Longtime Tribal employee selected as new assistant general manager

By Danielle Harrison

Smoke Signals editor

When Tribal member Bryan Langley began his new role as assistant general manager on Monday, Aug. 12, it wasn’t the first time he had served in that capacity.

Langley, 58, who has worked for the Tribe for 33 years, spent a year as assistant general manager in 2015. Later, the position was eliminated but has since been brought back under new General Manager Angie Blackwell.

“I saw the position come open and I had done it previously, so I had a familiarity with what the job was and then just started looking at my resume and updating it, and seeing that I met all of the requirements, so I thought, ‘Why not?’ So, I decided to jump into the ring and give it a shot.”

Langley was one of six Tribal members interviewed for the position.

“They were all excellent candidates; any one of them could have done the job,” Blackwell said. “Bryan has a wealth of institutional knowledge, and he has worked in multiple departments over the last 30-plus years, so he is going to be a great asset to the general manager’s office and the departments he will oversee.”

Blackwell said that Langley’s new department assignments will include Natural Resources, Facilities, Social Services, Tribal Police, Emergency Management and Cultural Resources.

The primary purpose of the assistant general manager is to help the general manager with administering Tribal operations along with supervision of assigned departments within the Tribe.

Langley began his career at the Tribe in 1991 as a social worker and then transferred into a caseworker position. He has also been a mental health associate, housing occupancy specialist, continuing/distance education specialist, procurement manager, higher education specialist and higher education manager.  

He and Blackwell used to work in the same department when she served as the early childhood education program manager, and the two also attended Willamina High School at the same time.

“You always want to treat people the way that you want to be treated because you never know, they might be your boss someday,” Langley said with a smile. 

He anticipates that the most challenging aspect of his new position will be the potential to get pulled in too many different directions at once.

“That can happen because you have different priorities for different people,” he said. “So, between council and the executive team, that can be challenging but you just need to try to determine what is the highest priority and then try to address those needs first. Sometimes, people will need to wait and that isn’t always easy. And sometimes people want to do things individually, which I’ve had happen in the past and then they don’t get support so then that can create some issues.”

Langley said he is looking forward to working with Tribal Council, as he has prior experience working with most of the current members.

“I think it’ll be good and I’m looking forward to it,” he said.  

Langley said what he’ll miss most about his current job is being able to see Tribal members receive their education and then come back and work for the Tribe in different capacities.

“There’s a lot of different managers in different departments who have utilized the higher education program and I’m glad Tribal Council keeps supporting it,” he said. “I’ll also miss my staff because I have great people working here. They come to work, they do their job and they don’t create any issues…This program isn’t one where you get a lot of complaints or anything and it’s just rewarding seeing students succeed and move on in life. It’s part of the Tribe’s mission for self-sufficiency and that whole piece. This program helps Tribal members be able to do that.”

Langley and his wife, Rhonda, live in McMinnville and have six children: Bryanna (Rue), Kara, Brayden, Moriah, Gavin and Abram.

In his spare time, Langley enjoys spending time with family, bowhunting elk, watching Oregon Ducks football, going camping and having barbeques.

He can be reached at bryan.langley@grandronde.org.