Gov. Tina Kotek’s behavioral health director is resigning, becoming the sixth staff member to leave the administration in the past five months.
Julianna Wallace, who was hired last August to oversee the governor’s behavioral health policy, met regularly with Gov. Kotek’s wife, Amy Kotek Wilson.
In her resignation letter, first reported by Willamette Week magazine, Wallace said it had been a long journey for her to realize that “my abilities and my influence lie with the people.”
“I am truly a sidewalk social worker who finds joy in creating, advocating and dreaming about a better system of care for all,” Wallace wrote, noting that she would be returning to Central City Concern as senior clinical director of behavioral health.
In late March, three of the governor’s top aides abruptly resigned after expressing concerns about Gov. Kotek-Wilson’s expanding responsibilities. Perhaps no other area of the governor’s administration is as deeply involved as behavioral health.
At one point, emails show, Kotek asked Wallace to contact Cascadia Behavioral Health on behalf of one of Kotek-Wilson’s friends.
Shortly after this request, one of the Governor’s special counsels and an attorney wrote to Mr. Wallace informing him that the request by the First Lady and the Governor to call someone’s boss was, at best, highly inappropriate.”
The governor declined to comment on the matter but said it was a workplace safety issue and that he supported the decision.
Kotek Wilson has served in an unpaid role in the governor’s administration since Kotek took office in 2023.
More recently, the chairman of the Oregon Government Ethics Commission said there is nothing in the state’s ethics laws to prevent Kotek-Wilson from volunteering in his wife’s office as long as he doesn’t derive financial benefit from the position.
The Ethics Commission’s latest decision could result in Kotek Wilson’s continued involvement with the governor’s office: The commission narrowly declined to open an investigation into Kotek.
The Governor’s Office recently added five new members to its staff, including advisors and spokespeople for natural resources, education, the Columbia Basin and public safety.
“It was a great pleasure meeting you and the First Lady. Please convey my gratitude for her passion for those affected by behavioral health issues,” Wallace wrote at the end of her resignation letter. Her term ends on September 13.
The governor’s office declined to comment, citing it as a personnel matter.
This article was originally published by Capital Chronicle’s news partner, Oregon Public Broadcasting.
