Prosser takes on Sisters City Recorder position

Sisters' new City Recorder, Kerry Prosser, brings with her a wealth of work experience in dealing with the public and a 20-year history as a Sisters resident, providing a familiarity with Sisters and her citizens.

All of Prosser's employment prior to City Hall was with retail establishments. Her working career started with an internship and two years as a retail coordinator for rapidly growing Great Outdoor Clothing Company. She opened 12 stores for them around the country, while living in Lake Tahoe and Boulder, Colorado. Because the company was relatively new, she did a bit of everything, including writing the human resources and operations manuals.

The move to managing the Eddie Bauer store in Bend for 12 years brought her back home. She also served as the acting district manager and training store manager. Her retail experience continued with six years at J. Jill women's clothing store and then five-and-a-half more at Eddie Bauer.

During her almost 18 years with Eddie Bauer, Prosser was awarded the Best of Bauer award seven times, making her the most awarded manager in Bauer history.

Prosser, the youngest of seven children and one of six girls, moved to Bend with her family when she was 5 years old. A graduate of Mountain View High School, she received her Bachelor's degree in business from Oregon State University in 1990. One year of college was spent in an exchange program at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, providing the opportunity for lots of fun experiences not available in Corvallis - like visiting the New York Stock Exchange. Prosser also did two terms of summer school in Eugene at the University of Oregon.

Prosser and her husband, Canyon Creek Pottery owner, Ken Merrill, have one 10-year-old son, Cooper. With Cooper getting older, Prosser wanted to find a job closer to home, to cut down on her time spent commuting. She was looking for the right job with the right fit when Kathy Nelson, 15-year veteran as the City Recorder, announced her plans to retire at the end of 2016.

Although Prosser has no former public-sector experience, she pointed out, "I worked in the private sector in a very public way. I definitely had the customer-service piece, working with the public like I did."

After being on the job at City Hall for four weeks, Prosser said, "I love the amount of jumping around from task to task involved in this job... It feels positive to work here. The people are wonderful and so hard-working."

During the recent snowfall in Sisters, she was impressed with the work done by the public works department. Prosser said the biggest eye-opener is what it takes to run the City.

At this point, Prosser thinks her biggest challenge will end up being maintenance of all the City records and learning what needs to be kept and for how long.

"It will probably take me three to six months to get my feet under me... Have patience with me, people," Prosser requested.

To help get acclimated, she is already applying to attend an accreditation training in Seattle to start building networks and learn more about her responsibilities.

Taking a new position outside of retail doesn't faze Prosser. She enjoys being flexible and setting new goals for herself.

"At the beginning of each year, I have always re-confirmed what I was going to do (regarding her job) and why. I have to have that drive of looking at something in a different way," she explained.

Prosser is especially grateful to Nelson for extending her retirement date three times in order to help Prosser become familiar with her duties.

"Kathy is still a resource. She stops by to see if I have any questions, and I can call her if needed. Her graciousness made the transition extremely smooth," Prosser said. "And I have easy resources to help me, in all the staff members."

Prosser is excited to see who will be hired to be the new City Manager. She said it was a little difficult at the time she applied for her position, not knowing who her eventual boss will be.

"I am used to working with lots of different personality types," she said.

Prosser's mother still lives in Bend in the family home where Prosser grew up, and two of her sisters also reside in Bend. Her only brother owns a winery in the Portland area, where two of her sisters also live, and one is in San Francisco. Her father owned the Coast-to-Coast hardware store on 8th and Greenwood in Bend, so Prosser said she grew up in retail.

"I've seen Bend grow a lot," she said of her years in Central Oregon.

She also said she has seen great things happen in Sisters over the past 20 years.

"The new library and City Hall, the renovation of Cascade Avenue, the new fire department facility, all the parks, SPRD, and the success of the schools. We may bump elbows and experience some pain (but)... we have a great little town. This is where I want to be."

Prosser and her family enjoy whitewater rafting, and skiing and boarding. Prosser also admitted to being an avid reader.

Her family is rounded out with yellow labrador Phineas and big cat (the size of a small dog) Ferb. Her son has lots of fish and Prosser has chickens whom she collectively refers to as "my lovely girls."