Jessica Knieling, the Legislature’s interim human resources director, will return to the state Department of Administrative Services in October as chief human resources officer. She switched from DAS to the legislative role in March 2019. The Legislative Administrative Committee is recruiting applicants for the HR position through Aug. 27. The job pays $125,160 to $187,728 annually.

Harry Esteve semi-retired this week as communications manager for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. Lauren Wirtis, who was DEQ’s public affairs specialist for the Northwest Region, which includes the metro area and north coast, was promoted to succeed him. Esteve will work half-time as a temporary hire to assist during the transition and hire Wirtis’ replacement. 

The department also is seeking a public affairs specialist for its Eastern Region, headquartered in Bend, because Laura Gleim is taking a new DEQ position as part of the Regional Solutions Team. Meanwhile, DEQ is hiring a deputy director to fill the vacancy created in February when the Environmental Quality Commission promoted Leah Feldon was promoted to department director.

Gov. Tina Kotek appointed Portland lawyer Aruna Masih to the Oregon Supreme Court, filling the vacancy created in February when Justice Adrienne Nelson was confirmed as a federal judge. An employment, labor and civil rights attorney, Masih is the South Asian individual to serve on Oregon’s high court.

The Family YMCA of Marion and Polk Counties celebrated the $10 million veterans housing complex named in honor of former Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem. He helped steer $7 million in Oregon Lottery funding to the 34-unit project. Courtney Place Veterans Housing, which now is scheduled to open in January, is across the street from the Oregon Capitol grounds and the Oregon World War II Memorial. Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden, who also spoke at the event, and Jeff Merkley obtained $2 million in federal financing. Community donations covered the rest.

Merkley is hiring a Salem-based field representative to serve Marion, Polk, Yamhill, Tillamook, Clatsop and Columbia counties.

State Sens. Chris Gorsek, D-Troutdale, and Brian Boquist, I-Dallas, and Reps. Susan McLain, D-Forest Grove, and Shelly Boshart Davis, R-Albany, spoke at this week’s Oregon Trucking Association convention in Bend.

Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, and House Speaker Dan Rayfield, D-Corvallis, appointed lawmakers to several task forces: Task Force on Statewide Educator Salary Schedules, Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, and Rep. Courtney Neron, D-Wilsonville; Substitute Teachers, Sens. Dembrow and Suzanne Weber, R-Tillamook, and Reps. Tracy Cramer, R-Gervais, and Hoa Nguyen, D-Portland; Hospital Discharge Challenges, Sen. Deb Patterson, D-Salem, and Rep. Christine Goodwin, R-Canyon City; Alcohol Pricing and Addiction Services, Reps. Jeff Helfrich, R-Hood River, and Tawna Sanchez, D-Portland; Modernizing Grant Funding and Contracting, Rep. Charlie Conrad, R-Dexter; Tribal Consultation, Reps. Sanchez and Cyrus Javadi, R-Tillamook; and Sexual Misconduct Survey Council, Sens. Sara Gelser Blouin, D-Corvallis, and Kim Thatcher, R-Keizer, and Reps. Annessa Hartman, D-Gladstone, and Kevin Mannix, R-Salem.

Also appointed by Wagner and Rayfield to Statewide Educator Salary Schedules were representatives of school executives, educators and parents: Debbie Simons, Richard Donovan, Louis De Sitter, Susan Allen, Alisha McBride, Sarah Barclay, Sarah Wofford, Linda Murray, Lisa Ledson and Ernest Stephens.