Longtime Portland City Hall insider tapped as Multnomah County commissioner-elect’s chief of staff

Multnomah County Commissioner-elect Vince Jones-Dixon has chosen longtime Portland City Hall insider Brendan Finn as his chief of staff.

Finn spent nearly two decades working for former Portland Commissioner Dan Saltzman and currently leads the Oregon Department of Transportation's Urban Mobility Office .

He said he is stepping down from his current role and taking a significant pay cut to work for Jones-Dixon because he believes in the new commissioner's vision to improve Multnomah County.

"His life experiences really shapes who he is and why he's motivated to lead, which is for all the right reasons, focusing on keeping people safe and seeing people prosper," Finn said. "It was inspiring to me enough so that I considered leaving what was kind of a dream job for me."

In his current role, Finn made approximately $223,000 last year. Commissioner Lori Stegmann's Chief of Staff Rebecca Stevenjord was paid a salary of $135,000 in the same period. Jones-Dixon will replace Stegmann, who is stepping down due to term limits.

Finn crafted and guided Saltzman's policies for six years before serving as his chief of staff from 2005 to 2018, when Saltzman stepped down after five terms in office. Finn was then hired to direct transportation policy for former Gov. Kate Brown and two years later stepped in to lead the state's Urban Mobility Office, which addresses transportation issues in the Portland metro area.

Jones-Dixon, a current Gresham city councilor who narrowly defeated challenger Brian Knotts to represent east Multnomah County in May, said he's grateful to have someone with such a strong track record backing him in his work as a commissioner.

"His extensive experience across every level of government will be a tremendous asset to Multnomah County and District 4," Jones-Dixon said in a statement. "I sought a leader who could complement my approach, offer fresh perspective from outside the county and drive immediate impact."

Jones-Dixon will join new Commissioners Meghan Moyer and Shannon Singleton, who both won election last week, on a revamped Board of Commissioners in January. Current Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards, who kept her seat in May, and Chair Jessica Vega Pederson will be the senior members of the board.

A funeral home director who has lost two brothers to gun violence , Jones-Dixon said he's committed to better representing the eastern region of the county, which is often overlooked. Jones-Dixon said his first priorities will be addressing slow ambulance response times in city's like Gresham and Troutdale, ensuring that county dollars for homeless services are making their way to his district and bolstering youth services for people in the criminal justice system.