Wednesday, May 17, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
CANDIDATES:
Council will make
choice next week
Continued from page 24
change of Sisters to aging.
It’s going to happen and the
best thing to do is prepare
for it. She sees lots of good
things going on in Sisters,
like the new roundabout.
Meeker sees the posi-
tion of city manager to be
one of a generalist rather
than a specialist. She would
like to “allow everyone’s
strengths to come forward,”
and work collaboratively,
enabling everyone to do their
job. She describes herself
as energetic, admitting that
sometimes she can be a little
impatient.
She would like the resi-
dents of Sisters to know
that she is “passionate
about becoming part of this
community.”
David Miller
Current director of pub-
lic works and community
development for Folsom,
California, David Miller
would like to take all of his
previous work experience
and invest it in a small town
where he can make a definite
difference. He would like to
leave his mark and have peo-
ple say “it was really great to
have him here.”
“Sisters fits the bill,”
Miller said. He and his fam-
ily have enjoyed past stays in
Sisters.
“I love the community. I
love rural Oregon, particu-
larly east of the mountains,”
he explained.
Miller thinks to be a suc-
cessful city manager it is
necessary to listen to people
and validate where they are
coming from in order to
build community. He enjoys
talking with people, engag-
ing them in looking for
solutions.
Affordable housing, the
private-public airport, and
competition between the
tourist industry and the need
for family-wage jobs are
three current issues in Sisters
that Miller thinks need to be
addressed.
“In every small town,
there is the challenge to have
enough financial resources
to meet your needs,” Miller
said. “It’s important to have
an efficient staff who can
multitask.”
Miller said he likes to
encourage his staff and he
wants results.
Several things stand out to
Miller as to what he is most
proud of. On the one hand,
when he was involved in
private-sector development,
he was proud of “the high
quality, beautifully designed
projects that built a great
community.”
In the public sector, he is
proud of the team he built
when, due to the recession,
he had to reduce his staff by
half.
“I culled out the dead
wood, paid better money, and
built a team that was mutu-
ally supportive with total
respect. I turned the talent
around. Those who couldn’t
prosper, left,” he said.
Miller served as the
community development
director for two years in La
Grande, which had a popu-
lation of 14,000. He would
like to return to the Pacific
Northwest, as he has family
in Washington.
“Oregon is my favorite
place in the U.S.,” he said.
Miller is a musician who
plays guitar and a little key-
board in a band. He gradu-
ated from the University of
Washington with a bach-
elor’s degree in architecture.
He grew up in Spokane.
Brant Kucera
Brant Kucera has spent
the last 18 years in manage-
ment of small towns. That’s
why the job opportunity here
in Sisters appealed to him.
He sees Sisters as a small
town that is growing, and
he likes the excitement that
comes with that growth.
Kucera has been the city
manager of Cannon Beach
for the past two-plus years.
He explained that Cannon
Beach is slow-growing and
doesn’t see itself ever being
much different. The residents
have a very distinct picture
of what the town is and will
stay.
Employees are the key
factor to success. I need
to be sure we are all
on the same page. It is
important to make sure
employees are happy.
— Brant Kucera
He sees Sisters embrac-
ing what could be with the
opportunity for growth,
while maintaining its dis-
tinctive community charac-
ter. Kucera has spent time in
Sisters and finds it a charm-
ing town.
“Sisters has a small-town
character and charm, and
yet it is next to larger met-
ropolitan areas of Bend and
Redmond,” he said.
Kucera manages by inclu-
sion. He believes the work-
place needs to be a place
that is comfortable, since so
much time is spent at work.
When he arrived in Cannon
Beach he found a city staff
that had a lack of trust for
management. Kucera con-
centrated very hard on build-
ing trust with the employees.
“Employees are the key
factor to success,” Kucera
said. “I need to be sure we
are all on the same page. It
is important to make sure
employees are happy.”
Kucera described himself
as a consensus-builder who
is very team-oriented. He
doesn’t believe in microman-
aging his staff.
“I am dependent on them
to make good decisions,” he
said.
His off-work hours are
spent enjoying the outdoors
in any weather, where he
said he finds peace. Kucera
describes himself as “an avid
outdoors person and runner.”
He is also an avid reader and
likes to write short fiction.
A native of Pennsylvania,
Kucera came west for his
undergraduate program at
University of Idaho where
he earned his Bachelor of
Science degree in geogra-
phy. He went on to earn a
masters in public administra-
tion from Northern Michigan
University.
Prior to assuming the
city manager duties in
Cannon Beach, Kucera was
borough manager for the
Borough of Kennett Square,
Pennsylvania, for six years
where he supervised 32
full-time employees. Before
that he was city manager of
Gladstone, MI, the city trea-
surer in Munising, MI, and
the assistant city supervi-
sor for the City of Moscow,
Idaho.
When asked what he is
most proud of in relation
to his career, Kucera said,
“Every city that I’ve man-
aged, I’ve left a better place
than when I arrived, and
I think the citizens would
agree with that.”
Kucera “loves municipal
government” and believes
there is “a lot we can do to
improve citizens’ lives.”
31
170 W. Cascade Ave., Sisters
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