OR: Kotek names retired Portland-area auditor as secretary of state after scandal forced Fagan out
Gov. Tina Kotek tapped LaVonne Griffin-Valade, a longtime government auditor in the Portland area, to become Oregon’s next secretary of state, an appointment that marks the end of a tumultuous chapter for the office following the resignation of Secretary of State Shemia Fagan in early May amid a moonlighting scandal.
Kotek’s appointment, announced Wednesday, will be effective on Friday when Griffin-Valade is sworn into office. She will serve the remainder of the term, leaving voters to pick the next secretary of state in the November 2024 election. The office, with 231 staff members, oversees elections, audits of state agencies and business filings for Oregonians.
Deputy Secretary Cheryl Myers has run the agency since Fagan resigned. The secretary of state is the next in line to lead the state if the governor dies or resigns. Griffin-Valade, who’s 69, retired in 2014 to become a full-time writer after working as an auditor for more than 16 years. She was hired as a senior management auditor at the Multnomah County Auditor’s Office in 1998 and later became the elected Multnomah County auditor. In 2009, Griffin-Valade was elected Portland city auditor, serving one term before her retirement.
Kotek said in a statement and subsequent news conference that Griffin-Valade has the professional background and ethics to steer clear of politics and regain the trust of Oregonians in the office.
Kotek called her “a leader with a steady hand,” adding that she was “precisely what this role demands at this moment after the scandal in that office.” She said she expects Griffin-Valade to scrutinize what the office is doing, how it conducts business and make any needed changes.
https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2023/06/28/kotek-names-retired-portland-area-auditor-as-new-secretary-of-state-after-scandal-forced-fagan-out/