The Benton County Board of Commissioners has approved the appointment of Jane Vetto as its new County Counsel. Vetto will begin work in the position on Monday, April 13. She replaces Vance Croney, who is retiring after more than 25 years as County Counsel.
Vetto had previously worked as Clackamas County’s Counsel. Her job there ended after about a year. It was claimed that some staffers found her hard to work with, which triggered an investigation.
But it may have just been politics and bitterness. The investigator uncovered that some of the staff were angered before Vetto even took the position. The bitterness apparently started when the County chose to recruit rather hire from within the department. And you can probably guess the rest.
The politics of it all boiled over into the Clackamas Board of Commissioners, a deal was struck for Vetto to leave with a good-sized severance package. And oh yeah, there was that investigator, who concluded the claims against Vetto were hocus-pocus, or in government-speak, unsubstantiated.
Anyhow, fast forwarding back to Benton County, recruitment efforts to replace Croney started months ago, and he participated in the process. He has praised the Commissioners choice, saying, “She’s bright, experienced, professional and very personable. I’m excited about the direction the County is going with its legal services into the future.”
Vetto’s Work History
Vetto has worked in various local government jobs in both Washington and Oregon. She was a deputy prosecutor and senior deputy prosecutor in the Civil Division for Clark County, Washington, where she advised several departments and defended the county in lawsuits filed in state, federal and appellate courts.
She has also served as county counsel for both Marion and Clackamas Counties, providing public policy, legal advice and representation to elected and appointed officials and serving as primary counsel for the elected commissioners.
In Marion County, she participated in labor and contract negotiations, advised on land use issues and advised on open public meeting laws, work sessions and executive sessions.
Most recently, Vetto worked as a deputy county attorney for Linn County, where she provided legal advice to multiple departments on topics including land use and land use appeals, health services, roads and public safety.
Vetto is a graduate of the University of Oregon School of Law. She holds a B.A. in history from the University of Oregon.
Benton County contracted local-government executive recruitment firm Strategic Government Resources to conduct the candidate search.
Past controversy, Deeper Dive
So, here’s a little deeper dive into the past controversy, or maybe not controversy.
Last August, The Oregonian reported Vetto agreed to leave as Clackamas County’s Counsel after being granted a $253,000 severance, equal to about a year’s salary, though her contract called for between 30 days and six months of salary should she depart early.
They further reported that, “Clackamas County Commissioner Martha Shrader indicated that an unspecified rift had developed between Vetto and other lawyers in her office.”
The Oregonian also reported that Gary Schmidt, Clackamas County’s administrator, had said Vetto and the county mutually “entered into a separation agreement” that granted Vetto the year of salary.
Later, in October of last year, The Oregonian followed up, reporting, “Clackamas County’s former county counsel resigned earlier this year after a complaint triggered a human resources investigation into hostile workplace allegations.” They also reported that an independent investigation concluded the complaint was unsubstantiated, and that the underlying tensions originated from staff that would have preferred to have someone from within the office promoted to the County Counsel’s job.
They also reported that,” Vetto said the election of Craig Roberts as county chair made it difficult for her to make management changes.”
By Mike Suarez
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