HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 03 Employee Recogntion, Ken Vogeney, 15 YearsOctober 1, 2012
Springfield Upbeat
Employee Recognition: Ken Vogeney, 15 Years of Service
1. Personnel data, promotions, career highlights, and significant accomplishments:
• Ken was hired as a civil engineer with the City in the Fall of 1997 by then Acting City Engineer
Don Branch. At this time he was the only non-supervisory civil engineer in the Engineering
Division to support city operations, including capital projects and land development engineering.
• In Spring of 2000 he moved over to the Environmental Services Division to undertake
“pioneering work” in the new Water Resources section.
• In Spring of 2002 he was promoted to a newly created Supervising Civil Engineering position in
the Engineering Division.
• In Spring 2005 Ken was recommended for “Extraordinary Hours Bonus Pay”, reflecting his time
commitment to the City to date, particularly during the development boom of the first part of that
decade.
• In Fall of 2005 he was again promoted, this time to City Engineer, after Al Peroutka moved over
to ESD to lead the huge capital program at the MWMC treatment plant. He remains the City
Engineer today.
2. How has the Department changed over the employee’s career?
• The Department has grown and changed significantly over Ken’s career. The volume and
complexity of engineering work has increased many times over as the City saw significant and
complex development proposals moving to construction, an increasing need to upgrade, expand
and replace aging capital storm water and waste water systems, and new legal mandates to
enhance water quality.
• In the past year Ken has been a party to the combining of two Departments, Development
Services and Public Works, into the City’s largest Department, Development and Public Works.
3. How has the employee grown in their position and their career?
• Ken has grown in his career with the City during a time when the City moved through an
important transition from a ‘small town’ to a significant city – in fact the 11th largest in the state.
• He began as the City’s sole staff engineer working on capital projects, land development, and
water quality and is now the City’s chief engineer for all endeavors.
4. What significant projects or events has the employee been involved in?
• Ken has participated in many significant projects over the course of his career, including:
Peacehealth Master Plan (this one probably had the most money, time & complexity of any
project recently)
Mountaingate Master Plan
Cherokee Drive LID
Jasper Trunk Sewer
• He has also shown leadership in managing United Way for the Department on several occasions,
as well as reaching out and building relationships with our partners at SUB and Lane County.
5. What positive comments do his co-workers have to share about the employee?
• “Ken is a hard working dedicated professional, who always keeps the City’s interest at the
forefront of any problem he tackles. He is a very detail oriented person, who routinely finds the
little things that other’s miss, but end up making a big difference and saving the City time and
money in the long run.”
• “Above all Ken is thoughtful. Both in his personal interactions and his contemplation of policy
issues, technical analysis and public interactions. Ken cares about the people in the organization
and the community and his work effort reflects that care.”
• “Ken works extremely well with the public and other City customers to find common ground and
solutions to what are often complex and high energy issues. He is definitely someone you want
to have on your team.”