Oklahoma City's longtime city manager, Jim Couch, to retire in January

Jim Couch announced Monday that he would retire in January after 18 years as city manager of Oklahoma City.

Couch, 62, said after 31 years with the city he feels like he has "another chapter” to write in his career, though he has no particular plans.

A South Dakota native, he said he plans to stay in Oklahoma City. He and his wife, Cathy, have two grown sons.

"We're not retiring from Oklahoma City," he said.

Couch served as Utilities Director for 11 years, then as assistant city manager and MAPS director before the city council hired him as city manager on Nov. 9, 2000.

As city manager and a trustee of the Water Utilities Trust, Couch was instrumental in negotiating the historic 2016 water settlement intended to secure "generational water" for the city's future needs while guaranteeing tribal oversight authority for southeastern Oklahoma water resources.

Pete White, the former Water Utilities Trust chairman and former Ward 4 councilman, said in a press release that Couch "ranks right up there with Stanley Draper for his impact on the water system."

“He’s a steady hand on the wheel," White said. "His ability to get along with all the players at the table during sometimes very contentious negotiations was and is remarkable.”

It will be up to the city council to appoint a new city manager. Mayor David Holt declined to comment on how that process would unfold, saying he hadn't "had the chance to visit with any council members yet."

"I know I speak for the city council when I say that it is with the greatest regret that we hear this news, but we wish Jim only the best," Holt said in the city's press release.

Couch will depart with the city's finances on the upswing after an 18-month downturn triggered by slumping oil-and-gas prices.

Since then, the city has posted 17 consecutive months of year-over-year sales tax growth. Sales tax is the city's single-largest revenue source.

Couch cited secure water, the NBA and success of MAPS among his accomplishments but reserved the most praise for his key staff and department heads.

"It's an impressive group," he said.