Ponca City Energy’s Johnston selected for Hall of Fame

OKLAHOMA CITY — Ponca City Energy General Manager Phil Johnston is one of two city officials from around the state, who will be inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame for City and Town Officials, during the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Sept. 15 at the Doubletree Downtown Hotel in Tulsa.

El Reno mayor Matt White is the second official to be inducted.

The event will be held in conjunction with the Annual Conference Banquet for the Oklahoma Municipal League.

Johnston and White will be the  77th – 78th inductees into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame since 2001.

Past inductees from Kay County include: Jerry Johnston, former mayor of Braman; John Ramey, former Tonkawa City manager, and Ponca City past and current officials, Gary D. Martin, Homer Nicholson, Marilyn Kay Andrews, Craig Stephenson and Mike Vanderburg.

The hall of fame is supported by eight organizations of Oklahoma municipal government officials or service organizations.

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 21 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 Inc., 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.

Tickets for the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and banquet are $50 each available from the Oklahoma Municipal League by contacting Cathy at 405-528-7515 or by email to cathy@oml.org

The 76 past inductees based on their residence when inducted are:

Ada – Charles E. Spencer

Bixby – Joe Williams

Braman – Jerry Johnston

Broken Arrow – James C. Reynolds

Chickasha – Robert J. Hicks

Choctaw – Randall Ross

Clinton – Glendenne Goucher

Collinsville – Pam Polk

Duncan – Eugene Brown

Edmond – Cindy Shattuck, Don Bown, Charles Lamb, William A. Moyer, Carl Reherman, Donald C. Rider, Kevin McCullough, Drake Rice, Charles (Chuck) Smith and Bob Ponkilla

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

Perry – Mary Rupp

Piedmont – George Fina

Ponca City – Gary D. Martin, Homer Nicholson, Marilyn Kay Andrews, Craig Stephenson and Mike Vanderburg

Poteau – Jeff Shockley

Prague – Harold Pumford

Pryor – Gary Pruett

Sand Springs – Mike Burdge, Mary Sue Overbey, Daniel Bradley

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, Lawrence O. Hansen and Dan Galloway

Tahlequah – Michael Doublehead

The Village – Stanley Alexander

Tonkawa – John Ramey

Tulsa – Robert LaFortune, Susan Savage and David Weatherford

Walters – Albert Veltema

Watonga – Leroy Lage

Weatherford – Tony Davenport, George Wilkinson and Mike Brown

West Siloam Springs – Elaine Carr

Woodward – Alan Riffel

Yukon – James Crosby