HERMISTON — Hermiston City Councilor Nancy Peterson recently took a seat on the Oregon Disabilities Commission.
The ODC is a governor-appointed commission housed in the Department of Human Services. Peterson will be one of 15 members of the commission, which aims to identify and hear the needs of Oregon disabled individuals and prioritize public policy that should be addressed.
“You know all of the lobbyists for companies that come to the government and talk about their company?” Peterson said. “Well, we are the lobbyist groups on behalf of the public.”
Most of the members of the ODC have disabilities; Peterson is a non-binary disabled person. Along with their work on the city council and now the disabilities commission, Peterson also works for Columbia Basin College as a disability services accessibility specialist.
Peterson has been a member of the Hermiston City Council since winning an election in 2020 and has a long history of diversity rights activism, advocating for many disabled people.
“Government is not about wearing a tie or sweaters,” Peterson said, ”it’s about letting people know which road to walk on — or in my case, roll on — to get the job done.”
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