After five years as director of the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Kelly Fitzpatrick is retiring on Oct. 1. She said Dr. Nakeia Council Daniels, who has been ODVA deputy director since March, will serve as acting director. Fitzpatrick, Daniels and Legislative Director Jay DeFillipo attended the annual training conference put on by the National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs last month in Buffalo, New York.

The job opening for ODVA director was posted Wednesday. Applications are due Oct. 22. The advertised salary is $134,592 to $208,332. The director oversees a staff of about 100 and a two-year budget topping $435 million.

Debbie Colbert joined Gov. Tina Kotek’s staff as natural resource adviser on a job rotation from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, where she was deputy director. Clare Lanusse is the new natural resources assistant. Meanwhile, Becca Uherbelau, who was Kotek’s director of equity and racial justice, has departed.

Longtime labor leader Stacy Chamberlain is out as executive director of Oregon AFSCME Council 75. The union represents more than 33,000 Oregon workers, primarily public employees. She had been executive director since 2018 and served on the AFSCME International and Oregon AFL-CIO executive boards. Associate Director Joe Baessler is acting as interim executive director.

Brink Communications, well-known in state government for its public relations and advocacy work, has ceased operation after nearly 12 years. Co-founder and CEO Marian Hammond wrote on the company website: “The disruptions of the pandemic, the recent economic downturn, and upheavals in the marketing industry have been very difficult for our small business. While we’ve fought hard for our future, we — like so many other small businesses — have been unable to make it through this challenging time in our world.”

Rep. David Gomberg, D-Otis, who co-chairs the Legislature’s budget panel dealing with transportation and economic development, was among the Oregon and Washington lawmakers participating in a six-day trade mission to Taiwan. Sen. Janeen Sollman, D-Hillsboro, who chairs the Senate Energy and Environment Committee, was among Oregon and Washington legislators traveling to Denmark and Sweden to learn about “Decarbonizing the Gas Grid.”

Gina Nikkel, executive director of the Association of Oregon Counties, will speak on a White House Office of National Drug Control Policy webinar on Sept. 27. The focus is on developing and applying for a waiver from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

No congressional representatives from Oregon signed on as founding members of the bipartisan Fix Congress Caucus, which was announced Thursday. Three members of Washington state’s delegation did: Reps. Derek Kilmer, caucus co-chair; Dan Newhouse; and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez. The caucus aims to build on the work of the now-defunct Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, which made more than 200 recommendations for more effectiveness, efficiency and transparency.