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Dear Friends,
I was born and raised in Ashland, and I'm a proud product of our local public schools – from Briscoe Elementary to Ashland Middle School to Ashland High School. Ashland schools gave me a jump-start on academics, soft skills, and lifelong friendships (not to mention, a bit of extra resiliency after being an Ashland student at the same time that my father was middle school principal!).
Over the past decade, I've worked to improve community outcomes through local government. Most recently, I served as the City Manager of Talent where I focused on helping the community rebuild and reconnect after the Almeda Fire. As Talent City Manager, I supported the rebuild of 75% of Talent's single-family homes, the addition of over 200+ affordable housing units, and the return of full government services, all while facilitating difficult conversations about local finances and what kind of city Talent wanted to become post-disaster.
I'm running for Ashland's School Board because I believe in the opportunities that a robust public school system can offer to the future success of students, but also because I am concerned about our District's budget challenges amidst declining enrollment. I believe my education and work experience has uniquely prepared me for meeting these challenges.
As a School Board Member, I will rely on my extensive experience in the public sector to help ask the right questions, recognize red-flags early on, and improve the financial health and core student outcomes for Ashland's Schools – now and into the future.
In service,
Jordan
Learn more about Jordan...
Jordan, daughter, and husband
Jordan's father, Dale Rooklyn, served as Principal of Ashland Middle School for over 20 years. Her mother, Kim Meyer-Rooklyn, was an active parent volunteer in the classroom, served as the High School Booster Club Treasurer, and coached soccer and tennis throughout Jordan's childhood. Jordan attended Briscoe Elementary, Ashland Middle School, and graduated Ashland High School in 2007.
After earning Bachelors Degrees in Economics and Spanish from the University of Montana, Jordan worked as an economist and non-profit program manager before earning her Masters of Public Administration with an emphasis on advanced statistical analysis from the University of Washington.
Community Engagement
In 2016, Jordan was awarded an Oregon Hatfield Fellowship and was placed as an emerging leader at the Portland Police Bureau. There, Jordan's work with community engagement paid off. Largely motivated by the success of her community meetings, the Bureau established the Office of Community Engagement to continue the work of building trust and listening to the community.
Data-Driven Decision Making
From 2018 to 2021, Jordan worked as a performance analyst for the Portland Transportation Bureau and Portland Water Bureau. Jordan designed key performance indicators that connected to budget impacts, coached teams on identifying and measuring outcomes, and guided executive-level conversations on interpreting measures and changing practices. The frameworks she provided led the bureau’s leadership to establish $1.6 million in bill relief to small businesses, halted water shut-offs for unpaid bills, and set the work policies that allowed employees most at-risk from COVID-19 to work from home.
Crisis Recovery & Financial Oversight
In 2021, Jordan was appointed as City Manager for Talent, a year after the Almeda Fire destroyed one-third of Talent's homes and two-thirds of its brick-and-mortar businesses. During her tenure, Jordan traced and corrected nearly $700,000 in accounting errors, identified a $25 million mis-projection in property tax projections, and brought the city's Urban Renewal District back into financial compliance. Her work upgraded the City's bond rating from A2-negative to A2, and allowed the city to begin proactively planning, rather than responding to the needs in the moment.
Today, Jordan is the Deputy City Manager of Ashland, where she lives with her husband, who is a local union representative in the Rogue Valley, and their 10-month old daughter.
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