FILE: Gov. Tina Kotek addresses reporters in 2023. Kotek recently saw three top aides depart her office under murky circumstances.
Dirk VanderHart / OPB
Gov. Tina Kotek’s former chief of staff might have left the governor’s office under murky circumstances, but she didn’t go far.
According to a “transition agreement” released Friday by the state’s Department of Administrative Services, Andrea Cooper is now acting as a “senior advisor” to the department’s director, Berri Leslie.
The agreement, first reported by Willamette Week, doesn’t offer specificity about exactly what Cooper will be doing in her new role, or what prompted the transition. Among 10 bullet points outlining her new duties are expectations that she’ll “conduct comprehensive organizational assessments” and “develop and implement tailored organizational development strategies” to further DAS objectives. DAS handles many of the administrative functions of state government, including payroll, agency budgeting and IT services.
The position lasts until Nov. 29 at the latest, and Cooper will continue to be paid the same salary she made as Kotek’s top aide: $302,976.
Cooper signed the transition agreement on March 20, two days before her departure was formally announced. It says she can end the arrangement at any time “upon finding alternative employment.” Cooper has not responded to repeated inquiries.
Cooper was named Kotek’s chief of staff not long after Kotek won the office in 2022. She’d previously served as an aide to Gov. Kate Brown. But Cooper and two other top aides announced they were leaving the Governor’s office in late March, an exodus that has since raised questions.
Sources with knowledge of the governor’s office have said the departures are linked to Kotek’s wife, Aimee Kotek Wilson, staking out a larger role in the state office. The governor recently hired a new staffer to assist Kotek Wilson, and directed state police to accompany the first lady on official business.
The arrangement has spurred questions about whether Kotek is abiding by state ethics rules. Kotek said earlier this week she would seek formal guidance from the Oregon Government Ethics Commission about her wife’s role, despite already taking some steps toward creating a formal Office of the First Spouse. Her interim chief of staff, Chris Warner, sent three questions to the commission on Friday.
