Greetings,

I want to thank all Tulsans for welcoming NCAA patrons to our city last week. We are receiving exceptional feedback from NCAA officials, universities and visitors - most touting what a friendly and clean city Tulsa is. I want to thank each of you who joined me prior to the tournament for Championship Cleanup, and also to our business owners and citizens for making NCAA visitors feel at home.

Prior to the tournament, I started an NCAA coordinating committee which pulled together many city departments and outside organizations to prepare for the influx of people coming to town. Months of planning went in to preparing for the tournament - it was truly a team effort to organize shuttle services, volunteers, parking, hotel rooms and traffic control. Compared to other host cities in the country, Tulsa truly shined and left an impression on NCAA officials.

The NCAA tournament is expected to bring an estimated economic impact of $10 million to Tulsa and organizers are currently working to secure a bid for future NCAA tournaments. Tulsa's next opportunity to bid for the NCAA tournament is in 2014.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the basketball tournament and I am so glad that Tulsa was able to showcase our great city and have the opportunity to experience March Madness.

Best regards,
Dewey Bartlett
Mayor