91ÊÓƵ

Susan Keil will retire as director of the Portland Bureau of Transportation on May 1 after helping her replacement, Tom Miller, transition into his new job.

Keil has served as director since 2005. She had been thinking about retiring for more than a year, but put off her plans when PBOT Chief Financial Officer John Rist retired from the agency in September. She decided to stay on to help train Rist’s replacement, Ron Geason, she said.

“I’ve got 30 years in the PERS (Public Employees Retirement System), and I’m 64, and I had told Sam last year that I was thinking about retiring,” Keil said. “But with John retiring I felt I needed to stay to get Ron up to speed first.”

She will be replaced by Miller, who is Mayor Sam Adams‘ current chief of staff. Adams selected Miller for the job.

Miller will move his office to PBOT on Jan. 25 and will work with Keil until her retirement in an effort to make the transition run smoothly.

“Tom knows a lot about transportation, but he doesn’t know as much about internal financial management, internal controls and personnel management, so we’ll be working on that,” Keil said.

Miller is also familiar with many of the large projects, like replacing the Sellwood Bridge and the Columbia River Crossing, but Keil said she wants to help him meet more of the players and get a deeper working knowledge of the issues, she said.

“He is smart, he likes transportation, and he’s got an aptitude for it,” Keil said. “He’s a quick study.”

When she retires, Keil expects to do some management consulting and enjoy her hobbies of traveling, gardening and singing, which she does both as a solo performer and with her church choir, she said.