Diane Gould Looks Back 

I began working as an Investigator at OGEC in 2013, retiring nearly nine years later as the Compliance & Education Coordinator. During my tenure there I was lucky to work with talented, kind, and interesting people. My colleagues, the Commission members, and the public officials we regulated were, without exception, never dull.  

I remember the Commission Chairs that were in office from 2013 to 2021 and each was objective, unfailingly kind and considerate of the public officials who were being investigated, and the staff. These leaders set a high bar for the entire Commission during their service, and I would like to highlight just a few.   

Dan Golden served as Commission Chair in 2017, long before the Commissioners could attend meetings electronically. Chair Golden was the director of a juvenile detention facility in southern Oregon. He traveled to Salem the night before each Commission meeting, sometimes through blizzards, stayed in a hotel, and always stopped at a bakery in the morning to supply the staff and Commissioners with pastries. Chair Golden never used a cell phone and on the morning of one Commission meeting, his staff at the juvenile facility had an emergency and reached him at the OGEC office. He took the call in my office and told the staff that the young man would just have to eat the food being served or go hungry.

Nathan Sosa was Commission Chair in 2020 during COVID and was an attorney in private practice in the Portland area. He traveled to Salem for each Commission meeting and was always prepared with relevant questions and cogent observations. His meeting books were marked with highlights, notes, and marginalia on each case being discussed. Self-effacing and modest, Chair Sosa was the youngest Commissioner during my tenure and most likely the youngest Commission Chair ever.  

In these highly partisan political times, I remember with a bit of wonder and a lot of appreciation the nonpartisan nature of the Commission. By law, the Commissioners are nominated to serve by different political parties, but it was impossible to determine from their actions or votes the politics of any of the Commissioners. I never saw the Commission being used as a political tool to favor or disfavor public officials based on their party affiliation. May this tradition of nonpartisanship continue. Happy Anniversary OGEC!