S moke S ignals
MAY 1, 2017
7
Senate committee OKs George nomination
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
The Oregon Senate Rules Com-
mittee moved the nomination
of Grand Ronde Tribal Council
member Kathleen George as one
of three new members of the state
Environmental Quality Commis-
sion on to a full Senate vote on
Wednesday, April 26.
George was nominated to the
commission by Oregon Gov. Kate
Brown in March to replace three
members who were fired.
The commission is a five-member
panel appointed by the governor to
four-year terms. Members serve
as the state Department of En-
vironmental Quality’s policy and
rulemaking board. It also issues
orders, judges appeals of fines or
other departmental actions, and
appoints the department’s director.
George would join the commission
along with fifth-generation Orego-
nian Wade Mosby and Oregon State
University associate professor Mol-
ly Kile. Current commission mem-
bers Sam Baraso and Ed Armstrong
will continue serving.
“Most of my career has been spent
in the environmental arena,” George
testified, “helping Tribes identify
and work with partners on the state
and federal level to protect people,
air, land and water. I am hoping
that my experience in working on
both the east side and west side
of our state can be helpful having
worked with a wide variety of com-
munities to address environmental
challenges and seek solutions. I hope
my background and experience can
be of service to the state on the En-
vironmental Quality Commission.”
George was elected to Tribal
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Tribal Council member Kathleen George participates in a hearing before
the Oregon Senate Rules Committee for her nomination to the state
Environmental Quality Commission at the State Capitol building in Salem on
Wednesday, April 26. Also nominated to the commission with her are Molly
Kile, front, and Wade Mosby, back.
Council in September 2016. Before
her election, she was director of
Spirit Mountain Community Fund,
the Tribe’s philanthropic arm, from
September 2011 through her elec-
tion to council.
She also worked for the Tribe’s
Natural Resources Department as
its environmental coordinator from
1996 to 2002 before moving to east-
ern Oregon to work for the Umatilla
Tribe as a water policy and senior
policy analyst. She also worked for
the Department of Environmental
Quality in Pendleton and owned a
natural resources consulting busi-
ness, Cedar Consulting.
George graduated from Dominican
University in California with a bache-
lor’s degree in environmental biology.
The Rules Committee included
Democratic Majority Leader Ginny
Burdick, Republican Leader Ted
Ferrioli and Democratic Sen. Arnie
Roblan, both of whom sit on the
Legislative Commission for Indian
Services, and senators Lee Beyer,
a Democrat, and Brian Boquist, a
Republican.
Brown’s dismissal of the three
commissioners did not go unmen-
tioned as the hearing stretched to
27 minutes and the three nominees
were eventually approved in a par-
ty-line 3-2 vote.
Boquist and Ferrioli asked the
three nominees about their exper-
tise in air quality and working with
a regulatory agency.
“The three of you are here under
unusual circumstances in the his-
tory of Oregon,” Boquist said, in-
quiring about the expertise that the
three nominees had since Brown’s
office is pushing for stricter air
quality standards in Oregon.
George said her work in the envi-
ronmental arena involved reducing
toxic substances “broadly” to decrease
risk to people and resources. “Cer-
tainly, one primary method of that
exposure is through water or through
fish, but another is certainly through
air or even dermal exposure. So there
are numerous pathways even though
I spent most of my time on the more
policy side of water,” she said.
Boquist, from Dallas, cautioned
the three nominees that their hon-
eymoon period on the commission
might be brief considering the re-
cent controversy.
“The pleasure might be short for
the three of you,” he said.
Beyer, from Springfield, said
that the three nominees bring a
breadth of good experience to the
commission and urged them to help
keep Oregonians safe “in a practical
manner.”
“Helping people comply,” Beyer
said. “I hope that is where you
spend most of your time.”
George was accompanied by her
husband, Rick, who works for the
Grand Ronde Tribe as Planning
Department director. Tribal lob-
byist Justin Martin also attended
the hearing.
George’s nomination was one of
55 considered by the Rules Commit-
tee to 26 Oregon boards and com-
missions. The full Senate will vote
on the nomination in early May.
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