Brendan Finn started his third week as Governor Brown’s Transportation Advisor by appearing at the AOC Legislative Committee meeting in Salem, Monday, June 11. Mr. Finn took the opportunity to introduce himself to the county officials inasmuch as his previous job was as Chief of Staff for Portland City Councilor Dan Saltzman and much of his experience has been in city government.
Mr. Finn said his primary duties in the governor’s office will be the implementation of the transportation package passed by the Legislature in 2017. Mr. Finn said his primary goal is to keep people safe when they use the state’s transportation system.
He was politely reminded that Oregon counties have the largest share of roads, bridges and other transportation infrastructure, but just over a quarter of the transportation funding. Mr. Finn cited his experience with city transportation issues and noted that he has a learning curve.
Several commissioners raised concerns about specific problems in their counties and Mr. Finn said he would be looking into them to see if there is anything the Governor’s office can do to help. He also pledged to be accessible to county officials “24-7” to answer questions and work on problems. He was grateful for the questions and suggestions from county officials and said he would be back.
Contributed by: Eric Schmidt | AOC Consultant