Three new Metro Council members will take office Monday, at an inauguration ceremony at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts.
Sam Chase, Craig Dirksen and Bob Stacey will be sworn in to four year terms as Metro councilors at the ceremony, scheduled for 4 p.m. Jan. 7 at the Newmark Theatre in Antoinette Hatfield Hall, 1111 SW Broadway in Portland. The oath of office will be administered by the Honorable David Rees, a Multnomah County Circuit Court judge. A reception will follow.
Metro councilors serve four-year terms. Six councilors represent districts around the Portland region, with the Metro Council President elected region-wide.
Sam Chase
Sam Chase was elected to office in the May 2012 primary to serve Metro Council District 5, which includes most of the City of Portland north of I-84 and the Sunset Highway. Chase is the executive director of the Coalition of Community Health Clinics, a network of 14 non-profit health clinics in Multnomah County. Before joining the coalition in 2010, Chase served as the chief of staff for Portland City Commissioner Nick Fish. Chase takes the seat held for the last 12 years by Councilor Rex Burkholder, who was prevented from running for re-election because of term limits.
Craig Dirksen
Craig Dirksen was elected to office in the May 2012 primary to serve Metro Council District 3, which includes Washington County south of the Tualatin Valley Highway/Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway, plus the portions of Tualatin and Wilsonville that are in Clackamas County. Dirksen is an industrial designer for CH2M Hill. He was the Mayor of Tigard from 2004-12, and was a Tigard City Councilor from 2000-04. Dirksen's Metro Council seat was held for the last 12 years by Councilor Carl Hosticka, who was prevented from running for re-election because of term limits.
Bob Stacey
Bob Stacey was elected to office in the May 2012 primary to serve Metro Council District 6, which includes most of the City of Portland south of Interstate 84 and the Sunset Highway. Stacey is a longtime land conservation advocate, serving seven years as the executive director of 1000 Friends of Oregon. He's also worked for Rep. Earl Blumenauer, TriMet and former Gov. Barbara Roberts, whose seat he will be filling on the Metro Council after she chose not to seek a full term.