By Anjali Shastry
ANNAPOLIS—In Gov.-elect Larry Hogan’s final press conference before he takes office Wednesday, he named outgoing state Senator David Brinkley, R-Carroll and Frederick, as the new secretary of Budget and Management, along with 21 other appointments.
Brinkley would be collaborating with part-time fiscal adviser and former state Senator Robert R. Neall, a Democrat from Anne Arundel, to counsel the governor on budget and fiscal matters, Hogan said.
Hogan has repeatedly said he values experience in the private sector, and emphasized that with his choice of Sam Maholtra as the secretary of Human Resources.
Maholtra is the founder and CEO of Subsystem Technologies Inc., and Hogan said he was pleased he could convince Maholtra to leave “a very lucrative position in a company in the private sector to join us.”
In keeping with his desire for private-sector talent, Jennie Hunter-Cevera was named as the acting secretary of the Maryland Higher Education Commission.
Hunter-Cevera is the founder and CEO of Hunter-Cevera and Associates, a consulting firm that helps biotechnology companies and government agencies, Hogan said. Her higher education experience includes serving as president of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute and executive vice president of the Research Triangle Institute in North Carolina.
Clay Stamp was named director of the Maryland Emergency Management Agency. He has decades of experience in emergency management, and has served as emergency services director for Talbot County for the last five years. “He is extremely well qualified to lead MEMA,” Hogan said.
Hogan also announced Luis Borunda as deputy secretary of state; Steve Crim as the director of Public Affairs; Adam Dubitsky as policy director; and Erin Montgomery and Shareese Deleaver Churchill as press secretaries.
Other appointments included: former state Senator Martin Madden, a Republican who had represented Howard and Prince George’s counties, as senior adviser to the governor; and Amanda O’Malley as deputy chief of staff (“No relation,” Hogan joked). Mike Richard will be another deputy chief of staff; Roy McGrath will be special assistant to the governor and liaise with the Board of Public Works; and Brad Peganoff will be the head of the governor’s D.C. office. Mark Newgent will be the deputy policy director; Wendy Hershey will be Executive Services director; and Steve Deboy and Chris Carroll will be legislative officers.
Hogan’s communications team include Matt Clark as communications director; Doug Mayer as deputy communications director; and Hannah Marr and Lorena Rivera as deputy press secretaries.
Hogan has not yet announced who will lead the state police, or named the secretaries of disabilities, schools or information technology positions. Hannah Marr, his deputy press secretary, said that these positions were not yet scheduled to be announced.
A list of senior appointments follows:
Pete Rahn, called by Hogan “the best highway builder in the entire country,” was appointed the secretary of transportation. He previously worked in New Mexico and Missouri.
Rona E. Kramer, a Democrat and former member of the Senate who represented Montgomery County, was appointed secretary of aging. She holds a law degree from the University of Baltimore School of Law, and, according to the Hogan transition team, is senior vice president and general counsel at Kramer Enterprises, a commercial real estate company.
Kenneth C. Holt, a Republican and former delegate from Baltimore and Harford counties from 1995 to 1999, was appointed secretary of housing and community development.
David R. Craig will be the new planning secretary. Craig was a Republican gubernatorial candidate last year, but lost to Hogan in the primaries. He was a county executive in Harford County from 2005 to 2014.
Outgoing Delegate Keiffer J. Mitchell, D-Baltimore, will be a senior adviser overseeing charter schools for Hogan’s administration. He also served on the Baltimore City Council from 1995 to 2007 and was a mayoral candidate in Baltimore.
Outgoing state Senator Christopher Shank, R-Washington, will resign his job as the minority whip in the state Senate to run the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention.
Outgoing Delegate Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio, R-Caroline, Dorchester, Talbot and Wicomico, has been appointed the director of Intergovernmental Services. She ran, with Craig, for lieutenant governor in the primaries.
Thomas E. Hutchins will be the new director of Homeland Security. During his tenure as the superintendent of state police under Gov. Robert Ehrlich, officers conducted controversial surveillance of activist groups against the death penalty and war in 2005 and 2006. Prior to that, he was secretary of Veterans Affairs and served in the House of Delegates, as a Republican from Charles County.
Steven J. McAdams will be working in the Governor’s Office of Community Initiatives. He previously worked with Hogan at Hogan Cos., and was the founder, owner and president of Residential Appraisal Service, according to Hogan Cos. He was also a commissioner for the Maryland Real Estate Appraisers and Home Inspectors Commission.
Arlene F. Lee will be leading the Governor’s Office for Children, a position she held from 2005 to 2007 under Ehrlich.
Robert F. Scholz has been appointed counsel to the governor. He is a partner at Niles, Barton & Wilmer LLP, a Baltimore-based law firm, and has a background in corporate and commercial law. He is a past chair of the Maryland State Ethics Commission, according to his law firm.
R. Michael Gill has been named the secretary of Business and Economic Development. He is the chairman and principal of Evergreen Advisors, a mid-Atlantic investm ent bank, and has served on the Board of Regents for the University System of Maryland and the Baltimore County Economic Development Commission, according to the Hogan transition team.
Van T. Mitchell, the new health secretary, is a Democrat and former delegate from Charles County, where he served from 1995 to 2004. According to the Hogan transition team, he served as a principal deputy secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene from 2004 to 2007. He also worked for Manis, Canning and Associates as a lobbyist.
Ben Grumbles will be the new secretary of environment. He was an assistant administrator for water at the Environmental Protection Agency, and was the director of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, according to the Hogan transition team.
Charles Evans Jr. will be the secretary of the Department of Natural Resources . He was previously in the private sector and is known as the “grandfather” of the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund, according to the Hogan transition team.
Joseph Bartenfelder, the new secretary of Agriculture, is a Democrat and former delegate from Baltimore County, where he served from 1983 to 1994. He was also a member of the Baltimore County Council from 1994 to 2010.
Jimmy Rhee, a former assistant secretary of commerce and trade in Virginia, will be the special secretary of Minority Affairs. He has worked in the private sector for technology companies, according to the Hogan transition team.
Brig. Gen. Linda Singh will be the General Adjutant, or leader of Maryland’s National Guard. She served in the U.S. Army for 33 years, and was a managing director at Accenture, according to the Hogan transition team.
James D. Fielder Jr. has been appointed the new appointments secretary, a job Hogan held under Ehrlich. At that time, Fielder was the secretary of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.
C. Gail Bassette will be the secretary of General Services. She is the president and CEO of TCE Inc., a consulting firm that works with the Maryland Department of Transportation, according to her company.
Sam J. Abed is the secretary of the Department of Juvenile Services under Gov. Martin O’Malley, and will continue in his position for the Hogan administration.
Outgoing Delegate Kelly M. Schulz, R-Frederick, will take over as secretary of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.
Craig A. Williams will be Hogan’s chief of staff, a position he held for Ehrlich from 2004 to 2007.
Outgoing state Senator Joseph M. Getty, R-Baltimore and Carroll County, has been named Hogan’s chief legislative officer. Getty also served in the House of Delegates from 1995 to 2003, representing Carroll County.
Robert R. Neall is a former state Senator and Delegate from Anne Arundel who served from 1996 to 2003, and will now serve as an unpaid part-time adviser on fiscal matters.
Stephen Moyer will be the secretary of Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. He was in the Maryland State Police as the lieutenant colonel and deputy superintendent, and was deputy secretary of the Department of Juvenile Services, according to the Sarasota Police Department in Florida, where he served as deputy chief.
Alfred W. Redmer Jr., a Republican and former delegate from Baltimore County, will be the new insurance commissioner. While in the House of Delegates from 1991 to 2003, he served as minority whip, and he also worked for the Chesapeake Bay Advisory Committee in Baltimore County.
George W. Owings III will reprise his role as secretary of Veterans Affairs, which he held from 2004 to 2007 under Ehrlich. A Democrat, he was also member of the House of Delegates from Calvert County, from 1988 to 2004, and served as majority whip from 1994 onwards.
John C. Wobensmith has been named Hogan’s secretary of state. He worked for five U.S. presidents and was the senior Defense Department representative in Turkey. He has worked in national security for four decades, according to the Hogan transition team.