Candidate Statement: Corum Ketchum

My career has put me at the intersection of theory and practice; urban and rural. I have served as an AmeriCorps RARE (Resource Assistance for Rural Environments) volunteer, an economic resiliency analyst, interim city manager for John Day, Oregon, and currently as the multimodal transportation planner for the Corvallis metro.

The topics I am most passionate about are creating an equitable statewide transportation system for all those who bike, walk, drive, or ride, as well as underscoring the ways that urban and rural communities can heal divides, cross cultures, and build their economies.

I am hoping to apply my range of experiences in policy, community, and economic development, and transportation planning to highlight emerging practices and planners. It is my goal to push Oregon to the cutting edge of regenerative, humanistic planning while honoring the people who make that happen.

Corum Ketchum University of Oregon MPA, 2021

I became a planner because it is a career that marries direct service, continuous learning, and public purpose.

Planning faces many challenges, from systemic racism to urban-rural inequities, rolled into the compounding impacts of climate change. I believe it will take a regime change in the way we approach planning, led by emerging planners, BIPOC communities, and historically maligned places to right historical wrongs, and create a livable future.

I am most proud of my economic ecosystem-building work, which has led to many new rural startups, working in everything from avant-garde tomato-less salsa to equine (donkey!) therapy for children and the victims of bullying.