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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 31, 2016)
State Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, August , A9 (2UHJRQQDWLYH2'$¶V&REDQDPHGVWDWH¶V&22 %\&ODLUH:LWK\FRPEH Capital Bureau Katy CoEa, the director of the Oregon 'epartment of Agriculture, has Eeen appoint ed the state’s chief operating of¿ cer and director of the 'e partment of Administrative Services, the state’s overar ching administrative agency, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s of¿ ce announced Wednesday. CoEa’s appointment is ef fective Oct. Eut reTuires con¿ rmation Ey the Oregon Senate in SeptemEer, accord ing to a news release from the Governor’s Of¿ ce. CoEa, who has Eeen agri culture director since , started working in state gov ernment in . Kristin Grainger, a spokes woman for the governor, said CoEa, a Pendleton native, was a “proven leader” and “com mitted to excellence” in state government. “Her roots in rural Oregon and Eastern Oregon were in À uential as well,” Grainger said. Grainger said the state’s Eudget development process will likely Ee a focal point for CoEa in her new position. A news release from the Governor’s Of¿ ce also cit Katy Coba ed CoEa’s experience as part of the Enterprise Leadership Team, a group of state agency leaders that advises the gover nor and chief operating of¿ cer. The 'epartment of Agri culture’s deputy director, Lisa Charpilloz Hanson, will serve as interim director starting Oct. , until a successor to CoEa is appointed, according to the news release. George Naughton has Eeen the interim director of 'AS since March , according to Wednesday’s news release. He will continue to Ee the de partment’s chief ¿ nancial of¿ cer. Naughton was appointed interim director when Michael Jordan, the chief operating of ¿ cer under former Gov. John KitzhaEer, announced his res ignation, effective April of that year. Clyde Saiki, who now heads the state 'epartment of Human Services, also served as interim director of 'AS Eefore he was appointed to lead 'HS in No vemEer. At that time, Naughton stepped in again to lead 'AS in an interim capacity. CoEa, reached Ey phone Wednesday, said she wanted to Ee an “amEassador for puElic service” in her new role. She said she intends to fo cus on outreach and recruiting new, diverse employees to state agencies to replace the state’s retiring workforce. She also said another prior ity during her tenure would Ee addressing Gov. Brown’s stated intention to improve account aEility and transparency in state government. She said there are a numEer of complex challenges facing the agency, and although they are somewhat familiar territo ry thanks to CoEa’s role on the Enterprise Leadership Team, she said, she plans to Eegin her new role Ey meeting with other state agency directors, legisla tors and “other leaders around the state” and listening to their feedEack on 'AS. CoEa said she also wanted to inform Oregonians aEout state government and its pur pose and functions. “The 'epartment of Ag riculture is really a great role model,” CoEa said. “We focus on education and outreach and providing technical expertise to the people we interact with, and that is our ¿ rst goal in the work that we do.” She said that it was an “inter esting time” in puElic discourse around state government, cit ing the distrust of government displayed Ey protesters during the occupation of the Malheur National Wildife 5efuge in Harney County earlier this year. Although the occupiers were protesting what they characterized as federal over reach, CoEa said the underly ing message of a “regulatory Eurden” was one shared Ey other state residents. CoEa said she had Eeen approached previously Ey the Governor’s Of¿ ce aEout the position, Eut said she indicat ed at the time that she was not interested. But the governor’s of¿ ce persisted, CoEa said, and the ¿ rst “serious conversation” aEout CoEa taking over the joE as head of 'AS occurred less than a month ago, she said. State Sen. Betsy Johnson, 'Scappoose, descriEed CoEa as a Tuali¿ ed leader with the “character,” “smarts,” and “Eona ¿ des” to lead the agen cy. “With as many agencies as have proElems right now, the >Oregon 'epartment of Ag riculture] is not one of those that my constituents call me aEout, and I represent a ru ral and agricultural district,” Johnson said. Although CoEa will Ee leading what Johnson de scriEes as “huge Eureaucra cy” at 'AS, the state senator said CoEa would Tuickly gain the trust of other agency di rectors Eecause of her experi ence as an agency head. “...If anyEody is up to the task of trying to wrestle with the issues at 'AS, it’s Katy,” Johnson later continued. “She’s a seasoned profession al.” Oregon Senate President Peter Courtney, 'Salem, echoed Johnson’s statement. “If I know anything aEout Katy CoEa, she’ll get the joE done,” Courtney said in a statement Wednesday. State service is something of a family Eusiness for CoEa. CoEa’s husEand, Marshall CoEa, is a loEEyist, and her parents served in state gov ernment. Her father, Mike Thorne, was a state senator from to , going on to serve as director of the Port of Portland until and as the chief executive of the Washington State )erry System from to . CoEa’s mother, Jill Thorne, was an aide to former Gov. Neil Goldschmidt. According to CoEa’s Eiog raphy on the state 'epartment of Agriculture weEsite, she was raised on a wheat farm and attended Whitman Col lege in Walla Walla, Wash ington, earning a B.S. in eco nomics. 5eview 'HS could *RYHUQRUFRQ¿UPV¿YHGHEDWHVZLWK3LHUFH do more to prevent foster care aEuses Capital Bureau %\&ODLUH:LWK\FRPEH Capital Bureau The Oregon 'epartment of Human Services might Ee aEle to prevent the aEuse of children in Ore gon’s foster care system Ey placing their charges more appropriately and Eetter coordinating its response to allegations of aEuse, according to draft of an outside assessment of the agency, released Thursday. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown charged an External Advisory Committee com prised of legislators and stakeholders in the state’s foster care system with conducting an independent review of 'HS late last year. The draft assessment, prepared Ey management consultancy PuElic Knowl edge, LLC, was presented to the committee Thursday. The assessment high lighted how the agency could improve its service to children in state care. 'HS has faced puElic scrutiny after highprofile allegations of aEuse at suE stitute care facilities, and is also under fire for how some incidents were ad dressed on an administra tive level. The agency has limited capacity, the draft report found, and children are placed in foster care fa cilities Eased on availaEle space, rather than their individual needs. Those facilities, in turn, may not have enough or appropriate assistance, especially for highneed youth. The draft assessment also found case workers ask providers to take in more children than they are certified or li censed to handle. The assessment also found that the agency is in consistent in investigating allegations of aEuse. The reporting, screening and in vestigating of alleged aEuse in foster care is done locally and so could yield different results in different places. Information could also Ee Eetter shared Eetween different entities in the sys tem, the draft assessment found. At least six lawsuits against the agency involved “multiple reports of aEuse that were closed at screen ing or never fully investi gated.” When surveyed, youth in foster care and other re porters of aEuse rated the reporting system as “un trustworthy.” The ¿ ndings also iden ti¿ ed “Earriers” to making improvements to the sys tem, which were split into three main categories “un reasonaEle” caseloads, the recruitment and retention of providers and a lack of ad eTuate data. 5eported aEuse of children in foster care has increased in the past several years, the report found. The External Advisory Committee includes state legislators, as well as care providers and other stake holders. It’s chaired Ey Clyde Saiki, the head of 'HS. Gov. Kate Brown announced detailV 7KurVda\ Ior ¿ ve deEateV she plans to participate in this fall. Her campaign has said the sitting governor who is seeking election for the ¿ rst time would agreed to at least three deEates. As former secretary of state, Brown succeeded Gov. John Kit]haEer when he resigned in )eEruary amid an inÀ u encepeddling scandal. 7he ¿ ve scheduled deEates with GOP nominee Bud Pierce will Ee held in Bend, Portland, Eugene and Medford. “I’m proud of all that we’ve gotten done in just a year and a half. And, there is much more work to do for families, for our environment and for Eetter government,” Brown said in a statement 7hursday. “I’m look ing forward to traveling across our state and sharing my vision for how we will move Oregon forward, together.” Pierce said Thursday he’s glad to see Brown has increased the numEer of deEates she’ll ac cept. He noted that Brown de clined to join in the traditional ¿ rst deEate of general election season sponsored Ey the Oregon 1ewspaper PuElishers Associa tion July . “I’m glad the governor now feels ready to Ee in front of the people,” Pierce said in a state ment Thursday. “Throughout the entire campaign, I’ve told voters that I will attend any deEate at any time and have accepted ev A TTENTION G RANT C OUNTY V ETERANS : Did you know there may be VA benefits available for you as a result of your spouses’ military service? See your Grant County Veteran Services Officer today for more information, located at Grant County Court House. Call 541-575-1631 for an appointment Open: Mon, Wed, & Fri 10am-4pm by appointment. Gov. Kate Brown Bud Pierce ery single deEate invitation I’ve received, since I Eelieve deEates are very important.” In addition to the deEates with Brown, Pierce has accept ed three other deEate invitations and “is anxiously awaiting the governor’s decision” on those deEates, according to Pierce’s campaign. Those include a de Eate sponsored Ey K'59 in Medford on Oct. . Pierce also accepted an invi tation for a deEate Ey the Pam plin Media Group/EO Media Group/Skanner News Group/ KOIN News/8niversity of Or egon Agora Journalism Center and another deEate Ey KAT8, Eoth of which had dates to Ee determined, said Stacey Kafka, Pierce’s communications direc tor. Liz Accola Meunier, a spokeswoman for Brown’s campaign, said Brown has de clined the deEate Ey Pamplin Media Group/EO Media Group/ Skanner News Group/KOIN News/8niversity of Oregon Ag ora Journalism Center and is still considering the other two. “We’ve received a lot of great proposals and the gov ernor is eager to talk aEout a variety of issues that matter to Oregonians,” Meunier said. “8nfortunately, due to sched uling constraints, decisions on this fall’s deEate schedule so far have Eeen made primarily on lo gistical grounds.” The ¿ ve con¿ rmed deEates Eetween Brown and Pierce are Sept. , Bend. Sponsored Ey Society of Professional Journalists, the East Oregonian, Jefferson PuElic 5adio and KT 9=T9. Sept. , Portland. Spon sored Ey Portland City CluE. Oct. , Eugene. Sponsored Ey League of Women 9oters and Oregon PuElic Broadcast ing. Oct. , Medford. Spon sored Ey KOBIT9 and KO TIT9. Oct. , Portland. Spon sored Ey KGWT9 and the Or egonian. Brown’s campaign says pro posals for additional deEates, fo rums or appearances will Ee con sidered on a caseEycase Easis. Come join us for lunch at the Prairie Senior Center any Wednesday at noon for one of our special meals! 204 N McHaley Ave.,Prairie City 541-820-4100 • 541-820-3780 541-820-4463 Hope to see you there! 04049 By Paris Achen