Sharlene Weed joins city council

Sharlene Weed. photo by Jim Mitchell No time was wasted at the Thursday, August 26, Sisters City Council meeting to seat Sharlene Weed as the latest city councilor. In fact, by the time City Attorney, Steve Bryant, finished the swearing-in, Weed's nameplate was in position and she had taken her seat on the dais.

Weed was selected unanimously by the Sisters City Council to fill the vacancy left by Deb Kollodge's resignation. Judy Trego had previously been elected to Kollodge's position as Council President.

Weed's service to the community goes back to 1995 when she moved to Sisters and took on the position of Project Coordinator for Habitat with the responsibility for overseeing all projects within the organization. Three years later she accepted the position of Executive Director, the first paying position in Sisters Habitat. As director she has had overall leadership and responsibility for that non-profit organization's operation.

In 2000, Weed was asked by the city planner to sit on the committee to update the city codes. Then, in 2001, she was appointed to the City of Sisters Planning Commission, where she served until moving to the city council. In addition to attending regular planning commission hearings, she served as a member of the advisory committee to update the comprehensive plan and on the citizens committee on density.

Also in 2001, she accepted a position on the Central Oregon Partnership Board of Directors.

Weed's interest in city government may well be hereditary. Her great-great-grandfather, Abner Weed, founded the city of Weed in northern California. Sharlene Weed told how her ancestor established his sawmill in the vicinity of Black Butte (not Sisters' Black Butte), a local cinder cone, because the formation created warm winds that helped dry the lumber from the mill. Thus Weed, California, was born.

In the early '90s, Weed taught in Taiwan and Japan, then took a teaching position at Sisters Elementary School before becoming Habitat's leader. She said, "I became an adult in Sisters. I was a freewheeling child before. Now I have a mortgage, a child, a dog, two cats and some fish."

Reflecting on the future of the community she said, "I see the city on the edge of becoming its new self. It's an exciting time. Right now the issues are related to growth management -- the couplet, traffic, fast food, a new city hall, affordable housing, police services. So, there's all kinds of things to work on.

"I think it's the time we can be creative and look at the future and how we want our city to be," she said. "And we have to do it now.

"There are sustainability issues. Where are the jobs going to come from? We've been letting things happen, then responding to them. We need to be more forward thinking and deliberate about how we want the city to grow."

Weed praised her predecessor on the council.

"I was really sad to hear that Deb Kollodge was leaving because I really respect her," Weed said. "She is my inspiration as to how I hope to be on the council -- asking hard questions, really listening to people, trying to be objective but also standing up for my own principles, not taking the easy way out."

As a councilor, Weed hopes that people will tell her their concerns and that people will offer to help.

"Right now there are two positions on the planning commission and we are starting to look again at the comprehensive plan, the basic vision for the future of our city. People can have input to that right now," she said.