Ann Ober has been hired as the new city manager for Milwaukie – a small city in Oregon. Born in Minnesota, Ober has spent most of her life in Utah and has served as the regional policy and energy director for Park City for the last three years. But after dipping her toes into the process of helping Millcreek City take shape – she jumped in with both feet and began her journey toward her longtime goal of becoming a city manager.
She was originally going to apply for the position in Millcreek City but once she sat down – she had an “aha.”
“I was literally sitting at my desk and said, ‘Hey, I love Portland. I should apply to this little town, let’s give it a go,'" Ober said. "And shockingly they called me 45 minutes later for my first interview and the next week they called me and had me come to Milwaukie to come see the area and to interview with the community so it’s only been a three and a half week process but my husband and I are just beside ourselves with excitement. It feels like a great fit and the people really are incredible so it’s going to be a lot of great fun.”
Ober visited Milwaukie with her husband Steve, not knowing what to expect.
“We went out and fell in love with the community and fell in love with the council and fell in love with the staff and fell in love with everything," Ober said. "We were shocked about how excited we got about the opportunity after being there.”
Being new to the process, Ober relied heavily on advice from Park City manager, Diane Foster. And she plans to take some of Foster’s methods with her.
“One of them is she does a staff strategy meeting every Monday morning," Ober said. "And I will say, that I believe, that Diane knows every single employees name in City Hall and outside of City Hall. She knows everybody. She’s worked hard to get to know them personally and that staff strategy meeting has been a big part of it. So, yes, I’m stealing that. That’s coming with me.”
While standing in the public safety building of their community room, she and her husband knew it was the right fit.
“Having several people of the community come through and actually enjoying every single one of them and wanting to spend time with them and wanting to get to know them better and understanding what their thoughts and ideas and concerns were about their home," Ober said. "It just felt so right. It just felt like the right place and the right people.”
Ober said it’s hard to find that kind of synchronicity when making a career move.
“It’s hard," Ober said. "A lot of times you like at a career track and you go, ‘Oh, I’ll just take that first step in.’ And to have it be the right step - to have it be a community that we click so well with, we feel incredibly lucky.”
Ober has nothing but praise for all those she’s worked with these last three years, including the council. But it’s the man called, a “teller of stories,” and a, “visual magician” that she hopes to emulate in Milwaukie.
“I look at everything that Myles Rademan has done here," Ober said. "And the stories that I have heard the last three years about how he was able to create what we have here today.”
She likens Milwaukie City to where Park City was 30 years ago.
“They just received the Orange Line coming in from Portland so it’s their mass-transit line," Ober said. "And it’s right on their main street and suddenly they’re seeing huge requests for building permits and they’re just seeing a huge amount of pressure.”
One of the lessons Ober learned working in Park City was that it’s as important to know what a city doesn’t want to be as much as what it does want to be.
“They’re doing their visioning process right now," Ober said. "Literally while I’m sitting here they’re starting their visioning process and they’re doing their update to their comprehensive plan, also known here as your general plan. So they’re on it, they’re ready, they’re looking at this the right way and I just get to go and be a part of the team.”
Ober’s husband Steve has already received an offer for employment and is deciding what he wants to do. It’s their three year old daughter Ally who negotiated like a pro with her parents and now instead of only three toys, she gets to take them all for their new adventure in a town known as the Dogwood City of the West.