Chris Warner will remove the “acting” from his title as chief of staff to Gov. Tina Kotek.
Kotek announced Thursday, April 18, her choice of Warner to fill the vacancy created by the departure of Andrea Cooper, who now has a temporary role at the Department of Administrative Services. Cooper left as the 2024 Legislature ended its session March 7. Kotek declined to discuss her departure, plus two others, while speaking to reporters on April 3.
Cooper had been a deputy chief of staff in the administration of Kate Brown, Kotek’s predecessor as governor.
Kotek did say then she intended to fill the chief of staff's position, which has existed in various forms for Oregon governors for more than half a century.
Kotek also announced several other appointments to her staff.
Warner had been deputy chief of staff in charge of overseeing state agencies starting in January 2023, when Kotek took office. Since May 2019 he had been director of the Portland Bureau of Transportation, which has 1,000 employees and an annual budget of $500 million.
In the past three decades, he had been legislative director and senior transportation policy adviser to Gov. Ted Kulongoski (2003-11) and also an aide to U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden.
“Chris Warner brings years of experience leading teams to implement large-scale initiatives, navigating complex budget cycles for both local and state government, and contributing executive-level management skills to challenges large and small,” Kotek said in her announcement.
Warner is married to Barbara Smith Warner, who represented District 45 in the Oregon House from February 2014 through December 2022, and was House majority leader from mid-2019 to January 2022. She kept her seat, but left as majority leader, when Kotek resigned the House speakership in January 2022 to mount her successful bid for governor.
She is now executive director of the National Vote at Home Institute.
Chris Warner’s former job as deputy chief for public administration will be filled by Vince Porter, who had been Kotek’s adviser for economic development and workforce. He also had been an economic development adviser for two of Kotek’s predecessors, Kate Brown and John Kitzhaber. Porter also was vice president for public affairs for the Strategies 360 lobbying firm, and director of the Regence Health Policy Center, which sought ways to make health care more accessible and affordable.
A new deputy chief of staff position for the governor’s initiatives will be filled by Taylor Smiley Wolfe, who had been leading Kotek’s initiatives on housing and homelessness — among the top issues during Kotek’s first year as governor. She had been director of policy and planning at Home Forward, Multnomah County’s housing agency and Oregon’s leading provider of subsidized housing. She also had been policy director in the House speaker’s office when Kotek was speaker.
The third deputy chief of staff is Lindsey O’Brien, who took a leave of absence starting April 5 from overseeing public engagement. O’Brien worked most of the past decade for Kotek, though she was chief of staff for the House Majority Office. After Kotek resigned from the House and as speaker in 2022, she stayed briefly to help the transition to Speaker Dan Rayfield.
Kate Nass, the state’s chief financial officer, will take a more direct role in budget work within the governor’s office. The chief financial officer is under the Department of Administrative Services, the budget and management agency for state government. Nass had been deputy chief financial officer, deputy director of finance at the Oregon Health Authority, and a state policy and budget analyst.
Matthew Tschabold will succeed Taylor Smiley Wolfe as director of housing and homelessness initiatives. He helped shape the housing legislation (Senate Bill 1537) that was Kotek’s top priority in the 2024 legislative session. He comes from the Portland Bureau of Housing, where he was deputy director and policy and planning manager, and has 20 years of experience at the state and local levels.
Senior adviser Abby Tibbs, who began with Kotek in January 2023, returned to Oregon Health & Science University.
“These individuals have each meaningfully contributed to the progress my administration has made for Oregonians thus far,” Kotek said in her statement. “The breadth and depth of experience on this team will deliver results for Oregonians in every part of the state.”
pwong@pamplinmedia.com
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