John Clair Ramey
He retired in May 2015, for the third time, after a nearly 45 year career that began in the fire service, then as a City Clerk and finally as a City Manager and Town Administrator. He is the only inductee to serve as the chief official over two municipal departments, as well as the executive officer of both a city and a town; and as president of two-statewide professional associations.
While serving in both the City of Tonkawa and the Town of Okeene, he was known as a champion for public power who continuously assisted peers and colleagues to resolve public power issues. In addition to numerous other roles, he served four years on the board for the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority; and two years on the board of the Municipal Electric Systems of Oklahoma.
At the age of 29 he was named Tonkawa Fire Chief and at the time was the youngest Fire Chief in Oklahoma. In 1980 he was elected President of the Oklahoma Fire Chief's Association. John also served as City Clerk/Treasurer for the City of Tonkawa and was acting City Manager on five different occasions prior to being hired as City Manager in 2001. While the city clerk/treasurer, John served as President of the Oklahoma Municipal Clerks, Treasurers, and Finance Officials Association.
He has been honored for his public power efforts as recipient of both the Marvin Hicks - Al Middleton Meritorious Service Award and the Ray Duffy Personal Achievement Award from MESO as well as the Larry Hobart 7 Hats Award from the American Public Power Association (APPA).
During a time, John served the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority (OMPA) as Board Treasurer and at various times served as chairman of the Audit and Finance Committees, and he also served on the Competitive Utilities Program (CUP) Oversight Committee and the Energy Services Committee. At retirement in 2015, he was serving as a board member for the Municipal Electric Systems of Oklahoma.