James Neff, Oregon Journalism Project
Posted inLocal News

Unprepared: The Broken Pipeline Teaching Oregon’s Teachers

How our education leaders have failed the classroom
by James Neff, Oregon Journalism Project

Jim Green says one solution for Oregon’s worst-in-the-nation reading scores is a governor’s executive order away. Green should know. For 25 years, he worked the halls of the Capitol, first as a lobbyist and then as executive director of the Oregon School Boards Association, which represents 1,400 elected members across the state’s 197 school districts. […]

Posted inLocal News

Travel Oregon Seeks a New Boss at a More Reasonable Salary

The state tourism agency made changes after scrutiny by OJP and state lawmakers.
by James Neff, Oregon Journalism Project

After some much needed sunlight on its operations, Travel Oregon is looking for a new chief executive — at a significantly lower salary. Not long into a meeting last September of the Oregon House Committee on Economic Development, its chairman quoted from an OJP investigation about dysfunction at state-funded Travel Oregon and the oversized salary […]

Posted inBusiness News

More Questions Arise About State Investments in Private Equity

The Oregon Investment Council faces tough questions from lawmakers, unions and advocates. An email shows the former state treasurer shared their concerns.
by James Neff, Oregon Journalism Project

As Oregon state treasurer for eight years, Tobias Read didn’t have a discouraging word for “private equity,” the secretive investments that account for one quarter of the state’s $100 billion Public Employees Retirement System fund. At least not publicly. But privately last summer, Read told key aides he worried the costly investments might pose too […]

Posted inRegional/National

Oregon Cries Poverty, but Its Transportation Spending Is Typical of Western States

An OJP analysis of five recent years’ spending figures show that Oregon falls roughly in the middle of the other six states cited by ODOT.
by James Neff, Oregon Journalism Project

When Oregon lawmakers convene in a special session Aug. 29 to decide whether to raise the gas tax and bail out the Oregon Department of Transportation, most will likely be operating on the reasoning of a well-honed ODOT sales pitch: The agency is broke and Oregon underfunds its roadways compared to six nearby Western states, […]

Posted inNews

Off Target: How the managers of Oregon’s $100 billion pension fund ignored expert guidance and lost big

A PERS investigation
by James Neff, Oregon Journalism Project

Earlier this year, Grant School District Superintendent Mark Witty faced a $900,000 hike in what his district needs to pay this coming year to the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund.  It was a crippling announcement. The cause of the increase? Lousy investment returns by the state agency empowered to invest public employees’ money. And when investment […]

Posted inNews

Hunters and Environmentalists Join Together to Fight for Lodging Tax Increase

The unlikely allies face opposition from the hospitality industry and legislative maneuvering.
by James Neff, Oregon Journalism Project

Rural Oregon hunters and the state’s urban environmentalists have joined in a rare public embrace. The two groups, who often fall on opposite sides of the political spectrum, are together pursuing a tax increase that would benefit them both. In the Legislature’s waning hours, these strange bedfellows support House Bill 2977, a bipartisan measure that […]

Posted inNews

Under Pressure, Travel Oregon Reveals CEO’s New Salary

The agency will continue paying Todd Davidson handsomely in retirement
Avatar photo by Nic Moye and James Neff, Oregon Journalism Project

After a week of secrecy, Travel Oregon and its commissioners have revealed what they are paying CEO Todd Davidson to stay on in the top job for one more year after he retires this month. Davidson, who made a $365,000 base salary in 2024 and is one of highest-paid agency heads in state government, will […]

Posted inNews

Travel Oregon Officials Give Well-Paid CEO a New Deal in Retirement

Officials won’t give the public details
by James Neff, Oregon Journalism Project

Shortly after Travel Oregon’s CEO announced his retirement, the commission that oversees the agency voted to keep him on for a year to help pick his successor and approved a new employment package. But the state agency is now unwilling to share with the public the details of his offer letter.  It’s a significant omission […]

Posted inNews

Lawmakers Hamstrung in Overseeing Travel Oregon’s Spending

Gov. Tina Kotek avoids saying the agency needs more oversight
by James Neff, Oregon Journalism Project

The exercise can be frustrating. Every two years, Oregon’s semi-independent state agencies—Travel Oregon and more than a dozen others—undergo financial review by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Office, which then shares a report with lawmakers. But among those agencies, Travel Oregon, with a $95 million biennial budget, as well as the much smaller Oregon Wine Board […]

Posted inNews

A Nice Place to Visit

But nobody’s minding the state agency that promotes Oregon tourism.
by James Neff, Oregon Journalism Project

During commercial breaks this television season, viewers were likely to spy a Muppet-like beaver leading delighted visitors on a snowshoe hike past Mount Hood or singing the benefits of fishing guides while flycasting in pristine Oregon waters. These jaunty scenes, produced by award-winning Portland-based ad agency Wieden+Kennedy, grab the attention but are also somewhat puzzling […]

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