State
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, August ,
A9
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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