The Evansville Courier&Press writes today:
Because Daniels will be the first Republican in 16 years to head state government, his administrative makeover is extensive. There will be a whole new team of administrators, department heads and policymakers running the executive branch of Indiana government.Most of these new executives do not have statewide name recognition or extensive state government experience. Of course, in Evansville, we are familiar with insurance agent Harold Calloway, who will become the new commissioner of the Indiana Department of Insurance under Daniels. But others are unknown here and elsewhere in Indiana. That's because many of them have been recruited by Daniels from business and industry, most from outside mainstream government service.
For example, the new head of the Indiana Department of Transportation is Thomas Sharp, a retired Alcoa executive. The new head of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management is Thomas Easterly, president of an environmental consulting firm and a former steel company official.
The new head of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles is the former president and CEO of a sporting-goods company. A businessman was recruited to head the Indiana Economic Development Corp. A retired company president was named to head the Department of Administration, and a popcorn-company executive will head agriculture.
That composite business/industry connection may well serve Daniels' plan to make state government a far more efficient, businesslike operation. It's a worthy goal for a state government that hasn't had a good shakeup in years.
However, because most of their experience is outside of government, it would be understandable if this new corps of executives is found to be less than familiar with Indiana's public-access laws. If so, it will be important that they get up to speed on the state's open-meetings and open-records law. Those laws provide that citizens are entitled to complete information on the activities and business of their government. * * *
One early test occurred this past week, when the Indiana House Economic Development and Small Business Committee voted 9-to-2 to pass a bill pushed by Daniels that shifts responsibility for economic development to the Indiana Economic Development Corp., a quasi-government board.
As staff writer Jennifer Whitson reported, backers of the switch say the board, made up of private-sector representatives appointed by the governor and not hampered by the red tape of normal state regulations, would be able to move quickly to woo new businesses to Indiana.
That description had red flags waving from Indianapolis to Evansville, with some lawmakers expressing concerns about whether the board would acknowledge the open-records laws.
But in approving the bill, the committee included wording that the commission falls under Indiana's public-access laws. That's a good start.
As a candidate, Daniels assured Hoosiers that he is committed to open government. He told a group of newspaper editors in October that, among other steps, he favors more disclosure about the details of state contracts.
As a candidate, Daniels said the right things about open government. It is an attitude we hope he has communicated to his new administration.
Posted by Marcia Oddi at January 9, 2005 12:03 PM