PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

NOTE: This is the second of two blogs on the issue of a chief of staff to a political leader – a governor in Oregon or a president in the U.S., though mostly the former

The question in this blog headline is percolating around Washington, D.C. these days as the long-predicted has happened – the current chief of staff to President Donald Trump, military veteran John Kelly, is leaving at the end of the year.

Here is what Wall Street Journal editorial writers said about Kelly:

“…Trump hates discipline, especially self-discipline, and so he has chafed under Kelly’s regimen. The wonder is that Kelly has lasted as long as he has considering the verbal abuse he has so often taken from his boss. The chief has also taken unwarranted abuse from the Beltway political class that wants to stigmatize anyone who works for Trump, as if it would be better if the White House were run solely by the Trump family.”

The most likely successor to Kelly, Nick Ayers, chief of staff to Vice President Michael Pence, took himself out of the running in a move that appeared to catch Trump and his minions off guard.

Several names have emerged as possible Kelly successors, with no apparent front-runner. And, after all, who would want the job of trying to serve a mercurial president who conducts himself more as a carnival barker or a reality TV show host than the leader of the free world?

Smart people would demur. They are.

All this, of course, is playing out far where I live. But the “chief of staff episode” in D.C. has prompted me to reflect on the qualities of a solid chief of staff, particularly here in Oregon. My perspective has been honed in Oregon over more than 40 years involved in and around state government.

That experience gave me a chance to work for and relate to a number of chiefs of staff for governors in Oregon and I have found all of them to be effective, as well as treated with respect by the governor they served. That is critical for a position that, in effect, is the #2 state government executive, not in line of succession, but in management reach over government.

In Oregon, the person named by a governor to be director of the Department of Administrative Services also functions as “chief operating officer” for state government. Which means, for the daily routine of state management, agency directors report to the COO. The leaves both the governor and the chief of staff free to focus on major issues of management AND political leadership, not just the former.

The other day I talked about all this with my friend, Gerry Thompson, who served Governor Vic Atiyeh as chief of staff. It was for Gerry that I worked a stint as press secretary to the governor.

She said the most important credential for a chief of staff is mutual trust between the governor and the chief. Without that, no list of other credentials matters.

Here is a summary of the qualities that I find important as I look at the chief of staff position in Oregon – and it would be tough, given the current occupant of the White House, to ascribe any of these credentials to the D.C. post.

1. Knowledge of government issues and processes
2. Ability to implement the governor’s directives
3. Strength to argue with the governor about what he or she wants to do in the spirit of achieving the objective, but doing so in a better way – or even that the proposed action may not be in the state’s best interest
4. Ability to manage staff and imbue them with a sense of purpose
5. Find the balance to be in charge of the governor’s staff, but allow them to do their jobs
6. Function as the main gatekeeper in terms of access to the governor (but, according to Gerry Thompson, don’t just limit access arbitrarily; do so in a way that assures that the governor sees people he or she needs to see, not just his or her friends)
7. Ability to relate to Oregon legislators
8. Ability to translate the governor’s agenda to the public, including through the media in cooperation with the governor’s press secretary
9. Manage state government relationships with the federal government, including the Oregon Congressional Delegation
10. Handle other duties as assigned based in a relationship of mutual trust with the governor (there’s that word again – trust)

Too much to ask? Perhaps.

But I have seen the system work well in Oregon, much better than in the current Administration in Washington, D.C.

If I was governor – perish the thought, just know that I never will hold that position – I would want the best chief of staff possible to help me do my job as the state’s primary political leader.