Portland Commissioner-Elect Jo Ann Hardesty Has Picked Some of Her Staff

Karly Edwards, her campaign chair, will become Hardesty's chief of staff.

Jo Ann Hardesty greets supporters on Nov. 6, 2018. (Abby Gordon)

Three days after the election, Portland City Commissioner-elect Jo Ann Hardesty has already made some key staffing decisions.

Two key campaign staffers will join her at City Council.

Karly Edwards, Hardesty's campaign chair, who comes from labor union work  and currently works for the Oregon Nurses' Association, will be her chief of staff. Edwards is currently on the Oregon Ethics Commission and was formerly the state director of the Working Families Party, a left-wing minor party. Before that, she was executive director of Portland Jobs with Justice, a nonprofit advocacy organization.

It's a notable hire in part because of financial-reporting problems during Hardesty's leadership of the NAACP of Portland. Hardesty pledged to have professional staff at City Council that would help guide her work in managing bureaus.

Edwards says Hardesty is also looking at hiring a financial policy adviser.

Matt McNally, who was the field director on Hardesty's campaign, will also join the City Council staff. He has previously worked for the Oregon AFL-CIO, Planned Parenthood, and the national Bernie Sanders campaign.

Hardesty is hiring office manager Lyne Martin from the office of the commissioner she is replacing, Dan Saltzman.

(Hardesty's campaign manager Anna Nguyen will join U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer's staff as communications director.)

"The mandate Portland showed in my decisive victory and the passage of both the Honest Elections and Portland Clean Energy Fund shows the eagerness Portlanders are for a bold progressive future at City Hall," says Hardesty in a statement. "My team and I have been preparing for leadership for the last year, and we are ready to do the work our community is asking of us."

Hardesty will enter City Hall in January.

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.