Tobias Read assumes his new role as secretary of state on Jan. 6, 2024. (Laura Tesler/Oregon Capital Chronicle)
The Oregon Secretary of State’s Office will see major turnover among high-ranking staff in the coming weeks, as incoming Secretary Tobias Read prepares to take over early next year.
Since the Nov. 5 election, some of the most visible and influential employees in that office have submitted their resignations, according to a list provided to OPB on Tuesday. They include Deputy Secretary of State Cheryl Myers, Chief of Staff Ben Morris, Elections Director Molly Woon, Audits Director Kip Memmott and Legislative Director Kathy Wai.
Some of those staffers have already left the office, according to resignation letters obtained by OPB in a public records request. Others, like Myers, Woon and Memmott, will serve out their last day in coming weeks.
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The departures come as Read, the current state treasurer, plots a transition to a job that has seen its share of tumult in recent years — including the 2023 resignation of former Democratic Secretary Shemia Fagan and revelations that potential noncitizens were mistakenly registered to vote because of errors at the state’s DMV.
According to two people with knowledge of the staff resignations, many, if not all, came after they learned they wouldn’t have a place under Read, who takes office Jan. 6. Read announced Dec. 10 he would be bringing on new people in the roles of deputy secretary and chief of staff. Others appear to have learned the fate of their jobs more recently.
“In lieu of removal by the incoming administration, I submit my resignation from the position of Elections Director at the Secretary of State, effective 1/14/2025,” Woon wrote to Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade in an email on Monday. “It’s been an honor to serve you and the people of Oregon.”
Here’s the full list of resignations tendered in recent weeks:
- Cheryl Myers, deputy secretary of state
- Ben Morris, chief of staff
- Jessica Ventura, chief of legislative and policy affairs
- Kathy Wai, legislative director
- PK Runkles-Pearson, chief counsel
- Amani Kelekele, constituent relations
- Kip Memmott, audits director
- Molly Woon, elections director
The list includes some of the more weighty jobs within the secretary of state’s office.
Woon just administered a presidential election that went off successfully, despite difficulties that included a ballot box arson in Portland and undelivered ballots in Coos County. A former staffer for the Democratic Party of Oregon, she was sometimes looked at skeptically by conservatives but had forged a positive relationship with the state’s 36 county elections offices.
Memmott handles performance audits of state agencies and programs that are often the subject of news coverage. His division became a major factor in Fagan’s scandal-plagued final days, when it was revealed she was taking lucrative payments from a cannabis company even as her auditing staff prepared a report criticizing state regulations on cannabis companies. Memmott stood by the audit’s findings, and said they were not improperly influenced by Fagan.
While any new administration includes some staff turnover, it is not the rule. Memmott, for instance, was brought in as audit director under former Secretary Dennis Richardson, a Republican, and kept in place when Fagan assumed the office in 2021.
Not every top staffer is departing the office. In an email to staff on Monday, Griffin-Valade pointed out that State Archivist Stephanie Clark and Corporate Division Director Eloisa Yarbrough “have agreed to stay on in their respective roles with the new administration.”
“I know this is an emotionally turbulent time, to say the least,” Griffin-Valade wrote. ”Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need support. I am so grateful for the incredible work you all do.”
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This story was originally published by Oregon Public Broadcasting, a Capital Chronicle news partner.