Marlene Parsons didn’t really want to attend the annual First Citizen’s Banquet in Keizer.
Her granddaughter tricked her into going.
That ensured Parsons was in the audience when the announcement came that she was the new Keizer First Citizen.
“Everybody lied to me,” Parsons joked about the effort it took to get her to the Jan. 18 event put on by the Keizer Chamber of Commerce.
She was cited for more than two decades of volunteering in her adopted community.
“I don’t like sitting in a chair watching TV,” Parsons said. “I like to go, go, go – get things done.”
Parsons was born and raised in Portland, her later years in the care of foster parents. After graduating, she enlisted in the U.S. Air Force as a path to college funding.
“I always wanted to be a police officer,” she said.
After her four-year duty in the service, she enrolled in Portland State University in 1995.
A ride-along with a Portland officer changed her career ambition.
“I decided I didn’t want to do that,” Parsons said. “I thought they were mean to people.”
Instead, she got her degree and began teaching in Portland in 1988, starting with second grade and then shifting to middle school. She got laid off during a budget-cutting time in 1994.
With her husband commuting to his job in Salem, the couple decided then to move to Keizer.
She continued in education, including three years as a driver’s education instructor.
“We only got rear ended once,” she said.
She also volunteered at Gubser Elementary School, helping kindergarteners in computer lab.
Parsons also volunteered at Keizer Little League as her daughters played.
“I’ve been a coach, an umpire, a volunteer. I’ve done it all,” Parsons said.
Her neighbor, Lore Christopher, encouraged her to seek appointment to the city Parks Board. Parsons agreed, pressing her passion for parks. She later helped found the Keizer Parks Foundation and served on other city committees.
She ran for Keizer City Council in 2012, competing against two other candidates. She felt a council seat would be a good place “if I want to get more done with parks.”
She won against two other candidates and was unopposed in a bid for her second term.
Then, the pandemic hit.
City council meetings went virtual. When in-person meetings resumed, councilors had to wear masks and sit spaced apart.
“You couldn’t get anything done,” she said.
She chose not to run again when her term ended in 2022.
She said Christopher convinced her to again seek a council seat during the 2024 election. Christopher herself was running to regain the office of mayor.
Parsons said she judged there was “a little bit of dysfunction” on the Keizer council and felt “my calmness” and past experience could help.
She won, taking office in January. Christopher lost but then was appointed to serve as councilor.
Parsons said she has no political ambitions beyond councilor.
“City council is all the farther I’m going,” she said.
When not working on city business, Parsons devotes time to military veterans, whether through the veterans committee at the Keizer Elks or helping support the new veterans housing complex in Salem, Courtney Place.
In what little spare time she has, Parsons likes to golf and take ocean cruises.
She wants to be an example for other Keizer residents.
“If you want to help get things done, step up,” Parsons said. “If you’re going to complain about something, then you need to do something about it.”
As for that banquet attendance, Parsons said she only went to help her granddaughter, Raegan Weathers, with a school project. She told her grandmother she needed to write an essay on a political event and the chamber banquet seemed like a good one. She wanted her grandmother to take her.
“I don’t say no to my grandchildren,” Parsons said.
Still, she sought out a seat at the rear of the event, intending to leave early.
Her granddaughter persuaded her to stay a bit longer because she wanted to talk to the award winners.
“I just wanted to go home,” Parsons said.
Then, she heard her name called, summoned to the stage to accept the community’s top civic honor.
Note: This is part of a series of articles on the award winners from the Jan. 18 Keizer Chamber of Commerce banquet.
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