Could a Vermonter explain this to me...

[Nazgul35]

Having seen the "great debate" here on DU RE: Dean's horrible record on race...it has come up several times that the Vermont Cabinet is only five people.....

So here's my question: Excluding the Governor, I have been able to identify five offices that would consist of a cabinet in most states...and these offices are:

1) Lt. Gov.
2) Secretary of State
3) State Auditor
4) Attorney General
5) Treasurer

These five offices are elective offices

I repeat...elective offices

One more time for emphasis elective offices

So here are my questions:

1) Are these the only cabinet positions in Vermont? What are the others and what is the process for getting the gig? (i.e. does the gov. choose or does he have to have the approval of the Vermont legislature)

2) If they are the only ones, have they always been elective?

3) If they have always been elective.......how the hell can Dean be blamed for not having minorities on his cabinet if they are elective offices!!!

Hope to get some answers to these questions...you know, to actually look for more information before flying off the handle...something alien to DU.....

[Davis_X_Machina]

1. Cabinet level posts...

. Attorney General (elected)
· Auditor of Accounts (elected)
· Governor (elected)
· Lieutenant Governor (elected)
· Secretary of State (elected)
· Treasurer (elected)

Agencies
. Administration (Agency of)
· Agriculture, Food & Markets (Agency of)
· Commerce & Community Development (Agency of)(CCD)
· Human Services (Agency of)(AHS)
· Natural Resources (Agency of)(ANR)
· Transportation (Agency of)(AOT)

[SadEagle]

2. Agriculture was not cabinet-level during the Dean administration

Dean's successor raised it to that level:
http://www.vermontagriculture.com/Press%20Releases/commsec0503.htm


So unless someone got demoted (unlikely) there were 5, not 6 cabinet-level spots.

edit:make the headline less silly, work around space in link

[beaconess]

3. Dean himself said six

Are you saying he doesn't know how many positions were in his own cabinet?

[SadEagle]

5. I did not hear him say it, only DUers saying so...

... and the AP story about how Dean tried to hire minorities (see
http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-democrats-minorities,0,1698744.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines)
also lists 5. Of course, if Dean said six, it's six, since he is clearly an expert in this matter.

[Nazgul35]

4. here the statute governing appointments...

§ 2221. Appointment and salary

(a) The agency shall be under the direction and supervision of a secretary, who shall be appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate and shall serve at the pleasure of the governor.

So Dean would have had to have any person in his cabinet also approved by the Senate...what were the conditions between the senate and his office while he was governor?

It seems that the governor made minority appointments in his office, where he was free to make those appointments unconstrained by any outside influences....

[beaconess]

6. He made ONE minority appointment in his office

and SHE was a part-timer. Hardly worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize.

[Nazgul35]

7. again....

are you more concerned with what people look like or the policies that they support?

As I explained in another thread, this is the same kind of thinking that got us screwed on the minority majority districts.....

Perhaps you should ask yourself why Democrats across the country are so reluctant to vote for minorities or women?

Don't blame the player, blame the game....

[stickdog]

8. Bullshit. (nt)

[nancyharris]

9. From the Vermont Governor’s web site:

Current Vermont Governor Senior Staff Positions

Chief of Staff
Deputy Chief of Staff
Secretary of Civil and Military Affairs
Legal Counsel
Special Assistant to the Governor
Press Secretary
Secretary of Natural Resources
Secretary of Transportation
Secretary of Administration
Secretary of Human Services
Secretary of Commerce and Community Development

The governor also appoints a number of “Commissioners":

Aging and Disabilities
Public Safety
Buildings and General Services
Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care
Agriculture, Food and Markets
Public Service
Corrections
Finance & Management
Personnel
Taxes
Mental Health Services
Economic Development
Employment and Training
Environmental Conservation
Fish and Wildlife
Forests, Parks and Recreation
Health Department
Housing and Community Affairs
Labor and Industry
Motor Vehicles
Prevention, Assistance, Transition and Health Access
Tourism and Marketing

The governor also appoints dozens of state board members.

Picture of cabinet meeting: