Two weeks before Gov. Tina Kotek announced she was sending her chief of staff to lead Oregon’s troubled transportation department, she had another person in mind for the job.
OPB has confirmed that the state flew in a Midwest-based official with the Federal Highway Administration as its sole finalist to helm the Oregon Department of Transportation.
That candidate met with state officials and leaders of labor unions that represent ODOT employees on Monday, May 18. By the following Wednesday, the potential hire had fizzled.
“It went from ‘Here’s our candidate’ to ‘We’re not even doing it,’” said Karen Scott, president of the Association of Engineering Employees of Oregon, who met with the prospective hire alongside others from the union. “I don’t know why.”
Now, after a search that has spanned half a year, the state appears to be headed back to the drawing board.
Kotek said last week that she is sending her chief of staff, Chris Warner, to oversee ODOT while she continues to search for a permanent director. The person who had been filling the role, Lisa Sumption, is returning to her post atop the state parks department.
The shuffling reflects the challenge of finding a person for a job that is full of unknowns, and that has been in the spotlight for its myriad challenges for more than a year.
Faced with a structural funding shortfall, ODOT has been forced to leave vacant positions unfilled and strip money from some popular programs in order to fund basic maintenance.
If lawmakers aren’t able to pass a package of funding increases next year, layoffs and steeper service cuts could be in the offing.
“They’re probably having a hard time finding someone willing to step into what feels like a booby trap,” said Scott, a program engineer at ODOT. “It’s not a safe landing.”
It’s not entirely clear what went awry with the finalist Kotek flew in last month. Union officials OPB spoke with said they were uncertain whether it was the governor’s decision not to move forward or the candidate backed out.
“We had a meeting [with the candidate],” said Melissa Unger, executive director of Service Employees International Union Local 503, which represents many ODOT workers. “By the time I was ready with feedback, they had changed their mind.”
The candidate’s visit came at a notable time. They were in Oregon the day before voters overwhelmingly rejected a package of tax and fee increases meant to bolster ODOT’s finances. That outcome was widely expected, however, and there is no indication that it played a decisive role in the state restarting its director search.
Neither the governor’s office nor the state’s Department of Administrative Services answered questions about why the finalist didn’t move forward. The candidate did not respond to an inquiry from OPB.
The ongoing search for a new director at ODOT has some precedent in Kotek’s administration.
In March 2023, the governor’s newly hired pick to lead the Oregon Health Authority resigned after just months on the job. It took the state roughly eight months to select Dr. Sejal Hathi, the agency’s current director, to fill the spot.
It has been nearly seven months since Kris Strickler, the former ODOT head, announced he would step down after more than six years as director. He officially left the agency in January.
Now, the search is leading to changes at the highest levels of state government. Warner is leaving Kotek’s office after more than three years — two of them as her top aide.
Stepping into the role of chief of staff is Emerald Bogue, a Port of Portland executive who in recent months has served as an advisor to the governor.
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.