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Excited about new City Manager

Filed under: General Topic, Annual Budget, Economic Development, City Council, Clinton Detention Center — Allen at 1:06 pm on Sunday, March 20, 2011

I cannot tell you how excited I am about new City Manager Steve Hewitt.  I think we are very fortunate to attract a professional like Steve and his first 3 weeks on the job have re-enforced my original feelings.  He has immediately stepped into the job and moved us forward on several subjects.  I am impressed with his ability to come up to speed quickly and also to see the areas he can push to make immediate results.

We are working on Chapman road, taking the money our lobbyist has assisted to find and getting that project done.   A project that has been a dream since the late 90’s.  It now appears we will have it done by early 2012.  The docks at Acme Park are moving forward to be reality.

We will be working over the next few months to get word out to the public on our sales tax renewal.  Lots going on in Clinton.

On another note, it appears the director of Oklahoma’s Office of Juvenile Affairs has been caught trying to steer government money to his next employer.  The original request for proposal is dead and we shall see if Clinton wishes to be part of any future work with OJA.  As long as Gene Christian is involved I will not be.  His honor and honesty appear to be questionable.  Worst of all he is one of the more arrogant people I have ever dealt with.

The Northeast water project is finished and it was done out of our annual budget.  I think paying as we go is better than the prior North central redo of water lines.  The money to accomplish that was borrowed and we still pay for today, even though it was finished almost 10 years ago.  We actually owe less today, in bonds, than when I came on the council.  With the support of the people on the sales tax we will work to be debt free in 8 years, build a new fire house and increase our Economic Development funding. 

Exciting times as we start to set up the boards recommended by the Clinton 2020 vision sessions.  Soon we will be working on budgets for the next year and taking into account how we can clean up and make our entry ways more attractive.  These are great times to live in Clinton.  Thanks for your continued support.

Continuing to open up City Government

Filed under: General Topic, Annual Budget — Allen at 10:51 pm on Monday, January 8, 2007

One of the ideas being thrown around is to record the city council meetings and then arrange for playback on channel 99 of the local cable system (Cable One).  These recordings would run a couple of times each week, 4 times between each new council meeting.  This would enable citizens that were unable to attend the meetings in person to record or watch the replay live at 4 different times.  Just another way to give citizens a way to keep up with what is going on in Clinton City Government. 

 

We continue to discuss the next town hall meetings and I look forward to announcing a date in January for my Ward 2 meeting that will occur sometime during February or March 2007.  If you have any input for the location, subject and or date, please feel free to email me @ vabryson@hotmail.com or call me at the office (580) 323-7039.  I want to hold this meeting before the April/May budget meeting start.  That will allow for public input regarding projects and priorities for the July 2007 through June 2008 budget year.  Just another sign of Clinton progress. 

Grayson Bottom receives a raise.

Filed under: General Topic, Annual Budget — Allen at 1:42 am on Friday, December 22, 2006

Tuesday night the council voted 4-1 in favor of a $4,500 salary increase for City Manager Grayson Bottom.  My support of this is based on several factors.

 

1)  The average of several towns (our size, slightly larger and slightly smaller, with a City Manager form of government) is 82,950+ per year in salary alone (without out auto allowances).  Grayson’s salary had been paid $69,000 per year (plus an auto allowance of $ 9,000) after our raises at budget time, effective July 1, 2006.  Grayson has been paid well under “average” for his 3+ years of service to Clinton.  I believe he has demonstrated the ability to fulfill his responsibilities at a level well above other city managers.  It was understood when he accepted the position that he would have a period of “on the job training”, but with many years working for the Dept. of Commerce, it was anticipated the learning curve would be short.  Grayson, like all of us, will continue to grow in his position.  However Grayson has become a substantial asset to the City of Clinton in his position.  I believe he has taken the direction of Mayor Lynn Norman and the other council members and developed a strong grasp of budgeting, management and planning for future growth in Clinton.

2)  Grayson has developed and executed a plan to extend the sewer line east of the river (for the first time in the history of Clinton) and expand and improve the water system east of the river.  This is a huge accomplishment, but it is even more spectacular in that these improvements were financially shared by grants (non repayable), Cheyenne and Arapaho tribal entities financial commitment and very reasonable dollars from the City of Clinton.  Out of a total cost of $ 1,285,000 dollars (water and sewer improvements) Clinton has paid $ 413,000 dollars.  Finding a way to do this has added jobs and the possibility for expansion in businesses and housing.

3)  At the direction of Council Grayson has budgeted $ 650,000 dollars to “repave” our streets and fix sidewalks and curbing.  $ 150,000 of this was through grants (non repayable).  With these dollars we are beginning to repair years of wear and damage, letting visitors know we take pride in Clinton’s upkeep and maintenance.

4)  At the direction of council, Grayson overhauled the budget system, to make it completely transparent.  He included department heads in our meeting, allowing for more contact and understanding, both from the council and the responsible department personnel.

 5)  Hired a code enforcement officer and Clinton is already seeing the results.  The best result is a shorter turnaround time from the identification of problem structures to their demolition or rehabilitation.

6) Grayson pushed to hire Mart Tisdal to review all Clinton mineral ownership and in the process Mart located minerals that Clinton had not been receiving the royalties on, thereby increasing Clinton’s income from royalties.

 

In the interest of space, I these are just some of the many reasons I supported a raise at mid budget year for City Manager, Grayson Bottom.  I have more and would be glad to share them with anyone who is interested.  Because we have adjusted Grayson’s salary to what is closer to a fair and just compensation level, I do not believe it will be necessary, in the future, to review his salary at any time other than the annual budget review.  With his total compensation now at $ 73,500 and $ 9,000 auto, $ 82,500 total, I anticipate this has brought Grayson closer to a fair compensation level.

Since coming on the council I have pressed City Manager, Grayson Bottom, to increase all city employees pay in a financially prudent and fair way.  After years of no salary increases, we have increased pay for the last 2 budget periods and I anticipate another pay review/increase in next years budget (to be completed in June 2007). 

I am always glad to discuss subjects with any citizen.  Feel free to call.  The changes we have made to the budget process allow any citizen to come and watch the budget being put together in May and June 2007.  I would always encourage citizens to take advantage of this opportunity.  Normally the budget takes several hours of discussion and compromise to finish.

 
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