Backstory for Deborah Kafoury calling Loretta Smith a Bitch about Smith's concerns Marissa Madrigal may have a conflict of interest in Kafoury devotion
- Elevate all racial complaints to the COO and Department Directors. Employees can still register complaints in the usual ways, from calling the good government hotline at 888-289-6839 to talking to their supervisors. But for the first time, all complaints will be sent to the highest level. “We want to have line of sight on what’s happening across the county,’’ said COO Madrigal said.
Smith was completely calm, polite and quite organized in her reasoning to not accept Kafoury's chosen candidates as the COO of Multonomah. Kafoury's face starts twisting up and she gets visibly angry when Smith brings up the part about the much publicized institutional racism for Multonomah city workers as a justifiable part of the reason to not appoint the COO Kafoury wants to have. Smith goes on to say that there could be a conflict of inte rest between having a CEO and COO of Multonomah be the same person. Kafoury in no way addresses any of the points Smith makes. Instead, all she says is the woman she suggested is the best candidate possible for the position and does this haughty sort of snicker.
on December 22, 2017 at 3:13 PM
Twelve-year veteran of Multnomah County, Tricia Tillman, has been asked to step from her role as public health director at the Multnomah County Health Department, a position she has held since January 2015.
In a Sept. 7 letter addressed to County Chair Deborah Kafoury, and obtained by The Skanner, Tillman outlines how she took an approved Family and Medical Leave in April – to care for her mother who has recurrent stage 4 lung cancer – but communicated with the health department about returning to her job in early July.
On Aug. 18, six weeks into her return to the county, Tillman claims she was asked by health department director Joanne Fuller to “gracefully” exit from the county. According to Tillman, Fuller had explained that as her role as public health director “was not working out” and that “no long-term option existed for me in the county.”
Additionally, Kafoury said any complaint by an employee alleging offensive or discriminatory language or behavior in the workplace is to be immediately escalated and sent to the Chief Operating Officer and Department Director.
“Racism exists, there is no question that our society is racist,” said Marissa Madrigal, Chief Operating Officer.
All complaints of discrimination from county employees will now go to Madrigal’s desk.
County Commissioner Loretta Smith Says Chair Deborah Kafoury Called Her a "Bitch" in a Public Meeting
County Commissioner Loretta Smith MULTNOMAH COUNTY
Things got heated at this morning's meeting of the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners, though the full extent might not be captured in the official video of the proceedings. According to County Commissioner Loretta Smith, after the meeting was hastily called to a close, County Chair Deborah Kafoury called her a "bitch."
The tension began over a relatively routine matter: Kafoury was asking the commission to enshrine someone to serve in her stead in case she leaves office unexpectedly or is otherwise unable to serve. Kafoury's last alternate, former County Chair Bev Stein, recently moved out of the county. Her new pick for alternate? County Chief Operating Officer Marissa Madrigal.
Madrigal would seem to be a sensible choice. She served as alternate (and chief of staff) to former County Chair Jeff Cogen, and so served as chair when Cogen left office under a cloud in 2013. She also knows the ins and outs of the county.
But the appointment didn't sit right with County Commissioner Loretta Smith. In an exchange that brought out long-simmering tensions on the county board, Smith said she was wary of Madrigal being explicitly aligned with Kafoury.
"My concern is: Will she be able to be impartial?" said Smith, who's repeatedly clashed with Kafoury. "The transparency issue assumes that she is always going to be aligned with you, and that’s my concern."
Smith went further. Referencing allegations of entrenched racism that have dogged Multnomah County this year, Smith suggested explicitly linking Madrigal and Kafoury's office could be an issue.
"What happens when the institutional racism is coming from the chair’s office?" Smith said. "Aligning the top two people in this organization.. the COO and CEO, there is lots of room for institutional and infrastructural racism."
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