Mayor
Mayoral Duties
The mayor of the City of Dallas serves as the elected head of the municipality. He/she presides over City Council meetings and appoints members and chairs of the four standing committees of that body. He/she recommends appointments for all the City advisory boards. The mayor also represents the City at various meetings and functions both within and beyond the community. The mayor is elected at-large for a two year term.
Mayor Woods
Kenneth L. Woods, Jr. was born in Seattle, Washington on September 16, 1949. When he was 11 months old, his father joined the family insurance agency and his family moved back to Dallas, where is parents originally grew up. Mayor Woods is the fifth generation Woods to live in Dallas. His great-great grandfather Dr. Laird Woods, came to Dallas from Pennsylvania in the 1860's.
Mayor Woods attended Morrison Elementary School, Academy Jr. High School, and graduated from Dallas High School in 1967. He played football, basketball, and baseball while in high school, and baseball while in college. He attended Southern Oregon College (now Southern Oregon University), Western Oregon College (now Western Oregon University), and Salem Technical Vocational Community College (now Chemeketa Community College). During his college years, Mayor Woods worked two summers for the City of Dallas in their Public Works department on various projects.
In 1971, Mayor Woods married his wife Kathy, and over the years raised two boys, Jonathan and Michael. Woods worked in Portland at FMC Corporation as a Cost Accountant. FMC built railroad boxcars, barges, and oil super tankers. In 1981, the Woods family moved back to Dallas and Kenneth L. Woods, Jr. purchased a partnership in Craven Insurance Agency. In 1997, his partner Bob Craven retired. Mayor Woods bought his percentage of the company and changed the name to Craven-Woods Insurance. In 2021, Woods retired and sold his business to his oldest son Jon who had worked along side his father for many years.
In 2013, Tragedy struck the Woods family as Kathy was diagnosed with Uterine Cancer. 27 days after diagnosis, Kathy passed away. Kathy and Kenneth were married for 42 years. This time was hard but with the love of the community and family, the Woods family got through a tough time.
Mayor Woods, his two sons, Jonathan and Michael, and their wives Misty and Melanie, and four grandchildren all live in Dallas.
Service to the Community
In 1983, Kenneth L. Woods, Jr. was elected to the Dallas City Council. Over the next 40 years, Kenneth served on various council committees. He was president of the City Council for 6 years, Past-President of the Dallas Area Chamber of Commerce, Past-President of the Dallas Rotary Club (twice), and is currently Chair of the Mid-Willamette Area Commission on Transportation (NWACT, an area commission on transportation representing Marion, Polk, and Yamhill Counties), Chair of the League of Oregon Cities (LOC), Transportation Policy Committee, Chair of the City-County Insurance Services (CIS), Board of Trustees, the insurances pool that writes 98% of Oregon cities and 78% of Oregon counties insurance, a member of the LOC Finance & Taxation Committee, and a board member of the local Council of Governments (COG).
Participation and Awards:
Regional Leadership Award, COG 1999
Kids Inc. Baseball Coach, 1969-70 & 1983-98
Parks/Recreation Board, Past Chair
Dallas Economic Development Committee, Past Chair 1994-96
Dallas First Citizen, Chamber of Commerce 1995
Dallas First Family, Chamber of Commerce 2009
VanDenBosch Regional Leadership Award, COG 2014
Dallas Urban Renewal District Advisory Committee
Dallas Food Bank, Volunteer
Accomplishments on City Council:
The Dallas Senior Center, the Aquatic Center, the Rickreall Creek Train System, the Library, the Ambulance Facility, improvements to the City parks including tennis courts, pickle ball courts, skate park, and ball fields at the Roger Jordan Park. Other accomplishments include improvements to SE Fir Villa including curbs and sidewalks, construction of the LaCreole Street bridge and redesign of the Uglow/Miller Avenue intersection, the Arts Pavilion Stage, several Electric Vehicle Charging Stations, purchasing the old Radio Shack building and leasing it to Willamette Valley Fiber, and several improvements to the City's water storage and intake station.
Major Accomplishments during his time on MWACT:
Woods helped obtain funding from the Oregon Transportation Commission and ODOT for the Rickreall Interchange, re-design of the North Dallas Intersection, and funding to replace nine bridges in Polk County including Levens Street Bridge in Dallas, construction of the Sublimity/Stayton 22E Interchange, Woodburn I-5 Interchange, and the construction of the Newburg/Dundee bypass.
Hobbies:
Mayor Woods enjoys golfing, traveling, and watching his grandchildren play sports. For 40 years, Kenneth officiated high school and college football, retiring in 2018. From 2004-2018, he was the Commissioner of the Salem Football Officials Association (SFOA) scheduling over 850 games a year.
