AEE 2026 eVote and Board Election Bios

Hello Fellow AEE Members,

The 2026 AEE Board Elections will take place beginning June 19, 2026 through July 2nd at 5PM for the following Board positions: Second Vice President, Secretary Treasurer, and AEE Directors for Region 2, Region 3, Region 5, and Forestry.

Below are bios submitted for candidates who supplied them:

Second Vice President

Dean Chess
No bio

Secretary Treasurer

Matt Bagwell
No bio

Region 2 Director

Weldon Ryan
No bio

Region 3 Director

Julee Scruggs

I am currently the District 7 Permit Specialist in the Coquille office covering Coos and Curry Counties. I started my career with ODOT in November 2008 as a dispatcher in our Region 3 Southern Transportation Operations Center. After working as the Dispatch Coordinator for a few years I moved into a limited duration Permit Specialist position with District 8, and eventually was hired full time until my transfer to the coast. My husband and I just recently purchased our home in Coos Bay where we enjoy fishing, hiking, golf, camping and hunting.

I want to represent Region 3 AEE members because we are facing a lot of major changes ahead, which has us all asking a lot of questions. I am hoping to be a resource and an advocate to our AEE members while improving communication between employees and management.

Region 5 Director

Lisa Hayes  

My name is Lisa Hayes and I have been your Region 5 Director for the last two year and your Assistant Director for the previous six years. My 22 years at ODOT have given me experience as a District Permit Specialist, Region Right of Way Agent, District Operations Coordinator/Region Risk Management Coordinator. In addition to serving Region 5 as the Director, I have served in many leadership roles in my volunteer work outside of ODOT and am currently serving as the President of the Board Directors for the Blue Mountain Humane Association in La Grande. I believe that my years of experience with ODOT and diverse work history and desire to serve makes me a great candidate to continue to serve as your AEE Region 5 Director.

Forestry Director

Jessica Pires  

Hello there. My name is Jessica Pires and I work for the Oregon Department of Forestry. My main focus of my career has been related to wildland fire and serving on incident management teams and incidents all throughout the country. I have been a public servant for 23 years and most recently work as a communications system analyst 2 working on building new fire detection camera sites throughout the state. I’m an avid lover of the outdoors, especially fishing and hunting. I love sports and being a sports mom, which is my all-time favorite job!