News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Eileen Stein will step into her new position as Sisters City Administrator on April 2.
Stein succeeds Barbara Warren, who is retiring.
Stein has served for the past four-and-a-half years as a senior management analyst with the City of Springfield Public Works Department.
Stein said she has long been interested in becoming a city administrator and went to Springfield with that career goal in mind. When the Sisters position was advertised, Stein was interested.
"My husband and kids came over and took a look at the community and decided this was a place we'd like to live," Stein said.
There are some obvious differences in scale between community the size of Springfield (pop. 50,000) and a small town like Sisters (pop. 950, serving about 10,000). However, Stein believes her experience will be valuable as Sisters moves into the future.
"I have had the opportunity to work on many of the issues Sisters will be facing," Stein said.
Springfield has had to wrestle with the possibility of becoming a bedroom community for Eugene versus being a self-sustaining community in its own right.
That may be an issue for Sisters, Stein believes.
"Are we going to become a bedroom community for someplace else or are we going to have jobs in our own community," she said.
Stein foresees challenges associated with growth, including transportation and land use issues.
Stein's public works background was important to the city council. According to Mayor Steve Wilson, the growth issues identified by Stein require some understanding of how to develop infrastructure.
As important as her skills, Wilson said, was Stein's evident enthusiasm for working in Sisters.
"I think Eileen demonstrated an excitement about Sisters and an excitement about the opportunity to steer its growth over the next few years of critical growth" Wilson said.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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