Starr addition to Keizer's council
By JOEY CAPPELLETTI
Of the Keizertimes
The Keizer City Council appointed
Shaney Starr to a seat on council that
has been vacant since November in a
split vote Monday evening. Starr will
replace Ross Day, who resigned on Nov.
3, and will fi ll his position until his term
was set to expire in January of 2025.
“In a special session that concluded
at 6:30 this evening, we interviewed six
applicants for the position and I have
to tell you, once again, Keizer showed
up. Incredibly talented, capable peo-
ple all of whom were willing to step up
and take a role as being a city councilor
for the city of Keizer. The city council
has selected Shaney Starr as our new
city councilor number two,” Clark said
at the beginning of a regular session
that immediately followed the special
session.
The vote to appoint Starr came at the
conclusion of a public special session
Monday where a total of six candidates
were each given fi ve minutes to speak
in front of council. In addition to Starr,
LaTonya Gibbs, Don’ll McBride, Rich
Rodriguez, Michele Roland-Schwartz
and Hersch Sangster were also seeking
the appointment.
Anthony J. Rosilez withdrew after he
was unable to attend the meeting due
to business and Julianne Jackson was
removed from consideration after not
meeting residency requirements.
Candidates were asked to speak
about themselves in addition to answer-
ing a list of prewritten questions submit-
ted by councilors. Questions included
the candidate’s thoughts on diversity in
leadership, ability to engage with other
viewpoints and how a candidate would
represent the people of Keizer.
“I will represent Keizer and our cit-
izens by listening, asking questions,
studying the issues and asking more
questions. Also, engaging in civil
discourse, which I think our society has
sadly forgotten how to do,” Starr said
during her remarks.
Following the speeches, council-
or’s each submitted ballots with their
top choice for the seat. The council’s
fi rst vote did not provide the majority
needed, with three votes going to Starr,
two to Roland-Schwartz and one for
Sangster. A majority of the six-person
council, which would be four votes, had
to vote for one person in order for them
to be selected.
The second vote, which only included
Starr and Roland-Schwartz, gave the seat
to Starr — with her receiving four votes
from councilors Dan Kohler, Elizabeth
Smith, Kyle Juran and Mayor Clark and
Roland-Schwartz receiving two votes
from councilors Roland Herrera and
Laura Reid.
“There will be times when I don’t take
the popular position and that’s okay. But
at the end of the day, if I can look my fel-
low citizens, my councilors, and myself
in the eye and know that I treated peo-
ple with dignity and respect, then I will
have done my job,” Starr added.
Starr has lived in Keizer for 13 years
and has served as the executive director
of Court Appointed Special Advocates
(CASA) of Marion County for the last
fi ve years. She has worked in the non-
profi t sector for more than 20 years
and currently serves as President of
the Oregon CASA Network, Chair of
the Marion County Commission on
Children and Families, President of
the Board for Joys of Living Assistance
Dogs and as a member of both the
Corner Peace and Community Resource
Trust Board of Directors.
By JOEY CAPPELLETTI
Of the Keizertimes
Selections for Keizer’s newly formed
Community Diversity Engagement
Committee were announced by coun-
cilors during their Monday, Dec. 20
regular session meeting. Each city
councilor was allowed to appoint one
community member to the commit-
tee with the mayor being tasked with
appointing a youth member and two
city councilors.
The Keizer City Council voted to
create the nine-person diversity com-
mittee at a Nov. 1 city council meeting.
During the meeting, the council also
voted to give each councilor sole dis-
cretion in appointing one member to
the committee.
“I would like this person to be a
direct extension of me to talk about
what I want to talk about through this
committee,” Councilor Kyle Juran said
at the Nov. 1 council meeting.
The community members selected
for the committee were:
•Markey Toombs (selected by Juran,
Kim Freeman (selected by councilor
Elizabeth Smith), R.W. Taylor (selected
by councilor Laura Reid), Claire Snyder
(selected by councilor Roland Herrera)
and Kacey McCallister (selected by
councilor Dan Kohler).
New Keizer councilor Shaney Starr,
who was appointed earlier in the meet-
ing, will make her selection during a
Jan. 3 council meeting after she’s had a
chance to review the applicants.
There were 17 letters submitted
by community members interested
in serving on the committee. Snyder
and Freeman were the only two selec-
tions that came from those 17 letters of
interest.
Keizer Mayor Cathy Clark chose
to appoint Navea Music for the youth
position and Reid and Herrera for the
two city council positions. Herrera
declined and nominated Smith — who
accepted.
“I declined the position on the com-
mittee as I see the committee as very
important for the Keizer community
and I can serve that community best by
appearing before them as a private citi-
zen instead of a city councilor,” Herrera
said in a statement following the meet-
ing. “That way I can talk more openly
about my experiences as a Latino cit-
izen and a Latino city councilor as
opposed to speaking as a public offi -
cial. I believe I can serve Keizer best in
this way and am looking forward to it.”
Herrera added that he was disap-
pointed that more Latinos, who rep-
resent the largest minority group in
Keizer, weren’t selected for the com-
mittee. The racial makeup of each can-
didate is unknown to the Keizertimes.
Each non-councilor committee
member will be appointed for a three-
year term, with initial terms being
staggered so that not more than three
expire in the same year.
The committee will act in an advi-
sory capacity to the Keizer City Council
and hopes to help the council increase
engagement in the civic process.
Appointees to the committee will be
asked to “think broadly in terms of how
issues of racism, sexism, ableism, and
other discriminatory and prejudicial
biases impact all residents in Keizer.”
DECEMBER 24, 2021, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A3
of the Week
presented by
Shaney Starr attends her first regular council meeting following Monday's special session.
Photo by JOEY CAPPELLETTI of Keizertimes
Diversity committee members selected
TINA STONE
Where and how do
you volunteer?
"CASA of Marion County.
I am a court appointed special
advocate for children in foster
homes.
I volunteer by visiting the
children at their current
placement home, check in with
teachers and DHS caseworker.
I also write reports for the
current presiding judge and
speak on the behalf of the
children in court."
Why do you
volunteer?
"I feel that every child should
be given the opportunity to
feel safe, secure and loved.
They should be given the
chance to be all that they can
be by growing up in a home
that helps provide this. By
volunteering I get to help
with making decisions in the
best interest of the children. I
listen to what they want, their
dreams and aspirations, I then
get to be their voice."
What does
volunteering do for
you?
"Volunteering brings me joy
knowing that I helped keep a
child safe."
How would you get
others to volunteer in
their community?
"Anyone interested in
volunteering should check
out the website at www.
casamarionor.org or they can
reach the office by phone @
503-967-6420"