Tulsa's Hiring Freeze Not Completely Frozen

With Tulsa's budget so tight, why is the city looking to fill more than two dozen jobs?  Viewers have asked us about job postings on the city’s website, so we looked into them.  Fox 23’s Douglas Clark has answers.
 
The mayor imposed a hiring freeze at the beginning of the year in order to rein in spending going into this tight fiscal year.  But as we found out, hiring freeze is a bit of a misnomer. 
 
The city of Tulsa’s website is where job-seekers can apply for city jobs, everything from IT positions, to 911 dispatchers, to wastewater treatment supervisors.  But with a hiring freeze in place since February, and revenue on the decline, why is the city looking to increase its payroll by as much as $1.2 million?  For one thing, 26 of the 28 jobs posted are considered mission critical.
 
“You’ll see openings for things like 911 dispatchers and other mission-critical positions where service levels would be adversely affected if we didn’t fill the positions,” says Mayor Taylor’s Chief of Staff Mike Bunney.
 
He says the jobs posted have opened up recently, and none is a newly created position.  He also says mayor Taylor has to personally approve all new hires, after careful analysis. 
 
“You look at service levels, you look at public safety, you look at the impact not filling the position would have,” says Bunney.
 
Still, with the Tulsa police force 3 officers lighter following a $6 million city-wide budget reduction, some think public safety should be job one.
 
“I think police, fire, emergency are most important because I think we need them more than anything else,” says one woman interviewed.
 
But Bunney says the importance of every position is carefully scrutinized and those now being filled are all important to keep the city running smoothly.
 
“It can be a tough decision.  But they’re all core services.  Someone has to be at the treatment plant.  Someone has to be at the other end of a 911 call,” says Bunney.
 
It is the general fund that has taken the biggest financial hit recently.  But Bunney says more than half of the open positions are funded through other healthier revenue sources.