Six months after Oregon's top environmental regulator resigned during the Portland air pollution crisis, the state appears no closer to finding another top leader for the Department of Environmental Quality.
The state's Environmental Quality Commission, which oversees the agency, interviewed three candidates last week. Chairwoman Jane O'Keeffe said she didn't think any of the three unnamed people would become finalists.
"I think they were all very accomplished in what they were doing," she said. "I didn't see them as a director."
The commission had planned to announce finalists Aug. 16 to give a chance for the public to comment on them before a selection was made in September.
Now that timeframe appears unrealistic, O'Keeffe said.
"We may have to expand our search or do things like engage a search firm," she said. "We may have to look at the requirements - exactly what it is we're asking of applicants. Maybe we're asking for something that isn't quite the right mix in a director."
The commission is trying to find a leader to start by mid-October, when the interim director, Peter Shepherd, plans to step down. Shepherd, a retired Department of Justice attorney who started at the agency in April, is allowed to work 1,039 hours - an hour shy of six months -- before his state retirement benefits would cease.
The commission caused a stir late Monday when it gave just 36 hours' notice for a Wednesday meeting to discuss the recruitment process.
Commissioners plan to meet by phone. Interested members of the public were invited to attend by traveling to the agency's downtown Portland headquarters to listen on a speaker system.
That drew protest from watchdogs, who said the agency still has work to do to regain the public's trust. Earlier this year, the environmental department moved slowly to disclose the discovery of toxic air pollutants in Portland neighborhoods.
"Restoring lost faith requires transparency and openness, especially with regard to key decisions," Mark Riskedahl, executive director of the Northwest Environmental Defense Center, said in an email. "Last-minute notice (to go sit in a room in downtown Portland to listen to a phone call) about the director hiring process is inadequate. Oregonians deserve better."
The agency initially said it would not allow the public to call in to listen to the meeting, then reversed itself after The Oregonian/OregonLive and other watchdogs asked questions of Shepherd and Gov. Kate Brown's office.
The number was announced Tuesday afternoon, 18 hours before the meeting. Callers can dial 866.233.3852 then enter access code 401015.
-- Rob Davis
503.294.7657