Jim Crosby, whose career in municipal government has spanned six decades in five cities, will be the next city manager of Chickasha.
The City Council interviewed him in a closed-door executive session during a special meeting on Oct. 28 and voted to enter into contract negotiations with him. The council hired Crosby at its regular bimonthly meeting Nov. 4.
He will succeed Keith Johnson, who was named city manager in November 2022. Johnson announced his resignation last month; he is moving back to Washington state for personal and professional reasons, he said.
Crosby officially became city manager on Nov. 11. However, until Johnson departs “I’ll let him take the lead,” Crosby told Southwest Ledger.
Omar Fierro will serve as acting public works director until a final decision is made, Crosby said.
Community Development Director Rachel Bernish, Chickasha’s assistant city manager, did not apply for the manager’s job. “I’m not ready yet,” she told the Ledger. “I’ve still got a lot to learn.”
Besides his vast experience as a city administrator, Crosby “knows city officials all over this state,” Mayor Zach Grayson said.
The Chickasha City Council voted Oct. 7 to hire SGR again in its quest to hire yet another city manager – the eighth in nine years. However, Grayson soon paused that contract – saving the city approximately $35,000 – “because we have a worthy local candidate” who expressed interest in the job.
That individual was James D. Crosby, 83, Chickasha’s public works director for the past couple of years.
Crosby has been involved in municipal government for 60 years – 39 of those as a city manager.
His career in government started as Oklahoma City’s recreation superintendent in 1964-73.
He then moved to Norman, where he served as the parks and recreation director in 1973-75, followed by 12 years as Norman’s city manager in 1976-87.
Crosby returned to Oklahoma City to serve as executive vice president of the South Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce in 1987-91, and then as director of general services for the City of Oklahoma City in 1991-94.
Crosby served as Yukon’s city manager for 22 years: 1994-2011 and again in 2016-21. In between those two terms, he was the city manager of Piedmont for five years.
He retired in early 2021, seemingly ending his career after more than half a century.
“Not knowing what the future holds, I feel it is the right time to retire and spend more time with my family,” Crosby wrote in a letter to the Yukon City Council. “Given the times we live in, tomorrow cannot be taken for granted. Each day is a precious gift.”
Nevertheless, he went back to work full-time, managing the Public Works Department in Chickasha.
Crosby is a member of the Oklahoma Hall of Fame for City and Town Officials, and in 2008 he received the Oklahoma Municipal League’s Gerald Wilkins Award for outstanding performance as a city manager.