OREGON CAPITAL INSIDER - Carpet in the Oregon governor's ceremonial office in the state Capitol in Salem

Gov. Tina Kotek appointed retired Brig. Gen. Erin K. McMahon to lead the Oregon Department of Emergency Management. A lawyer, McMahon served as senior adviser this year at Virginia-based McChrystal Group. She previously was the Army’s acting senior intelligence oversight official; principal deputy general counsel, National Guard Bureau; and chief of staff, National Guard Bureau Office of the General Counsel.

McMahon starts work Sept. 5 as interim director while awaiting state Senate confirmation as permanent director. The current interim, Matt Garrett, will remain at ODEM in an advisory capacity. His final date has not been set. A former director of ODOT, Garrett took over Emergency Management after director Andrew Phelps resigned on Kotek’s first day in office. Phelps became vice president of planning and risk reduction at AC Disaster Consulting.

Mindy McCartt is the new public information officer for ODOT Region 2 – Polk, Lincoln, Benton, Linn and Lane counties. She will serve as media spokesperson for the region and work with staff to inform travelers about major projects and other work. A 19-year veteran of state service, McCartt most recently was communications director for the Oregon State Police.

Teri Watson returned to the Workers’ Compensation Division to replace Cara Filsinger, who retired after 15 years as legislative coordinator. Filsinger also was administrator of the Management Labor Advisory Committee when she retired. After 11 years with the Department of Consumer and Business Services, Watson had left in January to work as political and special projects coordinator for the Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council.

Meenakshi Rao is the new data equity consultant in the state Office of Data Governance & Transparency. She was data architect for the Air Quality Division in the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

Mackenzie Pritchett, who previously worked for the departments of Veterans’ Affairs and Human Services, is grants and compliance officer for OregonServes, the state volunteerism program.

Moritz Schmid joined Oregon’s Marine Reserves Program as ecological team leader, succeeding Lindsay Aylesworth, who became program leader. Schmid was a researcher at Oregon State University, using underwater camera systems and artificial intelligence to study larval fish dynamics in the California Current off the Oregon coast.