HARRISBURG (TNS) — Gov.-Elect Josh Shapiro has kept it simple for two of his latest Cabinet appointments, asking current state Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding and Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn to stay on for a new hitch in state government.
In addition, Shapiro has turned to an attorney from the power sector to lead another key agency, asking Commonwealth Edison executive Rich Negrin to lead the Department of Environmental Protection.
“Rich Negrin, Cindy Adams Dunn, and Russell Redding are dedicated and experienced public servants and I am proud to nominate them to cabinet positions in my Administration,” Shapiro said in a statement announcing the latest choices.
DEP, with a broad portfolio covering everything from municipal water supplies and stream quality to power plant and vehicle emissions to permitting for Pennsylvania’s lucrative extraction industries, is perennially one of the state’s most cussed and discussed bureaucracies.
Negrin has been Vice President of Regulatory Policy and Strategy and head of external affairs at Commonwealth Edison where among other things, Shapiro said, he led efforts to increase the use of renewable energy, spur the adoption of electric vehicles, and increase energy efficiency.
But Negrin also has a strong background in government service, having previously served as managing director of the City of Philadelphia under former Mayor Michael Nutter, and for a time, as a prosecutor in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office.
His resume also show stints as a litigator with the Morgan Lewis law firm, and as associate general counsel of the Philly-based food service giant, ARAMARK.
Negrin, of Cuban descent, will also be the first Latino to head DEP.
The other appointments announced Tuesday, meanwhile, may be among the easiest confirmation battles of the cycle.
Dunn has served as Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources since the outset of the Wolf Administration in 2015, and she has held multiple other positions in the agency under three governors during the last three decades.
During her tenure as secretary, the department has advanced water quality initiatives within the Chesapeake Bay and across the Commonwealth; seen and managed the highest visitation at state parks and forests; and prepared the way for the opening of two new state parks.
Immediately prior to joining Gov. Tom Wolf’s cabinet, Dunn was president and chief executive officer of PennFuture, a statewide environmental advocacy organization.
Redding’s reappointment, meanwhile, is sure to bring some smiles to crowds at the Pennsylvania State Farm Show in Harrisburg this week.
Another of Wolf’s original cabinet appointees, he has emerged as a trusted advocate for and promoter of Pennsylvania’s farmers and related industries, encouraging existing farmers to explore new revenue streams from agri-tourism activities, organics or looking at new crops like hemp.
Redding has also put a priority on helping to expand the market for Pennsylvania-grown products.
A Penn State graduate whose family operated a dairy farm, outside of government Redding served for a time as dean of the School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at Delaware Valley College. He also served as state Ag Secretary under former Gov. Ed Rendell from 2009-11.
“I have complete confidence in these leaders and their abilities to bring people, advocacy organizations, local governments, family farms, and businesses together to create solutions that will protect our Commonwealth’s future and natural resources while embracing our role as national leaders in energy, conservation, and agriculture.”
On Monday, Shapiro nominated former superintendent of Lower Merion and Reading school districts Khalid Mumin to serve as his education secretary, First Chief Deputy Attorney General Nancy Walker as labor and industry secretary and Acting Community and Economic Development Secretary Neil Weaver as his secretary of administration.
Both Mumin and Walker’s nominations require Senate confirmation by a simple majority vote while Weaver’s appointment does not.
Last week, Shapiro announced former Philadelphia City Commissioner and election official Al Schmidt as his Secretary of State nominee.
Mumin has served in various capacities in education starting as an English teacher in Scotland, Pa., in 1997 and rising through the leadership ranks to the superintendents’ posts. He has been recognized nationally as a “School Board Savvy Superintendent” and authored a book titled, “Problem Child: Leading Students Living in Poverty Towards Infinite Possibilities of Success.”
He holds an associate’s degree from Northeastern Christian Junior College, a bachelor’s from Shippensburg University, a master’s from Penn State; and a doctorate from University of Pennsylvania.
Walker has worked with Shapiro in the attorney general’s office in its Fair Labor Section since 2017. That section focused on ensuring workers are being treated fairly and lawfully and served as lead counsel in lawsuits that brought about changes to the tip and joint employer rules as well as a criminal wage and benefit theft investigation resulting in a $21 million plea deal, the largest case of its kind in the country. Prior to joining the attorney general’s office, she had a private law practice that focused on labor and employment law.
She is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
Weaver’s past experience in state government also includes serving as executive deputy secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development, as the Department of Environmental Protection communications director and press secretary, and in the governor’s Office of Performance through Excellence as well as private sector experience in the environmental field and as a fundraising manager for Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in Bethesda, Md.
Weaver, who currently serves on Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education’s governing board as well as a trustee for PennWest University, is a graduate of Clarion University.
©2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit pennlive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
{p class=”krtShirttail”}
