While perhaps best known for her unequaled service as a full-time city attorney in three Oklahoma communities, Mary Ann Karns also has been a significant influence in other ways on Oklahoma local government. For one, she is credited by many as being a key influence on the educational programs offered for municipal counsel throughout the state. And perhaps most significantly, others recognize her as a singular stabilizing influence in the mid-1970s after municipal collective bargaining turmoil wracked the state. One support letter extolled her professionalism as a negotiator and as one who trained and educated many municipal administrators and union representatives alike.

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