Louisiana’s new governor filled most of his remaining cabinet spots today.
The Associated Press reports Gov. John Bel Edwards named Marketa Garner Walters to lead the Department of Children and Family Services and Thomas Harris to head the Department of Natural Resources.
Walters was an assistant secretary in the social services department under former Gov. Kathleen Blanco and most recently ran a consulting firm dealing with children and family issues, and disaster planning. Harris worked for the natural resources department as administrator of its technology assessment division. He previously spent nearly a decade at the state environmental quality department.
Former Attorney General Richard Ieyoub will become the governor’s commissioner of conservation, a position of key importance to the regulation of oil and gas in Louisiana. Meanwhile, former state Sen. Noble Ellington will work as Edwards’ chief legislative lobbyist.
Michael Ellis, who worked for an engineering firm on coastal and municipal water projects, was tapped to be executive director of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. The governor also hired as his press secretary Shauna Sanford, a former radio and TV reporter who most recently worked for Louisiana Public Broadcasting.
Edwards also expressed disappointment today with the House speaker’s choices of who will lead and serve on House committees. He says Republican House Speaker Taylor Barras named too few Democrats to committee chairmanships in the majority GOP chamber. For the 16 House standing committees, Barras selected 12 Republicans and four Democrats to be committee chairs. Barras, who says his choices were not partisan and do not reflect a political agenda, won the House’s top leadership job over Edwards’ choice, Democrat Rep. Walt Leger.
