Pawlenty appoints two top aides

12/30/2006

Reshaping his leadership team for a second term, Gov. Tim Pawlenty named two longtime administration figures to top jobs and announced plans to merge at least two state agencies.


By Pat Doyle, Star Tribune
Last update: December 29, 2006 – 11:27 PM


Shuffling the deck in his new administration, Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Friday named Matt Kramer as his chief of staff and appointed a former chief to spearhead state efforts on economic development.
The governor also announced plans to merge at least two executive departments in what he described as a move to improve government efficiency.

In appointing Dan McElroy commissioner of the Department of Employment and Economic Development, Pawlenty picked a longtime aide who served as chief of staff and finance commissioner before becoming an adviser on government efficiency.

Kramer, another veteran Pawlenty aide, moves from the Department of Employee Relations, where he has been acting commissioner since August, to take a job characterized by long hours and high turnover.

He becomes the fourth chief of staff in as many years under Pawlenty and succeeds David Gaither, who the governor's office said was leaving "to pursue other opportunities." Gaither took over in 2005 from McElroy, who had succeeded Charlie Weaver as chief.

Chiefs of staff interact with legislators to sell a governor's programs and cut deals. McElroy became Pawlenty's point man on his controversial proposals to gain approval for a state-run casino, an initiative the Legislature rejected in 2005. That also was the year that a standoff between the governor and the DFL-controlled Senate over the budget led to a partial shutdown of state government.

"I understand it's a job at the nexus of many things," Kramer said Friday. "But at the same time ... if you focus on the things that are important, one should be able to control your own schedule and the schedule of the folks we work with. It's not fair to anyone if you're working 22 hours a day, because you're not efficient when you do that."

'Seasoned leaders'

In announcing the appointments, Pawlenty called Kramer and McElroy "seasoned leaders who will be able to hit the ground running in their new positions."

Unlike other Pawlenty chiefs of staff, Kramer, 45, of Shoreview, hasn't served in the Legislature. But he said he developed good relationships with legislators from both parties while working in the administration. He was commissioner of the Department of Employment and Economic Development for three years and vice president of sales at NOW Medical Centers of Minnetonka before moving to Employee Relations.

Former mayor

McElroy, 58, of Burnsville, spent eight years in the Minnesota House where he was chairman of the Jobs and Economic Development Finance Committee, before joining the administration. He also is a former mayor of Burnsville.

He said he expects to continue the emphasis on economic development in outstate Minnesota.

"It isn't in Minnesota's best interest to have a robust, successful 21st century economy in the metro area and have a struggling economy in [outstate] Minnesota," McElroy said.

The Department of Employment and Economic Development oversees the Job Opportunity Building Zones, a program that provides tax breaks to businesses in expectation that they will create jobs or retain existing ones. Pawlenty has touted the program as a successful tool for rural economic development, but critics question whether it gives tax breaks to businesses that would have created or kept jobs without any help.

McElroy defends the program, saying Minnesota firms might have relocated to other states without it.

"If you had a program to give birthday cakes to people, there would be those who would criticize it for some variety of reason," he said. "Government program and criticism come with the territory."

Pawlenty also said he wants to merge the Department of Employee Relations, the Department of Administration -- which handles state contracts -- and perhaps other state agencies to make government more efficient and effective. A spokesman for the House DFL majority declined to speculate on whether the Legislature would approve such a measure.