Chip & Nesbitt: good combo. Anna... not so sure.

I'm not so sure - it seems you'd need a few of your key staff to help do some moving and shaking out in state government, and hit the state level management ranks for the biggest impact. Now you've got a significant learning curve for new folks to come in. It doesn't feel smart. A communication change never hurts - but your #1 & #2 that have been holding down the fort while you are trying to get reelected? Seems like a show to me and not an effective sound decision. That's momentum lost - especially with the favorable session that's just around the corner. I'm dissapointed.

Gee, was organized labor the only force behind Kulongoski's re=election?

If they can get Ted out in public, interacting with legislators, explaining his actions to the public, then this is a good change.

I think that adding Chip and Tim is a brilliant move on Ted's part will give him a stronger team going into the next session. Let's face it, the unions stepped up big time for Ted and they deserve a seat at the table.

I would have to disagree with Jeri about there being a huge learning curve with these 2 new staffers. Chip and Tim have more connections with legislators and knowledge about the legislative process longer than most of us. They are smart and will give the Gov. the kind of advice in his last terms that will help him do his job better and also pave the way for the next Democrat to get elected to the Gov. seat in 2010.

Congrats Chip and Tim, you both earned the job and I am glad to hear you are on the team.

Val

"It's the spending, stupid."

It is surprising that Gov. Nesbitt is keeping Kulongoski around, but ... that's NYC taxi-driver patronage politics for you, Big Labor Oregon-style.

Now we can begin to get back the union jobs that were drowned in the bathtub by 30 years of GOP/Reagan rule.

Gov. Nesbitt knows the private sector is a lost cause ... and that it will be a breeze to impose regional governments like Metro - chockablock full of union jobs - throughout Oregon ... there's no competition!

Learn more about Oregon's new governor: here.

Getting rid of Pat Egan? Is he crazy? Pat Egan is the best legislative and political strategist Oregon has ever seen. Going into the session with a D House and Senate the Governor could have actual1ly been effective with Pat at the helm. Pat's talents and experience are untouchable (Kitz leg. director, caucus chief of staff, caucus campaign director, lobbyist, and an attorney too). He understands caucus politics and dynamics in a way that nobody else in that office does and he has ethics for days. Big loss for the Governor and very perplexing.

I had always heard that Pat was temporary and that he was ready to go back to the Port of Portland.

I like Pat personally, but I went to willamette law with him, served in "leg services" with him and I say "pass". Now he and Ross Day can go raid government money on consultancy contracts. Amy

Although Tim and Chip are great people who will serve Ted and the rest of Oregon very will - this does look like too much Labor. As an active Democrat, I think we defer way to much to organized labor and we tend to reward them out of proportion to their contribution. I would have liked to see Ted pull someone out of the business community or Democratic Party (both of which contributed to his win as much if not more than labor) to balance out the team.

PSJ---I understand your concern. However my experience is that both the best and the worst people I met in politics tended to have a labor background.

Like any other field or group of people, there are the jewels and the lemons--and Tim esp. (don't know Chip) seems to be a jewel.

That said, the proof is in the pudding. If they get Ted out there in public, talking with ordinary folks, meeting with legislators often enough to remove the "where's Waldo" stigma from last session, and never allowing anything as stupid as in 2005 not explaining why nominations are good for all of us (esp. the controversial ones like AuCoin and Bryant) then they will be judged as good staffers.

As old friends said during the campaign, there was the Ted we saw in early 2006 as well as 2005, and there was the charismatic, inspiring person of strong beliefs and actions--the Ted we knew years ago. Some of us waited a long time to see that Ted (in my case not until Sept. 2006). If the staff can make that Ted appear more often, it doesn't matter what their background is. If they allow him to slip into the bad habits of 2005 (or to seem like he is favoring one group over all others) then they won't be judged as good staff regardless of their background.

This says to me that education is the Governor's priority - Terhune is from the K-12 side, and Nesbitt has served on the Board of higher education for the Governor.
PS Jackson - look at the Governor's contribution reports, and your "out of proportion" comment is questionable.
As a non-union individual and a volunteer, I did two canvasses this year and union members were the largest group in the crowd at each (though only one was for Ted; the other was against 48 and 41). It's not just about checks - it looked to me like real people belong to unions and do real work to help.
But why criticize the Governor for hiring people with a labor background just because that happens to be their background? These guys seem to be 1) Democrats, 2) Progressive 3) smart 4) capable; yet because they come from labor this is a problem? I seem to recall that 4 or 5 state department heads are former R legislators, not Labor goons - it's not like Ted's administration is top to bottom union staff. Not to mention that the Governor spent the first two years rolling around Oregon in an Associated Oregon Industries bus decorated like it was racing in NASCAR. And his first chief of staff came from Columbia Sportswear - pretty sure not a union shop. So hiring these two guys shouldn't be viewed as some kind of affront to Democratic Party hacks or business or anyone else. Plus, google hard enough and you will see that Terhune used to work for PAC/West communications, run by a Republican, Paul Phillips. That says diverse political skills to me. Let's hope these two help get a progressive agenda moved - no matter what their backgrounds.

No one's thrown in a sports analogy yet, so here goes:

I like the Tampa Bay Bucs, and a few years ago, they fired their coach at the time -- Tony Dungy -- in a pretty public and fairly humiliating way. He was a good guy, and it was pretty shitty. But after a few weeks of not having a Plan B, they picked up Jon Gruden and went to the Superbowl the next year.

Pat Egan's a truly talented, effective and strong manager with a deep level of experience. He's also a great guy -- and someone who makes you proud to work in Oregon Democratic politics. Few people have a better understanding of the Legislative process, or genuine desire to make Oregon a better place. Egan's about policy and improving people's lives.

I also think that Tim's one of the brightest guys around (Chip's a good guy too; but don't know him as well) and hope they do great things. Although I think this decision could have been handled better, the fact that two talented guys are coming in puts it into perspective.

But back to that sports analogy, here's the big difference: Pat Egan turned that office around last 12 months. You can't really look at the last year and call it was a losing season... as much as there are some great folks coming in, this is almost like a state-level version of Carville going after Dean ... for what? Payback for the crushing loss Dems suffered a few weeks ago? Seems like punishing success, on both fronts.

VERY interesting.

Quick Take: Nesbitt should be Chief of Staff. Smart, tough, proven, and feared by his opponents (like me). His word is his bond.

Trehune, nice guy, has payed his dues, no great strategist, more of a Bill Wyatt nice guy but empty type, so far. Could be good, he's smart and willing to listen.

Egan, no loss, nice guy, good Dad, a soldier, he'd take a bullet if they told him to, just not a thinker. He'll do fine back at the Port.

Good blog!

I've met Anna after communicating via e-mail, she's personable, and has a good memory for names and faces and seems pretty enthusiastic.

Kari;

Touche'!

I am a product of the public school system in Oregon, kindergarten through college, and not that bright to start off with, so I have to play with the cards God dealt me. If I'm going to be judged on my spelling and grammer, I lose. My wife still hasn't been able to get me to remember the proper usage of "me" versus "I".

On the other hand, though we can both agree that I will never receive the "Blue Oregon Award For The Proper Use of The Elements of Style", I have managed to make my living and feed my family by working in politics for the last 20 years. At the very least, I would think that alone would entitle me to an opinion.

It's no secret that we are on different sides of the aisle, nevertheless I respect your opinions, and I think you've put together a fine blog site here, I visit often. My own site is an admittedly amatuerish site. I thought I'd take a crack at doing a little writing, share a viewpoint, and join in some of the discussions. I don't really have the time to put together a polished, proof-read "Blue Oregon" quality site, and that was never the goal. I would ask that you grade for content, rather than grammer and spelling.

We have different viewpoints. That's fine, it doesn't make you my enemy. If I'm wrong on substance, call me on it and let's dance. That's where the fun is, that's why most of us are here in the first place. We love the debate, not the English composition.

My sincere compliments, this is a great website, the hard work shows.

Both Tim and Chip are smart guys. However, I agree with the poster above... Kulongoski needs to remember that Labor is not the only constituency who helped get him re-elected.

Kulongoski recieved a large amount of support, both $$ and volunteer, from the environmental community for instance (despite having a fairly lack-luster record for most of his first term). In his second term, he has tremendous opportunities craft a lasting environmental legacy. During the campaign he talked a lot about things like removing the lower 4 dams from the Klamath River, encouraging development of more wind power in Oregon, renewable fuels, etc...

I hope he follows through on those commitments. No offense to my friends in the labor community, but their record on supporting environmental protection in Oregon is mixed.

The question is, why would anyone want to take a job where you have a 1 in 4 chance of surviving for more than one year?

Hopefully, Chip and Tim can get the Governor to actually lobby legislators this session.

Although I have had my share of arguments with union people and their role in the Democratic party in the past, I must say I'm appalled at the complaints here that the 2 men have a labor background.

Seems to me it is the quality of the work that matters.

And about the comment on environmental record--I agree, but there are all sorts of facets to the environment including clean air, clean water, land use. Also appropriate farm, ranch, forest practices.

If the new team is smart enough to tell any Gov. nominee to ASK senators for their votes rather than demanding them, that would be an improvement. They need to realize that Ted lost some old friends in 2005 because his team couldn't seem to complete the sentence "AuCoin would be better for Oregon and for the Forestry Board than Chris Heffernan because...."--AuCoin was the nominee, why was anyone asking questions!

If the new team can make those changes, I don't care if some of the new team were Karl Rove's college roommates.

But if the new team thinks the Gov. office in 2005 was infallible, we voters are just too stupid to realize it, I don't care if the new team includes famous business people. It is about the quality of the people, not what background they represent!

One thing Chip might do is consider the value of one of Jim Hill's ideas in the primary: outside audits of school budgets.

Here in Salem we are having a situation where we elected an entirely new majority on the school board, and then most of them just quit being open with the public. Now they want to give administrators pay raises as if they don't make enough money already, and when one courageous board member spoke up in a guest opinion, there were mixed comments on the newspaper website, some condemning the board member.

Legislature provides school funding, but they can only examine unionized pay packages, not those of administrators?

Even if the union haters got their way and we went back 40 or whatever years to the days before collective bargaining for teachers, that wouldn't change the lack of discussion of administrator pay packages. Most of those administrators were once classroom teachers. Were they overpaid and underworked as teachers but now as administrators they are worth whatever the board pays them and no one should ask any questions?

If we can have such open discussions, the new team is great. If not, it doesn't matter what their background was. Most people care about the results.

Egan, no loss, nice guy, good Dad, a soldier, he'd take a bullet if they told him to, just not a thinker. He'll do fine back at the Port.

"The Insider" - dude, you are way off. Egan is a great guy, great Dad, and one of the brightest, most strategic people I have ever known - Republican or Democrat. He has friends on both sides of the aisle (of which I count myself one) which is a testament to his abilities.

I cannot let your evaluation of Pat go unchallenged. Although I may have my political differences with Pat, he is without question one of the smartest guys (or gals) that I have ever met. You know the old saying "You can disagree without being disagreeable"....Pat Egan is the very embodiment of that principle.

I don't know Mr. Nesbitt or Mr. Terhune, so I mean no disrespect to them, but when Pat left the Governor's office, Republicans breathed a sigh of relief. He is that good.

Ross Day

Egan, no loss, nice guy, good Dad, a soldier, he'd take a bullet if they told him to, just not a thinker. He'll do fine back at the Port.

"The Insider" - dude, you are way off. Egan is a great guy, great Dad, and one of the brightest, most strategic people I have ever known - Republican or Democrat. He has friends on both sides of the aisle (of which I count myself one) which is a testament to his abilities.

I cannot let your evaluation of Pat go unchallenged. Although I may have my political differences with Pat, he is without question one of the smartest guys (or gals) that I have ever met. You know the old saying "You can disagree without being disagreeable"....Pat Egan is the very embodiment of that principle.

I don't know Mr. Nesbitt or Mr. Terhune, so I mean no disrespect to them, but when Pat left the Governor's office, Republicans breathed a sigh of relief. He is that good.

Ross Day