Emails from Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek's former staffers sought clarity on first lady's role
The day the process was initiated for Abby Tibbs to return to her role at Oregon Health & Science University and leave the staff of Gov. Tina Kotek as a special advisor, she sent an email to the governor's staff about the expanding role of First Lady Aimee Kotek Wilson in the administration.
“I continue to believe that the office has an obligation to not only meet the letter of the law/ethics rules but exceed them and center the spirit of the laws/ethics rules because there are significant issues of public trust and the obligation to the people of Oregon,” Tibbs wrote on March 15.
The Tibbs email is among more than 6,000 pages of public records released in response to multiple reporters' requests after she and other members of Kotek’s staff left or were reassigned.
Former Chief of Staff Andrea Cooper and Deputy Chief of Staff Lindsey O’Brien left in late March. O’Brien has been on a paid leave of absence.
Tibbs' email references “several months” of requests from Cooper, O’Brien and herself for clarity about the role of the first spouse.
“I know there’s a shared commitment to ensuring that a first spouse has an opportunity to do meaningful work for an administration and for that work to be supportive of the success of the entire administration and center the highest degree of accountability and public trust, there are many considerations and issues that need to be addressed,” Tibbs wrote.
Later that day, an email from the state chief operating officer was sent to OHSU staff, ending an intergovernmental agreement between Oregon Health and Science University and the Department of Administrative Services for Tibbs' services for the governor's office.
"Although 'termination' is the technical word used in the agreement, this departure is obviously a huge loss for the Governor’s office and for all of us at DAS who work with Abby! Abby is a consummate professional who leads with a public service heart, and she has been a tremendous asset to the state during the transition to a new Governor. We thank her for her service and dedication," wrote Berry Leslie with DAS.
Questions around staffing, security for First Lady Aimee Kotek Wilson
Cooper sent an email on Jan. 17 to the Oregon State Police officer charged with Kotek’s security asking if there was a security reason for state police to drive Kotek Wilson to an event in Eugene the next month.
Later in January, Cooper emailed O'Brien about events on Kotek Wilson’s calendar that she said she wanted to "flag for awareness and future discussion."
“Since I was asked not to attend the scheduling meeting where these events were added to the FL [first lady] calendar, I didn’t have the opportunity to weigh in on the staffing or speaking portions that will now impact comms staff,” Cooper wrote.
O’Brien sent an email on Jan. 30 to the first lady’s scheduler, saying she had not been informed about Kotek Wilson being added to a meeting with Kotek and Bureau of Labor and Industries Commissioner Christina Stephenson but had received a call from Stephenson's chief of staff.
“I hadn’t heard anything about this change,” O’Brien wrote.
Kotek Wilson’s scheduler replied the first lady and Kotek had “a side convo during scheduling” about Kotek Wilson joining during a lunch meeting.
At the same time, Cooper exchanged emails with O’Brien restating her questions around the use of the dignitary protection unit, or state police, in upcoming events.
“Re: DPU, I think this is ultimately, Sgt. Bates’ call. My understanding of our agreed to policy from a few months ago was DPU would attend if there was a security need or risk (i.e.: going to the state hospital or a prison) and we would avoid having them take the place of being the driver as that is not their role,” wrote Cooper. “With that said, I’m not sure the security need for UO, so perhaps the policy has changed (I was not in the scheduling meeting)?”
Cooper stated she didn't believe state police driving Kotek Wilson when she attends events in the place of Kotek is “the correct lens.” She also said she agreed with the general rule and direction from Kotek to not over-staff events, limiting staff to two people per event, including the dignitary protection unit officer.
Two weeks later, on Feb. 14, Cooper emailed Kotek's and Kotek Wilson's schedulers saying officers should be provided for Kotek and Kotek Wilson at large events.
"GTK [Governor Tina Kotek] has flagged for me that I have dropped the ball recently (and she is right), on having the correct number of staff at large events," Cooper wrote.
In an email to Cooper the day before, Kotek said: "At one point, the FL and I were by ourselves with DPU in a throng of people...The FL needs her own person at these events because we get separated easily and sometimes it's advantageous to split up so we can make more contacts."
Cooper asked Kotek Wilson's scheduler to confirm with her 24 hours before an event if Kotek Wilson is attending and reminds her one week out for large events moving forward that Kotek Wilson also needs staff, which can include security.
Staffer flags request from Kotek and Kotek Wilson as 'highly inappropriate'
Among the records is an email Tibbs sent in February to a state health care employee saying she was committing to writing a prior discussion the two had about a request the governor had made.
“I realize I never followed up with you in writing about the situation we discussed about the Governor asking you to call Cascadia about a friend of the FL’s who is upset with her supervisor,” Tibbs wrote on Feb. 7 to Juliana Wallace, the behavioral health initiative director at the governor's office. The email does not specify what the request was.
“As we discussed, you handled the situation with grace and appropriately in your call to the suoervisor [sic] at Cascadia — and it was so great to hear that you were able to just generally have a discussion with her about how things are going and move on. And I also totally understand how the situation felt awkward at best, and confusing to the supervisor as to why the Gov’s office was calling.”
Tibbs said she was bringing the issue up as April Rohman was coming on board as an adviser for Wallace’s team with the hope that Rohman would not be put in a “similar position.” Tibbs told Wallace to develop clear lines of communication and expectations with Rohman about what to do if either the governor or first lady reached out to her and asked her to do something.
“I also want to just recognize again that requests, and actions by the FL and/or Governor like the ones above are indeed highly inappropriate at best, and you flagging this and anything else that doesn’t feel right for me and Coop [Andrea Cooper] is totally the right thing to do. The Governor has been reminded several times now of the power she and the FL hold in this office and externally and the appropriate use of their power,” Tibbs wrote.
Emails regarding the role of the first lady and adviser
Several emails discuss the hiring of Meliah Masiba as a new adviser on a six-month rotation to "explore the establishment of the Office of the First Spouse."
Emails in February between Cooper and executive staff discuss the governor's beginning to take steps on formalizing the role of the first spouse.
On Feb. 9, Cooper emailed the governor that her executive team had reviewed the proposed job description for the first lady.
“We believe this meets the goal of developing a meaningful role for the First Lady while also upholding the ethical and legal standards of this office. We hope the two of you will see it the same way,” Cooper wrote.
Cooper requested Kotek meet with her executive and legal teams the following week to hear feedback on the job description, hiring a facilitator to support Kotek and the leadership team “in working through next steps,” and how to improve Kotek’s work-life balance as the second year of the administration began.
In a Feb. 18 email, Kotek emailed the executive team an agenda for Feb. 19 that includes “next steps on establishing policies and protocols for First Lady’s work.”
Tibbs emails the executive team the next day, saying she hopes Kotek will share “as much clarity as possible what her reaction is to the legal memo and job description before we talk about next steps.”
“I totally respect that this is ultimately her decision just think it needs to land,” Tibbs said.
Cooper replied to the email to the executive team with a copy of the governor's office principles and ethos.
Around the same time, the office is preparing Kotek and Kotek Wilson for the National Governor's Association 2024 winter meeting Feb. 22-24 in Washington, D.C. Kotek Wilson's scheduler was asked to join her for the conference. Cooper, in an email Jan. 30 to Campos, said Kotek had said Kotek Wilson needed "to be fully staffed for this conference."
After the NGA meeting, Kotek Wilson's scheduler on Feb. 28 emailed the first lady with notes from the "Opioid & Narcan First Spouse Session" that she attended. Kotek Wilson forwarded those notes to O'Brien saying she was "impressed with the work some first ladies are doing to address fentanyl overdoses among our youth."
"I would be happy to lend my voice to protecting our kids during this crisis," she said, pointing out work by the First Lady of Virginia saying "she’s doing really incredible stuff if you wanna take a look."
On March 4, Kotek Wilson adds another email to the thread with O'Brien, attaching handouts from the NGA session and asking O'Brien about her thoughts "about doing something like that in Oregon."
That same day Cooper emailed Warner about additional follow-up from the NGA meeting and to discuss other items related to the First Lady.
"GTK [Governor Tina Kotek] is hoping you can follow up with the NGA and ask them to get you a written document that summarizes the meeting you had about other FL offices across the country. How they are structured, staffed, etc.," Cooper wrote. "Also, I cced you, but she [Kotek] would like to meet every Friday to discuss items like this and others related to FL to confirm they are moving forward."
Then, on March 8, Leslie with DAS sent an email to Kotek's operations director, Shelby Campos, saying: "The First Lady has asked Meliah to be her Chief of Staff starting as a 6-month rotation agreement." A day later, Campos forwarded the notice to Cooper to confirm whether Cooper was in the loop of the agreement.
The records do not include a reply from Cooper.
“I understand that after the advice provided to the Governor that she has clearly made a decision to move forward on the FL [First Lady] role in her own way/direction including this CoS [Chief of Staff] position out of the gate,” Tibbs said in a March 10 email to O'Brien, Cooper, Leslie and Chris Warner, then a senior aide who has since been named the governor's chief of staff.
The records do not include anything that says what advice was provided to Kotek, but Tibbs asked in the email if there is a written job description, responsibilities and clear and transparent expectations about how Masiba’s new role fits into the administration.
For example, will Kotek Wilson's scheduler report to Masiba, Tibbs asked.
Around the same time, the governor sent edits to a new “first lady handbook” she had requested from Cooper. Kotek edited the manual "to be generic to the First Spouse." Cooper's version was specific to Kotek Wilson.
Masiba on March 11 drafted a list of duties for her role. Among them is “staff and support First Lady in all necessary areas including but not limited to; staffing, scheduling, logistics, internal and external communications, policy initiatives, legislative priorities, legal considerations, budget management;” serve as a liaison between the first lady and governor’s office staff, legislature and the public; manage first lady’s schedule and oversee policy initiatives created by the office of the first lady.
On March 12, O’Brien emailed Tibbs, Warner, Leslie and Cooper saying she agreed with Tibbs that the reporting structure and communication chain needed to be finalized before Masiba’s rotation is “rolled out to the office.”
“I think there will be a lot of questions and concerns,” O’Brien wrote.
Campos emailed Warner on March 14 — after Kotek Wilson asked for Masiba to join her at an NGA First Spouses retreat in Utah the day after she was scheduled to start — with questions around Masiba's role.
"With Coop [Cooper] out of the office this week, I have some questions about the Office of the First Lady and would like some guidance," Campos wrote. "Given we have not historically had an Office of the First Lady and Meliah is starting so quickly, I would like to get clarification on the structure and guiding principles for the new office."
Campos asked for clarification on the roles and responsibilities of the new COS [chief of staff]; clarity and defined roles between the COS and Executive Assistant; reporting structure for this COS and Executive Assistant; any specific guidelines that govern the activities of the new office; how the new structure would be communicated to staff; clear guidelines provided to staff regarding their interactions and collaborations with the office of the FL and where staff with questions or concerns should direct them to.
On March 18, Masiba emailed O’Brien introducing herself and requesting time to discuss her transition to the first lady’s team and the messaging and announcements about her role.
O’Brien forwarded the email to Warner, saying: “I haven’t been in the loop on this decision, their messaging, or the timing of any of these announcements.”
“I’m concerned GO [Governor’s office] staff are hearing about this for the first time from DAS with no context from us,” she wrote.
Cooper’s departure was announced March 22.
On April 3, Kotek told reporters she would be sending the Government Ethics Commission questions seeking clarification on what is appropriate for the role of the first spouse. Two days later Kotek’s office submitted three questions.
Warner said in the April 5 letter to the ethics commission: "We have learned that the modern role of the First Spouse or Partner envisions spouses and partners using their official positions to support the Governor’s priorities or otherwise advance initiatives consistent with a Governor’s vision."
"Regardless of party affiliation or gender identity, the Governor’s spouse or partner serves a role as a public official to serve all Oregonians," wrote Warner.
The ethics commission declined to answer the questions, saying the commission had received complaints related to those same issues which were undergoing a preliminary review.
The commission has 60 days to complete a preliminary review of complaints to determine if it will investigate.
A report of the preliminary review will be presented during an executive session of the commission. The next executive session is scheduled for May 10. If the preliminary review is not complete by then, the next scheduled executive session is June 28.
Dianne Lugo covers the Oregon Legislature and equity issues. Reach her at dlugo@statesmanjournal.com or on X @DianneLugo
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Tina Kotek's ex-staffers sought clarity on first lady's role
