Editorial: The reformer/McElroy’s new assignment

09/20/2005

Star Tribune
September 20, 2005

This page’s policy wonks will leave to others the political dissection of Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s decision last week to replace his chief of staff, Dan McElroy, with Plymouth state Sen. David Gaither. Our part is to applaud the policy implication of McElroy’s new assignment, overseeing efficiency improvements in state government. Elevating that task to full-time, cabinet-level status signals that Pawlenty is serious about modernizing the operation of state agencies in ways that both improve their service and save money.

If we were looking for someone for that job, we’d have chosen McElroy too.

No one in the Pawlenty administration has displayed greater enthusiasm for government reform, or greater mastery of the details that must be understood to do it right. McElroy’s background as a former business owner, Burnsville mayor, legislator and state finance commissioner has given him a keen sense of the way state and local government’s pieces work together, and of how they could be made to work better.

The reform effort, called Drive to Excellence, has been well launched, and is already reducing the number of forms that state agencies must process, and making more and better use of the Internet for transactions with citizens. McElroy’s new position should enlarge that effort and keep it close to the governor’s ear.

With Pawlenty expected to seek reelection next year, his chief of staff’s involvement in political matters is bound to increase in coming months. McElroy’s new assignment assures that the nonpartisan reform effort won’t be lost in the political shuffle.