City Manager receives recognition from the state

Ponca City City Manager has been named Oklahoma’s City Manager of the Year. Craig Stephenson received the award at the Oklahoma Municipal League Awards Breakfast last week. Stephenson said the award is to recognize managers who are doing the right thing.

"What it really says to me, is it’s a validation of the relationships that we have in our community with our residents and with our partners, with economic development, with the Chamber, with the schools, with the business community," Stephenson said. "Also, validation that employees that work for the city are top-notch and doing quality work."

The official title of the award is the Gerald Wilkins Award in honor of a former OML president and a longtime City Manager.

Stephenson assists the commission in making policies by planning, making recommendations and reporting on the status of city departments. He then helps implement these policies and procedures.

Stephenson said it’s more than recognition for himself.

" I am just nothing more than riding the coattails of a governing body that works well as a team and a staff that works well as a team, and is extremely innovative," Stephenson said.

Stephenson has been working in the field for 29 years. He became Ponca City’s City Manager in January 2009 and worked as an Assistant City Manager before that.