By Mary Owen
Stayton’s new city administrator views his position as both challenging and beneficial.
“I’m moving to an area where I don’t know anybody,” said Keith Campbell, who left his job as city clerk for Shawnee, Kansas to move to Stayton with his wife, Adrienne, stepdaughter, Jackie, 16, and daughter, Marlowe, 3.
“I will be learning new names and faces,” he said. “I don’t come with any preconceived biases, so it will be a challenge and a benefit.”
Getting acclimated to the community and its people is the first step Campbell said he plans to take.
One of three finalists vying for the job, Campbell was selected by the city council in January to fill the role held by interim city administrator Christine Shaffer.
“I will go back to the job I really love as finance director,” Shaffer said. “I also plan to take a well-deserved vacation beginning March 1, concluding when I feel well rested.”
Before his first day on the job Feb. 3, Campbell vacationed in Hawaii with his wife to celebrate their wedding anniversary.
Shaffer said Campbell will bring a fresh perspective to the city administrator position. “Keith has been watching old city council meetings and working with me to get up to speed on city business,” she said.
Campbell earned his undergraduate degree in business administration and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Kansas. He started his career in the private sector, working in e-commerce web management. He then shifted to the public sector as deputy county clerk for Douglas County in Kansas, overseeing county, city, school, state and national elections for almost five years before becoming Shawnee city clerk.
His move to Stayton was a family decision, he said.
“My wife looked for communities where we would like raising our family,” he said. “If she liked a community, she passed the information for me to look at it from a work perspective. If I liked it, we all got together and talked about it.”
The Campbells were looking for an all-round good fit – work, play, live.
“Stayton was a great fit for us both personally and professionally,” Campbell said. “We were really excited!”
Now that he’s in town, Campbell plans to spend time getting to know the platforms and goals of Stayton’s governing body and, in time, sharing his expertise with city issues.
“I look forward to passing the responsibility of being the city administrator to Keith,” Shaffer said. “It is his passion. I know he will do a great job!”
