On March 27, 2013, The City of Portland held its annual Wonder Women Awards Ceremony, which honors women at the City who serve as mentors, leaders, and exceptional co-workers. The awards coincide with Women’s History Month in March.  

City employees nominated co-workers to honor the women in our bureau who stand out as role models, mentors, or generally exceptional employees. This year three Bureau of Internal Business Services (BIBS) employees received the award:

Kate Wood – City Risk Manager

Tiffani Penson – Procurement Services

Cathleen Massier – Procurement Services

Please join with me in congratulating each of these Women on their Wonder Woman Award!

Congratulations to the Bureau of Internal Business Services, City Risk division for a successful Safety Recognition Day!

The event was held during the February 6^th City Council Session at City Hall.

For more informaiton see 2013 Safety Recognition Day. 

Facilities Services, a division of the Bureau of Internal Business Services is proud to annouce that Fire Station 18 has become the City's first fire station to receive LEED NC Gold Certification.Thanks to the committment of City employees, Portland Fire and Rescue and the efforts of the design and construction teams. Fire Station 18 is an impressive green building.

 Listed Below are some highlights that exemplify the great work done:

• The rainwater capture and re-use system with roof collection and storage in basement cistern is tied to irrigation, toilets, and fire truck washing. This system will save over 130,000 gallons of potable water annually, providing 100% of water required for toilet flushing as well as supplying more than 100,000 gallons per year for fire truck washing
• High efficiency water fixtures throughout the building will save 28,000 gallons of water per year
• High efficiency electrical and mechanical systems reduce energy consumption by more than 30%, saving more than 13,000 kilowatt-hours & 1,500 therms of natural gas per year
• Solar panels on-site generate over 2,600 kilowatt-hours of renewable energy, providing enough electricity for approximately 2.5% of the annual building requirements
• Recycling of construction waste achieved a 97% diversion rate, preventing 328 tons of construction waste from going to a landfill
• Daylight for over 75% and views to the outdoors for over 80% of regularly occupied spaces

19th Annual Northwest Public Employees Diversity Conference

This year, in a joint effort, Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington and Clark Counties; the City of Portland, Metro, the Portland Development Commission, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Home Forward, Portland Public Schools, Port of Portland, Oregon Lottery and Trimet have chosen to honor one individual, group or team for outstanding contributions to diversity and inclusion.

The purpose of the Robert Phillips – Regional Diversity Award is to honor employees, work groups, teams or departments that demonstrate a respect for the commitment to diversity that goes beyond the day-to-day job performance; and that promoted the implemented efforts to bring diversity and inclusion to their government organization. All of the nominees were very deserving but we are pleased to announce:

The 2012 Robert Phillips – Regional Diversity Award Winner is

Loretta Young

Ms. Loretta Young began her career with the City of Portland in City Commissioner Margaret Strachan’s office. She also served on the staff of Commissioner Earl Blumenauer. Ms Young is currently the Contractor Development Supervisor for the Bureau of Internal Business Services.

Ms. Young brings her vast knowledge and commitment to the work of designing and promoting policies, procedures and practices to ensure that the City of Portland is using the most equitable practices in contracting. Her passion, persistence and expertise have been instrumental in the development of the City’s Good Faith Program, workforce training, hiring programs and the Equal Benefits Program.

In recent years Ms. Young has been a member of the Business Diversity Institute and has worked on the Disparity Study Work Team Project and the redesign of the former sheltered market program to address the racial and gender disparities identified in the City’s program. She is visible and respected in the community, making sure that the community perspective is always at the table. Ms. Young gives generously as a mentor and is a wonderful role model for her professionalism, dedication and accessibility.

Ms. Young has a Masters in Contract Compliance from the American Compliance Association and is a former member of the City of Portland Charter Commission. 

In June, 2012 the Portland Building achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Existing Building: Operations and Maintenance gold certification, making it one of only six buildings in the Portland metropolitan area to achieve this level of certification. This has been a multi-year effort, and was achieved through the collaboration of many City bureaus and staff.

The project was managed by Facilities Services and reflects the dedication and effort of the Facilities staff and tenants of the Portland Building, including eight City Bureaus & Divisions.

Some achievements leading to gold certification include:

• Over 60% of the building’s tenants use some form of alternative transportation to commute to work.
• In 2011, building tenants diverted 51% of their waste from the landfill by recycling and composting.
• With the help of the Water Bureau, the Portland Building installed dual flush toilets, low flow showerheads, and low flow break room kitchen aerators in order to reduce indoor water use.
• Environmental Services and Facilities staff identified ways to mitigate 15% of the building’s stormwater and reduce the amount of water used to irrigate the building’s eco-roof by 81%.
• The Bureau of Planning and Sustainability Green Building Team logged the building’s characteristics, which helped the building become Energy Star Certified in 2011.