City Manager Emeritus Gary Milliman received the prestigious Herman Kehrli Award at the LOC banquet Friday night. This is given to a City employee, past or present, who has made exceptional contributions to city government in Oregon, producing lasting benefits for their community.
The prestigious Herman Kehrli Award was presented Friday evening to recently retired Brookings City Manager Gary Milliman during the League of Oregon Cities’ 94th Annual Conference in Bend.
The award is given to a city employee who has made exceptional contributions to city government in Oregon, producing lasting benefits for their community. Over a 45-year career in public service, Gary Milliman has exemplified the highest standards in local government leadership.
In Brookings, where he served the final 11 years of his career as city manager, Milliman helped lead a downtown revitalization, the purchase of the Brookings Airport, and the implementation of a city fuel tax to repair streets. He also collaborated with higher education leaders to advance a development plan and secure funding for the Curry campus of Southwestern Oregon Community College.
Regionally, Milliman has assisted cities in preparing for, managing, and recovering from natural disasters. He has trained employees in incident command techniques, prepared emergency plans and organized practice events to test the readiness of the emergency organization and identify training needs. Through FEMA, he obtained a grant through to build the Brookings Emergency Operating Center, which proved to be critical during the Chetco Bar Fire of 2017.
In retirement, Milliman serves as a municipal court judge in Port Orford and Powers, as well as judge pro tem and truancy court judge in Brookings. He is a senior fellow for the Center for Public Service at Portland State University and a senior advisor for the Oregon City/County Management Association.
From 1933 to 1966, Herman Kehrli served as executive secretary of the League of Oregon Cities and director of the University of Oregon’s former Bureau of Governmental Research and Service. A joint effort between the League of Oregon Cities and the Bureau established standards of excellence for local government officials through an agenda that included research, consultation and training in city government affairs. Today, the quality of city government statewide is due in large part to the success of this joint effort.
The League of Oregon Cities Founded in 1925, the League of Oregon Cities is a voluntary association representing all 242 of Oregon’s incorporated cities. The League helps city governments serve their citizens by providing legislative services, policy setting, intergovernmental relations, conferences and training, technical assistance and publications.
