{"id":32682,"date":"2016-11-01T00:00:29","date_gmt":"2016-11-01T07:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.oreca.org\/?p=32682"},"modified":"2017-06-04T20:45:58","modified_gmt":"2017-06-05T03:45:58","slug":"leading-by-example","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.oreca.org\/leading-by-example\/","title":{"rendered":"Leading by Example"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"State
State Rep. Sherrie Sprenger\u2019s legistlative district overlaps Consumers Power Inc.\u2019s service territory, and she also is a member of the co-op. \u201cSherrie understands her constituents and our members,\u201d says Consumers Power CEO Roman Gillen. \u201cAnd she\u2019s not afraid to take on the tough issues.\u201d
Photos by Lynn Howlett<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

State Rep. Sherrie Sprenger and Consumers Power CEO Roman Gillen are powerful voices for rural Oregon\u2014while rarely raising their voices<\/h2>\n

By Ted Case <\/strong><\/p>\n

State Rep. Sherrie Sprenger (R Scio) and Roman Gillen, CEO of Consumers Power Inc., have much in common.<\/p>\n

Both leaders are relentless advocates of a prosperous rural economy, each possessing a laser focused determination to fight for those they represent. They are the same age, and rose to their current positions from unusual paths. And despite their prominent roles, it is hard to find someone in their orbit who doesn\u2019t say they are the most earnest people around.<\/p>\n

There also is a connection beyond the overlap of Sprenger\u2019s legislative district and CPI\u2019s service territory.<\/p>\n

CPI, headquartered in Philomath, has 22,000 members spread throughout six counties. The 3,500 square mile service area, which stretches from the foothills of the Cascades to the Oregon Coast, has member owners that include farmers as well as college professors from Oregon State University.<\/p>\n

For the past 15 years, the membership list has included Sprenger, one of the highest ranking Republican members of the Oregon Legislature. \u201cI absolutely love CPI\u2019s service,\u201d Sprenger says.<\/p>\n

\"Rep.
Rep. Sprenger is a former deputy sheriff, having served in Grant and Benton counties.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThey do an outstanding job.\u201d Service\u2014of the public kind\u2014is something Sprenger knows about. Long before she was appointed to represent House District 17 in 2008, she had a distinguished career in law enforcement, serving stints as a deputy sheriff in both Grant and Benton counties.<\/p>\n

She traded in the cut and dried world of enforcing laws for the messy process\u00a0of making them. While the names of the small towns in her district may seem to be out of central casting in a Richard Russo novel\u2014Mill City, Sublimity and Waterloo, for instance\u2014they are populated by hardworking Oregonians who often feel disenfranchised in the state\u2019s pronounced ruralurban divide.<\/p>\n

\u201cSherrie understands her constituents and our members,\u201d says Gillen. \u201cAnd she\u2019s not afraid to take on the tough issues.\u201d Rachel Kloor, who served as a staff\u00a0member for Sprenger in the Oregon Legislature, saw firsthand her advocacy, along with her sharp wit.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer first priority was to be a voice for her constituents,\u201d says Kloor. \u201cShe doesn\u2019t care if they are a Republican or a Democrat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gillen, a soccer loving native of Toledo, Oregon, became a utility CEO through a similarly unconventional route. In a profession dominated by engineers and accountants, Gillen rose through the ranks after starting in the information technology side of the business. He can speak the language of substations and voltages, and his humble, friendly demeanor belies a decisive leader who is not afraid to make tough choices of his own.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis focus on CPI\u2019s members is in a class of his own,\u201d Sprenger says. \u201cI have never heard him mention the bottom line.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their mutual admiration aside, both Gillen and Sprenger remain concerned about the quest for what Sprenger calls \u201ckeeping rural Oregon viable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The so called economic recovery has yet to find every corner of Sprenger\u2019s district, and she believes policy coming out of the Capitol and from the initiative process threatens to stymie job growth.<\/p>\n

She opposes Measure 97, a high profile tax measure advanced by labor organizations that is on the ballot this fall. The most negative impact of Measure 97, Sprenger says, will be felt more by the small businesses than the prominent name brand Oregon companies that are the face of the opposition.<\/p>\n

Sprenger also is concerned with regulations that hamper small businesses and innovations that are met by environmental roadblocks\u2014policies often driven by those who appear a galaxy away from her small towns.<\/p>\n

\u201cRural Oregon is tired of urban Portland dictating to them,\u201d she says. \u201cWe want to live our life our way.\u201d<\/p>\n

But she is realistic enough to know that success in the 2017 Legislative Assembly may be simply holding the line against more regulations. It is a skill she has honed after serving most of her tenure as the minority party.<\/p>\n

\u201cSherrie has a unique ability to explain how urban driven policy affects rural Oregon,\u201d says Kloor.<\/p>\n

Gillen agrees that environmental policies\u2014particularly those levied at a cooperative that emits virtually no carbon\u2014makes his job harder.<\/p>\n

Moreover, CPI\u2019s growth has been largely flat since the recession of 2008, though they have seen some growth in more densely populated areas that have grown into CPI territory in places such as northwest Corvallis.<\/p>\n

Gillen gives tremendous credit to his board of directors for setting CPI\u2019s course. \u201c<\/p>\n

We have a great blend of voices, skills and capabilities,\u201d Gillen says. \u201cThey are strong advocates of CPI members.\u201d<\/p>\n

With energy policy always at the forefront of the Oregon Legislature, Gillen can be found making the rounds with his stable of legislators, including Sprenger.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust because we have a common viewpoint doesn\u2019t mean we get a free\u00a0ride,\u201d Gillen says. \u201cShe\u2019s an independent thinker.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gillen will require all his board\u2019s skills and his vast experience to navigate a tricky power supply situation with CPI\u2019s historical supplier: the Bonneville Power Administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re concerned with BPA\u2019s competitive position, and we\u2019re challenging them to keep a healthy power system,\u201d Gillen says.<\/p>\n

Beyond their likeminded agenda, affable personalities and immense challenges, both Gillen and Sprenger have something else in common: a sense of awe that they sit in the chairs they do.<\/p>\n

Gillen still expresses appreciation that a \u201ckid from Toledo\u201d could get the opportunity of a lifetime to run a large, influential organization such as CPI\u2014for him a career equivalent of playing premier league soccer. And Sprenger never takes for granted how her constituents count on her to be their voice in the state Capitol.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an incredible honor,\u201d she says, \u201cto get to participate in democracy every day.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

State Rep. Sherrie Sprenger and Consumers Power CEO Roman Gillen are powerful voices for rural Oregon\u2014while rarely raising their voices By Ted Case State Rep. Sherrie Sprenger (R Scio) and Roman Gillen, CEO of Consumers Power Inc., have much in common. Both leaders are relentless advocates of a prosperous rural economy, each possessing a laser […]\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32683,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[232],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oreca.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32682"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oreca.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oreca.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreca.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreca.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreca.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32682\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreca.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oreca.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreca.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreca.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}