Legislators praised the naming of new secretaries of the Health Department and the Environment Department by Gov.-elect Martin O?Malley, who again turned to former members of the Glendening administration and to his own staff in Baltimore City.
O?Malley named John Colmers as secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene and Shari Wilson as secretary of the Environment. Colmers spent 19 years in state government, including stints as executive director of both the Maryland Health Care Commission and the Health Services Cost Review Commission. He is currently senior program officer for the Milbank Memorial Fund, a health policy foundation, and serves on the board of CareFirst Blue Cross and Blue Shield.
“He?s one of the most qualified individuals that ever served in the Health Department,” said House Speaker Michael Busch, who has made reducing the number of people without health insurance a top priority this year. “No one knows the health care system of Maryland better than John Colmers.”
Mark Wasserman, vice president at the University of Maryland Medical System and a former Cabinet secretary, praised Colmers as “very capable” and “deeply experienced.”
Wilson is currently chief solicitor for land use in Baltimore City?s law department. She had been policy chief for the Environment Department, a program director for the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, and assistant attorney general enforcing environmental pollution laws.
Environmental Matters Committee Chairman Maggie McIntosh, D-Baltimore City, said Wilson will “bring new ideas,” as she takes charge “of the heart of Maryland ? the Bay.”
Sen. James Rosapepe, D-Prince George?s-Anne Arundel, said the appointments show O?Malley doesn?t need to reinvent the wheel by selecting new faces for his Cabinet.
