A former top aide to Gov. Tina Kotek is officially leaving the office, months after going on leave in a shake-up tied to first lady Aimee Kotek Wilson.
According to a resignation letter obtained in a public records request, Lindsey O鈥橞rien, a former deputy chief of staff for Kotek, will serve her last day as a governor鈥檚 office employee on Oct. 11, more than six months after she last worked there.
O鈥橞rien and two other top aides to Kotek earlier this year, after about the increasingly influential role Kotek Wilson was taking in the governor鈥檚 administration.
One of the women, Chief of Staff Andrea Cooper, appears to have been fired, then given a in another state agency as a form of severance. Another, special adviser Abby Tibbs, left to resume a former role at Oregon Health & Science University.
But while O鈥橞rien hasn鈥檛 completed any work for the governor since going on paid leave April 5, she technically never left Kotek鈥檚 employ. That changes with the resignation letter, sent to Kotek on Sept. 12.
鈥淚t has been an absolute honor to work with you and serve Oregonians as part of your administration,鈥� O鈥橞rien wrote in the letter, making no mention of why she was leaving. 鈥淚 will be rooting for you and the team as you continue all of the important work ahead.鈥�
O鈥橞rien declined comment.
Records released by Kotek鈥檚 office this year show that O鈥橞rien, Cooper and Tibbs all raised objections and concerns as Kotek Wilson pursued a more formal role in Kotek鈥檚 administration. That included pressing for a formal Office of the First Spouse and her own chief of staff.
In the wake of the women鈥檚 departures, scrutiny of Kotek Wilson鈥檚 role led Kotek to to grant her wife a chief of staff or create a first spouse office. The Oregon Government Ethics Commission ultimately into the matter, and the agency鈥檚 director Kotek Wilson鈥檚 involvement runs afoul of ethics laws.
Meanwhile, others departed the governor鈥檚 office. Former deputy general counsel Lindsey Burrows, communications director An Do, and Juliana Wallace, who led Kotek鈥檚 behavioral health work, have resigned since concerns about the first lady emerged in March. None cited Kotek Wilson as the reason they departed.
Kotek has filled many of the vacancies with existing staff members. Her office announced Thursday she has hired Amy Baker, the executive director of a mental health and addiction treatment provider , to serve as the office鈥檚 behavioral health director. Baker will begin that job Oct. 28.
Kotek promised more than four months ago to create a 鈥渇irst spouse manual鈥� that would delineate Kotek Wilson鈥檚 role in the administration. The office said Wednesday that document is still not complete.
