FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2020
State Of The City In 2020 … Dealing With A Pandemic
By Robert Lee, Mayor of Jenks
Since I gave the state of the city in 2019, we’ve seen a lot of changes. The Covid-19 pandemic has gripped our region and continues to have a major impact on our daily lives. You probably noticed there’s a different format for this address, which would normally be delivered in person to members of the Jenks community. But, like every other aspect of our lives, this is a little different, and I thank you for your patience as we find a safe way to accomplish the same goal: updating you on all the great things going on in Jenks. Many businesses and families are still not back to normal. My family is one of those. As you may know, I work for the city as a volunteer, so I also keep a fulltime day job. Both my wife and I have been working from home since March. Our son, who was born a year ago, was in intensive care in the final week of last year with a life-threatening respiratory virus. During this time, there was a real possibility he wouldn’t pull through, and we’ve done everything in our power to prevent him from being exposed to Covid-19, as his health history puts him at high risk. Our four year old daughter’s day care has continued to suffer infection after infection, so we’ve relied heavily on family for her care, at any time we can get it, so we can get some work done during the day. That care typically comes from family members who are in the highest risk categories, so we go to great lengths to make sure those caregivers aren’t exposed. Most days, we end up working into the night once the kids are in bed, so we can stay caught up at the office. We’re grateful to be both healthy and employed, but between work, family, keeping a full schedule for the city, and now homeschooling, our household is certainly as busy as it can be. From the earliest days of the pandemic, the people of Jenks have made great sacrifices to slow the spread in our region, and those efforts have paid off.
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The City of Jenks and our regional neighbors were able to act quickly, and there’s no doubt those actions saved many lives, and prevented our local hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. The City of Jenks was a regional leader with our safer at home measures. We closed the Aquarium and moved all public meetings to virtual formats. We waived all online payment fees for utility billing. Liquor license fees for Jenks restaurants were waived. Jenks Senior Citizens staff continued to prepare and deliver meals to seniors in need. Public Works, Police, Fire, Aquarium, and City Hall staff all had to be creative in staffing, but we managed to keep every employee at full time capacity without furloughs. Our city has had one of the strongest regional responses, and our numbers bear that out. We’ve had a little over 700 infections, just under 3% of our population, much lower than the regional average. Tragically, we’ve lost two of our citizens, and our hearts go out to the families in Jenks and around the state who have lost loved ones. As we’ve slowly opened back up since the spring, the challenges have continued. Many of our businesses have experienced major slowdowns. Jenks Public Schools have had to make tough decisions, alternating between distance learning and new approaches to in-person instruction. Pick an organization or business around town, and chances are they’ve been affected by this pandemic in a big way. I want to thank the people of Jenks, our business community, and our school system for everything they’ve done to slow the spread of this pandemic. I want to thank everyone at the City of Jenks: our Police and Fire Departments, Public Works Department, City Hall Staff, the Oklahoma Aquarium, City Council, Planning Commission, Board of Adjustment, Seniors group, and our partners at the Jenks Chamber of Commerce; all of whom have stepped up to the plate and have played a huge role in our response to this pandemic. Despite all we’ve been through this year, it’s undeniable that the City of Jenks is stronger than it’s ever been. We’re almost exclusively funded by sales tax revenues, and although we’ve braced for lower numbers in the midst of a larger economic downturn, we’ve consistently been surprised by repeated record-setting revenues. Our annual audit showed we’re in the best financial health in our city’s history. One of the few things our auditor did ding us for was the fact that we don’t borrow enough. So, we issued revenue bonds to kickstart plans to improve our wastewater treatment system, and to install updated remote water meters throughout town, which we expect will pay for themselves in the long run. The people of Jenks approved a GO bond in August of this year which will pay to widen south Elm Street, and to make improvements to the western gateway to our downtown. This bond also pays to engineer improvements to the final stretches of Elwood, as well as a brand new 106th street going into River District from Elm. Speaking of our transportation infrastructure, we are well into a long-planned overhaul of the intersection at 111th and Elwood. When this is complete, we will begin a widening of Elwood between Main and 111th. At the same time, we are making improvements and repairs to roads all throughout town and throughout our neighborhoods.
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Jenks Pom Fashion Sixteen Jenks High Show Shines Bright In School Students Two-Night Event Named National Merit Semifinalists
Jenks Pom hosted its 22nd Annual Fashion show Monday and Tuesday at the Jenks High School Performing Arts Center. High School students dressed to the nines for this fan-favorite event. The theme of the 2020 Jenks Pom Fashion Show was “The City that Never Sleeps”. Photos/ Hayden Tucker
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced last week the semifinalists for the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program, and 16 students from Jenks High School are among the 16,000 names on the list. Jenks High School has featured 10 or more National Merit Semifinalists in 10 of the last 12 years. Here are the Class of 2021 Jenks High School students named National Merit Semifinalists: -Maya Chandwaney -Mason Chow -Noah Coffman -Grace Ea -Caleb Ford -Daniel Jacob -Lily Jiang -Todd McDoulett -Julie Naifeh -Tyler Oakes -Gracie Shepherd -Rajita Singh -Nathan Stephani -Grant Stuckey -Maya Vance -Victor Zhu These seniors at Jenks High School now have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $30 million to be offered next spring. CONT on pg 9
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