HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 03 Ken Vogeney Employee RecognitionOctober 16, 2017
Springfield Upbeat
Ken Vogeney, 20-Year Employee Recognition
1. Ken started his career as a civil engineer in Public Works, became the supervising civil engineer in
Environmental Services, was promoted to the City Engineer in 2005 and served in that role for 10 years. He
became the City’s Emergency Manager in 2015.
Ken’s imprint on the city is a real and lasting one. His Professional Engineer’s stamp is on every
infrastructure project that was built in the City during the economic booms the 2000’s, the most complex of
which was the hillside development of the Mountain Gate subdivision.
2. The department has changed a lot over the last 20 years! Development Services and Public Works were
merged into one department as DPW about five years ago. At that time Ken was the head of the PW
Engineering Division which was then merged with Transportation and then restructured again into the
current configuration known as Community Development. As Emergency Manager Ken now reports
directly to the Director of DPW.
3. Ken has always given the city 150% of himself and is very dedicated to the health and public safety of the
community.
A prior PW director noted in his file that that for many years he was the only engineer who reviewed private
development applications and regularly worked until 10pm each night with no additional pay to ensure that
development review occurred in a timely manner. Today he still embodies that same work ethic and
commitment. He frequently works 50+ hour weeks with little fanfare or recognition because he enjoys his
work, loves Springfield, and wants to deliver the best service he can to the community. The City is
fortunate to have him.
4. Significant projects or events Ken has been involved in include:
PeaceHealth, Symantec, Royal Caribbean, Mountain Gate.
The development and adoption of the City’s Wastewater Master Plan, Stormwater Master Plan and the
establishment of engineering design standards for the city that ensure we comply with federal
regulations.
He was instrumental in creating our Joint Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan and our Joint Emergency
Operations Management Plan with the City of Eugene. He has created new partnerships across the
region and the state to bolster our emergency preparedness and response capacity. He has broken down
old silos between agencies and created a new energy for collaboration and cooperation. This is very
important for the emergency preparedness and coordination of resources needed for our area.
Ken is very well respected in the engineering and emergency management fields and is looked to by the
State for assistance on topics ranging from technical engineering issues to policy matters such as the
new potential floodplain regulation standards and their potential impacts on our community.
5. Positive comments from Ken’s co-workers:
“Ken is the most caring person I’ve ever worked with”
“Ken has an amazing memory and attention to detail. He knows everything that has been built here and
what the problems were that we had to resolve. He’s the archive of everything engineering and a critical
resource for us.”
“Ken always puts people first, and is always focused on being accountable to the public’s health, safety and
welfare when we are working out solutions to difficult issues”
“Ken is calm, super smart, and incredibly reliable. He’s the perfect person for the Emergency Manager
position. I feel safer knowing he’s in that role and looking out for us.”