Watonga City Manager Karrie Beth Little has been nominated for the Oklahoma Municipal League’s Don Rider Award. The award honors outstanding municipal professionals and highlights the importance of public service.
The award winners will be honored at a banquet on September 21 at the Oklahoma City Convention Center. The reception will begin at 5 p.m. and dinner runs through 9 p.m.
The Don Rider Transparency in Government Award was established in 2021 to recognize municipal governments and employees who live up to the principles of transparency, both in the letter and spirit of the law.
Don Rider was instrumental in creation and passage of two important laws that help citizens interact with their government, The Open Records Act and the Open Meetings Act.
The criteria for selection include; Encourage and promote citizen understanding of governmental processes and problems; Demonstrate and foster the belief that all citizens have a right to know and be fully informed about their government; Recognize and exhibit that transparency in government builds trust with the public and press, and enhances credibility in the actions of government; Understands and fosters the public need to engage in meaningful ways and have a broad and balanced view of their government and its services; Establish and nurture opportunities for citizens to readily have access to information, teach or show citizens how to access that information, and understand how to use that information to improve the quality of life for their fellow citizens; Deliver and advance the public expectation that increasing access to information can lead to innovation, discovery, insight, understanding, and new ideas that improve government services for the people.