Up the Capitol Steps: A Woman's March to the Governorship

Chapter 19: Preparing for Inauguration

217 chapter nineteen Preparing for Inauguration On Monday, November 12, as the new week began, my first full week as Governor-Elect, I was reminded of a quote I had once read by Governor Bob Straub of Oregon (1975-79): “The governor’s job is so big because it involves thousands of state employees, a large number of state agencies, an innumerable number of problems and it takes time to feel like you are really running the ship.” On that Monday I was hit with the reality of the magnitude of items that grew by the hour on my Needs Immediate Attention list. Delegation would soon become one of my very best friends! Appearing early in the delegation column was the name of Dr. John Keyser, who had accepted the massive responsibility of chairing my Transition Team. That team would help define my first legislative agenda, have strong input on the huge Measure 5 program cuts that would be necessary in my initial two-year budget, and would also advise and assist in evaluating some of the personnel choices for my staff positions. Nine working groups would be meeting under Keyser’s leadership, and each would additionally be looking at proposed budgets in their subject arena, with instructions to recommend a 10 percent cut. The range of issues these teams handled will demonstrate the complex and elaborate responsibility that lands on the shoulders of a new governor. While these dozens of Oregon leaders, working under a six-week deadline, volunteered both time and talent to their government and my new administration, I made some early but important decisions. My first was to retain the skilled, experienced, and knowledgeable director of the Oregon Executive Department, Fred Miller. Fred had over fifteen years of leadership experience in state government, and his willingness to turn down other offers and continue in his current role felt like a gift to me. My decision to replace the administrator of the state Budget and Management Division raised a little controversy. Jon Yunker had held the position for ten years but I replaced him with Mike Marsh, who had been with the division for eight years and had a great reputation. I knew I would be more comfortable working with Marsh. I had had past conflicts with Yunker, and I believed a change of leadership style and attitude would build a stronger team. 218 Up the Capitol Steps Over the previous weekend the House Republican Caucus had designated Larry Campbell from the Eugene area as the next Speaker. Campbell had served as Minority Leader of the House during the two years I was Majority Leader. You could say we had a little history! I didn’t think this was going to be good news for me when my legislative bills began to reach the House. Although we knew each other and had worked together, some of our interactions had definitely been adversarial. After waiting twenty years to regain control of the Oregon House, Campbell and his Republican Caucus could well be into a show of muscle flexing! If that attitude surfaced or even prevailed, my agenda could be in for a very bumpy ride in the House. I certainly wasn’t short of challenges, but some of that difficulty was offset by the large dedicated pool of talent available to me everywhere I turned … public officials, business leaders, educators, government administrators, community organizations, current and The Transition Team committees • Economic Development, Rural Development, and Transportation, chaired by Ed Whitelaw • Education and Workforce Training, chaired by my friend Roger Bassett • Natural Resources and Environment, chaired by Pam Wiley, deputy director of the Division of State Lands, had an especially tough issue agenda with the spotted owl/timber crisis facing my administration • Human Resources, Housing, and Health Care team, subdivided into three subcommittees. Terry Rogers, with Legal Aid, Representative Bev Stein, and Rey Ramsey, director of the Oregon Housing Agency handled many tough issues and choices • Peter Ozanne chaired Public Safety • Mark Gardiner chaired the Intergovernmental Relations group • Timber Communities, Insurance and Workers’ Compensation • The State as a High Performance Organization • Timber Communities, chaired by Catherine Mater • Insurance and Workers’ Compensation, chaired by Michael Dotten • High Performance Organizations, chaired by Chemeketa Community College President Bill Segura Preparing for Inauguration 219 former legislators, and my newly forming staff … so many citizens who cared about our state and the success of my administration. With my Transition Team in full...