SALEM — Brenda Ortigoza Bateman will move from Business Oregon to lead the Department of Land Conservation and Development, effective May 2.

Her appointment was announced by Robin McArthur, chairwoman of the Land Conservation and Development Commission, whose seven members are empowered to choose the director of the state land use planning agency. The commission and agency were created by the 1973 Legislature, which required city, county and metro plans to follow statewide planning requirements known as goals.

Bateman, a veteran of two state agencies, will succeed Jim Rue, who at 11 years was the agency’s longest-serving director.

The agency has a two-year budget of just under $30 million and employs 65 people.

McArthur said in a statement that Bateman was the right choice as the agency takes on new responsibilities.

“From clean energy development, to managing our coast, taking on issues of housing supply and preserving our natural resources, clear guidance and strong direction is imperative to DLCD’s success in these areas,” McArthur said.

“While we were fortunate to have had a number of qualified candidates, which made the decision difficult, we are enthusiastic about our support of Dr. Bateman. I am confident the agency will thrive under her direction.”

For the past three years, Bateman has been the chief operating officer and assistant director for operations and finance at the Oregon Business Development Department, known as Business Oregon, where she worked in strategic planning, implementation and management roles with a focus on natural resources policy. She serves on the Governor’s Climate Cabinet and is an appointee of the governor on the Oregon Geographic Information Council.

From 2007 until 2019, as administrator of its technical services division, Bateman was science chief and senior policy adviser at the Oregon Water Resources Department, where she co-authored the 2012 and 2017 versions of Oregon’s integrated water resources strategy. As a past president of the American Water Resources Association, she represented the association internationally in venues such as the World Water Forum and World Water Congress.

From 2004 to 2007, she was a policy coordinator for the Tualatin Valley Water District.

She earned a doctorate in public policy in 2003 from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in international relations and international law/economics in 1992 and 1993 from Johns Hopkins University.

Rue joined the state land use agency in 2009, became its acting director in 2011 and elevated to the job permanently in mid-2012. Before then, he had been general manager for environmental affairs at the R.B. Pamplin Corp. He also sat on the state Board of Agriculture for eight years.

“The work I have been able to accomplish at DLCD over the last several years has been the honor of a lifetime,” he said. “We have centered the agency in the important work of housing supply, climate action, equity and creating more sustainable communities.”

The agency and the Oregon Department of Housing and Community Services have been working on a study of the state’s housing issues that is scheduled for completion this year.