Government of Muskogee
The City of Muskogee is governed by a city manager, mayor and a city council under the council–manager form of local government. The governing document of Muskogee, Oklahoma is the City Charter of Muskogee. Mayor and city council. The city is divided into four wards with each ward being represented by two members of the council. Each member is elected by the city as a whole, but must reside in the ward they represent. Elections are held on the first Tuesday in April in each even numbered year. The next election will be held in April , 2010. All elections are non-partisan and the Mayor and the members of the Council receive no salary or compensation for their services. The Mayor is the head of the city for all ceremonial purposes and, by Oklahoma state law, the Governor of Oklahoma must recognize the Mayor as the city commander for the purposes of martial law. The Mayor serves as chair of the Council, presides over all meetings, and has a full vote on all matters. The Council elects one of its members to serve as Vice Mayor who becomes the Mayor in the event of a vacancy  in the office of Mayor. The Mayor, with the approval of the Council, appoints members to city boards and commissions and, during a state of emergency, assumes emergency powers. John Tyler Hammons, who, at the time of his election, was a 19-year-old University of Oklahoma freshman. Mayor Hammons was first elected, with 70% of the vote, on May 13, 2008, in an election against former Muskogee Mayor Hershel McBride. Hammons was elected to a second term on April 6, 2010, serving until 2012. In July 2020, Marlon Coleman became the first African-American mayor of Muskogee, earning 59.1 % of the vote The Vice Mayor will be determined at a later date The current members of the City Council of Muskogee are: City manager and administration. The city manager serves as the chief administrative officer of Muskogee and is appointed by the city council. The current City Manager is Mike Miller. Among the City Manager’s top level executives and departments are: Other important city officials that are supervised by the City Manager but are appointed by the mayor with the approval of the Council are the City Attorney, who heads the Legal Department which is response for representing  the City in court, and the City Clerk, who is responsible for keeping all records of the city as well as the minutes of the all Council meetings.