Via The Oregonian
Article by Michelle Cole
Longtime legislator Margaret Carter is resigning from the state Senate to take a high-level job at the Oregon Department of Human Services.
Carter was a mother and community volunteer before she became the first African American woman to be elected to the Oregon Legislature in 1984.
Carter said Sunday that she intends to submit a letter to the Senate president Monday making her resignation official as of Aug. 31. She will start work as the state’s Deputy Director for Human Services Programs on Sept. 1.
“It is my desire in life to make a difference for our children, our seniors and the disabled,” Carter said. “Those are the areas that I worked in in the Legislature. That is what I want to continue to do.”
The Multnomah County Commission will appoint a replacement to represent Carter’s Northeast Portland district in the state Senate. By law, the commission must consider names submitted by the local Democratic precinct committee.
In her nearly 25 years as a state lawmaker, Carter moved from the House to the Senate, rising in the Democratic leadership ranks. This year, Carter served a pivotal role in writing the state’s 2009-11 budget as co-chair of the Joint Ways and Means Committee.
Senate President Peter Courtney credits Carter for bringing “a lot of wisdom to the Senate because of her age, her ethnicity, her background and her struggles in life.”
“She is the heart and soul,” said Courtney, D-Salem.
NOTE: Support Services Brokerages statewide are funded through Oregon’s Department of Human Services.