Surprise, Surprise, The City Is Running Out Of $$$

[Conan71]

"...Moreover, government is not a business, it's a public trust. Tulsans need somebody to keep the roads fixed, etc., in order for private enterprise to succeed. At this point, I don't really care who does it, so long as the unit of government is small, i.e. the city or county. I do not believe that the feds and state can run cities efficiently, it's not in their job description. But that's what will happen if the city ends up in receivership."

Someone tell that to our city "CEO".

Do we really need a director of film & music or a film & music office in the first place?  

Ms. Taylor created a new position of director of economic development.  What the hell is a chamber of commerce for?  (Let's not take off on a left turn over our inept C of C.)  Himelfarb being quoted in the Tulsa World at least once a week hasn't equated to thousands of jobs being created in Tulsa so far, nor large companies moving here.

Do we really need the newly created communications department?  Aside from the director of this department, how many people work in this area?

Why does the mayor have a general counsel aside from the city legal department?

How many "support" people with nebulous job titles and mysterious job responsibilities do we need to administrate our city government and departments of city government?

Oh yes, almost forgot, how about a study for an Amtrak line between Tulsa and St. Louis, or Tulsa to OKC and Ft. Worth.  I believe that is one of the initiatives on the city council or mayors list.  Rail transit works in densely populated areas like the east coast and west coast, not so well out where major cities are spaced 250+ miles apart.  It's a folly for this area.

[RecycleMichael]

There is no "director of film and music" under this administration. That was under the last Mayor. I had no idea where that title came from.

This person no longer works in the Mayor's office. She is now employed in the Urban Development office as a planning manager.

[Conan71]

Came from the COT web site:

http://www.cityoftulsa.org/OurCity/Business/FilmandMusic/Index.asp

[Chicken Little]

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

Ms. Taylor created a new position of director of economic development.  What the hell is a chamber of commerce for?  (Let's not take off on a left turn over our inept C of C.)

You may have answered your own question as to why the Mayor wanted her own economic development function.[]

As for the other stuff, sure, the Mayor should stand up and say why each of those things is important...maybe the Communications Dept. can help with that.

I think we are still talking past each other.  Even if you took every person and idea you mentioned out of the equation, it still wouldn't resolve this long-term revenue issue.  At the end of the day, the state and the county will still have their hands in the city's till.  

Does your ideaology prevent you from seeing the bigger picture?  Is it just more fun to take shots at politicians?  Or, possibly, do you have problems with multi-tasking?  Me?  I'm guilty of all of the above from time to time.  But, in this case, the problem seems pretty clear.

[Kiah]

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

Do we really need a director of film & music or a film & music office in the first place?

This was an added title tagged on by Bill LaFortune to this person's job.  It's not what she does on a day-to-day basis, and it never was the only thing she did.

Ms. Taylor created a new position of director of economic development.  What the hell is a chamber of commerce for?  (Let's not take off on a left turn over our inept C of C.)  Himelfarb being quoted in the Tulsa World at least once a week hasn't equated to thousands of jobs being created in Tulsa so far, nor large companies moving here.

I don't take issue with your question about the Chamber and its role, but Mr. Himelfarb appears to be quite effective.  He's much more than just a "deal-maker," as you seem to portray him.  He's also a manager -- overseeing the work of several deparments (airports, planning - in part, TDA, board of adjustment, development services, etc.)  But, even if you strike his $113k salary (a big chunk of which is funded by the Mayor's deferred salary), he's just 1/4250th of the city's workforce.

Do we really need the newly created communications department?  Aside from the director of this department, how many people work in this area?

This is actually the result of consolidating communications personnel from the various departments.  Several departments, such as police and public works, need people to communicate with the public about crime, notify residents of public works projects in their neighborhoods, etc.  The mayor has found efficiencies and coordinated the work of some of these people across departments.

Why does the mayor have a general counsel aside from the city legal department?

How many "support" people with nebulous job titles and mysterious job responsibilities do we need to administrate our city government and departments of city government?

Regardless of their specific titles, all mayors (and all executives) have deputies and advisors.  The current mayor's deputies also oversee the work of specific departments.  For example, the mayor's legal counsel also oversees the municipal courts.  In practice, it would be impossible for the mayor herself to attend to the details of every department's work -- though that's what the charter compels her to do.  She needs trusted people to act as her proxy when it comes to the day-to-day work of departments.

Oh yes, almost forgot, how about a study for an Amtrak line between Tulsa and St. Louis, or Tulsa to OKC and Ft. Worth.  I believe that is one of the initiatives on the city council or mayors list.  Rail transit works in densely populated areas like the east coast and west coast, not so well out where major cities are spaced 250+ miles apart.  It's a folly for this area.

This study would be done at the national level, perhaps with some state funding -- not local funding.

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by Chicken Little

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

Ms. Taylor created a new position of director of economic development.  What the hell is a chamber of commerce for?  (Let's not take off on a left turn over our inept C of C.)

You may have answered your own question as to why the Mayor wanted her own economic development function.[]

As for the other stuff, sure, the Mayor should stand up and say why each of those things is important...maybe the Communications Dept. can help with that.

I think we are still talking past each other.  Even if you took every person and idea you mentioned out of the equation, it still wouldn't resolve this long-term revenue issue.  At the end of the day, the state and the county will still have their hands in the city's till.  

Does your ideaology prevent you from seeing the bigger picture?  Is it just more fun to take shots at politicians?  Or, possibly, do you have problems with multi-tasking?  Me?  I'm guilty of all of the above from time to time.  But, in this case, the problem seems pretty clear.

No, I'm not just into lampooning politicians, though I do enjoy it. []  

When they are talking about revenue short-falls while at the same time wanting more compensation it goes right through me.  They are trying to spend money they don't even have available yet.  Annexing the fairgrounds is short-sighted on the part of the city and from anything I've gleaned out of these two threads, the annexation would just about cover the pay raises our counselors want and I don't know if anyone has figured out how much law enforcement would cost there.

The most viable discussion I've heard on here is revenue-sharing from the state and county.  

One in particular came to mind when I was reviewing the budget info that CF posted.   When oil and gas revenues are up for the state, that means municipalities are likely suffering with added costs to their budget that they may not have been able to forecast, like $3.29 a gallon gasoline and $11 per mcf natural gas in Sept. of '05.  That additional revenue should be spread around to help out municipalities who have vehicles to keep on the road and public facilities to keep heated and lighted.

Second, Let the state keep the income tax rate where it is at, raise it a little if necessary and give us back a penny.

Hoping the buying habits of Tulsans is going to change and work us back into prosperity is a fairy tale.

[inteller]

quote:Originally posted by AVERAGE JOE

This is @conan... I didn't quote his post to save space.

I'll add a twist to CL's post -- where would you suggest the City cut from? 80% of the city's general fund goes to personnel costs and 2/3 of that goes to police and fire. You want to cut the police force? LaFortune did that by eliminating an academy and crime shot up (we're just now recovering from that and getting the force back up to 800 officers). Fewer firemen?

The City has already cut non-safety departments just about to the bone. The Parks Department is practically a ghost. Code enforcement and neighborhood inspections - way down. There's no fat left to cut, it was all cut during the budget crunch the past 7 years.

So again, where would you cut? Let's hear it.

i would start by cutting her $130k a year secreteries....er "Assistants"  

I would also put the city doctor on a per patient pay basis instead of the $161k he makes now.  

Download the spreadsheet and start looking through all the salary bloat.  Shave off a few of those salaries and hire some grunts to get the city's business done.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=070306_Ne_A11_Cityo66558

[Kiah]

quote:Originally posted by inteller

i would start by cutting her $130k a year secreteries....er "Assistants"

Who's a secretary making anywhere near $130,000?

[TulsaSooner]

quote:Originally posted by inteller
I would also put the city doctor on a per patient pay basis instead of the $161k he makes now.

You would be able to hire Dr Nick Riviera and nobody else.

[inteller]

quote:Originally posted by TulsaSooner

quote:Originally posted by inteller
I would also put the city doctor on a per patient pay basis instead of the $161k he makes now.

You would be able to hire Dr Nick Riviera and nobody else.

then it sounds like the position isnt needed.

[shadows]

"But, even if you strike his $113k salary (a big chunk of which is funded by the Mayor's deferred salary), he's just 1/4250th of the city's workforce."

When one reads through these post it comes to their minds to how many time one can budget the mayor's deferred salary or is it only a noble justification to answer money distribution over and over.

The question that should be answered is:  " What amount of  taxes should be collected from each citizen to maintain the ageless bureaucracies that occupy city hall?"  Lets set a dollar amount so the citizens can quit guessing.        

[Wilbur]

quote:Originally posted by Chicken Little

The federal help is drying up, too.  From today's Tulsa World:

quote:Doing More with Less: Block grants shrinking as demands keep rising

This is exactly what Councilor Martin was saying in his report on the city's revenue last week.

The city's federal revenue has dropped by over 2/3rds since 1977, and almost 1/3rd since 2002, at a time when Tulsa could have really used that money the most.  In the same period, federal Medicare reimbursements to EMSA have dropped by at least 1/3rd and sometimes as much as 58%.  That drove EMSA into a tailspin, why would the city would be any different?

This "trim the fat", "let's run gov't like a business" claptrap is just plain silly in this case.  What business can succeed in an environment where partners and competitors are manipulating prices willy-nilly?  

Moreover, government is not a business, it's a public trust.  Tulsans need somebody to keep the roads fixed, etc., in order for private enterprise to succeed.  At this point, I don't really care who does it, so long as the unit of government is small, i.e. the city or county.  I do not believe that the feds and state can run cities efficiently, it's not in their job description.  But that's what will happen if the city ends up in receivership.

Community Block Grants do not fund day-to-day operations of city government.  Community non-profits submit program proposals for funding to the City, who then decide, with Council approval, what community programs get funded with block grants.  

A decline in block grants simply means less programs are funded by block grants.  And it does not mean the city picks up where the block grants stopped.

[Chicken Little]

^And Tulsa is worse off because of it.  Wouldn't you agree?

[Kiah]

quote:Originally posted by Wilbur

A decline in block grants simply means less programs are funded by block grants.  And it does not mean the city picks up where the block grants stopped.

OK, copper.  What about Local Law Enforcement Block Grants, which have dried up altogether? Has the city assumed any of those program costs, or is the city doing without important law enforcement programs?

[Conan71]

The salary spreadsheet is interesting.  There are some positions we have on city payroll I'm curious about.  Why don't we contract out things like photographers and graphic designers?  There are some job titles which just make you go "huh?"

For instance, there is a photographer on the Gilcrease payroll for $39.5K

There is a graphic designer in the Parks Dept. at $41K.

A workforce development manager in urban development for $80K.

I counted just over 250 employees in the telecommunications department and right at 100 in Urban Development.  I'm not an IT guy, but doesn't that sound like a lot of people in telecom?  I understand having to pay Sr. IT people what their market value is, but how many support people are needed?

17 district fire chiefs for what 35 or so fire stations?

Ben Stout, listed as a "mayors assistant" is paid $30K more than what the mayors salary is listed at.

I'm assuming these salary figures are the gross salary and don't take into account the actual payroll costs for employees.

Charles Hardt at $171K a year likely earns every penny he's paid.  I've often heard him referred to as the person who "runs" the city.

Maybe every last position is needed in all departments, but coming from the private sector and having worked for companies both large and small, I question the size of a lot of these staffs.