Tulsa mayor, councilors set 2014 goals

Source: Tulsa World, Okla.倉Jan. 19--City councilors and the mayor sat down together Saturday, setting goals for 2014 that included emphasizing code enforcement in neighborhoods and helping fix technology issues with first responders.The meeting was the third time the group sat down together for an annual group discussion on goals."I'm certainly very glad to be a part of the collaborative effort that we've all embraced," Mayor Dewey Bartlett said. "It works."While some major goals remain on their list -- such as development on the river and Tulsa's economy -- the elected officials pitched a long list of goals they say need to be addressed in the new year.Of the new goals, the group focused on putting more effort into helping aging neighborhoods from an overgrowth of dilapidated homes through code enforcement.Karen Gilbert, City Council chairwoman, said the meeting helped the council to revise programs and see what's working and not working."One of the major ones for me was code enforcement -- stepping up with working in neighborhoods and improving the quality of life in our neighborhoods," Gilbert said. "Not just within the city on arterial streets but getting into the roots of the city with neighborhoods."Councilor David Patrick said his district has aging neighborhoods that need better code enforcement to prevent decline."The older areas, they are either already at the bottom and really have some bad dilapidated areas that need improvement or are in a decreasing mode," Patrick said.Some neighborhoods are seeing success in keeping their areas from deteriorating, but Patrick said some neighborhoods need the city's help.24小時迷你倉It's really key that we try to increase these departments and focus on these areas so that they don't deteriorate more," he said.Bartlett said 2014 may be a good time to look over ordinances and update them to improve code enforcement."Code enforcement can be an extremely good way to catch people's attention to improve neighborhoods and stop them from going into decline," Bartlett said.Other goals discussed included focusing on technology upgrades for the city to help emergency responders communicate better.The Tulsa World earlier reported city records showing a new $2 million system to coordinate dispatch efforts has delayed and dropped some fire and medical calls due to technical issues.Councilor Phil Lakin said the same system is shared by several of Tulsa's first responders, and issues associated with the system have come up for each of the departments."The more I learn the more I want to help coordinate fixes for it -- just the whole first-responder network," Lakin said. "If we are going to ever aspire to be America's safest city, I think that is a critical first step."Bartlett said a coordinated effort to improve communication may require additional financing."If the goal is to get a person, a trained first responders, to get to a person as quick as possible, then we have work to do to make that process as efficient as possible," Lakin said. "I know very good progress has been made, but there is still work to do."Jarrel Wade 918-581-8367jarrel.wade@tulsaworld.comCopyright: ___ (c)2014 Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) Visit Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) at .tulsaworld.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉旺角