Editor’s note: Candidates are asked to answer a Q&A and submit a viewpoint column for the Thursday, Oct. 24 edition of The Chronicle. Content will be made available online at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
CRESWELL — New faces and familiar ones in Creswell are vying for a seat at the dais in the McCluskey Chambers in City Hall. Dave Stram, longtime mayor will soon pass the meeting gavel to either a current city councilor or a former one.
Meanwhile, councilors Shelly Clark and Norma Jean Osborn will conclude their service, and councilor Clark Kent will make a run to secure his previously appointed seat.
City councilor Nick Smith and former councilor Kevin Prociw are running for the mayor’s seat.
Smith is a Creswell native and city councilor who is the general manager of Roberts Supply Co. in Springfield. He graduated from Creswell High School and Lane Community College, attended the University of Oregon, and received a degree in business and education from Bushnell University (Northwest Christian College). If Smith wins the mayor’s seat, a council vacancy will be made, and if he loses, he will remain on council until his term expires in 2026.
Prociw was elected city councilor in the 2018 election. In ’20, he ran for mayor. In ’21, when mayor Amy Knudsen resigned, he served as interim mayor, and applied for the permanent position, but was bested by former longtime mayor Stram. Prociw will take another run for the mayor seat. Prociw is employed with the State of Oregon and studied electionrics at Lane Community College.
Kent, Mark Kremer, Joan Morris, and Christina Allen are running for the city council. There are no wards in Creswell, so residents will be asked to select three of the four candidates.
Kent has worked for the Eugene Public Library since 1998 and graduated from Columbia College with a B.A. in music. Kent served on the Creswell Budget Committee from 2019-23 and was appointed to the council in ’24.
Kremer works in manufacturing and graduated from Lane Community College with an associate’s degree in bookkeeping and office management.
Morris is a retired registered nurse. She received an associate’s degree in nursing from Lane Community College.
Allen attended Creswell High School. She was appointed to fill a vacant city council position in December 2023, but was removed from council the following meeting, after the council discovered Allen’s relative works at City Hall, creating a potential conflict of interest. The appointment was backpedaled at the preceding meeting, and Kent was appointed to fill the space instead.
Correction: Christina Allen was removed from the council shortly after her appointment because the council discovered Allen’s relative also works at the City, creating a potential conflict of interest. Allen did not lose her position because she didn’t have an address in the city because she is unhoused; that was only a concern raised by a former city councilor. In fact, Allen is running again despite still not having an address. The Chronicle regrets this error and strives for accuracy.
