Movin' out

Kafoury and Cruz.

The dysfunction in Multnomah County government won't stop. Last week's Friday news dump was that Serena Cruz, the chief operating officer, has quit after less than three and a half years on the job. 

Of course, she'll get $70,000 for nothing on her way out the door, and she's promising not to sue. But no one's saying why she's leaving. She answers to the county's wicked chair, Jessica Chevy-Vega.

The first I ever heard of Cruz was when she was one of the "Mean Girls" on the county commission years ago, in a power struggle with then-Chair Diane Linn. Cruz left that clown car and became the head of a legitimate medical nonprofit, the Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center. But eventually Deadly Deborah Kafoury hired her to be the day-to-day top boss at the county, at a nifty salary, now apparently something like $280,000 a year, plus juicy benefits.

No word on where Cruz will go next. She's married into the Walsh construction family, which makes beaucoup jack by building stuff for various governments in Portland and the surrounding area. Maybe she'll be the next Portland city manager, especially if her good bud, Outlaw Carmen Rubio, becomes mayor.

It's not going to be easy for Cruz to get a good letter of recommendation from county residents. Let's face it, Multnomah County is the blueprint for what not to do about homelessness, mental illness, and drug addiction. Cruz has presided over every stumble, following the lead of the feckless county chair.

A search has begun for a permanent replacement, and Chevy-Vega is planning to use the same headhunter firm that brought Cruz to Kafoury last time around.

Vega Pederson named Cruz’s deputy, Travis Graves, as interim COO until she names a replacement. The county says it has hired Karras Consulting, a “diversity-focused” executive recruitment firm, “to find candidates with demonstrated success in strategic thinking, creative problem-solving, day-to-day administration, successful employee relations and the pursuit of equity.”

We should have a drinking game where every time an Oregon bureaucrat says "equity," you have to down a shot.

But I digress. With a "diversity-focused" firm running the search, does that mean no white males need apply? It sure sounds that way.