About a year ago, the Mercury named mayoral staffer Josh Alpert the most underrated employee in Portland City Hall. That's no longer true. Surprising no one, Mayor Charlie Hales announced this morning he's tapped Alpert to be his next chief of staff, after current chief Gail Shibley announced she was taking a job with the state.
Alpert was the smart money on who'd fill Shibley's shoes. The conventional wisdom in the building is that he was already filling much of the chief's role—ping ponging from office to office and running point on a wide variety of mayoral initiatives. (This is not to say Shibley was slacking. There's a lot to do.) He even formally filled in when Shibley was absent.
Among his tasks, Alpert's been the a mayor's go-to in trying to wrangle a new space for the homeless rest area Right 2 Dream Too. The city's currently performing environmental testing on a site toward the east end of Tilikum Crossing, and wants to move the camp there by summer's end. In doing so, Alpert's got to wrangle with the influential Central Eastside Industrial Council, which has said it wants to slow down the process.
He also helped to hammer out the regulations that have allowed ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft to operated legally in Portland
Alpert starts his new job July 20. The mayor's office hasn't answered an inquiry about his salary. Update: The salary hasn't been worked out yet, spokesman Dana Haynes says, but the range for the position is $97,968 to $122,450 per year. Alpert currently makes $88,836.80.
If you're interested, the full announcement is after the jump.
PORTLAND, ORE – Mayor Charlie Hales today announced that policy director Josh Alpert has accepted the position as chief of staff, effective July 20.
Alpert replaces Gail Shibley, the mayor’s first chief of staff, who has accepted a position at the Oregon Youth Authority.
“Josh will make for a smooth transition,” Hales said. “He previously served as interim chief of staff when Gail was out of the office. He has a great understanding of how things work at City Hall, and of my priorities.”
Alpert was hired in December 2012 for the then-Mayor-elect, as his first policy adviser. He has served as special projects adviser, overseeing such issues as homelessness, transportation network companies and environmental issues.
He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Lewis & Clark School of Law. Before moving to City Hall, Alpert was the Northwest Conservation Strategies Director with The Trust for Public Land. There, he led successful ballot initiatives to protect lands in several western states including Oregon.
Alpert, a Portland resident, previously served for Commissioner Charlie Hales on the Portland City Council.
