The longtime executive director of Travel Oregon, Todd Davidson, announced he is retiring today after three decades as a public employee.

While the timing appeared sudden, it came five weeks after the Oregon Journalism Project first contacted Travel Oregon about an investigation into complaints regarding Davidson’s outsized compensation and allegations of a toxic workplace. He earned $477,000 in take-home pay for fiscal 2024, far higher compensation than that of any other state agency director.

The news of Davidson’s retirement came one day before the CEO was scheduled to sit down for a long-delayed interview with OJP.

Travel Oregon, a semi-independent state agency with 73 staffers, is funded by the statewide lodging tax of 1.5% on hotel bills that brings in more than $40 million a year.

Travel Oregon maintains its chief executive’s departure was unrelated to OJP’s questions and public records requests.

Travel Oregon, also known as the Oregon Tourism Commission, exists to promote tourism, which generates $14 billion of annual economic activity and 120,000 jobs in Oregon.

An agency that once had scraped by on $3 million a year in state lottery funds grew into a powerhouse after lawmakers approved a lodging tax in 2003.

“Travel Oregon is one of the premier state travel organizations,” David Blandford, executive director of State of Washington Tourism, said in a recent interview.

As a semi-independent agency, Travel Oregon is exempt from state budget laws; personnel, salary and expense laws; and purchasing and procurement laws. Its budget is not subject to executive branch review, nor subject to approval or modification by the Legislature.

Davidson, a native of Iowa, has been Travel Oregon’s chief executive since 1996.

Davidson’s compensation and some deficient practices at the agency were widely publicized after the 2020 release of a critical audit by the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office.

Travel Oregon is overseen by a nine-member board of commissioners who are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. Eight of the nine represent lodging and tourism sectors, and one is a public-at-large member.

Calls seeking comment from commissioners were not immediately returned Thursday.

The governor’s office confirmed Davidson’s departure but declined to comment.

OJP plans to publish its full investigation in the coming days.

This story was produced by the Oregon Journalism Project, a nonprofit newsroom covering the state.