Five officials representing a wide range of experiences will be inducted September 19 into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame for City and Town Officials. The black-tie optional hall of fame induction ceremony will be at the Cox Convention Center in Tulsa in conjunction with the Annual Conference Banquet for the Oklahoma Municipal League.

They will become the 65th – 69th 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.

Those to be inducted on September 19 are:

• Pam Polk, City Manager, City of Collinsville
• Dan Galloway, Retired City Manager, Stillwater & El Reno
• Gary Pruett, Retired General Manager, Municipal Utility Board, Pryor
• Jeff Shockley, former Mayor, Poteau
• Michael Vanderburg, City Attorney, Ponca City

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 18 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 Oklahoma Municipal Alliance (formerly MESO), 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 64 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;
Perry – Mary Rupp;
Piedmont – George Fina;
Ponca City – Gary D. Martin, Homer Nicholson, Marilyn Kay Andrews and Craig Stephenson;
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, 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;

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 cathy@oml.org.

For More Information:
Deborah Miner-Gonzales, Secretary
Oklahoma Hall of Fame for City and Town Officials Foundation 308 NE 27th Street Oklahoma City, OK 73105 Phone 405-528-7564 ext. 1 deborah@meso.org

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Pamela Polk, City Manager of Collinsville, Oklahoma, recently received recertification for the Credentialed Manager designation from ICMA, the International City/County Management Association. Ms. Polk is one of over 1,300 local government management professionals currently credentialed through the ICMA Voluntary Credentialing Program.

ICMA’s mission is to advance professional local government through leadership, management, innovation, and ethics and by increasing the proficiency of appointed chief administrative officers, assistant administrators, and other employees who serve local governments and regional entities around the world. The organization’s 13,000 members in 27 countries also include educators, students, and other local government employees.
To receive the prestigious ICMA credential, a member must have significant experience as a senior management executive in local government; have earned a degree, preferably in public administration or a related field; and demonstrated a commitment to high standards of integrity and to lifelong learning and professional development.

Pam is qualified by 23 years of professional local government executive experience. Prior to her appointment in 2005 as city manager of Collinsville, she served as City Clerk and City Manager in Mangum, Oklahoma.

Highlights of Pam’s ICMA membership include: Chair, ICMA nominating committee Mountain Plains Region; 2017 City Manager of the Year; and 2019 Inductee Oklahoma Hall of Fame for Municipal and Town Officials.

Ms. Polk has also made significant contributions to a number of other organizations, including: Oklahoma Municipal League Board of Directors; Oklahoma Municipal Assurance Group past President, current Vice President; and Incog Board of Directors; and numerous other boards and civic involvement.

For more information regarding the ICMA Voluntary Credentialing Program, contact Jenese Jackson at ICMA, 777 North Capitol Street, N.E., #500, Washington, D.C. 20002-4201; jjackson@icma.org; 202-962-3556.