TPD Blog

Mayor Recognizes Two City Employees in New Program

Eddy Tijerina, Senior Safety Coordinator, Human Resources Department and Sgt. Skipper Bain, Special Events Coordinator and Police Reserves, Tulsa Police Department, received the first recognition rewards under the Mayor’s new Tulsa Blue employee program.

Mayor Taylor launched the new employee recognition program on Sept. 4 to focus on celebrating employees who exemplify high standards of collaboration and service at the City of Tulsa.

She surprised both employees with a proclamation, a special recognition jacket that marks them as an outstanding employee, a pen and pencil set, mug and crystal paperweight. Employees who receive this honor personally from the Mayor will also receive a special blue shirt with the new City of Tulsa logo. Through Tulsa Blue, Mayor Taylor will recognize two employees quarterly.

Human Resources Director Jeff Wilkie said, “Tulsa Blue is the main color of our re-branded City of Tulsa Logo and exemplifies the new kind of energy being experienced by our employees and the citizens we serve.

“This color will symbolize the unique contributions of our employees both within our City administration and outside in the community where we provide assistance and expertise to the citizen’s of our great city.”

Eddy began his employment with the City in the Parks Department as a Gardner I.  He promoted several times within Parks before moving over to Human Resources as a Safety & Health Specialist II in October 2001.  One year later Eddy promoted to Senior Safety Coordinator where he leads a team of Safety & Health Specialists as well as a Heavy Equipment Training Development Specialist.  Eddy oversees the Safety section and all heavy equipment training for all non-sworn departments.  He also provides consultative safety services to all City departments.

Eddy has worked with employees moving into new desks and workspaces at One Technology Center to ensure all chairs and equipment have an ergonomic fit. He has conducted 83 actual ergonomic evaluations at City Hall since April and led the effort to ensure that all employees received training around "Committing to an Ergonomic Fit" in all City Hall move orientation sessions

Skipper Bain has 30 years of service with the Tulsa Police Department. He has received several commendations from citizens in his role as the Special Events Coordinator on behalf of the City of Tulsa. In the time Skipper has worked in this capacity, he has supported over 2,000 events working closely with neighborhoods, non-profits and citizens.

Skipper is the person who is responsible to see that every detail gets taken care of in planning the use of streets and other aspects of special events. This involves many meetings with event staff, event administrators and any other entity that requires his expertise.

While accepting this recognition from Mayor Taylor, both Skipper and Eddy were quick to give credit the teams they lead.

TAYLOR TO SPEAK IN WASHINGTON, D.C. ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL DROP-OUT RATES

Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor will speak today at the Investing in Children: Dismantling the Cradle to Prison Pipeline discussion by USCM President and Mayor of Trenton, New Jersey, Douglas H. Palmer.

Mayor Taylor will follow guest speakers Marian Wright Edelman, President and Founder of the Children's Defense Fund, and Governor Robert Wise, President of the Alliance for Excellent Education.

In her remarks, Mayor Taylor will outline Tulsa's progress in addressing youth and gang violence, high school retention rates and workforce development initiatives. Taylor will speak on a number of programs, including the Tulsa Youth Intervention Project, the Tulsa Achieves Scholarship Program, and the MOVES project. "We are sending a clear message to young people in Tulsa," said Mayor Taylor, "that in spite of your past, you have the potential to do much better and we are going to help you get there."

The speech will cap the conference and will be the second time in two weeks Tulsa's progress on gangs has been highlighted nationally. The National League of Cities also touted Tulsa's progress on a nation-wide conference call last week which also featured Boston, Massachusetts and Fresno, California.

MLK Parade 2008

MAYOR'S BEAUTIFICATION PROGRAM WINS KEEP OKLAHOMA BEAUTIFUL AWARD

TULSA, OK - Mayor Kathy Taylor's High School Beautification Program has been awarded the Youth Group Award, given by Keep Oklahoma Beautiful Inc. (KOB) for best Oklahoma project by a youth group that was completed with minimal adult participation.

The award will be presented on Monday, November 19, 2007 during The Keep Oklahoma Beautiful 17th Annual Environmental Awards program. The awards recognize the good works of Oklahomans for their exceptional efforts in the areas of environmental improvement, beautification & landscaping and environmental education & promotion - completed during the 12-month period ending July 31, 2007.

The KOB Banquet will be held at the Oklahoma City Marriott, just prior to the organization's annual conference.

The Mayor's Award-winning program combined the efforts of high school seniors, the Up With Trees non- profit organization, the City of Tulsa and Tulsa Public Schools to design and implement nine different campus beautification projects across the city. The projects ranged from trees planted in common areas to the addition of park benches, to the building of a fence to set off a landscaping project.

"This year's Senior Classes took this project and made it their own, leaving a legacy behind for future school classes to enjoy," said Mayor Kathy Taylor. "But the best thing is that it doesn't end here, future seniors will continue to beautify the campuses of Tulsa's schools."

Tulsa's high schools seniors worked with Cara Phippen, a volunteer with the Mayor's office, to complete the projects.

A panel of judges reviewed all qualified entries for the KOB awards. Using an evaluation guide, the judges scored each entry based on certain criteria.

Keep Oklahoma Beautiful, Inc. was established in 1965 as a statewide nonprofit organization. Its mission is to encourage, promote and assist individual and group efforts in the areas of beautification, enhancement and preservation of Oklahoma's environment.

Its work is directed and accomplished by a voluntary board of directors.

Tulsa Celebrates National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week

This week, November 4-10, is an opportunity to celebrate an often overlooked city service, Tulsa's Animal Welfare Department. The week has been designated National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week.

"The City of Tulsa Animal Welfare Shelter provides many services and programs to help both animals and people," says Larry Briggs, Animal Welfare Director. "When combined, these services and programs play a valuable role in enhancing our quality of life."

These services include controlling dogs that are running at large, rescuing injured animals, returning lost pets to their owners and adopting animals into new loving homes. According to departmental statistics, the Animal Welfare Department fields between 60 and 70 calls per day on a variety of issues, including stray animals and reports of animal abuse.

Staff members at the Shelter have been trained to offer personal guidance to the public on animal-related issues and concerns, from dealing with wildlife to helping with pet behavior questions.

"Our mission is to assure Public Safety and Public Health," Briggs said. "Tulsa's citizens have the right to walk our streets and neighborhoods and feel safe. This means that animal owners must follow the city ordinances related to controlling and caring for their pets."

"We also want to reduce the number of unwanted animals in our community," Briggs continued. "In an average year, over 8,000 dogs, cats and other animals are impounded by our animal control officers. Another 5,600 are brought to the shelter by the public. Of those animals, not quite half are redeemed by their owners, adopted out, or released to rescue groups. Our goal is to increase the number of animals who are adopted and redeemed, and to offer more volunteering opportunities."

Tulsans Encouraged to Register for Clean-O-Ween this Saturday

Mayor Kathy Taylor encourages all Tulsans to participate in the fall city-wide clean up, Clean-o-ween, set for this Saturday.
"I hope that everyone will take an hour this weekend to clean up their neighborhoods, parks and places of business," said Mayor Taylor. "If everyone helps, we can be sure that visitors enjoying the beautiful fall foliage in our community will not be distracted by trash."
Participants should register their sites by calling the Metropolitan Environmental Trust at 584-0584 by 4 p.m. Friday, November 2. Trash bags and gloves may be picked up at the Sheridan M.e.t. Depot, 3495 S. Sheridan, between 9:30 A.M. and 4:30 P.M. today and Friday.