Garet Prior

After being raised in Cleveland, Ohio, and living for a decade in Richmond, Virginia, he moved to Oregon in 2018. He holds a masters degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Virginia Commonwealth University, and in pursuit of finding out “what he wants to be when he grows up” he has worked as a policy analyst, urban planner, community organizer, K-12 teacher, construction worker, cook, and spot welder.

He brings over a decade of experience of equity-advancing accomplishments with challenging and complex public policy issues in transportation, education, and housing. Highlights include: As the Facilities Task Force Chair for Richmond Public Schools, he led a committee of elected officials, administrators, and community members to the successful adoption of an $800 million, 20-year plan to address the City’s most pressing civil rights issue, failing school facilities and as Planning Director for the Town of Ashland, he oversaw the largest neighborhood development in 30 years, with a City Council that was perceived as anti-development, and managed the first-ever historic district mapping of Berkleytown, a historic Black neighborhood.

As Toll Policy Manager for the Oregon Department of Transportation, he successfully built trust with an Equity and Mobility Advisory Committee that developed a set of values and recommendations, all of which were unanimously supported by the Oregon Transportation Commission. He successfully secured policy direction on low-income toll discounts and tribal member exemptions that would establish the most expansive programs in the county.

Garet is a proud first-generation college graduate and lifelong Cleveland sports fan, which has taught him about perseverance and grit.