Council taps Bill Hall for open seat

On the table at the home of newly appointed Sisters City Councilor Bill Hall sat a three-ring binder at least four inches thick with his name in big black letters across the front. Hall indicated he was doing his homework, familiarizing himself with the hundreds of pages in the orientation manual so he will be up to speed by the time of his swearing-in on Thursday, May 28.

Hall has served recently as the chair of the City's Community Assets Committee.

The new councilor and his wife, Kathy, are transplants to Central Oregon from Illinois. In 2010, they built a home on South Locust Street and moved in Labor Day weekend. This was the first move in their married life, having lived in the same house in suburban Chicago from 1978 to 2010.

Hall was born and raised in Illinois, graduating as a chemical engineer from University of Illinois. Probably the greatest asset Hall brings to the Council is his decades-long experience with problem analysis and problem solving. He began working for Union Carbide as a chemical engineer and eventually transitioned to being a project manager, overseeing the construction of new facilities and later working in quality assurance.

He spent 15 years working at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which deals with the buying and selling options and futures. His job was to oversee the quality of services provided for all 2,000 traders on the floor of the Exchange. In an effort to educate the public about options and futures, a variety of dignitaries were invited to visit the exchange. During those visits, Hall had the opportunity to meet Senator Bob Dole, Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan, and Russian president Mikhail Gorbachev.

The last job before Hall's retirement was in quality assurance for MPC Products. They manufacture products for the aerospace industry, including for the international space station, NASA, the United States military, and commercial aircraft manufacturers like Boeing and Lockheed.

When it was time to retire, the Halls had already decided they wanted to live someplace new, exploring locations in Colorado, Montana, Idaho and Oregon. They visited Sisters several times before they found the lot on which to build. They enjoy having four seasons, and like our Central Oregon winters.

Hall likes the ability to "go to town" by traveling only a few blocks, and finds the residents of Sisters to be very friendly. One of the most enjoyable aspects of living in Sisters is that they are steps away from the trails in the National Forest.

Bill and Kathy enjoy birding, hiking, and perusing garage sales. Kathy has a plot at the Sisters Community Garden, in addition to their lovely yard full of birds and, of course, the deer.

Hall's years of experience in project management and quality assurance have proven there is an important key to any type of successful project.

"It is necessary to analyze a situation or problem in order to understand it. Only then can you start crafting a solution. Otherwise, you have the cart before the horse," he said.