City Manager to be inducted into Hall of Fame for City and Town Officials

Four officials representing a wide range of experiences will be inducted Sept. 13 into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame for City and Town Officials, including Craig Stephenson, City Manager of Ponca City.

The black-tie optional Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City in conjunction with the Annual Conference Banquet for the Oklahoma Municipal League.

They will become the 61st – 64th inductees into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame since 2001.

Those to be inducted this year were recently announced by the Oklahoma Hall of Fame for City and Town Officials Foundation, which is supported by eight organizations of Oklahoma municipal government officials or service organizations.

In addition to Stephenson, those to be inducted on Sept. 13 are:

• George Fina, former Piedmont Councilman and Mayor, and former Oklahoma City firefighter
• Mary Rupp, former Stillwater Deputy City Manager and former Perry City Manager
• David Weatherford, City Attorney, City of Coweta, Town of Mannford, City of Sand Springs, and City of Mounds.

Formed in 1999, the Oklahoma Hall of Fame for City and Town Officials Foundation recognizes individuals for outstanding achievements or contributions to city and town government. To be selected, an honoree must make significant contributions to Oklahoma local government, through their positive spirit of public service, with unquestioned ethics.

The website www.okcityandtownofficials.org highlights the careers of each inductee in the past 16 years. Visitors to the website are able to navigate through biographies, video and photo features about each inductee.

The Oklahoma Hall of Fame Foundation is supported by the Oklahoma Municipal League, The Mayors Council of Oklahoma, the City Management Association of Oklahoma, the Municipal Electric Systems of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Municipal Assurance Group, the Oklahoma Municipal Retirement Fund, the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority and the Oklahoma Municipal Clerks, Treasurers and Finance Officials Association.

The 60 past inductees based on their residence when inducted include:

Ada – Charles E. Spencer;

Bixby – Joe Williams;

Braman – Jerry Johnston;

Broken Arrow – James C. Reynolds;

Chickasha – Robert J. Hicks;

Clinton – Glendenne Goucher;

Duncan – Eugene Brown;

Edmond – Cindy Shattuck, Don Bown, Charles Lamb, William A. Moyer, Carl Reherman, Donald C. Rider, Kevin McCullough and Drake Rice;

El Reno – Tony Rivera

Frederick – Robert B. Johnston and Wanda Jo Evaige;

Guymon – Jess Nelson;

Hobart – Thomas Talley;

Jenks – Randy Ewing;

Mannford – Michael Nunneley;

Midwest City – Tommy Melton;

Norman – Anthony M. Francisco, David Morgan, PhD, and Larry J. Shelton;

Oklahoma City – James Couch, James G. Hamill, Patience Sewell Latting, Leon E. Nelson, Gary Marrs, Zach Taylor, Jr., Stephen E. Reel, Gerald Wilkins, Michael Crawford and Mick Cornett;

Ponca City – Gary D. Martin, Homer Nicholson and Marilyn Kay Andrews;

Prague – Harold Pumford;

Sand Springs – Mike Burdge;

Santa Fe, NM – Shane Woolbright;

Seminole – Edward Smith;

Shawnee – Mary Ann Karns, Terry Powell and Bertha Ann Young;

Stillwater – Ernest R. Dirks, Lawrence Lee Gish and Lawrence O. Hansen;

The Village – Stanley Alexander;

Tonkawa – John Ramey;

Tulsa – Robert LaFortune and Susan Savage;

Walters – Albert Veltema;

Watonga – Leroy Lage;

Weatherford – Tony Davenport, George Wilkinson and Mike Brown;

West Siloam Springs – Elaine Carr;

Woodward – Alan Riffel.

Tickets for the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and banquet are $45 each, available from the Oklahoma Municipal League by calling (405) 528-7515 or by email to: [email protected] .