DIVERSITY, BIPARTISANSHIP EMPHASIZED AS HOGAN ADDS 6 CABINET MEMBERS

Maryland Governor-elect Larry Hogan added 6 more members to his cabinet yesterday in Annapolis. His selections appear to reflect his stated intention of cooperating with Democrats, who hold power in the state legislature that will have to approve his initiatives.

The incoming governor appointed Van Mitchell as Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene, General Linda Singh as General Adjutant of Maryland, Charlie Evans as Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources, Joe Bartenfelder as Secretary of Agriculture, Ben Grumbles as Secretary of the Department of the Environment, and Jimmy Rhee as Special Secretary of Minority Affairs.

Mitchell, a Democrat, was a Deputy Health Secretary in the Bob Ehrlich administration, and a veteran of the state legislature.

Singh is the first woman, and first African-American, to be named adjutant general of the Maryland National Guard.

Evans played a key role in one of Ehrlich's major legislative accomplishments, the so-called Flush Tax that funds sewer upgrades to protect the Chesapeake Bay.

Grumbles served in the administration of George W. Bush, and could become a prominent figure in the current debate over fracking in the state.

Bartenfelder is a Democrat who served on the Baltimore County Council for nearly 20 years, and in the House of Delegates. An experienced farm manager, he has also been a member of the Maryland Farm Bureau, which praised his selection yesterday.

Finally, Hogan also made history by making Rhee the first Korean-American to be appointed to a Maryland cabinet.

“We have been working to assemble a talented, diverse, and bipartisan Cabinet to help us in our mission to change Maryland for the better,” Hogan said at the press conference where he announced the selections.