Oregon first lady will bring staff, security detail to out-of-state conference

Oregon First Lady Aimee Kotek Wilson will attend a conference in Salt Lake City this week with two state-funded staffers and a security detail of state police troopers, Gov. Tina Kotek’s office said Monday.

The trip — a meetup of first spouses from around the country organized by the National Governors Association — is the latest signal of Kotek Wilson’s growing role within the governor’s office, a dynamic that is said to have led to the impending departure of three of the governor’s top aides.

While Kotek Wilson might be expected to attend a national meetup of first spouses, she only recently started receiving routine protection from the same Dignitary Protection Unit of the Oregon State Police that serves as Kotek’s bodyguards. That adds costs to the trip that wouldn’t have been borne by many other first spouses.

“This March, the Governor gave OSP direction to consistently provide protective security to the First Lady for events when she is representing the Governor’s Office,” the governor’s office said in a statement Monday in response to inquiries from OPB and other outlets. “This change was made using existing resources from the Governor’s Office budget.”

Kotek Wilson will also be bringing along a brand new aide, the governor’s office said. While the first lady has long had an assistant to help with her schedule, she was granted a new adviser beginning Monday — a former legislative director at the state’s Department of Administrative Services. The adviser, Meliah Masiba, is being paid $11,984 a month to perform the job, the same salary she made at DAS.

Like many first spouses, Kotek Wilson has signaled since Kotek won election in 2022 that she would have a role in the administration. Those efforts — in Oregon and nationally — typically draw little attention.

But Kotek Wilson’s role in her wife’s administration became a matter of political and policy interest last week, when it emerged that three-fourths of Kotek’s executive team were on their way out. Chief of staff Andrea Cooper, deputy chief of staff Lindsey O’Brien and special adviser Abby Tibbs are all departing or on leave.

According to sources with knowledge of those departures, the shakeup is tied to objections to the growing role the first lady has sought in policymaking.

In an FAQ on the first lady’s role released Monday, the governor’s office described Kotek Wilson’s involvement like this: “She has attended several behavioral health meetings over the course of the first year, she regularly attends weekly meetings that pertain to the Governor’s schedule and travel, and she occasionally attends events on behalf of the Governor’s Office.”

Kotek’s office has also made clear it is exploring the idea of formally creating an Office of the First Spouse that Kotek Wilson could run. Details of what such an office would look like aren’t clear.

The situation is especially sensitive in Oregon political circles because of recent history. Former Oregon First Lady Cylvia Hayes, the fiancee of then-Gov. John Kitzhaber, also ruffled feathers among the governor’s staff after requiring security details and pressing for more influence.

But Hayes went a step further, accepting paid work from parties who stood to gain if they could influence Kitzhaber’s administration. The sequence of events eventually led to Kitzhaber’s 2015 resignation.

Kotek’s office said Monday it is “ensuring compliance with state ethics laws” as it explores creating a more formal office for Kotek Wilson within the administration. It said that Kotek Wilson has attended events on behalf of the administration less than once a month, on average, since the governor took office in January of last year.