Years of activism paid off for an American Fork woman Thursday evening when she was chosen as the city's newest council member.

In a meeting that lasted less than 15 minutes, council members unanimously chose Sherry Kramer, a 10-year resident, to fill the remainder of Jimmie Cates's term, which runs through the end of the year. Cates died of cancer on May 18.

Six candidates had been interviewed by council members at a meeting earlier in the week.

Kramer was emotional as she accepted the appointment.

"I want to say thank you for your vote of confidence," she said. "I'm honored and humbled to be chosen for this position, to fill in for Councilman Cates, who was such a great man.

"I hope to honor his memory by being fair and honest and listening to both sides of an issue as he did. I will work hard, I assure you, to get up to speed quickly."

Kramer said her political interest began in 2001 when she co-founded an ad-hoc group called Parents for Parks, Trails and Open Space, which successfully advocated for Hunter Park to be constructed by the city in 2002.

The group kept working, raising money for park improvements and advocating for safer street designs, larger lots for residential homes and a city trail along American Fork River.

Kramer said she decided to apply for the vacant council seat at the urging of friends, and would like to immediately begin work to keep two baseball diamonds that the city has proposed to clear for cemetery expansion.

"I've got lots of ideas," she said. "I've got some ideas about how to fix up the entrance to the city along State Street."

Kramer is now a member of the city's board of adjustments and Alpine School District's community council. She is the mother of six, ages 15 years to 17 months, and has been married to Ron Kramer for 18 years.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.