VELTEMA UNANIMOUSLY RE-ELECTED TO SERVE ON OMPA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Drake Rice, OMPA Director of Member Services, 405/340-5047

 VELTEMA UNANIMOUSLY RE-ELECTED TO SERVE ON OMPA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

A.L. “Buddy” Veltema,  Walters Elector, was unanimously re-elected to serve another three-year term on the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority’s (OMPA) Board of Directors during OMPA’s 2011 Annual Electors Meeting.  The electors meeting was held at the Roland H. Dawson OMPA Headquarters Building in Edmond on September 8th.  This year marks a milestone for the consumer-owned public power entity – its 30th anniversary.

He was one of the original board members and founding fathers of OMPA.  During the annual meeting, he was honored for his 30 years of consecutive service on the OMPA Board with the title of Chairman Emeritus, the first board member to hold that position.  Veltema was elected as the Board’s Vice Chair in 1989 and has continued to serve in that capacity. He previously held the positions of Chair and Secretary on the OMPA Board.  Veltema also served on the MESO Board of Directors. He retired as Walters’ City Manager on March 1, 2001, after having served in that position for 27 ½ years. 

He was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame for City and Town Officials in 2006.   Veltema also was the recipient of APPA’s Larry Hobart Seven Hats Award in 1987, which recognizes utility managers who serve in the nation’s smaller communities and whose variety of management responsibilities extends well beyond those of a manager in a larger system with a larger staff.

OMPA is a state governmental agency created by the legislature to serve cities and towns that own and operate their electrical distribution systems and is governed by the members.  The Authority presently serves 38 municipally-owned electric systems in Oklahoma.