About
Jean Cowan is a lifelong Oregonian, who knows how to make communities work. Jean was a Lincoln County Commissioner from 1993-2004, and she also served two terms as the mayor of Elgin, Ore. She worked as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), served as a small-town volunteer cop, managed medical clinics, and drove the school bus. Jean Cowan is using that experience in the Oregon House of Representatives to make Salem work for us.
Jean has always believed that public service starts with community service, and that’s why she started getting involved more than 20 years ago. When Jean’s local volunteer ambulance service needed help, she signed on herself, and then trained a new corps of EMT’s. She went on to serve as City Councilor and then Mayor of Elgin – her home at the time. When that community’s medical clinic was threatened with closure, she brought concerned individuals together with local businesses to recruit a new satellite clinic service, which is still operational today.
During her 12-year tenure on the Lincoln County Commission, Jean was asked to join the Oregon Seismic Safety Policy Advisory Council, the Oregon Health Council, the Oregon Public Health Advisory Board and numerous other statewide boards and commissions. Jean also worked extensively with the nonpartisan League of Women Voters to produce in-depth studies on education policy, and she served on the bipartisan Board of Directors for both the League of Oregon Cities and the Association of Oregon Counties.
Jean Cowan knows the issues facing the Central Coast, and she knows how to make policy that works for local communities and working families. She is working hard in Salem to make sure Oregon government isn’t overshadowed by special interests and partisan politics.
