Your OKC City Council
Mick Cornett became Oklahoma City's 35th mayor on March 2, 2004. Elected at age 45, Cornett became the City's youngest mayor since 1959.
Cornett was born and raised in Oklahoma City. He attended Putnam City High School where he was named as the school's most outstanding student in both Government and Physical Education. Cornett was also an all-state athlete.
At the University of Oklahoma he earned a Journalism degree in television news and graduated on the Dean's Honor Roll.
He spent 20 years in local television working in both news and sports, serving as reporter, anchor and manager. As a news anchor, he covered City Hall from 1997-1999.
In 1999, he left television and started his own video production business. In 2001, he won a seat on the Oklahoma City Council where he served until elected mayor in 2004.
Mick and his wife Lisa began dating when they were high school sophomores and have been together ever since. They have raised three sons—Michael, Casey and Tristan.
You can contact the Mayor at 297-2424
Gary Marrs was elected to represent Ward 1 in a Special Primary Election on May 11, 2004.
Marrs will finish the term of former councilman Mick Cornett, who was sworn in as Mayor on March 2, 2004.
Marrs was a third-generation firefighter, born and raised in Oklahoma City, who was named Fire Chief in 1993.
Chief Marrs was instrumental in the formation of the Special Operations work section, which encompasses the hazardous materials unit, the water rescue team, and the technical rescue team. He also created a separate Emergency Medical Services work section and has led the charge in the implementation of the Oklahoma City Fire Department providing paramedic level advanced life support to the citizens. Under his leadership, firefighters became more involved in the neighborhoods, often hosting or attending neighborhood watch meetings, going door to door distributing smoke alarms in the community, and even reading to school children and holding elementary school reading contests.
He served as the incident commander of the Murrah bombing rescue and recovery, and also led the Fire Department in the wake of the 1999 tornado.
Marrs retired from the Fire Department in 2002, and served as Assistant to the Mayor for a year following that.
He holds degrees in Fire Protection Technology and Municipal Fire Protection from Oklahoma State University. He is also a graduate of the Executive Fire Officer program at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland. He has been an adjunct instructor for the National Fire Academy, Oklahoma Fire Service Training, and Oklahoma State University.
Marrs is active in The American Red Cross of Central Oklahoma, YMCA, Oklahoma City National Memorial Trust, Leadership OKC, and the Youth Leadership Exchange.
Marrs is an Air Force Vietnam veteran.
He and his wife Judy have a daughter and two granddaughters.
You can contact him at 297-2402
Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Sam Bowman completed his education in Pennsylvania, including an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Penn State University and a graduate Social Work degree from the University of Pittsburgh. Between undergraduate and graduate studies Sam served three years in the U.S. Navy, homeported in Japan.
He moved to Oklahoma City in 1970 to work for Neighborhood Services Organization, a United Way/United Methodist social service agency. For 21 years he served as Executive Director of the organization. He moved to the Oklahoma City Community Foundation in 1994 to serve as a Program Officer.
Since 1970 he has been an active member of both St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church and, for the last three years, Quail Springs United Methodist Church.
Sam was one of the founding members of the Cleveland Neighborhood Association and served as its president two of the first three years. He still lives in the Cleveland Neighborhood.
Sam has two grown daughters and a new grandchild.
Sam has always been actively involved with the Oklahoma City schools, beginning with his girls' enrollment at Sequoyah Elementary through both daughters' senior years at Northwest Classen.
His work with the Oklahoma City Community Foundation has afforded him opportunities for developing new kinds of partnerships between community groups and schools throughout the county.
Sam has served in various public capacities with the City over the past 15 years. He served on the Oklahoma City Planning Commission from 1987 to 1995. He was a member of the OKC Trails Steering Committee from 1996 to 1999. He was Chairman of the OKC Enterprise Committee from 1996 to 2000.
You can contact him at 297-2402
Lawrence McAtee, Jr. was elected to his first full term of office in April, 2001, after serving four months as Ward 3's interim representative.
McAtee has been treasurer of Kimray, Inc., a manufacturer of oil and gas equipment, since 1983. He started with Kimray in 1981 as director of the company's MIS department.
From 1965-1969 and 1973-1981 he worked for Honeywell, Inc. in sales and management. From 1969-73, he held various positions, including sales manager for Univac, head of McAtee and Associates (distributor of family and motivational programs), and Associate Professor of Management at Oklahoma City University.
McAtee earned a master's degree in management from New York University Graduate School of Business Administration in 1962, and a B.A. in Public & International Affairs from Princeton University in 1959.
He is a member of the First Southern Baptist church in Del City. He and his wife Joann have 3 daughters and 11 grandchildren.
You can contact him at 297-2404
Pete White was elected Ward 4 Councilman in the April 5, 2005 runoff election.
He had previously been selected by unanimous vote of the City Council to serve the remainder of a previous councilman's term of office.
White, an attorney, previously served on the Council from 1982 to 1989.
He is a lifelong resident of Ward 4.
You can contact him at 297-2402
Jerry Foshee was elected as Ward 5 Councilman in April 1993. Mr. Foshee serves on the Finance Committee, Audit Committee, Aviation Committee, Economic Development, and chair of the Riverfront Redevelopment Authority.
He financially supports and is active with the youth of south Oklahoma City in baseball, wrestling, basketball, football and soccer, and is a regular speaker in south Oklahoma City public schools.
He belongs to the South Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce. He has served on the Oklahoma Trial Lawyers Association Board of Directors and is a member of the Oklahoma Trial Lawyers and Oklahoma Bar Association. Mr. Foshee has been a practicing attorney in Oklahoma since 1976 and is a partner in Foshee & Yaffe Law Firm. Mr. Foshee received his law degree from OCU.
He is a native OKC graduate of Central State University. He and his wife Elizabeth have three children. Elisa, a graduate of OU, is a public school teacher. Jeri Beth is at the OU School of medicine and Chris attends OU.
You can contact him at 297-2569
Ann Simank was elected as the Ward 6 Councilwoman on March 21, 1995. She chairs the Social Services Committee and is a member of the Finance Committee, Legislative Committee and Neighborhood Conservation Committee.
A licensed social worker, she received her master’s degree in social work from the University of Oklahoma. Councilwoman Simank serves on the Oklahoma City Council Neighborhood Conservation Committee, the Finance Committee, the Legislative Committee, and she chairs the Social Services Committee for the City of Oklahoma City.
She is also a member of the Association of Central Oklahoma governments and the Oklahoma Municipal League Legislative Committee. She is past chair of the National League of Cities Public Safety and Crime Prevention Committee and an Advisory Board Member for the National League of Cities.
Ann serves as a board member for the Homeless Alliance, Drug Recovery, Inc., and the Jim Thorpe Association. She was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, is married to Gary Bankhead, a real estate investor and has two grown children who both reside in Oklahoma City. Ann and her husband are members of Wesley United Methodist Church.
You can contact her at 297-2402
Willa Johnson was elected to her first term as Ward 7 Councilwoman in April, 1993. She serves on the City's Finance, Economic Development, 5-year Capital Improvement Committees and is chairperson of the Neighborhood Conservation Committee. She maintains an active role with Metropolitan Area Projects (MAPS), MAPS for Kids, and Neighborhood Initiative Program.
She is a Trustee to the Zoo Trust, Oklahoma City Riverfront Redevelopment Authority, Oklahoma City Water Trust, Oklahoma City Museum of Art, and Oklahoma Health Foundation. She is a Board member of Association of Central Oklahoma Governments, YMCA Achievers, Oklahoma City Leadership and chairperson for the Local Elected Officials Board of the Central Oklahoma Workforce Program. She is a member of the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce and South Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce.
Ms. Johnson is a working member of the Oklahoma Municipal League. She has been an active member of the National League of Cities, serving as member, Vice-Chair, and Chairperson of the Economic Development Committee and was elected to a two year term on the NLC Board of Directors in 2002.
Ms. Johnson is active in a number of community and professional organizations. She is a long time member of St. John's Missionary Baptist Church.
Ms. Johnson was instrumental in the redevelopment of the Eastern Golf Course, now known as the James E. Stewart Golf Course, in providing for expanded public transportation in far northeast OKC, the rehabilitation of most northeast youth community centers, improvements to numerous northeast streets, drainage channels, and traffic improvements, clean up of Superfund toxic sites, the implementation of the Empowerment Zone program, the development and implementation of the Youth Council of Oklahoma City, development of The First Tee Program, and the revitalization of NE 23rd Street.
You can contact her at 297-2569
Retired businessman Patrick J. Ryan began his City Council service on April 12, 2005.Ryan worked for Oklahoma Gas & Electric from 1961 to 1997, leaving the company as Vice Chairman after serving in a variety of management and executive-level positions.
He was the owner of Proflight Aviation Services from 1998 to 2000, CEO of Laser Eye Network, Inc. from July to December 2001, and served as a consultant to St. Anthony Hospital from 2002 to 2004.
Ryan is a Registered Professional Engineer with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma. He also attended the Electrical Institute Graduate Utility Management School.
He has served as a board member for several local companies, non-profits and industry organizations.
Other public service activities have included serving as President of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Society in 1997, Campaign Chairman of the Allied Arts Foundation in 1992 and President of the Saint Anthony Hospital Foundation and Chairman of the Board of the United Way of Metro Oklahoma City in 1991.
You can contact him at 297-2404
Originally Posted by GrandMaMa
Bookmarks