She works for you ....

By JOY HAMPTON

April 22, 2008 03:13 pm

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Rebecca Muratet is the voice that answers the phone when the public calls the office of the Rogers County Commissioners. She’s also the first face the public sees when coming into that office. Her official title is Executive Administrative Assistant, but Muratet said she doesn’t care about fancy titles.
“I’m the secretary,” she said.
She’s been the county commissioners’ secretary since Dec. 23, 2002, replacing Melissa Anderson, the current County Assessor.
Muratet said she had four brothers so working with three male commissioners is “not so different.”
“I reflect what they (the public) can expect from the county commissioners,” said Muratet. “Mostly, it’s about service.”
Muratet said part of her job includes educating the public when they call or come by.
“Many people are unsure that there’s more than one county commissioner,” she said.
Dealing with the public involves issues ranging from how to open a section line road to what can be done about the neighbor’s trash, which district a person lives in, or problems with dogs – anything “county related,” said Muratet.
“In my position you’ve got to be knowledgeable about many things because it’s so varied,” said Muratet.
Every Monday morning the Sheriff’s Department calls with a list of road signs that must be replaced and Muratet passes that information on to Lee Francis of Sign Maintenance. Other problems and issues must be dealt with as well, many by the three various commissioners. Muratet said she passes on information to the proper person, but keeps notes on her desk so she can follow up and make sure the public is being served.
Following in the footsteps of Anderson, who had held the position with the commissioners for years before going on to serve as Assessor, Muratet said this is not her first job as an administrative assistant.
Before coming to work for Rogers County, she was the administrative assistant to the superintendent of Chelsea Public Schools.
“It’s the heart of Rogers County,” said Muratet of Chelsea where she lived from 1992 until 2007.
Currently, Muratet lives in the Sequoyah area. She has been raising her grandson, Riley, for the past three years. He attends first grade in Sequoyah.
“I love Rogers County,” said Muratet.
She grew up northeast of Claremore near Sinors which used to be Blackies, she said. Her daddy, Bill Lowe was a rodeo cowboy who won World Championship titles in bulldogging and calf roping in 1951. He learned to shoe horses and plied his trade of farrier locally.
One of six children, Muratet said her mother, JoAnn Lowe, was the disciplinarian of the family.
“She meant what she said,” said Muratet. With six children, her mother didn’t have time to repeat herself. Muratet said she and her siblings learned to listen.
Muratet also learned the value of hard work and earning an honest dollar at a young age.
Her daddy paid her 75 cents to hold horses while he shod them. She also remembers scraping the bark off trees her dad had cut down, and even digging a ditch.
“Working was just part of what we did,” she said of her family. “We didn’t have much time for TV.”
At age 12, she washed dishes for a local cafe all summer so she could buy her own clothes.
When she was 17, Muratet went to work for Virginia May Archer at Archer’s Cleaners. She attributes Archer with teaching her valuable skills like how to do alterations.
She’s had many jobs since then and enjoys working with the public.
“I love people,” said Muratet. “You can’t please everybody, and you can’t go around trying to please everybody, but I do try to give them the best service possible and love them in the process.”
Muratet said dealing with county purchase procedures and other issues is nothing new after working in the public school system. At the time she came to work for the county, it was “tough times for schools,” she said.
When Anderson moved on to the Assessor’s job, Muratet introduced herself to County Commissioner Gerry Payne and applied for the job as the commissioners’ secretary.
When she came to work, Payne was the commissioner for District 1, Billy Jack Graves was over District 2 ,and Kenny Crutchfield was at District 3.
Muratet has served under commissioners Randy Baldridge, Mike Helm, Dan DeLozier and Kirt Thacker.
“Rogers County is a wonderful community,” she said. “The friendliness, good roads, and proximity to Tulsa are all reasons for its growth.”
Muratet attributes her father with teaching her many of the skills that have helped her survive in life.
“He was a great teacher,” she said. “He had lots of common sense – horse sense.”
In her position as secretary to the commissioners, Muratet said she has the goal to treat others with the same dignity and respect that she wants for herself.
“You must serve everyone the same,” she said.
Unusual calls she has received include a woman who wanted county crews to remove a dead squirrel killed in front of her house.
The most difficult issue Muratet has dealt with was an unidentified transient who fell off the train and died just inside the Rogers County line.
Muratet said that death affected her because it was difficult, “to hear of someone who has no one.”
The December ice storm has left her still fielding up to a dozen calls a day regarding tree debris pickup.
Sometimes, folks just stick their heads inside her office to say, “hi.”
“We have a cohesive community in Rogers County,” said Muratet. “We’re close-knit but there’s always room for someone new.”

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