The Government Mule Podcast: Ep.1

In this episode, County Clerk Michael Willis and former Communications and Outreach Manager Maggie Cooksey chat about her time with Tulsa County as she moves on to a new adventure.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:06

You're listening to the Government Mule Podcast, a production of the Tulsa County Clerk's Office in Oklahoma.

SPEAKER_01 0:14

Here we are.

SPEAKER_05 0:24

The Mule Cast. We're gonna get it figured out. We're gonna get it figured out.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

I do like the Mule.

SPEAKER_05 0:31

So for uh the all of the single digit number of watchers and listeners that will consume this podcast, this is our inaugural uh podcast here in the Tulsa County Podcast Studio. And so I'm County Clerk Michael Willis. I'm joined by Maggie Cooksie. Maggie Cooksie, who is actually in her last day of full-time employment with the Tulsa County Clerk's office. She's been our uh community engagement manager for the last several years. And she's about to move off and do another adventure, but she's gonna be part-time with us. She's not leaving us completely. We'll see her back here from time to time. We joke this might be called the exit interview. Um we could call this podcast that for sure. Um we're gonna talk about several things. One thing I want to start talking about is so about this time last year, we were at a conference and we started talking about podcasting at Tulsa County. So um, Maggie, tell me what you think in terms of our experience at that conference, some of the things we picked up.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:44

And that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_01 1:46

Well, that was the government social media conference, which is by far one of my favorite conferences that I've gotten to go to in my time at Tulsa County. Um, but I remember you specifically coming to me and being like, what do you think if we started a podcast? And I was like, that would be awesome and also a lot of work. Um and as evidenced by this team and like how hard they've worked and how we've had to not had to, but how we get to expand the team in order to like bring this to life has been really cool because we have you know a really strong team um of you know folks behind the scenes. But uh yeah, I think you had just come off of a podcast from Ko-File and you got the you know bitten by the podcast bug. And I had like a few uh criticisms, I think, of that podcast, just the vibe of it. And that was really the main focus for me was creating a space that was conversational and comfy, and like I really think that we brought that to life here. Um but yeah, I think as far as having this is I think going to make county government a little bit more human for people. Um and there's a huge benefit to that because you know, you see things on the media and uh specifically like news channel things and social media, even I feel like is getting a little bit more difficult to decipher what's real, what's not real. But whenever you sit down and have a face-to-face conversation with somebody, I think that that carries a lot more weight than listening to news. You know, we can talk about the same thing in this conversation that could potentially be a news story or whatever. And delivering it in this medium, I think is gonna be something that changes the way that people in Tulsa County understand their local government. So I'm super excited about it. I'm really proud of this team. They've done a killer job. And I'm I feel really honored to be the first guest.

SPEAKER_05 4:02

Yes, well, it just worked out that I mean, I I kind of insisted about a week ago that we do this. Um and we do have an incredible team, but I do want to interject, interrupt, and just say that we don't normally wear hats in the Tulsa County Clerk's office. Um we did a hat day. This is probably the only hat day in the history of the Tulsa County Clerk's office, and maybe the only one we ever do, uh, but we did it in honor of Maggie's uh last day of being a full-time employee with us. So um, yeah, you probably won't see me or Maggie or other guests in hats. Maybe you will, I don't know. But um, it is hat day in the Tulsa County Clerk's office. About half, maybe a little more than half of our staff are participating. We'll put some pictures up. You'll see it on the on the Insta and the Facebook and some of the county social media probably. But um so I want to talk a little bit about how you made your way to the county clerk's office. Um, Maggie and I share a little bit of a shared kind of upbringing. Um, Maggie's originally from St. Louis. Um, she moved down here. I'll let her tell you about that here in a minute. But um anyway, uh talk about public service, Maggie because one of the things we want to do and cover in this podcast, at least what I want to do, um, is is highlight public service, whether it's in Tulsa County, um, other counties that may not have the resources that we have to to be able to highlight some of these things. Um so Maggie, you talk about your path to public service.

SPEAKER_01 5:35

Uh uh, well, where do you where do you want me to start with that? I don't know.

SPEAKER_05 5:40

You how did you get to Tulsa? Let's start by how you got to Tulsa.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

Okay. Uh well I moved down here to take an internship. I was uh at Victory Christian Center, I think is what they're called still. Um is uh ministry internships called IMT, which I don't think exists anymore, but it was full-time ministry, and part of that was going to um Victory's College. It was VBI at the time, over off of 81st in Lewis, I believe. And then yeah, full-time ministry working at the church, um made some of the best friends I've had there, really formative for me. And then when that ended, I got married pretty quick after that um and got a job at Ida Red, a local shop here in town. They've got now three stores, and then I did that for about seven years, um, helped build that business, um, had a lot of great times there. Um, that's really what rooted me in Tulsa because that store is very much about celebrating being from Tulsa and all the cool history things of Tulsa, like putting, you know, businesses that are have gone away on coasters and things that connect people to the past of Tulsa and you know, all of that stuff. And so I learned a lot about this community through the work there, the arts community, all of that. And then um got to a little bit of a fork in the road of um what was next for me, kind of get that like itch, you know. Um and from there I started a farm, which is like so opposite, but speaking of rooted in Tulsa. Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 7:40

Started a farm.

SPEAKER_01 7:41

Yeah, started a farm. Uh it was called Wits End Farm. Uh, and it took me to my wits end for sure. I call those my Job days because I was out there just toiling in the field. It was very rough. Um, but yeah, small scale quarter of an acre farm. Um, the whole idea was to make it a workshop farm and teach people in food deserts how to grow their own food, um, but then also use it as something that generates, you know, an income to keep it, you know, keep it going. So did that, then COVID hit and it just there was no market. So when you have perishable items and no market, it just kind of killed it. So from there I uh I was like, I need something that's steady and just very low-key simple for me to do to kind of get back in the swing of things because that really did take a lot from me, the farm. It was like some of my hardest years, I would say, in career things. And then I applied to be a taxpayer services person in the assessor's office. And I did that for a little bit, and there that itch came again where I was like, this is not enough. Like, I need to like be more involved. And the assessor's office is I think one of the most interesting functions of county government as far as just the methodology that they use and the science behind all of it, or the mathematics, maybe behind all of it. It's um I was happy to be in that office and learn what that was, um, how they appraised property and all of that. It's like super interesting. Gets my like nerdy brain going. Um and so an opening came with the uh executive assistant position, and I applied for that and got that, and was John Wright's executive assistant for a year, and then was like, I need more, um, and started looking at what was open and uh interviewed for the PIO position. And I think through that is how you came to know that I was, you know, open to opportunities, and then um you had an opening in your office with promoting Crystal. Um and then yeah, I applied for this gig and here I am. So is that kind of that is that's does that lay the timeline?

SPEAKER_05 10:23

That was your path and road through public service. Um and while, you know, third time I'm saying this is Maggie's last day as a full-time employee with us. She'll continue on and help us with some um some ideas on stuff we're working on. She she helps me a lot with um my duties as the being the president of the clerks association this year. So she's gonna continue to help me with some of that stuff. And I'm sure that Maggie's full-time public service road has not ended. I'm sure at some point you'll pick that back up at some point. Um and so, but let's talk a little bit more about the job and about the county clerk's office and some of the things that you've impacted with us. So I'll start and hand it off to you.

SPEAKER_04 11:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 11:07

Um, Maggie really, I use this term around here a lot, but Maggie really helped increase our horsepower as it relates to community relations. Um, and certainly our social media is a totally different game today. Um, I joke with people and I mean this. Maggie's done a phenomenal job with her social media, but sometimes I get kind of irritated with her ideas. Um, and so uh, you know, we had one day that she said, Michael, if you've got time, come out to the fairgrounds. We're gonna do a promo video for our fair booth. And I'm like, okay, that sounds fine. So what do you want me to do? And she said, Well, I'm gonna blindfold you and we're gonna have a bunch of people walk around and you're gonna hold your camera out or your phone out. And I'm like, what is this?

SPEAKER_04 11:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 11:52

And I won't say all the words that I said in the office, but yeah, we got out to the fairgrounds. She drugged me out there. So um, one thing that Maggie's done a phenomenal job at is getting me probably a little bit out of my comfort zone. A lot of people know we like to have a lot of fun in the county clerk's office because, you know, while we can't pay our employees a whole lot of money or offer some of the private sector uh things, we do have a great family atmosphere and we try to have as much fun as we can have while also being as professional and getting our jobs done uh as well as we can. But uh Maggie has pulled me out of my comfort zone a few different times. So she's done a phenomenal job with our events, she's done a phenomenal job, and we'll talk more about this in a minute, uh during relationships with our veterans community, which is very important to me. Um, in fact, I wore my coffee bunker lapel pen.

SPEAKER_01 12:44

Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_05 12:44

Thinking about that.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

Shout out to Coffee Bunker.

SPEAKER_05 12:47

Coffee Bunker is a great resource for our veterans.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

Yeah, I love those guys.

SPEAKER_05 12:51

And so talk about some of your favorite things that you've done over the few years. You've been with us.

SPEAKER_01 12:56

Well, hmm. I want to just make one comment about the blindfold thing. I would like to say that I led with the box idea. Do you remember this?

SPEAKER_05 13:09

Idea.

SPEAKER_01 13:10

There is a refresh my memory. There's a trend on social media going on that was like the first frame was somebody throwing a box. And the trend was well, there's different iterations of it, but essentially the person, then it switches over to the person that's supposed to catch the box or the box is supposed to hit them.

SPEAKER_05 13:32

Yes, I remember, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

And then this iteration that I pitched to you was that like just more boxes kept coming while you were being like, please come see us at the fair so I stop getting hit by all these boxes. And you're like, no.

SPEAKER_05 13:46

Yeah, I've vetoed that one.

SPEAKER_01 13:47

Yeah. Which I was like, I thought you would say no. Like I've really gotten to know your tolerance level for things. So I was like, I think if I leave it, that one, he'll be cool with the like the blindfold one. Seems less scary, right? Or like less embarrassing.

SPEAKER_05 14:05

Less embarrassing. That was probably the key. Yeah. Embarrassment.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

So uh yeah, that was I think that's why.

SPEAKER_05 14:12

And we got a lot of engagement with that. Yeah. And Maggie runs our fair booth or has has run our fair booth for the last few years and has done a great job with it.

SPEAKER_01 14:22

Yeah, and people don't typically go to the fair to like learn about county government, but we make the most of it. So um, I think one of my favorites, or let me think about this for a second. Um I think one of the proudest moments I've had is clerk school last year for sure.

SPEAKER_02 14:42

Oh man.

SPEAKER_01 14:43

Yeah, that was you set the theme for the conference, and just a little background. Um County Clerk School is a like an annual educational conference, and clerks and clerk employees, their deputies come from all across the state. Um, and we have a good time. Um, and last year you set the theme as Clerks Rock. And from there, like the creativity of all of that was like so exciting for me. And I think the first thing that you said was like, I want to create like a concert poster or something to kind of like tease the whole idea. And so once that was created, it was just like, okay, backstage passes, and we're gonna make the like tickets look like um, like concert tickets that you can perforate the things off to use. And I mean, it just kind of went wild from there. We did a band t-shirt with the back, like tour dates and all of that.

SPEAKER_05 15:52

So county clerks from across Oklahoma still wear our clerk's rock t-shirt. Um, I still, um, when I'm at different places um around the state and talking to some of my colleagues, still get people who ask, hey, are you gonna order some more of those shirts? Could we really get another one of those shirts? So we haven't we haven't done that yet. Again, we've we've done two runs of orders, I think, so far. Yeah so um we could, but uh anyway, we got a we've got another conference coming up. But that one was incredible. Um, and I'm I'm sometimes good at coming up with big ideas, but I'm not always the best at all the details and the follow-through. And so one of the reasons Maggie and I have made such an incredible team over the last several years is because she'll take some of my silly ideas and run and and add different elements to them that I hadn't even thought of at the beginning. So um that conference did turn out. Yeah, I mean, it rocked. It was awesome. We had we had uh walk-up music for everyone.

SPEAKER_01 16:55

Um I was DJing on the side.

SPEAKER_05 16:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:58

I don't know how I became the DJ, but I felt bad for the guy next to me because I kept being like, no, turn it down. Like he was actually supposed to be the A B guy. And I kind of, yeah, I was like, I'm sorry, I just made myself your boss. But I'm a little bit like when it comes to the execution of things, I'm a little bit of a perfectionist. Um, but not so much that I can't like be flexible. But when it came to the walk-up music, I was like, I knew it was important to you. It was. And so yeah, I was pretty like kind of a stickler to that guy. Yeah, I think that that was like just the amount of work that all went into it, and then to see it go so flawlessly, like there really weren't very I can't think of a moment that I was like, this isn't this isn't what I wanted, or like this isn't going according to plan. And I think in some of the other events, there are moments like that that I carry with me away from it, from the event. And I'm yeah, I didn't I didn't feel that at all at clerk school last year.

SPEAKER_03 18:03

So great.

SPEAKER_01 18:05

It was awesome, yeah.

unknown 18:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:06

Yeah. Um, let me think.

SPEAKER_05 18:11

Well, talk about your engagement with the veterans community because we've been doing that for a long time. Um, and so for those who don't know or recognize, um, county clerks across Oklahoma and really most of the country have the ability um to record military discharge papers for free on behalf of our veterans. Uh, so a veteran or their family member can bring a DD 214 form into our office and we record that for free. We'll give them as many certified copies as they want for them and their family. Um, and it's just a neat service. You know, the veterans and their families will ultimately need those forms, whether the veteran needs healthcare assistance, other um assistance from the veterans affairs uh administration, or um, you know, anything like that. So uh housing assistance, other things that are going on. So people will need the copy of those. A lot of the times the veterans may lose those or they may file them away and forget where they are. Um so if they have them in the office, um, they can call us, we can provide copies when they need it's a really great service, and we're proud to support our veterans.

SPEAKER_04 19:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 19:16

Um, but Maggie has really taken our show on the road in the last few years, and we've done a lot more to engage that community. So maybe talk a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_00 19:27

Yeah. Um the veteran community is my like it gets me choked up.

SPEAKER_03 19:37

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 19:37

Yeah. Okay. I didn't think I would cry this early. Oh, that's all right, mate. Come on.

SPEAKER_02 19:45

Um I love those people. That's all right.

SPEAKER_05 19:52

I'm a sympathetic crier, so if you cry too much, then I'll start crying. Then this whole podcast will be you'll have to shuck it. We'll do a lot more editing.

SPEAKER_01 20:00

I didn't think that we would need tissues in here, but I think it's definitely something to have around.

SPEAKER_05 20:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:05

Especially like if you have a guest that like you're grilling and they're like sweating, they're like, Yeah, true.

SPEAKER_05 20:11

I'm gonna do some of that.

SPEAKER_01 20:12

Tell me what you did with that ARPA money. No, I'm just kidding.

SPEAKER_05 20:14

Right.

SPEAKER_02 20:15

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 20:16

No, okay. So the veterans incredible people. The people that I know uh from the VFW good hearted people. Um, and I think that with any community or organization or mission there is the temptation to want to, you know, gain control and gain power of something to, you know, manipulate that community or whoever to kind of like lend itself to your wants and all that type of stuff. Um I don't see that with the veteran community here. Um specifically um the guys at the VFW, Josh Starks, Dan Fuller, Chris Rockstein, those guys, like their heart is to serve veterans. Um and you it's you can see it in the work at the parade, like you can see it of them contacting us and being like, Do you have this DD 214? Um, they'll bring DD 214s up for veterans to record for them. They're just wholehearted people. And um they deserve like everything, you know, as far as like they deserve their flowers or their accolades. Um but as far as my engagement with them, um I part of my position is to coordinate the county as a whole's involvement in. The Veterans Day Parade, which has a lot of moving parts. How many employees does Tulsa County have?

SPEAKER_05 22:09

Oh shoot. I think we're around between 15 and 1600 full time.

SPEAKER_01 22:13

I thought it was way more than that. But trying to communicate to 1500 people that they're invited to come walk with us. And then those that do come walk with us, getting them all of the information so they're at the right place, the right time, because there's a lot happening downtown on that day. But seeing the veterans in the crowd, seeing the kids with their signs and like all that, whew, that'll get any proud American their heart thumping, you know.

SPEAKER_05 22:43

100%.

SPEAKER_01 22:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 22:44

I tell people routinely that Veterans Day in downtown Tulsa is probably my favorite day of the year.

SPEAKER_01 22:51

Yeah. You can keep Christmas and Thanksgiving and like, although I do love stuffing, like there's nothing better than that. There really isn't.

SPEAKER_04 23:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:00

Um, and then yeah, we just we spend the whole day at the VFW that day. And you get to see, you know, I think it was yeah, last year, this past Veterans Day, there was a World War II veteran there.

SPEAKER_05 23:18

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 23:19

Um, and he was there the previous year.

SPEAKER_05 23:21

Not many of those left.

SPEAKER_01 23:23

Yeah. And, you know, the kindest person I think I've ever met. Like just a genuine guy. So um aside from that, like my like more routine messaging um and like you know, my daily type of thoughts or like the things that I try to communicate is the DD214 and the importance of that. Um, because we've seen quite a few uh like we've seen quite a few veteran spouses or veterans themselves trying to get access to this document. Veteran spouses are one of the hardest to see like to interact with because most of the time when that happens, it's the veteran's spouse that's trying to get their, you know, honors for their husband or wife at their funeral. And that person's already going through such a difficult time. And when we don't have that record to supply them because it was never recorded in the office, and we have to turn them away, it's like heartbreaking.

SPEAKER_05 24:34

Helpless moment.

SPEAKER_01 24:35

I remember heartbreaking.

SPEAKER_05 24:37

Literally, I think my second week on the job as county clerk in January of 2017, I was out at the recording desk trying to learn, and that exact, exact um scenario happened. A little uh a woman who was fairly elderly came in the office. At that point, at that point, you had to uh to be a customer in our office, you either had to walk in from somewhere else downtown, you had to pay to park. It was $10 at the time. Um, this is before we had free parking. But this woman had paid $10. I know she wasn't excited about being downtown anyway. Certainly, and her husband had passed away. Uh, so she was sad. And she went through security at the courthouse, uh, walked through the courthouse to get to our office, walked to the front desk in hopes that we would have exactly what she needed. So her husband could then have uh the military honors. I think he was an army vet, um, at his funeral service. And it was absolutely heartbreaking that we did not have that document. Um it hadn't been recorded in the office, and um they had not lived in another county or anything like that. So we offered to call, you know, some of the surrounding counties in case they might have it. And she said no, that wouldn't be it. And, you know, at the time, um, and we still tell people this, I think the VA might be a little quicker than they used to be. But back then, you you were talking about a six to eight week minimum turnaround to get a new copy of that DD214. And of course, in that time frame, and most with most families, they have to go ahead and do the service um without that, and that's heartbreaking.

SPEAKER_01 26:18

Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Well, and I think now the VA, and I could be wrong about this, um, but from my experience with the VA, they supply copies. They don't sub well, they will they can serve supply an original, but most of the time when you're looking for something, they'll just print you out a copy of it. Yeah, but it's not certified, you know, and essentially that certified document has the same authority as the original, which is why we require an original to be recorded.

SPEAKER_04 26:53

Right.

SPEAKER_01 26:53

Um but yeah, I've seen I've I've seen veterans also who had their original, lost it, and then requested a replacement, got the replacement, that was missing parts of their um accomplishments in the military. But because they recorded it in our office, they then had the proof to go back to the VA and say, you left these things off. Yeah, here's a certified copy. They did they wanted a tangible, like physical um original. So that's been cool, you know. It's cool to get to talk to people about that. Um, and it's very rewarding when somebody actually brings the document in to record because you're like, yes. So Dan Fuller actually a few weeks ago.

SPEAKER_05 27:51

Shout out to brother Dan Fuller.

SPEAKER_01 27:53

Yes, we love you, Dan. He is um a past post commander of the VFW here in Tulsa, post 577.

SPEAKER_05 28:02

And a retired sergeant from the Tulsa Police Department.

SPEAKER_01 28:05

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 28:05

I did 12 years as a reserve with TPD, and Dan supervised me a lot of the time and kept me in and out of trouble. Yeah, Dan's. That's awesome. Great. We worked a lot of events together.

SPEAKER_01 28:15

That's so cool. Yeah, he is a character. He uh loves what is it, Copperhead Road. Yeah, yeah, that guy loves that song.

SPEAKER_05 28:22

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:23

If you want to see him perform.

SPEAKER_05 28:24

We're gonna have to have him on the on on the podcast too.

SPEAKER_01 28:27

Yeah. Uh you just turn that on and he just starts dancing. So which if you know Dan at all, you know he's like a very stoic man. And so, yeah, that's how you loosen him up. Uh, but anyways, he came in just a few weeks ago um to record his DD 214. And I was like, yeah, it's like finally I bothered you enough.

SPEAKER_00 28:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:50

I um have, yeah, I've thoroughly enjoyed getting to work with that community.

SPEAKER_05 28:56

Well, you really upped our game. Um, you know, we we did some stuff with veterans. We've done Veterans Day Parade for a long time, and we've, you know, try to um get it out in the community that we provide the service to veterans, but Maggie's kind of taking it a step further for us in terms of making appointments to go to the coffee bunker and do some mobile recording. We've recorded a few DD 214s out in the community. We want to start doing more of that. That's really been an initiative that Maggie's helped put together. Um, so we appreciate everything you've done for upping our game in the veterans world, and we'll continue to work on that. Yeah. Um when you're off doing your next thing.

SPEAKER_01 29:39

Yeah. Um, yeah, I think technology needs to catch up with like what our ideas are.

SPEAKER_03 29:45

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:46

Um, but yeah, it's the best. And I think anytime that you can divert people from having to come downtown and you can bring the office into their communities, that's yeah.

SPEAKER_05 29:59

And that's something we've we've been talking about for a while. We're working on. Um, we have some avenues to be able to do that through our friend Don Newberry, the court clerk.

SPEAKER_04 30:09

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 30:09

Um, he has a satellite office in Broken Arrow. We're gonna be using that at some point to do some some mobile stuff out there and some other parts in the community. So, you know, that'll be good. Yeah what else do you want to talk about, Mag? Could we should we talk about all of the nicknames you've gathered over the years? I mean, I I just call you Mag sometimes, and I know that might be irritating, but you know a bunch of people in the office have a bunch of different nicknames for you.

SPEAKER_00 30:35

Yeah, uh Mag. Sometimes you call me Maggie.

SPEAKER_05 30:41

Yes, because your middle initial is L.

SPEAKER_00 30:44

L, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 30:45

Maggie'll.

SPEAKER_01 30:47

Um Whiskey Mike? Is that a nickname?

SPEAKER_05 30:50

Or is that more of like a It's the phonetic of where's Maggie? Yes. So yeah, the W and M. Whiskey Mike and uh and pilot and aircraft lingo.

SPEAKER_01 31:02

Um and then Jim Ray calls me special. Yeah. I think it's because he thought that I was like a special projects manager or something for the longest time. And he would come by be like, what's up, special? And I'm like, I don't know if that's an insult.

SPEAKER_03 31:21

Right.

SPEAKER_01 31:22

Like, are you saying, you know. What are you saying, Jim? Yeah, what are you saying, Jim? Yeah. But uh yeah, I don't what other ones do you know of?

SPEAKER_05 31:33

Well, I mean, Krista calls you her beautiful friend, but she calls everyone that.

SPEAKER_01 31:38

Yeah, she does.

SPEAKER_05 31:39

And you're her neighbor in the office, and so she does call some magenta sometimes. Magenta has been one that I think you don't like. I had to cut that off. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:48

Yeah. I was like, I actually really hate that color.

unknown 31:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

And she was like, oh, I didn't know. And then she did it a few more times, like, and then she was like, I'm so sorry, I keep doing it. So yeah, I think we finally like hit the curve where she's out of that.

SPEAKER_05 32:03

We got that squared away.

SPEAKER_01 32:04

Now that you're leaving, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 32:06

Um it's all squared away. One other thing I want to mention is um, you know, every year we uh we have a bit of a uniform policy in the county clerk's office where we have some logoed wear that um we both we sell logoed wear um as part of our um charitable giving campaign every year where you know our office joins in with the county and we do a lot of stuff with United Way and a lot of their uh charities. And so uh Maggie's wearing a beautiful Tulsa County Clerk vest that she um commissioned for us. I'm wearing a hat with a Tulsa County Clerk logo on it. And generally every year, towards the end of the year, I will try to buy the staff some sort of wearable. And, you know, um we've already named Maggie's replacement. She's in the room right next to us. And we're having a handoff meeting this afternoon, and we got to talk a little bit about wearables because Cody will kind of will take your place. And we may ask you for some assistance uh, you know, at the end of this year. Maggie's been great at putting our county clerk's office wearables together, making us a little more professional and kind of squared away.

SPEAKER_01 33:24

Yeah, I think that's um pulling in some of my IdaRed experience as well. Because I did a lot of that at IdaRed, being like, okay, we have all of this artwork. What like would it look the best on? Because some things look really great on a coffee mug and some things look really great on a hat.

SPEAKER_03 33:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:41

Um, so yeah, uh these vests though, I mean, you wanted to do these vests, what was it year before last?

SPEAKER_05 33:51

For a while, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:52

Yeah, and then they turned out really good. They turned out really good, but like they were Christmas vests at first, and then they were like, Happy New Year's vests. And then they were like, It's spring. We finally got them done.

SPEAKER_05 34:05

We finally got them done. Yeah, it took a while.

SPEAKER_01 34:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 34:08

Sometimes it does.

SPEAKER_01 34:09

Yeah. No, I think that that's like really important for the office. I know that it is for me, like it becomes it, I it helps you feel like you're a part of something when you, you know, not only see other people wearing uh like office logo stuff, but um yeah, I just think it helps people feel like they belong, you know? Um and it may just be like a very like subconscious thing. Um, but yeah, when you wear a logo, you're identifying that you are supporting this thing. And so for sure. Yeah. Also, our logos are really cool. So they are cool. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 34:49

I mean, for government stuff, yeah. We try to do as best we can.

SPEAKER_01 34:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 34:53

I mean, we still have to go with a low bidder. We have very limited funds.

SPEAKER_01 34:56

We use a local print shop.

SPEAKER_05 34:58

Local print shops when we can.

SPEAKER_01 35:01

We use I mean, the stuff that I've done, I feel like there's two different initiatives um within the office. We have Jin, who does a lot of logo stuff as well. So shout out to Jin.

SPEAKER_05 35:16

Um most of that is our sales for United Way and charitable giving.

SPEAKER_01 35:22

And then all of the stuff that I think I've printed or had printed for the office is I've tried to prioritize local.

unknown 35:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:30

Um, because we have great, you know, we have great companies here in Tulsa. Yeah, for sure. So, but yeah. Uh I did want to talk a little bit about our social media strategy.

SPEAKER_05 35:42

Yeah, let's do it.

SPEAKER_01 35:44

And how um that has evolved over the years, I think. So whenever I first started in this position, I think it like took a little bit of like figuring you out of like what you know, you're an elected official and social media is something that can make or break you for sure. Um I think we've seen some examples of that just in our own community. And there's a, you know, there's a line to kind of walk there. But I think over the years I've had these like moments where I'm like, oh, we should totally do this, we should do that. And um it wasn't until I think last year at the government social media conference where um I think we all kind of aligned on the idea that making personality-driven content um that really focuses on the storytelling of the people who are doing the work um is the thing that's gonna, you know, pierce through all of the noise that people scroll through um on their feeds. But uh Yeah, and I think it was that uh Ohio, was it the Ohio Department of Transport? No, not Ohio.

SPEAKER_05 37:11

Idaho. Idaho, Utah.

SPEAKER_01 37:13

I think it was the Utah I think you're right, it was Utah. Yeah, their Department of Transportation. Um they had a great session and one of the things that they really leaned into was using humor um to educate. And I think that's the path that we've kind of leaned into. Um and it's a lot of fun. Yeah. Uh sometimes, you know, it flops, even though it's like a great idea. And sometimes the things that you don't think are gonna do very well are do great. So it's a fun game for sure. And I want to thank you for trusting me with telling the story of the office.

SPEAKER_05 37:56

Yes, for sure. Well, you know, I know that um we've tried to do this over the years. Tell the story in the office, because frankly, most people, most people probably, if they know anything about the county clerk's office at all, they know that that's where they go to record a deed, or that's where they go to do some research on their grandparents' house that they owned in 1973. But they don't know about all the other stuff that we do. And the human element is really important because um we strive to have impeccable customer service. And I think most of the time we achieve that. I tell people that um we know we have a monopoly on your land records and every other service that we do, but I am elected. Um, I can be unelected. Um, if we don't do a good job, probably I should be. Um, but the human element has been something that um I've tried to put into our social media since I started. Again, like with most things, when Maggie started, she added more horsepower to that. I remember during COVID, we did a um a little Facebook post called Everyday Essential because everyone was talking about essential employees. So we just started going down the list and we just took a picture. I mean, it was very uh elementary, but this was this is me doing this and not not Maggie, you're a a pro that does social media all the time. But we just took pictures and we did a little snippet about what our employees do. And as I've been out in the community, even today, I will still get people who say, you know, I had no idea that you all do the payroll for the county.

SPEAKER_04 39:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 39:32

And if I hadn't seen that picture of one of your employees that does that, I would have no idea. And and they routinely tell me how grateful they are that we highlight our employees um and we try to put, you know, we we try to show the the county and the state and everyone who will will watch and listen what all we do, and we do really have a phenomenal team. Um just the bottom line. Yeah, they're great.

SPEAKER_01 40:00

I think um I would be remiss if I don't talk about Kenner Week.

SPEAKER_05 40:07

We talked about this before we even started today.

SPEAKER_01 40:10

Yeah. And you know, Kenner is uh Kenner Yates is our chief of staff. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 40:15

And when I'm out of town, or if I have something else going on, or if if you know anything ever happened to me or whatever, then Kenner is the acting county clerk.

SPEAKER_01 40:24

Right. So Kenner Week, our payroll group is typically the ones who start the shenanigans around the office. And when I say shenanigans, I don't mean that as like, oh, we're just running amok. But it's like subtle little things that bring life to the office.

SPEAKER_03 40:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:44

Um, and uh they they went around the office and told everybody individually, hey, when you come when you cross paths with Kenner, say, hey, happy Kenner week. Because I think you were out of town that week. And so he was the acting clerk.

SPEAKER_05 40:59

And the background, the additional piece of background is Kenner is a very humble, he hates the straight-laced person who does not seek any attention at all.

SPEAKER_01 41:08

Yes. He hates the spotlight, he hates getting his picture taken. He does not he wants to come and go under the radar. So yeah, you were out of town. The directive was if you see Kenner, say, Hey, happy Kenner Week. To the point where it was starting to make him a little crazy. He's like, What is going on? And you know, I pulled video clips of everybody together for like an internal video of Kenner Week. And then as the week progresses, it just becomes something else. Because that that's you know, that's how it goes sometimes. Um, so by the end of the week, I think it was that Friday, Kenner's office was decorated like a kingdom because I think Annette had sent you a text that was like, when are you coming back? Like he's making us calling call him King Kinner. Like he's off his rocker, yeah. Uh, which was not true, you know, that he wasn't making us call him King Kinner. Um, but yeah, his office was decorated like uh a throne and a castle and whatever, and they had like a robe for him.

SPEAKER_05 42:22

We didn't use any county funds to do decorations. These all came from Annette.

SPEAKER_01 42:26

Well, and they all came in on the decorations after hours to decorate the office and all of that. Uh yeah, and Annette has everything for everything. That's her superpower. Yes. Um agreed. But he has I'm not sure if it's like a like a souvenir bat, but he had a bat that was in his office, and that was his like what is that called? Like a scepter. Yes, yeah. Um, and then yeah, we did like a a Kenner King Kenner parade where we were all like you just can't like you can't really find that anywhere else, you know. Um, as far as people who are just gonna like let something snowball into like a memory that's like.

SPEAKER_02 43:22

Yes. One you'll always remember. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 43:26

Yeah. Yes, we've had several of those times when uh we our former chief deputy Tom, uh, before he left and uh left Kenner to be the stand in king. Uh they made a lot of fun of him too and had a lot of fun with Tom. And Tom, both you know, Tom and Kinner are fairly easy to make fun of. Yeah, they are in lots of different ways. Um, you know, um we have I've said this a minute ago, we have an incredible team, the county clerk's office. Um Maggie is certainly part and parcel of that. So we've been doing this for a while and we're both kind of starting to cry. But before we finish up, tell us what your next step is and what's going on, and then we'll close out this first episode of the exit interview slash county mule, slash government mule, slash whatever we're gonna call on this podcast.

SPEAKER_01 44:27

So I am gonna be moving to St. Thomas, the Virgin Islands. Um my sister owns some businesses out there, and um she's had a rough go of it with some personnel things. Um and I'm hearing her tell me all of that, and she um she's a really good woman.

SPEAKER_05 44:56

So you're headed to the island, you're gonna help run some businesses, not something that is outside of your area of expertise, because you have a bunch of experience doing that. Now you have a bunch of experience working with a bunch of government mules like me.

SPEAKER_01 45:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 45:22

Um, and but you're gonna get to come back to Tulsa sometimes, right?

SPEAKER_01 45:26

Yes, yeah. So it's like a really sweet gig, honestly. Um it's three months on, one month off. So uh I will be back in Tulsa every quarter. Um or wherever. Anywhere. But I thought it would be really fun to um crash like a pre-a conference or something if you guys on one of my months off or like in, you know, Buffalo or wherever it might be. Um yeah, to just pop up there and be like, hi, I know that I am not registered for this conference, but like I want to come hang. Um I think that's also something that's really cool is like all the friends that you make at conferences from other areas. But yeah, I will be kind of around, you know. Like, and I think that's the thing that's really helped center me in making this decision because um this is like a really special thing. Yeah to like walk away from.

SPEAKER_05 46:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:36

Well, stop making me cry, Michael.

SPEAKER_05 46:40

I didn't mean to.

SPEAKER_01 46:41

I know, yeah. The tissue thing is uh definitely gonna have to happen in here.

SPEAKER_05 46:45

We'll get some tissues in here for the next one.

SPEAKER_01 46:47

Yeah. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:52

Any final words before we log off?

SPEAKER_00 46:56

Clark like a champion.

SPEAKER_05 46:57

Clark like a champion. Thanks everyone.

SPEAKER_00 47:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 47:00

For the uh for my mom and the other five people who will probably watch this.

SPEAKER_01 47:05

Oh, yeah. Your mom is gonna share it so fast.

SPEAKER_05 47:08

We'll see. I don't even think she's ever seen a podcast, so we'll see.

SPEAKER_01 47:11

Well, but that Facebook post, it's like immediate. You can count on her list.

SPEAKER_05 47:16

You can count on Kathy.

SPEAKER_01 47:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 47:18

All right, we're logging off here, team. Thanks, everybody. Clark like a champion.