Profiles in Service - April 2, 2018

Janet Carlson

Board Member

Commissioner, Marion County, Ore.

Number of years involved in NACo: 15

Years in public service: 17 years as an elected official, plus 21 as a public school teacher and state/county government staff

Occupation: County commissioner

Education: B.A., Willamette University, political science; M.A., Brigham Young University, political science; PhD, University of Oregon, special education and community resources

The hardest thing I’ve ever done is: Run for an open seat in a targeted state legislative race, walking 12,875 doors and winning by just 180 votes.

I dream I have is to: Have the time to work out every day.  

You’d be surprised to learn that I: Produced more than 100 episodes of “How Are the Children?” on local cable access. 

The most adventurous thing I’ve ever done is: Transition from WordPerfect to Word. (I still miss WordPerfect…)

I’m most proud of: My family — husband, three grown children and five grandchildren.       

Every morning I read: Facebook, emails and the local newspaper.      

My favorite meal is: Salmon and a baked potato.   

My favorite way to relax is to: Sing in the car with my karaoke tapes (yes, tapes).

My pet peeve is: Seeing inappropriate capitalization and misplaced commas in county documents.   

My motto is: “Live by faith, not fear.”   

My favorite movie is: Breakfast at Tiffany’s.  

My favorite music is: ‘60s and ‘80s pop.     

My favorite U.S. president is: Abraham Lincoln. 

My county is a NACo member because: We understand that counties accomplish more when we work together.