U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, left, Kathleen Cathey and her granddaughter, Harper, pose after a town hall at the Blue Mountain Conference Center on Monday, June 26, 2023. Cathey has been with Wyden’s office for nearly 18 years.

LA GRANDE — Known as many things — including “The Bionic Woman” to her coworkers — Kathleen Cathey prides herself above all on being a “fixer.”

Cathey, 62, is U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden’s field representative in 11 Eastern Oregon counties and has been serving in the Wyden office for almost 18 years. People come to her as the go-to problem solver in the area.

“Every county has its own distinct challenges, its own geography, its own set of issues,” she said. “Part of working for the senator is being able to listen to people from a variety of backgrounds and interests, and trying to solve problems.”

Cathey appreciates the autonomy she is given to identify issues, work on them and bring Wyden’s attention to them. Being a Union County resident since 1974, and living in La Grande for about 47 years, Cathey has become an integral voice for the region.

“I’ve been working for Ron so long that people know who I am. They know my cell number,” she said. “They know how to get a hold of me, they just call me when they have an issue.”

Cathey said her role in helping acquire the Department of Veterans Affairs Community-Based Outpatient Clinic in La Grande is “probably one of my bigger legacies” in Union County, but noted that obtaining funding for the Wheatridge Energy Facility in Morrow County was also up there on her list of achievements.

Cathey said one memorable interaction she had in Union County happened years ago, when a contractor called and told her how he was wasting $2,000 a day to keep a construction crew on standby for a project out on Catherine Creek that was missing a permit. She said she made a couple calls and was able to resolve the issue in two hours.

“I think that’s kind of the secret sauce in this office in getting things done is the fact that we make a lot of relationships with everybody, including the agency, folks,” she said. “That’s the fun part. The fun part is helping facilitate solutions.”

Though Cathey plans to retire in January 2025, she said Wyden “has a habit of keeping me around every time I try to leave.”

“(Kathleen) came to us in 2005, and people will often come up to me at the Safeway or the Thriftway or somewhere in Eastern Oregon and say. ‘Ron, you’re OK, we like you alright, don’t agree with you on everything … but Kathleen Cathey is the most wonderful thing we’ve ever had out here,’” Wyden said. “She’s really been a change maker, constantly has her ear to the ground and has given me good advice.”

In her free time, Cathey enjoys going to the gym, going for bike rides, hiking with friends and, most importantly, spending time with her grandchildren.

Cathey said her granddaughters like to walk with her from around Riverside Park to downtown, where they will visit the farmers market or stop somewhere to eat on the weekend.

Though Cathey moved to Union County her first year of high school, she considers La Grande home.

On why Cathey moved back to La Grande after moving out of town for a short period of time between 1987 and 1989’, Cathey said, “This is family. This is home.”