Jessie Nelson
Jessie James Nelson, known to most as "Jess", served on the Guymon City Council for 28 years, the last 14 as Mayor, ending in 2005 when he did not seek re-election. During his service, he distinguished himself state-wide for performing, as Representative Gus Blackwell describes it, "yeoman work in representing and furthering rural issues for small cities"- no easy task given the driving distance from Guymon to other parts of the state.
During his long municipal career, he served on the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma Municipal League for 11 years, including a term as President, beginning in 1999, following his term as President of the Oklahoma Conference of Mayors. He also represented Oklahoma for three years on the Board of Directors for the Southern Municipal Conference. In 1995 he became the first and only official ever to receive both the Mayor of the Year and Don Rider awards from the Oklahoma Municipal League.
With 36 years in public education as a sixth-grade teacher in Buffalo and then as an elementary school principal in Shattuck and Guymon, Nelson also spent 18 summers, early in his teaching career, as a "smoke jumper" parachuting into forest fires along the Rocky Mountain range.
His municipal service also earned him:
the Donna Nigh Award for Community Service from the Oklahoma Department of Human Services,
the Governor Nigh Mayor Award for the Arts,
the Leadership Oklahoma Distinguished Graduate Award,
the Oklahoma Transit Association Award,the National Hometown Leadership Award, and
the 2002 Distinguished Leadership Award from the Oklahoma Chapter of the American Society of Public Administrators.
In 2001, the Guymon Chamber of Commerce created the "Jess Nelson Community Leadership Award" to honor his career. He has been a long-time participant in the Boy Scouts of America - as a youth and as an adult - and is the only person ever to receive the Silver Beaver Award from two separate scout councils.
Jess is especially known for his ability to overcome the negatives that may impede progress or understanding, and he used his skill very effectively in advocating and championing the cause of municipal government as a member of the:
Executive Committee of the Oklahoma Academy for State Goals, and the
Governor's Workforce and Economic Development Council, and the
Fannie Mae Regional Advisory Committee, and the
Board of Directors for Leadership Oklahoma
As described by friends and associates, his many achievements can be characterized as being accomplished with "foresight" and "dedication" with "the greatest of social skills" and "unselfish giving" as a "tireless advocate" for Oklahoma cities and towns.