• Rusty Rock is the new director of the Food Safety and Animal Health Program at the Oregon Department of Agriculture, having served as interim since August. He joined ODA in 2009, working first as an inspector in Pendleton. 

• The Oregon Department of Education’s chief information officer, Peter Tamayo, is resigning in early May. April 17 is the deadline to apply for the job. Tamayo came to ODE three years ago from Washington state.

• At the Oregon Department of Administrative Services, Juliet Valdez joined the Office of Cultural Change as affirmative action manager. She previously was a senior talent acquisition partner at the Oregon Lottery.

• The Oregon System of Care Advisory Council this week began recruiting for its first executive director. The 2019 Legislature created the 25-member council to centralize statewide policy planning and development for youth services involving physical and behavioral health, education, child welfare, juvenile justice and other areas.

• The Northwest Power and Conservation Council appointed Jennifer Light as interim director of power planning to replace Ben Kujala. Light came to the council in 2014 as manager of the Regional Technical Forum, an advisory group that develops standards to verify energy efficiency savings. 

• The Oregon Historical Society named Margaret Carter, the first Black woman elected to the Oregon Legislature, among its 2022 Oregon History Maker honorees for her role as “trailblazing public servant.” Carter served in the House (1985-1999) and Senate (2001-2009).

If you have an update on who’s coming or going – or taking on a new assignment – in state government or organizations involved with it, email Dick Hughes at TheHughesisms@gmail.com.