On October 10th, I spoke to a group of residents at Touchmark at Mount Bachelor Village, one of the largest senior living communities in Bend. Several hundred residents were in attendance. I spoke generally about the core divisions of the Secretary of State’s office—Corporation, Elections, Archives, and Audits. I spoke at particular length about the Elections Division, whose role it is encourage voter participation while ensuring election integrity. Several groups that the division has invested resources into helping are military and overseas voters, voters with disabilities, and students. As we have mentioned in past newsletters, our Elections Division has taken significant steps to address cybersecurity issues, and has organized trainings to ensure that the elections officials in all 36 Oregon counties have the tools they need to do the same. Special thanks to Grover Simmons, a friend of mine and former advocate for the Independent Adult Care Home Association, for inviting me to speak.

On October 15th, Oregon’s Kid Governor, Erikka Baldwin, participated in a public meeting of the Lane County Board of Commissioners. After explaining the Kid Governor Program and her 3-point plan to advocate for homeless animals, she listened to 90 minutes of public testimony on whether an initiative petition measure should appear on Lane County’s ballot that would ban aerial spraying of agricultural and forest land within the county. After the meeting, the commissioners took time to discuss the issue with Erikka and the difference between factual and emotional testimony. Not only was it a great learning experience for our Kid Governor, but also an opportunity for our elected officials and the public to learn more about the valuable role that the Kid Governor Program plays in educating and empowering Oregon’s future leaders.

On October 21st, Deputy Secretary Rich Vial and I met with Corporation Director Ruth Miles and Trevor Leahy to discuss the small business advocacy program in the Secretary of State’s Office. I recently asked Trevor to serve as the interim Small Business Advocate, a position which heads the Office of Small Business Assistance. Over 98% of firms in Oregon are small businesses, which collectively employ over half the state’s workforce. The Legislature created the Office in 2013 to provide information and resources to individuals who are starting and growing their businesses, and to assist entrepreneurs who believe they've been subject to unreasonable or unfair regulation. Although the Advocate is an employee of Secretary of State, they operate independently to serve as an objective voice for entrepreneurs within the halls of government. Trevor worked with Ruth in the Office of Small Business Assistance for several years and, before that, for the Oregon Employment Department. I know that with Ruth and Trevor at the helm, our business community is in great hands. You can listen to our conversation on the Oregon Matters of State podcast series here.

On October 16th, I met with Ruth again—this time she was joined by Diana Rubio. Diana is a student at Chemeketa Community College involved in the Empowerment and Leadership for Youth and Young Adults (ELY), a free job training and career exploration program for people between the ages of 16 and 24 who live in Marion County. Through ELY, Diana had the opportunity to job shadow Ruth for half a day. Although she is considering a possible career as a chiropractor, she learned a lot about state government during her time with Ruth, which may have some bearing on her future studies. She is incredibly intelligent and curious, and it was a privilege to meet her. Ruth and I predicted that, some day, we would each be able to say, “I knew Diana when…” Nonprofit organizations like ELY are so important for our communities.

On November 6th, the Audits Division released another report—this one assessing the Department of Education’s cybersecurity controls. While the Department has provided important protection measures for security, the Audits Division identified a number of specific areas where the Department could improve; for example, by implementing a security management and compliance program to establish a framework for assessing cybersecurity risk. Ultimately, the Department agreed with all of our recommendations, and committed to working together with the Cyber Security Services division of the state Enterprise Information System to identify its options for implementing those recommendations. In its response, the Department took time to thank the Audits Division staff for their courtesy, professionalism, and expertise. I want to echo that gratitude. The Oregon Audits Division, under its award-winning leadership, does an incredible job of ensuring that state government works efficiently and effectively for the people of Oregon. You can read the report here.

On October 24th, the Corporation Division hosted a delegation from Urzhorod, Ukraine—a sister city of Corvallis. The vast majority of the delegates were social service providers, representing various non-governmental organizations that are developing social entrepreneurial activities to deliver human services to the most needy and socially vulnerable segments of Ukraine’s population. Our Corporation Director, Ruth Miles, gave the delegates an overview of what the Division does to support similar organizations, known as “benefit companies,” such as walking them through how to prepare an annual benefit report. I also attended the meeting, where I discussed the positive impact that benefit companies have on the quality of life here in Oregon. Special thanks to the Corvallis Sister Cities Association for arranging this event.

On November 5th, I spoke at a luncheon meeting of the Newberg City Club, a non-profit formed in 1986 to serve as a forum for discussion of community issues. I was pleased to be joined by former KOIN-TV anchor Mike Donahue, Newberg attorney Rich Brown, and former Newberg Mayor Bob Andrews, among many other civic-minded residents of the city. In my remarks, I discussed the role that the Archives Division of the Secretary of State’s office plays in state government, in particular by managing and ensuring public access to state records—everything from state emails today to our Oregon’s founding documents. In addition, the division is responsible for compiling and publishing the Oregon Blue Book, the state’s official almanac, and will periodically organize various exhibits and events showcasing Oregon’s unique history. The City Club meeting was hosted by the Chehalem Cultural Center in an historic building that was constructed in 1935 as a school but which has been renovated to house a fine arts gallery, exhibition hall, multiple arts studios and classrooms, and various state of the art meeting spaces for public and private events. Thank you to former Redmond City Manager Joe Hannan—now a resident of Newberg—for the invitation to address the group.

On November 6th, I spoke at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative Association. Unlike investor-owned utilities, where anyone can purchase shares in the utility and where an individual’s influence over decision making depends on the number of shares they hold, utility cooperatives are owned by their customers, many of which give each customer an equal say in the decision making. Around the country, electric cooperatives power 1 in 8 people. There are 18 rural electric cooperatives across Oregon. ORECA represents the interests of these cooperatives before the Oregon Legislature and Congress, advocating for their self-governance, territorial allocation, and preference by the federal government. In the spirit of bringing electricity to those who otherwise would not have it, ORECA also has plans to electrify several villages in Guatemala—in fact, it's sending a team of engineers there this month in hopes of starting construction in April. As a member of the Board of Directors for the Central Electric Cooperative in Redmond, it was an honor to address the attendees at ORECA's Annual Meeting, and to discuss the functions of the Secretary of State’s office with them.

November 11th was Veterans Day—a federal holiday in the United States for honoring military veterans. Other countries simultaneously celebrate a similar holiday, known as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day, to commemorate the end of World War I, which formally occurred at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th Month of 1918. Today, of course, we observe Veterans Day to recognize those who have served in many other conflicts, as well. On November 7th, I invited all veterans working in the Secretary of State’s Office and its various divisions to a reception at the Capitol. In attendance were veterans from numerous conflicts over the years. It was my privilege to thank them for their service—not just to our state, but to our country. Most of us will never know what the experience of serving in the armed forces is like, but it doesn’t take much imagination to realize that it can be a harrowing line of work. I think it’s important that we take time to recognize the sacrifice that veterans endure on our behalf. I hope that you and your families, like mine, had time to engage in similar reflection this year.

Jared Rhoades is a rising star in the Information Systems Division. He started with the agency a little over a year ago as the Service Desk Manager, where one of his first projects was to conduct research and procure a service desk solution to improve alignment between IT and business, service delivery, customer satisfaction, and resource utilization. The solution that was implemented, Manage Engine, provided a new service desk application which gave the Infrastructure and Security teams additional tools to monitor the health of the infrastructure hardware. Jared has implemented a variety of surveys for the Information Systems Division and has developed Service Level Agreements with each division of the Secretary of State's office. He has changed, expanded, upgraded, and improved the service and support provided by the Service Desk, and he regularly prepares reports on service delivery. Both Jared and his staff are frequently acknowledged by customers for the excellent and timely service they provide. I wanted to give him and his team some additional recognition here. The people of Oregon deserve to know of the excellent work that their public employees are doing.

As always, it is an honor to serve as your Secretary of State.

Sincerely