Beloved city manager to retire after 27 years of service
By Kelli Williams
City of Bartlesville
After a 27-year career with the City of Bartlesville, City Manager Ed Gordon will officially retire effective Aug. 1. Gordon has been employed with the City of Bartlesville since 1991 and has served as city manager since 2006. He served previously as Wastewater Department supervisor (1991-2000) and Public Works director (2000-2006). He sat down with City Beat recently to reflect on his life, career and the future of the City of Bartlesville.
Early life
Tell us a little about your childhood.
I was born in Bay City, Texas, and raised at the Sweeny Refinery in Old Ocean, Texas, and in Bartlesville. And there was a stint in Borger, Texas. My dad was a design engineer for Phillips, and they moved him around. Because of the war, in the ’40s and ’50s they put us (Phillips families) in a compound, in what was some apartments literally under the shadow of the catalytic cracking unit inside the refinery, for protection. Frank Phillips (later) built houses in Old Ocean and we moved into one of those houses.
But I spent the most time right here in Bartlesville. My sister was born here and my mom and dad met and married here. We lived on Armstrong, in the 1100 block, and 510 South Delaware. Living on Delaware made downtown accessible, so I would walk to what was then the IGA store. I’d stop in there and get something, buy some candy and walk around the streets of Bartlesville as a little boy, marveling at how big these great buildings are downtown. It was amazing.
Where did you go to high school?
I graduated from College High. There was only one high school then, and just a couple of years after that they split that and opened up Sooner. I graduated in ’66— the largest graduating class from College High ever was the Class of ’66. I still enjoy many of those friendships to this day.
Growing up
Where did you go to college and what did you study?
I wanted to be a school teacher. Specifically, I wanted to be a history teacher, because I’ve always kind of had a penchant for history and the facts of history. So with that thought in mind I went to a junior college to get my basics out of the way so that I could then go to college. I went from Northeastern A&M, where I did my basics, and spent one year at Oklahoma State University and did not like it. Or, let me rephrase that: the school didn’t like me. There were too many opportunities there. I wasn’t disciplined enough at the time.
I don’t remember the exact time, although I should, but they had the lottery then. And so when I left Oklahoma State, the lottery had already taken place. And my number was … very low, a hundred and something. Once the number broke over to a certain point, the possibility of being drafted was very remote, but mine was in the lower section. I was going to lose my 2S deferment, my student deferment, and I was up to be drafted.
When I left Oklahoma State, I went to work for Cities Service Oil Company, which was right down the block here, and I worked first for Land and Geological for a guy named Art Lauver. And then I transferred to Transportation. I thought that would be more exciting. I can’t remember who I worked for, but the guy who was my immediate supervisor was named John Bond. He was a master sergeant in the reserve unit here, and he got to know me. I told him I had been drafted, and he said, “Well, if you’re going to be drafted, why don’t you just come to us?” I said, “Is there any room?” And he said, “We have an opening.” So I joined. It was a field artillery unit at that time.
And the rest, as they say, is history. I’ll tell you what was good for me — it was going to the Army, the discipline of the Army. I started in 1970 and was honorably discharged in 1975.
Saving grace
Tell us about your life after the service.
When I got out of the Army, knowing I needed to finish my education I went to what was called then Bartlesville Wesleyan College — BWC. I enrolled there and graduated from there. My major was education.
During that particular period of time, I gave my life to Christ. And at the conclusion of college, in 1976, I went to graduate school in Memphis, Tenn., still on the track of education — but it now turned to religious education. And with that, my wife and I moved. Janie and I were married the last day of this month (July) in 1970. That’s how I remember when I went in the Army. We had just gotten married and a few months later I went to basic training in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. I then went to AIT (Advanced Infantry Training) in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Through that period of time I became a sergeant in the Army and, of all things, they put me in charge of the motor pool in the unit.
So I graduated from Wesleyan and in the fall of 1976, I went to seminary at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in Memphis. I joined on staff as associate pastor at Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis — one of the largest Southern Baptist churches in the world. I worked for Dr. Dale Palmer, the assistant to Dr. Adrian Rogers. I reported to him and to Adrian. I have to tell you, that was an education. The church, at that time, ran 8,000 on Sunday morning.
I went to work for Cities Service when I came back, when they split. I had to make a decision — to go to Tulsa or quit and find another job. So when they moved, I resigned from Cities Service and, of all things, I met a guy by the name of Chuck Brown, who owned an electrical company, Brown’s Electric. He needed a roustabout, I think is probably a pretty good term. He did residential, commercial and light industrial wiring so I had to learn to understand electricity, and I really enjoyed that. I had a business here, in fact, after Chuck moved to California. I opened up my own business and became a master electrician.
City of Bartlesville
How did you end up at the City of Bartlesville?
I started at the Sewer Plant under Barbara Hachmuth, a wonderful woman. She hired me. Our offices were down by Grit Chamber, which is the nastiest place to be in the City. It wasn’t nasty to me at the time, but as I look back on it (it was.) There was an old pump station that they had taken the pumps out of, and the floor still had the bolt holes where the equipment was mounted. That was our office. Talk about the beginning place.
I started there and then they moved us to operations. I was promoted and given different job opportunities, but I always kept the Sewer Department. Always. I wouldn’t relinquish it. Then when (then police chief) Steve Brown became city manager, he promoted me as director of Public Works. I was over the Street Department, the Parks Department, the Solid Waste Department, the Sewer Department and the Municipal Garage.
Wanted: City manager
You were asked to serve as interim city manager following the resignation of Steve Brown. You were promoted to the permanent position on April 1, 2006. How did that come about?
I had been serving as interim city manager because I wasn’t interested in the permanent position. Members of the City Council came to me individually and asked me to put in for the job, but I didn’t, wouldn’t. I asked (Community Development Director) Lisa Beeman to put in for the job, but she refused. I browbeat her and shamed her — she still wouldn’t do it. She said, “What I am going to do is put in an application for you.” I said, “No, we’re not going to do that.” But she did. That woman snooped around, researched my history, cagily interviewed me and then put in for the job — on my behalf. So (then council member) Eddie Mason came to me one morning and said, “You’re hired.” I said, “Hired for what?” “As city manager. We’ll take you.” I said, “Eddie, I like Operations.” And then he and Julie Daniels came to me and implored me, and I said yes.
Challenges & changes
What were some of the challenges you saw facing the City at the time and how did you identify and deal with them?
Of course we’re always relying upon sales tax. Kelly Jones (Hillburn) was the chief financial officer when I started in 2006. When I first started with Kelly, I began to look at the overall operating budget for the City, and as you looked at sales tax revenues and spending, they were pretty much parallel. Growth in sales tax on average was between 2 and 3 percent, pretty reliably, over the years. So that was able to keep pace, somewhat, with inflation.
What has changed is the enterprise departments — the business ends of the City. The Water Department has revenue, as does the Sewer Department, the Solid Waste Department and, to a lesser degree, the golf course. So we began to look at those entities because they contributed to operations. But the rates that we charged and what we did at that time were really not sufficient to cover their share. Plus, when the City would do a sales tax increase for capital expenditures — not operations — or a G.O. (General Obligation) bond issue, the Water and Sewer departments and Solid Waste would use those capital funds to make improvements to their departments.
Well, I asked Kelly to do a couple of things. First, I said, “Let’s look at where sales tax and expenditures are. Let’s do projections and see where those are going to cross.” Kelly put it together and it was five years out, (the point) where the rate of growth in the City financially and the revenues were going to meet. I call that the “Great Train Wreck.”
I began then to share with the council that a point would be reached where revenues and expenditures would meet and it would become a challenge for us to operate the City financially. I looked at capital expenditure funds, the G.O. bonds and sales tax that we raised. I said, “We’re going to make the Water Department and Sewer Department pay their own way. The rates are going to pay for improvements, whatever they are, so we need to begin now.”
The needs on the operational side — the Fire Department, Police Department, Parks Department, Street Department — they needed the largest amount of money to operate, and it was shrinking because the sales tax revenues were slowly declining. So we began to treat the enterprise funds as “stand alone” funds.
Just as we got into that, we made some changes to the way we did our accounting systems and budgeting process. Instead of meeting for long hours, where the City Council went over the budget line by line, we began to move in another direction and make it more of a board of directors with a chief executive officer that would take the policy of the budget and apply it to the council’s thinking, to their direction. We gave summaries of the budget rather than go line by line by line. We started off by having all the directors there in the room, and the council members would look at the summaries of each budget and approve that and move on.
And then Kelly went to work for Phillips, and I hired Mike Bailey as chief financial officer and we continued those efficiencies in how we report to the council as a board of directors, a CEO and a CFO.
So what did I see? That there was a huge pool of opportunity to bring efficiencies to government. We had 21 directors, one for every department. It didn’t matter if you had three employees or 65. I began, through attrition, to bring departments together and make assignments to directors. We now have 11 directors.
Another efficiency we made is joining forces with Washington County to combine detention and dispatch services. Voters had just rejected a (proposed) $28 million jail and Washington County had put together a committee to take a less expensive proposal back to the voters. I served on the location committee and helped secure the site where the jail now is, what used to be the site of Baughman Cement Plant.
I met with (newly elected Sheriff Rick Silver) and said, “Look, there’s no reason to have two jails. No reason. And there’s no reason to have two dispatch centers. No reason.” So we combined those services and, as a result, City of Bartlesville and Washington County taxpayers are saving money — hundreds of thousands of dollars. Over the 10 years or so that the new jail has been open, we’ve saved probably more than a million dollars, between the two taxing agencies.
Those are the kinds of efficiencies that you look for and you find, just like the Solid Waste Department. (Our community is) saving money thanks to the automated collection system. I remember trotting people out to sell that. Their backs were gone, their hips were gone, their knees were gone because of the work that they did. We rescued them from destruction and made it more efficient to pick up trash.
We did those things — the City Council, the employees. It was teamwork. And the public approved those systems. You know, the thought is the father of the deed. You sew a thought, you reap the deed. You sew a deed, you reap a future. But you and I both know that to begin, somebody has to birth the idea. And then it turns into a reality. In the birth of that idea, it takes a lot of people to come alongside. This was birthed through a city council. And at the time, there was tremendous opposition on both the jail and the solid waste system.
The work
What do you consider your greatest accomplishments as city manager?
Being responsible with the money of others. Being sensitive that I’m spending somebody else’s money. And I am. The enterprise funds generate revenues, but we’ve moved those over and they’re self-supporting. We no longer use tax dollars to support the enterprise departments — with the exception of the golf course, but the budget has shrunk on the golf course and they’ve become more self-supporting.
The accomplishment is the work we’ve done, with the City Council, to be accountable for the way we spend the citizens’ money. I understand that charging rates for a service we provide, such as water and solid waste services, is not a tax. But I think of it as a tax because it’s taxing on the rate payers that have to come up with the money to pay the bills.
Not that it ever did, but I’ve never ever, ever, ever wanted this, as a government, to be the tail that wags the dog. Remember, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Somebody has to pay for it. I think it’s the job of the city manager to bring a real sense of trust between the government, the elected officials, city staff and the citizens. I genuinely believe in the bond of trust between the citizens and those that they elect and those who are selected to serve. If I’ve done anything at all, I’d like to think I helped with that. When we had to make adjustments to the sales tax side, we treated it like a bond election (in declaring where the money would be utilized). We made sure the promises that we made were the promises kept.
And then I would say it was an accomplishment to promote the health and well-being of our employees. Within about two years of watching our contribution to the Oklahoma Municipal Assurance Group health care system, I asked Shellie McGill, then a new Human Resources director, to explore the opportunities of becoming self-insured. We put together a committee on health care, and we hired a firm to do an actuarial to look at what we were spending and what we thought could happen, and it came back that we could save a considerable amount of money by going self-insured.
Talk about walking out on a limb — because health care was just going crazy: the cost, the inflation, the increases in prices. So we stepped into those shark-infested waters and began the process of becoming self-insured. The council agreed and it has proven, now, over the years, to be the right thing to do. We control our own future in health care costs.
So I’ve tried to protect the interest of the public, the citizens that we reach into their pocket and spend their money, the state reaches into their pocket and spends their money, the school district reaches into the pocket and spends their money — I wanted to be the most accountable and responsible to them and to serve the employees of the City, to provide for them the benefits in retirement and health care so that they can provide to the ratepayers and the taxpayers an efficient group of people who are well taken care of and assured of that into the future.
If I’ve done nothing else, I hope we’ve been successful in providing for the health and safety of our community on both sides, those that serve and those that are served.
In your role as city manager, do you have any regrets?
I have no regrets from an operational perspective. I do have regrets about having to raise rates, having to do the first tax increase in 26 years. That is, I didn’t like that. I knew if we didn’t, we’d have to lay off police and fire, so I’m grateful that the citizens overwhelmingly approved that referendum. Health and safety are paramount. I don’t like (increasing tax/rates), but it’s necessary. The government is necessary, and if you’re going to have government and you want a level of service, you have to pay for it. I understand that, but I do that with reticence.
We take a team approach to government here. It’s the City Council and the members of the council, sometimes individually, and the staff — what a marvelous staff we have — and those, I don’t want to call them ancillary, but they’re support systems to the City, the various boards — the Park Board, the authorities that exist, there are several of them. Those groups, working in an advisory capacity to the City, bringing visions forward, improvements that must be made — what a treasure they are.
What is the best thing about being city manager?
Scripture says, in the book of James, Chapter 4, that God gives grace to the humble but resists the proud. I think I have a tendency to be prideful. And God gives more grace, more strength — His strength to those that are humble. I think of all the positions God could put me in to keep me humble, to find more grace from Him is in the position I’m in.
I have to tell you, and Janie will (confirm) it, from the day that Barbara Hachmuth hired me, I believe that it was the will of God. From the day God opened the door, back in 1991, when that door was opened I jumped through it with both feet. To the time that I became public works director — I didn’t seek that job. It was offered to me by Steve Brown and (then Human Resources director) Andria McCollough. And when that door opened I was resistant. But when it was seen that I couldn’t do anything else, I jumped through it with both feet.
I resisted this job. I didn’t want it. I made that clear. But it was finally apparent that God was opening that door. It was not a singular decision. I sought the counsel of my wife. I sought the council of my church and, in fact, this is a true story if ever I’ve told it: Earl Sears was in the (Oklahoma House of Representatives) at that time, and he was well aware of this position. Earl Sears showed up at Trinity Baptist Church — Catholic boy, showed up one morning at the church. I asked him, as we did anytime an elected official showed up at the church, “Do you have something you’d like to say to the church?” He said, “Yeah, I do.” He said, “I’m here to ask this church to agree with me that he should accept the job as city manager. My Lord, how long are we going to go on? Church, would you please ask your pastor to become city manager, please?” And he spoke for several minutes — that’s the condensed version. The church applauded and said, “Take the job, Ed.”
So I took this job after seeking out the counsel of those around me who knew me best, who knew my strengths and weaknesses. Lisa Beeman was a key to that, and others in the City. So the door was opened, and I jumped through that door with both feet.
Looking ahead
What challenges do think Bartlesville and local government face going into future?
I see a trend that I’ve watched now for quite some time. There is a larger expectation from the citizens, I think, of the role of government. The founding fathers looked at the nation and they gave us the constitution and the Bill of Rights. Those two documents enumerating the powers of the government, limiting the influence of the federal government except as law enacted by those that are sent to represent us. They pass constitutional law. And those powers not enumerated to the federal government are left to the power of the people in the state, each state being sovereign.
As I look at the services that we provide, the challenge that we face is that citizens are demanding more and more of government. There’s a level of expectation, and in order to meet that level of expectation as the citizens — and this is a trend in our whole culture — they want the government to become responsible for more and more of what goes on. And I’m of the opinion, and this is a personal opinion that I’m sharing with you — our founding fathers said that if you’re not careful, you will suspend your rights and lose your freedoms to a government that you’re not going to like. The challenges that we face are the people looking to state and local government to solve their problems. So we’re demanding more services of the state, when the state is in an economic hard time, still, as we are (locally). The challenges we face are those, as people look to us to solve their problems when the solution lies within ourselves.
We also face financial challenges because of the Internet. You know, there are certain (things) that are like paddling in a river in a canoe. If you want to turn around, you can take that paddle and back-paddle and turn that canoe around in just under a minute, depending on how skilled you are. But government is not like being in a canoe. It’s like being in the Queen Mary. And when you want to turn the Queen Mary around it takes miles to turn that thing around.
Government responds very slowly. And it becomes a bit reactive at times instead of proactive. And one of those proactive challenges the state of Oklahoma faces, and the City, is this issue of sales tax. The main source of revenue to pay for our government is sales tax. Well, because there’s no Internet tax to speak of, it’s a problem for us. Doing business online — I’m not against that. I think it’s a wonderful thing. I don’t think we saw it coming. Who would ever believe that you could wear your computer on your wrist, literally? And carry a little box in your back pocket that communicates with it? And that you could call China from here? I can order groceries and go pick them up at Walmart or have them delivered. Because Walmart is local you pay taxes, but there are online companies where the City of Bartlesville gets nothing. So we’re still going to wrestle with that problem. We’re going to have to figure out a way to skin that cat. People look at that and say, “Why should I pay taxes on that?” Well, I’ll leave that to your conscience.
Janie
You and your wife Janie are one of the best known and most loved couples in Bartlesville. Can you talk about your relationship and share what has made your marriage so successful?
At the end of this month we will have been married 48 years. If I have achieved any success at all — at all — in my life, it is that she has been my most able counselor. I think if there’s success in a marriage, it is that — she became and still is my best friend. And I’m her best friend. And that has never ended.
I’m of the opinion that you don’t fall in love, you grow in love. And I have to tell you, the longer we’re married, the more I love her. To explore the depths of our personalities, each, has never stopped. To try and plumb the wonders of her as a woman and her with me as a man, it is these differences that has brought us together and made us one. The differences that we have are the strengths that make up our marriage. I have a tendency sometimes to not be very sympathetic. My wife, on the other hand, is very sensitive. She’s the one who brings my feet back to the ground on those kinds of things.
I think to have a solid, good marriage you have to be able to argue without being disagreeable. And you need to learn to listen to each other and come up with parameters for arguing. And we did. You listen, let her talk, then you respond with a solution. “How do we solve this problem?” So you attack the problem, not each other. You define the problem and then work toward settling the problem. Between the two of us and by the grace of God, we’re still together.
How many children and grandchildren do you have?
David has two sons, Carter and Tucker. Caleb has four children: starting from the youngest to the oldest, there’s Noah, Austin, Gabriel and Hannah.
Life crisis
You faced a serious medical crisis last year. What did you learn or take away from that experience?
I am sitting here by the grace of God, and I know that. I learned that. I didn’t know it at the time, but Janie started a list of all the people who came to see me. I was, I still am — you know I get emotional about this. What did I do to deserve all those people who called or came by or the cards that I received — the support that my family received from the community?
I went to McAlister’s for lunch and was standing in line with (a friend) and my two grandsons, Gabe and Austin. And a woman in line paid her bill, turned around and said, “Oh, you’re the guy we’ve been praying for.” I didn’t know that woman. We went over and sat down at a table. Another woman stopped and said, “You’re Mr. Gordon?” I said, “Yes, I’m Ed,” and she said, “Oh my goodness, it’s so good to see you out and around. We’ve been praying for you.”
And that happens again and again and again as I travel around the community, still today. The number of employees that have encouraged me, come by to see me — employees who took off work to come and see me — the public …
What have I taken away from that? That this town, this community, City, is filled with folks who genuinely love one another. I tell you, the expressions of love for me are just, I get emotional even thinking about it, because I don’t deserve that. I really don’t. It has been a humbling experience, it really has been. I love this city.
Trinity Baptist Church
You also serve as a pastor of Trinity Baptist Church of Bartlesville. How has your connection to the church helped you to be a better leader?
I began pastoring at Trinity in 1992. First of all, that’s a praying group of people and I know that they pray for me. They’re people who believe, they have faith in what God says. Their expressions of love for me have been astounding. They’re a wonderful congregation. They’re a part of my family, too.
People problem-solving skills are necessary when you pastor a church. They’re necessary for this office because many people become frustrated with the City. I think working with people in the church has helped me. When you become a part of a church, we all have to learn to get along because our personalities are so different. And how in the world can you get a group of people to get along with such diverse backgrounds? It’s a church full of people, men and women who work in different fields and do different things.
Will you continue pastoring the church when you retire from the City?
Yes ma’am, unless they fire me.
The future
What would you like to leave us with?
I love every single person in this city. And I don’t say that flippantly. I say it because I think it’s a word that’s underused. We need to tell each other, when we see each other, that we love each other. We need to look at each other and say, “You know what, I really don’t know you very well, but I know that the struggles you face and the needs that you face are the same as mine. I want to be morally responsible to you, and you to me.” I want to be able to look at you and say, “I may disagree but I love you and I’m not going to do something that’s going to harm you. I want to take care of you as you take care of me. I love you.” Because love is the greatest virtue — Apostle Paul said that in 1st Corinthians, 13th chapter at the end, last verse.
What a privilege it has been to work directly for this city. And to engender, I hope, some level of trust and respect from those I’ve worked with and those I’ve worked for.
What does the future hold for Ed Gordon?
I have a new grandson and, fortunately, all my kids live here. The center of my life is my relationship with Christ — after that comes my wife, and then my kids and grandkids. It expands beyond that because of my church family, and I do have a City family. And now that my strength is coming back a little bit, there are civic organizations, Rotary and others that I love, that I’ll be able to step back in and become a part of that family again. I am stepping away from my professional relationship with the City, but I will still be around the community.
A reception will be held in Gordon’s honor from 3-5 p.m. Aug. 1 at the Bartlesville Community Center, 300 S.E. Adams Blvd. Everyone is welcome and invited to attend.
This interview was edited for clarity.