Gov. Kate Brown asks Senate to appoint OHA director

Gov. Kate Brown has asked Senate President Peter Courtney to move forward on confirming the appointment of two agency heads nominated by former Gov. John Kitzhaber, according to a letter dated Tuesday.

The Senate Committee on Rules will consider confirming Lynne Saxton as head of the Oregon Health Authority and John Swetnam as a member of the Psychiatric Security Review Board on Thursday, at Brown's request.

Courtney had suspended all work on executive appointments after Brown took over for Kitzhaber. The new governor had said she wanted time to review them, and has also said she plans to make no changes to state agency leadership right away.

However, she wrote to Courtney on Tuesday and asked for this exception.

"There are two candidates who require immediate action," Brown wrote. "(Saxton and Swetnam) are a critical part of the forward movement of two significant agencies and it is important to consider them as soon as possible."

She asked for them to be added to the March 5 schedule but also offered alternative dates.

Both agencies have been without steady leadership for at least a year, and the health authority has been through four directors in less than 12 months, including Saxton.

In March, Kitzhaber announced the resignation of Dr. Bruce Goldberg as the director of Oregon Health Authority at the same time he shared the findings of a damning report mapping the decisions and dysfunction that led to Cover Oregon's failed launch.

Tina Edlund served as acting director, before she took on the role of leading Cover Oregon and Oregon Health Authority's technology transfer. Suzanne Hoffman served as acting director since May.

Edlund left the technology transition project and the Oregon Health Authority in November, saying she wanted to enjoy "part-time retirement."

Saxton, 60, is married to former gubernatorial candidate Ron Saxton. She will be the first permanent director to lead OHA after the dissolution of the Cover Oregon agency.

The PSRB has also been through a number of changes in the past 18 months.

Its long-time executive director, Mary Claire Buckley, resigned in May 2013 after a human resources review showed she had bullied her employees. Buckley was placed on administrative leave and later stepped down.

Juliet Follansbee, Buckley's deputy, followed as director after Buckley left.

The board has been in flux as leadership changed, and Swetnam will be the most recent addition to the group that supervises criminal offenders found guilty except for insanity.

hhoffman@statesmanjournal.com, (503) 399-6719 or follow at twitter.com/HannahKHoffman