By Kathy Barks Hoffman
Associated Press
LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Gov.-elect Rick Snyder said this week he's changing the setup of state government to include a six-person super-cabinet responsible for keeping his initiatives on track.
As part of that change, Snyder plans to again split the Department of Natural Resources and Environment into two separate agencies. Gov. John Engler first separated them in 1995, but Gov. Jennifer Granholm combined the agencies in 2009 in a cost-saving move.
Snyder named former agriculture director Dan Wyant as Department of Environmental Quality director, while Science and Policy Office Chief Rodney Stokes will become director of the Department of Natural Resources. Current DNRE director Rebecca Humphries is leaving to work for Ducks Unlimited.
Former Agriculture Deputy Director Keith Creagh, who just retired, will become head of the renamed Department of Agriculture & Rural Development.
Asked whether splitting the departments would cost more money, Snyder said only that the move would help them work more efficiently so should save money over time.
The three departments will work together in the Quality of Life group. Snyder plans to divide all the state departments into six separate groups, with each group represented on the super-cabinet. Wyant will represent the Quality of Life group.
It's likely that newly appointed budget director John Nixon will head up a group that includes information technology, management and budget and the Office of the State Employer, transition spokesman Bill Nowling said. House Speaker Andy Dillon, soon to be state treasurer, will head up another of the six groups.
Decisions on how the rest of the departments will be divided and who will serve on the super-cabinet haven't been made yet, Nowling said. He also couldn't say if Snyder will combine or divide any other existing departments.
Snyder said he'll still meet with the full cabinet, but wants the super-cabinet to mirror the group executives who reported to him at computer maker Gateway Inc.
"I view this as a type of synergy . a way to work better together," he told reporters at a Capitol news conference.
Wyant said the three newly appointed department heads all know each other and have extensive government and private-sector experience.
"We've all worked in multiple administrations and we've worked in a bipartisan manner," said Wyant, currently president and chief operating officer of the Edward Lowe Foundation in Cassopolis, which promotes entrepreneurship and helps owners increase the size of their small businesses.
He served for nine years as agriculture director under Engler and Granholm and some environmentalists worry he may favor agricultural interests over environmental protection.
Cyndi Roper, Michigan director of Clean Water Action, said in a release that Wyant "was an obstacle" to regulating pollution from large industrial farms. "As the director of environmental quality, Wyant will now be in charge of enforcing pollution laws and regulations that he vigorously opposed enforcing as agriculture director," she added.
In contrast, the Michigan Agri-Business Association praised Wyant's appointment, noting he "is interested in solving problems and helping obtain compliance with regulations, not just focused on enforcement and punishing job providers." The group also supports Creagh's appointment.
Wyant said he'll bring environmentalists and business groups to the table. He's currently on the board of The Nature Conservancy's Michigan chapter and said he supports Snyder's concern for the environment.
Hugh McDiarmid of the Michigan Environmental Council said he's waiting to see how much money a Snyder administration will spend on oversight. Budget cuts already have diminished that role, he added.
"Pollution hotlines aren't being answered. Cleanup of polluted sites has largely come to a standstill," McDiarmid said.
He called Stokes "a wonderful choice" and said he's upbeat about Snyder's commitment to the state's ecological resources.
"There's really a lot of reasons for optimism in Snyder's environmental platform, especially in urban areas," McDiarmid said.
Published: Thu, Dec 2, 2010
