Mayor Announces City Employee Team Wins Bid for OTC Building Maintenance and Operations
Mayor Dewey Bartlett is pleased to announce that the City team currently performing building maintenance and operations won their bid for the City’s first managed competition project, affecting 10 employees in the division.
“This is a big win for our City team, as well as our taxpayers,” said Mayor Bartlett. “It proves our employees are well-equipped to compete with private firms in a bidding process that will save the City money and improve efficiencies and service. Our City team’s winning bid was made possible under the direction and administration of the Management Review Office. The was created to find opportunities in the efficiency study to make government more effective and less costly.”
“Our employees are greatly valued for their unique talents, skills, insight and experience. Today’s announcement will not only benefit City employees but will ensure taxpayers are receiving the best value for their money,” Bartlett added.
The City’s electrical, mechanical, plumbing and carpentry needs are currently budgeted at $1,093,008 per year. In a bidding process to lower the City’s costs and become more efficient, the City’s team competed against 12 private services and submitted the winning bid of $977,190, which represents a savings of $115,818 in annual expenses.
Some of the reductions made by the City team occurred by eliminating one vacant position – that of mechanical journeyman – so that no existing employees had to be displaced. The City team is relinquishing two vehicles to generate further savings. Additionally, the team will upgrade their work order software to a web-enabled solution to streamline their processes and improve service, communication, and customer satisfaction. After the upgrade, the team expects to reevaluate staffing to determine whether further staffing efficiencies are possible.
The City’s Building Maintenance and Operations was bid in four components: management, maintenance, janitorial and parking services. Combined, these are expected to have the potential of saving taxpayers more than $180,000 a year. The City team was supported through the efforts of Larry Hood from Purchasing and David Ward from Public Works with process improvement training and cost analysis.
The City team submitting the bid proposal includes: John Comer, Bobby Tullis, Terry Hope and Scott Thomas. Also participating were Deputy Director Dan Crossland, Manager Thomas Chandler and AFSCME President Michael Rider. Upon awarding the bid to the City team, a will be developed to document the team’s pricing and service level commitments. The City’s first Gainsharing Agreement will also be established to incentivize the team to produce even greater savings and efficiencies.
Mayor Bartlett added, “From the efficiency study to the citizen survey, the City of Tulsa is becoming a good example of how to maintain government services by running the city like a business – making it more efficient, looking for cost savings, optimization and managed competition.”
Currently, the City’s is reviewing and vetting 18 project recommendations from last fall’s efficiency study. Of those 18, six projects have been identified that can potentially save citizens $2.6 million annually, which include: Maintenance Services, Building Maintenance/Operations, Streets Maintenance, Time and Attendance, Crossing Guards and Public Works Reorganization.
Updated 06-02-2011
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