Mike Lennier
Mike Lennier took office as commissioner of district #2 in January 2005. He became chairman of the Board of County Commissioners in January 2006. As chairman he serves on the Tax Corrections Board. He also serves as the Grady County trustee for the Association of South Central Oklahoma Governments (ASCOG), where he is an executive board member and treasurer.
Having had 23 years prior employment with Grady County before being elected, he worked under 3 previous commissioners, Dan Allen, Ealmer Klippel, and Doug Prince. Mike was a general hand and equipment operator for 11 years, then worked in the office for 8 years as the Receiving and Inventory Officer. The last 4 years before being elected, he was the Projects Manager and Safety Coordinator.
One of his goals as commissioner is to repave the existing paved roads in district #2 once every term (4 years), while adding 5 to 10 miles of new road every year. This way you can steadily increase the number of paved roads, and keep the existing ones in good condition. Mike says, "The time to reseal a road is before it falls apart. It's easier and less expensive to keep a road good, than to get it back once it falls apart."
In an effort to combat the overgrowth of trees in the right-of-way, he has begun a program of mowing every road at least once a year. The paved roads will get mowed as many times a year as needed. Once the growing season is over, they will begin mowing the gravel roads. "If you can mow the right-of-way once a year, fence to fence, you can get those new trees before they grow so big they become a problem," Mike states.
Even before he was elected Mike was working to get the Washita River bridge at Verden replaced, and in 2005 began working with the Delaware Nation. These types of projects take a long time to realize, but he is hopeful that we might see construction begin in 2007 on this bridge.
Mike has always been very supportive and proud, of Grady County's fire service. District #2 has 5 volunteer fire departments, Farwell, Pioneer, Pocasset, Friend, and Naples. These departments, along with the other six Grady County fire departments, are always working to lower the ISO ratings, which can in turn, lower home owners insurance rates. All of these departments serve Grady County in many other ways besides just fire. From auto accidents to all natural disasters, these volunteers are the first ones on the scene helping.
Realizing that maintaining the roads and bridges is just a part of the commissioner's responsibilities, he also believes that being a good steward of the county's money and representing the people is of equal importance. Also, responsibilities like the jail and the floodplain are challenges that he accepts and pledges to do what he thinks is best for all of Grady County. Mike and his wife Karen are Ninnekah graduates, and they live at Friend with their 2 children, Katheryn and Kristopher.
