statement about any workforce seems foolish. I am sure some of the top paid people work very hard to earn their pay and others don't. I would bet the same is true of the lower paid workers at the city and any other company of 4,000 employees.

[Wilbur]

Okay you attorneys.....

In a story coming out of California, the Feds are threatening to withhold stimulus money because California is cutting the wages of a union health care group.  Something about the stimulus bills prevents lowering wages below prevailing rates.

Do any of you know if that is something that only applies to the health care field?  Just California?  All unions?  .....?

My angle is, could the City of Tulsa cut wages (or furlough employees) who are members of a union if the city accepts stimulus money?

[Chicken Little]

Oh that would make the applicant pool just great.  Here you have a GED you can be a police officer.  The schools in Tulsa suck so people move to other cities including the city employees.

Man, you so totally know what you're talking about: 

The Top of the Class
The complete list of the 1,300 top U.S. high schools

Showing 1 to 9 of 9 Schools from 2008

RANK   SCHOOL   LOCATION   STATE   INDEX   SUBS. LUNCH   E&E
41   Classen School of Advanced Studies    **   Oklahoma City   Okla.   4.659   32.8   50
66   Booker T. Washington    **   Tulsa   Okla.   4.04   34.2   37.2
467   Edison Prep   Tulsa   Okla.   2.068   32.5   16.8
470   Edmond North   Edmond   Okla.   2.058   15   36.8
872   Norman   Norman   Okla.   1.528   19   70.5
878   Jenks   Jenks   Okla.   1.522   16   27.8
1129   Edmond Memorial   Edmond   Okla.   1.277   17   31.4
1205   Edmond Santa Fe   Edmond   Okla.   1.211   18   23
1296   Norman North   Norman   Okla.   1.124   22.9   22

Awwww...it seems that Owasso and Broken Arrow didn't even crack the top 1,300.  Buck up little campers!  There's always next year.

[custosnox]

Man, you so totally know what you're talking about: 

Awwww...it seems that Owasso and Broken Arrow didn't even crack the top 1,300.  Buck up little campers!  There's always next year.

Booker T is 1 school out of how many?  And what does the ** indicate?

[swake]

Booker T is 1 school out of how many?  And what does the ** indicate?

I assume you missed Edison.

That's two of nine TPS high schools in the top 5% nationally, that's awfully good for an underfunded mostly poor and minority urban school district. TPS has great challenges and does a good job overall working to overcome those challenges.