Schneider hits the ground running as intern for city

By Kara Hansen

The Lake Oswego Review, Jul 29, 2010

CATE SCHNEIDER

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Every future city manager has to start somewhere.

Cate Schneider is getting her feet wet at Lake Oswego City Hall, where she is this summer’s Robert Kincaid Memorial intern.

The Pacific Northwest native is earning her chops by working on a broad range of projects under City Manager Alex McIntyre and Assistant City Manager David Donaldson.

This summer, she plans to create a catalog or encyclopedia of city programs and services. A resource for citizens, the directory will also inform officials working to set goals and develop a budget. Another likely assignment includes a human resources project comparing health care plans. She also plans to ride-along on shifts with the police and fire departments and to sit in on regular high-level meetings.

Schneider, who worked in college admissions departments before kindling an interest in government management, said she likes the job’s multifaceted nature.

“I like that it’s a complex profession where you can see the intersection between theory and practice,” she said. “Even seasoned professionals are sometimes still trying to get their arms around the issues.

“The projects are thorny, but you really do have the opportunity to make change on a local level.”

Schneider, who grew up in Washington, earned a bachelor’s degree at University of Portland in 2003 and recently finished the master’s program in public administration at Villanova University in Pennsylvania.

Studying public administration is one thing, but spending a summer working at Lake Oswego City Hall is giving her new insight into the field.

She dove into the three-month stint listening to citizens testify during a crowded public hearing on the city budget. She followed that meeting up with another on “sensitive lands,” Lake Oswego’s controversial land-use program limiting development near streams, wetlands and tree groves.

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