Shelly Harper-Dennis, a longtime employee of the Malheur County Road Department, has been appointed to the Vale City Council.
Harper-Dennis was scheduled to be sworn in on Tuesday March 25. She takes the seat vacated when Alex Hartwell was elected mayor. The council selected her as the replacement, completing a term that ends in January 2026.
“I’m excited about joining the city council,” Harper-Dennis said in an interview last week. “I just wanted to get involved.”
She is no stranger to the ways of government.
She has worked for the road department for 20 years, working as an accounting specialist. Before that she was with the county Health Department.
Harper-Dennis also has experience on a public board, serving on the Harper School Board for four years.
“I understand how a board works and the need to hear all voices,” she wrote in applying for the council seat. “I am aware of public meeting laws and executive session requirements. I know community involvement is a must and it is not always an easy task.”
She also has labor union experience, serving as the local AFSCME president for 20 years.
Harper-Dennis has lived in the area 28 years and moved into the Vale city limits about a year ago.
She said she doesn’t have specific concerns she intends to address through her council work.
“It’s such a nice community” and she wants to help sustain the historic murals, the city pool and the Vale rodeo grounds.
Besides Hartwell, others on the council include Derrick Peasley, Leighton Keller, Monty Bixby and Chad Cooper.
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