Larry Mitchell has been on the job since March 9 as interim city manager for Watonga. A native of Maine – he calls himself a ‘Maineiac’ – Mitchell went to college at Washburn University in Topeka, Kan. He was interested in baseball and perhaps becoming a pilot for the Air Force, but his vision kept him out of the cockpit. He went to work for the City of Stillwater and there he met and married his wife, who has two degrees from Oklahoma State University. He later completed a masters at OU.
Before coming to Watonga, Mitchell worked for the city of Guymon, in the Oklahoma panhandle, for about three years. He was an economic development director for Yukon for three years prior to going to Guymon and he worked as city manager at Lawton for 10 years.
The family moved to Surrey Hills, near Piedmont, when they left Lawton and Mitchell commuted to Guymon, driving over on Sunday and coming back to Surrey Hills on Friday. During those weekly commutes, he passed through Watonga and his curiosity was piqued.
“It was on my radar. I was watching it, intrigued because of the activity,” he said. About the same time as Guymon hired a permanent city manager – he had served in several capacities, including interim manager – he learned Watonga was changing to a manager-council form of government. “I wanted to help it change,” he said. Steve Whitlock, executive director of Oklahoma Municipal Management Services, who Watonga had asked to help search for a manager, contacted Mitchell about the opening. Meanwhile Mitchell had seen the job posting and told Whitlock he would be interested in the job.
So it was Mitchell was ushered into the office and the work began.
That work includes learning how each city department is organized, essentially who does what for the city. He is also doing preliminary budget work ahead of the proposed budget that the council must approve on or before July 1.
Mitchell is also learning what the needs of the community are, where its strengths and weaknesses lie.
“This community is positioned to have success,” he said. “There is the casino interest and Roman Nose State Park offers great partnership and recreational opportunities. And ODOT has started some work on Highway 33 that is long overdue.”
One of the biggest challenges, Mitchell said, is transitioning the form of government to manager-council during the election cycles. The council will eliminate four seats, down to one from each ward from two from each ward. The city clerk and city treasurer will be hired employees instead of elected officials. There are operational processes that have to change as the government form changes.
“We will reorganize some city departments, and some vacancies need to be filled,” Mitchell said. He said the city is in fair shape financially but the unknowns are the economic hit from oil and gas revenue drops and the impact of the coronavirus shutdowns.
A big surprise to Mitchell was how progressive the community is. “Most rural communities are ultra conservative and slow to act. Here the people are interested in making changes, in moving forward, and they have a positive outlook.
“The challenge is to allocate limited resources and fill the gap in capacities, capacity of finances, staff, and coordinate to undertake projects. That capacity might be found in partnerships with the county, schools, businesses, the Chamber of Commerce, “ he said.
Mitchell points out he doesn’t have an agenda, or a list of what he wants to accomplish.
“I’ve been in municipal government for a long time and I enjoy what I do. I find a lot of personal gratification in helping communities solve problems and improve. What the council and community want to do, I want to help them do,” he said.
He likened the arrangement to a business relationship. “The council is like the board of directors. The citizens ‘hired’ (or elected) them to do run the city. I’m like the CEO that helps them get that accomplished.”
Connie Burcham can be reached at Editor@WatongaRepublican.com