Tigard City Recorder Carol Krager, who has served the city since 2006, announced her retirement at the Aug. 11 city council meeting.
At their city council meeting that day, Tigard councilors shared warm words about the city staff veteran and passed a resolution in her honor.
Krager walked Tigard Life through some of her duties as city recorder, explaining that she was responsible for everything from codifying city code to managing elections. She also worked behind the scenes on city council meetings, recording and storing public comments and every word spoken by councilors while on the clock.
“Anything that’s written or produced is a record, and it all has a different retention, so I make sure that those are followed,” Krager said. “I manage the Tigard municipal code and also any changes to the Tigard Development Code…our code is online now, which I’m pretty happy about. We used to have paper binders.”
With election season around the corner, Krager noted she will especially miss interacting with local candidates during the filing process.
“That’s probably one of the favorite parts of my job, the elections,” Krager said. “It’s kind of like you get a first look at people that are interested in serving the city and I really like hearing the ideas they have and why they want to serve.”
Tigard Mayor Yi-Kang Hu and city councilors congratulated Krager on her retirement at the August meeting, with Hu saying, “Carol is one of the most meticulous, caring and professional city recorders I have ever worked with.”
“Carol Krager represents the very best of Tigard, both as a dedicated city employee and as a member of our community,” said Councilor Jake Schlack. “Since I first met her as a community volunteer, Carol has consistently demonstrated integrity, reliability, professionalism and a deep commitment to public service.”
“That was very sweet,” Krager said. “City employees are great. I’m really gonna miss them. That’s the saddest thing.”
In retirement, Krager said she plans to spend more time with her grandkids and visit her daughter and son-in-law, who are moving to Denmark.
Krager said it would be bittersweet not attending Tuesday night council meetings every week, but added that she was also looking forward to having a clear schedule.
“One thing I like about going to all these meetings is I find out what’s going on,” Krager said. “I’m gonna really enjoy Tuesday nights… I hope I can just break knowing what number of the day of the week it is on Tuesday.”
