Editor’s note: The Wilsonville Spokesman will be publishing profiles of each candidate for mayor and City Council leading up to the November election.
Elizabeth Peters hopes to use her background to foster community engagement and conversations as a Wilsonville city councilor.
Peters is one of four candidates running for two open positions on the council, including Adam Cunningham, Ginger Fitch and Anne Shevlin. The terms of Council President Kristin Akervall and Councilor Joann LInville will end this December, and neither is seeking reelection.
Peters has served in various communications roles with the Oregon Restaurant Association, Oregon Association of Nurseries and Strategic Economic Development Corporation. Currently she works as a consultant helping clients improve workplace culture.
Outside of her career, she was on the Clackamas County Economic Development Commission and was on the Government Affairs Committee with the Wilsonville Chamber of Commerce.
Through her experience on the Wilsonville Chamber of Commerce committee and Oregon Association of Nurseries, Peters said she learned how to “talk across the aisle” politically. She said she interacted with a broad range of political perspectives, and the conversations were improved by the diverse perspectives.
“When we have conversations and when we make decisions you’re never going to get everything you want, right? And that’s the point.” Peters said. “I think it makes us better when we take the time to decide together how we’re going to move forward.”
Peters said her background gave her experience in “reaching out to groups that have no idea who (she) is” and helping people engage in or understand a topic better. While working with the Oregon Restaurant Association and Oregon Association of Nurseries, she said staff would visit businesses in person to engage the business community.
“We asked each staff member to go out and spend time at those businesses, talking to the people that are in those businesses, because we want to get a pulse for where they’re at,” Peters said, adding that she believes the city could do the same.
To Peters, the role of city councilor involves working towards the community’s vision for Wilsonville. Her vision is to establish a community feeling, which she thinks has waned in recent years. She envisions a city where people communicate more — whether talking to a neighbor about an issue or asking a senior citizen about their lived experiences.
“I think about those kinds of things happening across the city, whether that’s in a vibrant downtown area or whether that’s just across the street with a neighbor,” Peters said. “I feel like we have a lot of opportunity to develop that sense of community.”
Peters’ professional work improving organization culture has involved having conversations and creating a “no-blame” environment, she said, and she hopes to help do the same in Wilsonville.
“It’s going to take a lot of different perspectives to change the culture of Wilsonville. And that’s really what I’m talking about, is improving the culture of Wilsonville,” Peters said, adding that this means an environment that allows people to speak freely and make decisions together.
To this end, Peters started hosting virtual town halls where she discusses with participants the current culture and conditions in Wilsonville and her desired vision. She believes that people speak differently face-to-face as opposed to messages over social media, and “hopefully we’re more respectful.”
“I know it seems very basic, but it’s a format that I think people can probably pretty easily engage in the conversations,” Peters said.
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