As the Oregon Legislature was winding down its 2023 session, Gov. Tina Kotek held a press conference at a Woodburn elementary school. Afterward, several journalists privately commented about the ease with which she answered questions, including ones that challenged why she wasn’t in Salem working with lawmakers.

That event was one example of how the former Oregon House speaker appears comfortable as Oregon’s chief executive.

Following up on my in-depth interview with Kotek last week, here are six observations about the progressive Democrat who leads our state.

1. She’s learning from her One Oregon Listening Tour.

Kotek is well on her way to visiting all 36 counties. She has seven left, a mixture of rural and urban: Klamath, Lake, Jackson, Washington, Clackamas, Linn and Lane counties.

“I made the commitment at the end of the campaign that I would visit every county in my first year. It came out of discussions in the campaign about, ‘How do we bring the state back together? People feel left out.’

“The first step has to be to learn more and listen to what Oregonians around the state need. And the way you do that is by showing up in the community,” Kotek said.

The tour has evolved from its original concentration on only her three overarching priorities: housing and homelessness, behavioral health and early literacy.

In Gilliam County, Kotek toured the massive Columbia Ridge Landfill. In Marion County, she talked with local officials and residents about the ongoing recovery from the 2020 Labor Day wildfires, which destroyed more than 1,500 structures in the Santiam Canyon. In Crook County, she dined at the Prineville ranch of then-House Republican Leader Vikki Breese-Iverson.

A visit to Macy Farms in Jefferson County led Kotek to ponder how state government could aid producers in expanding the market for mint oil. “I took a question up to our team and we’re still wrestling with it,” she said. “I’m always thinking about ways to do something new with the information we get.”

The travels also give her a deeper appreciation of local government.

“In some of our early county visits, I was focusing just on having meetings with the occasional mayor. And I heard that people are like, ‘Why didn’t you meet with me?’”

Now she strives to break bread with more local leaders. In Sherman County, they gathered at the Dirty Cowgirl Saloon in Wasco. In Jefferson County, it was Madras Public House. In Josephine County, they met at Powderhorn Café in Grants Pass.

2. The governor is trying to build bridges.

With lawmakers in town this week for Legislative Days, Kotek and First Lady Aimee Kotek Wilson hosted a reception at the governor’s mansion Wednesday evening. More than 50 of Oregon’s 90 legislators attended.

Kotek also is holding a series of ceremonial bill signings, including five on Thursday. Those events were scheduled to include House Bill 2535 with Rep. Lisa Reynolds, D-Beaverton; HB 3332 with Rep. Lucetta Elmer, R-McMinnville, and House Speaker Dan Rayfield, D-Corvallis; HB 3464 with Reps. Pam Marsh, D-Ashland, and Zach Hudson, D-Troutdale; HB 3632 with Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp of Bend; and SB 420 with Reps. Court Boice, R-Gold Beach, and James Hieb, R-Canby.

3. Judging from social media and my inbox, not everyone is convinced.

A Salem resident who voted for Kotek now says, “She’s been invisible. I’ve rarely seen or heard anything about her. I voted for her but wish more change was happening.”

Others worry that the sites selected for her county visits are not truly representative of the local populace. One person wrote, “Listening means momentarily divorcing yourself from sycophants and handlers and making yourself vulnerable in areas that really don’t like her much.”

4. Kotek won’t stand still.

“There’s always more work to do,” she said. “I can be very annoying. You get about 30 seconds to celebrate, and then my next question is, ‘OK, now what do we do?’”

5. She does not shy from expressing opinions on difficult issues.

Example: At a press conference Thursday, Kotek was asked how she would vote in November’s election on Salem’s new payroll tax. A lengthy pause ensued before she answered, “I would guess at this point that I would vote against the measure.”

“Not that I am unsympathetic to the needs of the city of Salem, I think it needed more conversation about how it would be implemented,” she said.

She then embarked on a nuanced commentary about helping cities pay for homelessness programs and other services: “What can we do in the short term – help them to keep their services running while they also deal with their long-term financial challenges? Salem is not alone. We have a lot of local governments who are struggling to provide basic services.”

Within hours of Kotek’s comments, the anti-payroll tax campaign issued a press release highlighting her position.

6. On the other hand, she deftly avoids answering when it suits her.

Example: On June 28, Kotek appointed LaVonne Griffin-Valade, a surprise pick, as the new secretary of state, filling the vacancy created by Shemia Fagan’s resignation. Griffin-Valade later confirmed that she and Kotek had been discussing the job for some time.

Two weeks earlier at a press conference in Tillamook, I had asked Kotek for a status report about whom she might appoint.

“I have no update on it,” she said.

Two more attempts, as I worded the question differently each time, yielded the same response from a grinning Kotek: “I have no update.”