LANSING – Taking a cue from large business organizations, Governor-elect Rick Snyder on Tuesday said he was restructuring the Cabinet to create a group executive format with department directors who would effectively oversee other departments and help develop overall strategy.

Snyder said the group executive format is one he has used in business and he called it a “thoughtful way to institute strategy” with policy being developed at the department level.

“Our goal is to set strategy and then have good policy,” he said at a press conference where he announced three new departmental directors.

In making the announcement, Snyder also confirmed that he would issue an executive order splitting the Department of Natural Resources and Environment back into two separate departments: Environmental Quality and Natural Resources.

Dan Wyant, the state’s former Department of Agriculture director, will head the DEQ. Wyant will also be the group executive in charge of the “Quality of Life” group created by Snyder.

Current DNRE chief of staff Rodney Stokes will head the DNR. Stokes has been a finalist for the post the past two times it was open, but until Snyder’s selection had not been named.

Snyder also said he is changing the current Department of Agriculture to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Keith Creagh, who was chief deputy director of the department before leaving to join the Neogen Corporation, will head that department.

The three departments – DNR, DEQ and Agriculture and Rural Development – would all be part of the quality of life group, Snyder said.

There would be a total of six group executives, Snyder said, and in addition to Wyant, treasurer-designate and current House Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford Twp.) would be one such executive, as would newly named Budget Director John Nixon.

Snyder did not list what the other groups would be. Nor did he say when other department directors would be named (though officials in his transition said it was not likely any would be named the rest of this week).

While department directors would still interact with the governor and while there would still be full Cabinet meetings, most of the communication will be between department directors and the group executives. The group executives will then have more regular communications with Snyder.

Snyder said the concept of the group executive was not to exclude directors from contact with him. He also said by having directors play a dual role as a department head and group executive, there would be no need for an additional layer of bureaucracy.

The value of a group executive concept allows the departments to play off each other’s synergies, he said.

It will also provide for better communications, he said.

“I’m bringing in a business model approach that is much more effective and efficient,” he said.

The model is similar to what Detroit Mayor Dave Bing instituted when he took office in 2009. He also has group executives.

In terms of policy, which will be developed in the individual departments and other areas, all will have to be integrated into an overall strategy, which is why Snyder said he named Bill Rustem as director of strategy.

The goal would not be for the governor and his office to set policy. “Our goal is to set the strategy and then empower the people to do good policy and have it all integrated in a thoughtful, effective fashion and that’s what you are going to see,” Snyder said.

THE APPOINTMENTS: Splitting the DNRE back into two departments, after less than a year as one department, was a positive move, Snyder said, “to accentuate what’s really important. Because it’s critically important in terms of our natural resources in terms of positive promotion of those things, it ties into tourism.”

And in terms of having the DEQ stand on its own, Snyder said it was critical to both protect the state’s environment but to do so on the basis of sound science balanced with economics. He also said he was adding a new focus to the Department of Agriculture by adding rural development to its mission because of the problems of unemployment in many areas. While most focus on unemployment is in urban areas, some of the places with the highest unemployment rates are in rural counties. He called his appointees “outstanding people,” and “another example of A-team members.” And he said the combination of the three departments into one group will help play off the synergies each department has with the others.

But Wyant’s appointment drew fire from some environmental groups. Clean Water Action said his track record from when he was Agriculture director during the 1990s raised some worries about how he would approach his role as DEQ director. As the announcement was being made, environmental groups distributed to reporters copies of a letter Wyant wrote the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1998 protesting some federal actions to contain confined animal feeding operations to show concerns for his approach to environmental regulation. Cyndi Roper of Clean Water Action also said that after Snyder made environmental protection a hallmark of his election campaign, his appointment of Wyant “leads us to doubt the governor-elect’s own commitment to protecting Michigan’s lakes, rivers and streams.”

But Wyant said he wanted to develop a collaborative approach and work with all groups to develop environmental protection programs.

“We can protect the environment and grow the economy at the same time with a customer basis,” Wyant said.

And the Michigan Agri-Business Association praised both Wyant and Creagh’s appointments, saying both had wide knowledge and experience and would be able to immediately help the state develop its agricultural sectors.

Rich Studley, president of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, praised both the plan to split the DNRE as well as the appointment of Wyant to head the group.

“He’s someone who cares about our natural resources, but truly believes in conservation in the classical meaning: allowing for wise use of our resources,” Studley said of Wyant.

“The idea of looking at these three agencies and the idea of more of a cooperative, more of a team approach, but with each department having a distinct and separate mission, and the idea of each department having separate leaders but having an overall coordinator seemed like a business-like approach that would provide good results,” he said of the proposed organization.

This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com

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