Governor Kulongoski Announces Senior Staff Changes
Theresa McHugh will serve as permanent Chief of Staff;
Peter Cogswell will join team as Deputy Chief of Staff
(Salem, Ore.) - Governor Ted Kulongoski announced today that he has permanently appointed Theresa McHugh to serve as his Chief of Staff, effective immediately. He has also named Peter Cogswell to serve as Deputy Chief of Staff, effective September 27, 2004.
With these two appointments, the governor is realigning the functions of the Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff to take a stronger role in the management of state agencies and the state budget process, helping to achieve his goal of greater government accountability and efficiency. In addition to the traditional duties of Chief of Staff, McHugh will continue to serve as the governor´s chief budget advisor. She will also oversee the governor´s new priority-based budgeting process and the overall management of state government at the governor´s direction.
As Deputy Chief of Staff, Cogswell will assist the Chief of Staff in developing statewide policy objectives and supervising the governor´s policy advisors. Cogswell brings extensive skill and experience to the position, with a demonstrated ability to coordinate the development and implementation of public policy initiatives on behalf of large organizations. In addition to overseeing public policy initiatives for four years at PacifiCorp, Cogswell coordinated statewide public affairs and public policy for eight years at the state Department of Justice.
The governor stated: "My top priority as governor is to ensure that state government is efficient, productive and accountable to the people of Oregon - and my staff plays a critical role in working with state agencies to move these goals forward. Since I took office, I have implemented several initiatives to meet these goals, including my regulatory streamlining effort, my higher education initiative and my priority-based budgeting process. As we enter the next legislative session and address Oregon´s continuing budget challenges, I want to ensure that my office provides leadership to the rest of state government so we can all achieve greater accountability and efficiency. Theresa McHugh is a talented manager with extensive experience in managing state agencies, budget issues and legislative initiatives. Peter Cogswell complements her strengths by bringing expertise in policy development and experience coordinating statewide initiatives in the Attorney General´s Office. I am confident that they will be an effective management team to move this effort forward."
The governor has appointed his current Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Schneider to serve as Senior Advisor to the Governor, also effective September 27. In this capacity, Schneider will assist the governor directly on matters involving program initiatives and community outreach. He will also provide a resource in the Governor´s office to be able to quickly respond to critical issues in the state as the Governor sees fit. Schneider will continue to serve on the Governor´s Security Council and will remain the governor´s policy advisor on Energy.
Laurie Warner, current Deputy Director of the Department of Administrative Services (DAS), will immediately replace McHugh as Acting Director of DAS while the governor conducts a search for a permanent director. Daron Hill will permanently replace McHugh as the DAS Budget & Management Budget Division Administrator.
Biographies:
Theresa McHugh has served as Acting Director of the Department of Administrative services (DAS) since March 2004 and Acting Chief of Staff for Governor Kulongoski since June 2004. Prior to serving in these roles, McHugh was the Deputy Director of DAS as well as the State Budget Director from 1993 to 2004. In this capacity, McHugh oversaw and coordinated the operations of state government, including statewide budgeting, personnel and labor relations, accounting, information technology, risk management, purchasing, printing and mail, facilities, motor fleet, and surplus property. She graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in Public Policy.
Peter Cogswell has served as State Policy Manager for PacifiCorp from September 2003 to the present. He joined the company in October 2000 as a public policy analyst. In both capacities, he has coordinated development and review of state public policy initiatives across PacifiCorp´s six-state service territory. Cogswell was the Public Affairs and Legislative Assistant for then-Attorney General Kulongoski and Attorney General Hardy Myers from November 1992 to October 2000. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in history. Cogswell was a participant in the Portland Business Alliance´s Leadership Portland from January to June 2004. He has served on the Transition Projects, Inc. Board of Directors since May 2003.
Stephen Schneider has served as Governor Kulongoski´s Deputy Chief of Staff since January, 2003 and recently chaired the Governor´s Elder Abuse Task Force. He is a former Oregon Assistant Attorney General. While at the Oregon Department of Justice he helped form, with then Attorney General Theodore R. Kulongoski, the Attorney General´s Task Force on Elder Abuse. He also serves as a consultant/trainer for the United States Department of State funded organization, National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, based in Washington, D.C. In this capacity, Schneider has worked with emerging democratic political parties in countries including Russia, Macedonia, Algeria, Yemen, Bosnia and Qatar. Schneider is a graduate of the University of Oregon and the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis and Clark College, where he received his Juris Doctorate. He is a member of the Oregon and Washington, D.C. Bar Associations.
Laurie Warner has served as the Deputy Director of DAS since June 2004, after serving as the Acting Director of PERS from October 2003 to June 2004. Prior to these positions, she served as the Facilities Division Administrator for DAS from 2001 to 2003. Warner began working in state government in 1988 when she was hired as Assistant Director of the Federal Child Nutrition Programs with the Department of Education. In 1991 she was hired as a budget analyst in the DAS and was later promoted to budget section manager. In 1999 she left DAS to become Deputy Director of the Oregon State Parks and Recreation Department, where she later served as acting director. Warner returned to DAS in July 2001 to serve as the internal audits manager. Warner has a Bachelor´s Degree from Oregon State University and an MBA from Willamette University´s Atkinson Graduate School of Management.
Media Contact:
Marian Hammond, (503) 378-6169
Anna Richter Taylor, (503) 378-6496
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