Audit: Street changes needed

By P.J. LASSEK World Staff Writer - 11/4/2009




View the final audit report as presented to the City Council.


City streets will not improve unless the Public Works Department and elected officials "drastically change their approach," an independent audit shows.

City councilors on Tuesday heard highlights from the final report on an audit of the Public Works Department's street maintenance and engineering divisions.

The report was submitted in the form of a 52-page PowerPoint presentation. It was also given to the Transportation Advisory Board.

Members of EMA Inc. of St. Paul, Minn., the firm hired to do the audit, told councilors during a committee meeting and later members of the advisory board that the city has not adequately funded street maintenance.

The audit states that long-term maintenance is provided by voter-approved funding; however, "this five-year funding is not adequate to meet Pavement Condition Index targets."

Although the voter-approved $452 million "Fix Our Streets" program is well-done and well-documented, "it is the default street maintenance program."

Mayor Kathy Taylor said after the meeting that the audit is "a great road map and tool for us to do better."

"It's a positive report. It gives us the facts," she said. "A lot of this is about changing the way we work and allocate resources."

Councilor Bill Martinson said he isn't surprised with the audit's findings, many of which he has talked about for quite some time.

The councilor supported a comprehensive $1 billion street plan that was replaced by the smaller version that voters approved.

"While I agree there is always room for improvement," he said, "what I do know is that Public Works has a plan and knows what needs to be done, but until there is dedicated funding, we'll still have problems with the streets."

Councilor G.T. Bynum, who pushed for the audit, said he thought the report contained a lot of new information. He said the city needed an outside, unbiased assessment.

Bynum said he is interested in one finding that indicated there is "an institutional aversion to change, whether it be within the city or the department."

The council is expected to discuss the issue again in two weeks.

EMA's Brian Hurding said that the city leadership, constituents and the management of Public Works have dissimilar priorities, which has resulted in mismatched priorities.

EMA's Judith Cascio said an example of that is the allocation in the Fix Our Streets plan, which has construction funding, but nothing for maintenance.

"So the citizens are expecting one thing, the council is also expecting it, but there is not the funding or the plan" to meet those expectations.

Throughout the report and EMA's presentation to the council and advisory board, references were made to "city leadership" or "leadership." After the meeting when the Tulsa World asked who the "leadership" was, Cascio said "the mayor and council."

When asked why the report didn't state that, Hurding said "we wanted that vague."

Councilors wanted the audit completed before work went too far on the Fix Our Street package. EMA's contract was not to exceed $240,000.

Hurding, a mechanical engineer, said the audit found that 51 percent of the work done by street maintenance crews went for special projects and special events such as D-fest, Tulsa Tough and Tulsa Run.

Also included in that figure was work for other departments, such as fixing parking lots for the Police Department and driveways for the Fire Department and mowing for the Park Department.

Hurding said the problem is that there is no "charge-back procedure" for that type of work, "so it is being done at the expense of the streets."

He also said 50 percent of the work done is reactive maintenance, mostly generated from calls to the Mayor's Action Center, which are treated as emergencies.

Cascio told the advisory board that instead of the city promising a 24-hour turn-around on pothole repairs generated from calls, customers should be told the work will be done in 72 hours or the near future when crews are scheduled in the area.

Cascio said changes should be made within the Public Works Department, including a performance management program, automated time and attendance system, better communication, a plan to institute new technologies to develop performance measures, aligning organizational capacity with service delivery, and changing the department's management style of top down to a team-based approach.



P.J. Lassek 581-8382
pj.lassek@tulsaworld.com


_________________________________________________

Tulsa World Reader Comments
_________________________________________________

Loophole, (11/3/2009 2:28:35 PM)
Why, we've done it this way since statehood, what's all this new technology stuff? We use concrete and asphalt like all the other enlightened cities, so what's the difference? Just because the street contractors gripe and moan if a project isn't big enough to fund their retirement plans, what's the big deal. Bottom line, change the street department heads, change the contractors, and get rid of the good ole boy regime.

THESMOKEHOLE, Tulsa (11/3/2009 2:30:13 PM)
Maybe we should have gotten this audit before the vote...

DrewTU, (11/3/2009 2:31:31 PM)
It's not enough money, plain and simple. Just wait until we have to replace all the water infrastructure soon. The cost of maintaining infrastructure is going up and up and citizens aren't willing to pay for it.

Eric, Tulsa (11/3/2009 2:34:54 PM)
... "...told councilors during a committee meeting that the city has not adequately funded street maintenance." ... Seems like our elected officials SHOULD have known this, all along, without having to hire someone to tell them. ... .. .

T5000, 'burbs, Ok. (11/3/2009 2:37:48 PM)
DrewTU, As main arterial streets are widened, the infrastructure adjacent to these streets is upgraded as well.

ACE, Tulsa (11/3/2009 2:40:25 PM)
Another $240,000 contract to an out-of-state firm for them to tell us we haven't spent enough money on our streets. What a surprise. I could have told them that and I would only have charged $100,000. :)

BetterorWorse, (11/3/2009 2:48:30 PM)
The audit states that long-term maintenance is provided by voter-approved funding, however, “this five-year funding is not adequate to meet Pavement Condition Index targets.” Wow...so Martinson was right all along and Taylor should have listened to Public Works when it drafted the first streets repair package that laid it out plain and simple...its going to take $2 billion to properly fix our streets! Seems Martinson was on target with a great many things and Tulsan's voted the only straight talker out of office..shame. Mayor Taylor did nothing more than get an insignificant point in her 'win' column but we the citizens get shafted by an underfunded streets maintenance program that will not even do what she promised, keep the PCI stable at today's rating. Perhaps she didnt think voters were smart enough or desperate enough to fund whats needed...travel our streets and one gets desperate right quick. So glad when her tried and untrue excuse of 'well now we know better and going foward we'll work on that" isnt heard anymore from her lips. I also find it funny that the TW had to ask specifically who it was the report elluded to as "leadership" and "City leadership" and that EMA wanted to keep that vague, no doubt as a condition of getting the contract...how dare an audit truly point a finger at failings.

clear vision, (11/3/2009 2:48:52 PM)
ACE is right. Nothing new in this report. No miracle cures. We're 20 years behind the curve in streets funding.

Trevor Goodchild, Tulsa (11/3/2009 2:50:21 PM)
Here's a new approach: Put the new pavement in IMMEDIATELY after you tear up the old; not six months later. And do the utility work BEFORE repaving or widening a street instead of coming in a week after a new section is finished, closing of half the lanes, cutting hunks out of the new construction an filling them in with rough, sunken patches. Now cue all the "I-used-to-work-for-the-city" types to come out of the woodwork and explain to us how we shouldn't complain about getting noting but aggravation for our tax dollars because the streets are supposed to suck out loud.

BetterorWorse, (11/3/2009 2:52:00 PM)
And by the way...one different approach that is desperately needed is the ouster of Charles Hardt who has been in charge of Tulsa's crumbling streets since 1990.

sr71v3, (11/3/2009 2:55:19 PM)
STOP IT TREVOR!! STOP IT!! STOP! STOP! STOP! You're making too much sense. NOW STOP IT!!

LocalBoy, B.A. (11/3/2009 3:04:53 PM)
Tulsa has been way behind the curve on streets for longer than I've been alive - a very long time. It just pains me when I drive down to Dallas or Houston or in other growing cities and I see new 4 and six lane thoroughfares and highways being built in areas that are far from fully developed. The developers follow the roads there. Here, we wait until an area is over-developed and traffic is completely unbearable before we decide to come in and tear everything up and make it worse than unbearable while we play catch-up!

BetterorWorse, (11/3/2009 3:06:32 PM)
PJ - as a follow up, why did EMA want that to be vague?

Ron Ballew, Lawton (11/3/2009 3:22:48 PM)
The gasoline tax is supposed to pay for streets. Where is that going?

nunyerbisness, Tulsa (11/3/2009 3:27:21 PM)
Consultant = Someone you hire to look at your watch and tell you what time it is. Tell us something we DON'T know.

satchmo, Tulsa (11/3/2009 3:35:54 PM)
I wonder if the report mentions the fact that we also need to better fund our public transit system. In most major US cities public transit is a critical component of the city's overall transportation plan. Over the last 30 years Tulsa has neglected both streets and transit.

flub-a-dub, (11/3/2009 3:37:21 PM)
I drove down Riverside the other day and realized we will soon have bike paths that are better than our city streets. I also realized that our bike paths will be lit at night while our city streets won't. I appreciate the park improvements, but our priortization makes us look stupid. Make the developers responsible for improving the streets in front of their subdivision as part of the approval process. If this would have been implemented years ago there would be no excuse for delaying the South Tulsa Bridge project. Why wouldn't we want a bridge anyway, if it will have a $1 Billion economic impact on Tulsa in the next ten years. Tulsa could use a "shot in the arm" and who knows, if we treat the Creek Indians like neighbors, they just might share some of the toll revenue which could be used as a long term source of revenue dedicated to improving our city streets. Duh!

dustyoutlaw, Tulsa (11/3/2009 3:51:41 PM)
Well there you have it. Yet another wasted half a billion dollar tax increase. Why this city doesn't vote out every single city councilor can be nothing but ignorance on the part of the voters. Kathy Taylor should be defrocked of Tulsa citizenship and a referendum voted on that doesn't allow her within city limits ever again or she is charged with cronyism, incompetence and treason.

AllSmiles, Sperry (11/3/2009 3:53:15 PM)
Ron Ballew~ You read my mind!!

Ignatious, (11/3/2009 3:54:01 PM)
How is it that our sales taxes, property taxes, tags and tolls are just as high or higher than other cities, but none of it gets spent on roads or public transit? I pay tolls on the Turner Turnpike every day and the road is rough and full of potholes! What is wrong with this picture?

Guillermo, (11/3/2009 4:00:58 PM)
Vote the members of the city council out. We will have Dewey as mayor, he knows how to get things done, he knows business. With a new mayor, vote out current city council we will get the streets done right! Vote, quit complaining. Vote Dewey for Mayor!

THESMOKEHOLE, Tulsa (11/3/2009 4:07:44 PM)
I think the broken roads add old school charm and comforting nostalgia to the Tulsa area...its the way it is and the way it has always been...its part of our history and heritage...and we should be proud of it...

BetterorWorse, (11/3/2009 4:12:21 PM)
Um, Guillermo...Bartlett doesnt know how to get anything done much less right. He favored Taylor's settlement of the Great Plains Airlines debacle he oversaw, he was part of a group that recommended placing a toll on the BA expressway, Keener Oil & Gas as well as his estate was given to him...he hasnt shown one iota of sucsessful accomplishment on his own merits. Of course if you vote out the Council and let him run roughshod over a new one, I suppose anyone can get anything done but not necessarily for the better...just look at what Taylor ran over this Council with, think anyother will do better until they act like elected officials for all citizens and not the minority?

Charley, (11/3/2009 4:14:53 PM)
Who didn't know that? Tulsa politicians can't & won't kill the golden goose. If the streets were not an issue, the folks running for office would not have anything to make promises about (lie about).

TMT, tulsa (11/3/2009 4:17:23 PM)
ignatious, i think tourism plays a big part in lack of funding. one summer we flew to orlando and as soon as we left the airport we were traveling on a beautiful expressway. the roads were black and smooth with lush landscaping all around. it has to be the tourism....tulsa (in my opinion) does not have tourism. maybe outside of tulsa (area lakes), but nothing in the city limits. now that people are cutting back, tulsa is making less money. it sucks.


View All Comments

Email to a Friend
Main Menu