MISSION — After two years at the helm, Ted Wright, executive director of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, resigned his position.

According to a Nov. 2 press release, Wright is leaving Eastern Oregon to take the same position with the Spokane Indian Tribe, a tribe with a reservation northwest of the city of Spokane, Washington.

The press release credited Wright for his role in working with a consultant to conduct an organizational assessment of tribal government. The assessment resulted in the hiring of Chuck Sams as deputy executive director, and he will serve as the interim executive director until a permanent successor is named.

“We are extremely thankful to Ted for the time, effort, and professionalism that he has brought to the position of Executive Director,” CTUIR Board of Trustees Chair Kat Brigham said in a statement. “2020 has been a very tough year but his ability to adapt and contribute to the protection and enhancement of CTUIR’s rights and interests has been clear. One of the things Ted did was to have an operational review of our tribal government to seek ways to improve and we are working on implementation now. He always wanted to do the best he could for us and we hope that he will come back to visit when he can.”

An enrolled member of the Tlingit and Haida Tribes of Alaska, Wright was involved with some of the challenges of tribal government.

Wright acted as a spokesman for the Board of Trustees when its members vacated a seat held by at-large member Sally Kosey in 2019, alleging she didn’t meet residency requirements. Both sides reached a settlement that allowed Kosey to keep her seat through the remainder of her term, and after a couple of ensuing elections, she was elected to a new term as board secretary and voters approved an amendment to the tribal election clarifying residency requirements for elected officials.

Wright has also led tribal government during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to more than 100 positive cases among tribal members and one death.

Interim executive director duties now fall to Sams, who was promoted from communications director to deputy director in July after the position was revived. As deputy director, Sams split department supervisory duties with Wright, but CTUIR Communications Director Matt Johnson said tribal leaders were still discussing whether to appoint an interim deputy director to assist Sams.

Johnson said the tribes have formed a search committee comprised of Board of Trustees members and department heads to determine how the executive director hiring process will work.