The Oklahoma Municipal League (OML) and the Mayors Council of Oklahoma (MCO) recently hosted the 12th Annual Congress of Mayors event, held at the Reed Center in Midwest City and the Oklahoma State Capitol on Thursday and Friday, February 9 and 10.

Approximately 90 Oklahoma mayors, vice-mayors, and councilmembers met to debate issues facing municipalities and craft a legislative agenda. The group divided up into committees and discussed important topics, such as economic development, infrastructure needs and revenue diversification. After discussion on the topics, each group drafted a resolution and presented them to the general session. Discussion followed and the topics were adopted to present to the Legislature.

“The annual Congress of Mayors event is a great way to get municipal officials involved in the State Legislative process,” said Craig Parham, Mayor of Amber, and President of the MCO Board of Directors. “This event allows Mayors from across Oklahoma to gather to discuss issues important to municipalities and to relay our concerns to our Legislators.”

Stan Booker, Mayor of Lawton served as Speaker of the House and presented a “State of the Cities” address to the Congress of Mayors. “It was my honor to serve as Speaker of the House for the Congress of Mayors,” said Booker. “There is much more that unites us as municipalities than divides us. By presenting a united voice, we show our state elected leaders where we stand on important issues.”

To see the recommendations approved by the Congress of Mayors, go to https:// www.oml.org/mayors-council- of-oklahoma.

The Mayors’ Council of Oklahoma was formed in 1991 as a bipartisan organization to represent the concerns and views of the body of the state’s Mayors. MCO provides a vehicle for the development and implementation of programs of multi-jurisdictional cooperation between cities and towns designed to lessen the burden on local government. Oklahoma Mayors make the commitment to work through the conference to improve their own communities as well as the conditions facing cities and towns throughout the state and nation.