Published 9:51 am Friday, May 8, 2026

Regional managers must weigh where to prioritize staff so they can serve as many Oregonians as possible

ALBANY – Jessica Lavery starts her mornings, sometimes as early as 6 a.m., deciding if she needs to close one of the offices she manages or shift her staff to another location.

Lavery manages the Oregon Department of Transportation’s Northwest region of Oregon’s Driver and Motor Vehicle Services division, which has offices across the Willamette Valley and two along the coast. On May 1, she and other agency leaders decided to close the Albany office for the day after each of the four staff members were unavailable.…