Gov. Jan Brewer is still settling into her office on the Ninth Floor, but that process could go unfinished if the governor chooses not to fill a number of open staff positions.
Due to Arizona’s severe budget shortfall, Brewer could opt to leave some staff positions vacant, according Chuck Coughlin, who headed the governor’s transition team. Brewer spokesman Paul Senseman said no plans have been finalized regarding whether Brewer will fill the remaining positions.
The transition team, which selected candidates for a number of positions, completed its work on Feb. 19, Coughlin said.
“I know there are still positions that need to be filled, and they’re in the process of doing that,” Coughlin said. “But our role in that is over.”
The official role of the transition team may be over, but Brewer encouraged its members at the team’s last meeting to come to her with any further recommendations.
“She said, ‘We have an open-door policy. If you need to call me about something, give me a call.’ I know they all feel that way, and that’s the way she would want them to feel about their relationship with her,” Coughlin said.
In addition to making recommendations for staff and department head positions, the transition team provided a few candidates from its own ranks. Team members Richard Bark, Tom Manos and Brian McNeil now serve in Brewer’s administration as deputy chiefs of staff, while Eileen Klein heads up the Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting, and transition team spokeswoman Kim Sabow is the governor’s deputy communications director. Team member Linda Blessing was named interim director at the Department of Economic Security.