Corbett assembles team for challenges ahead
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HARRISBURG -- As Tom Corbett takes office as governor Tuesday, he's filling his Cabinet with people he believes have the recipe for economic stability, restrained spending and future prosperity.
Over the last three weeks, Mr. Corbett's office has dribbled out a list of key confidants and top advisers.
Most of the appointments are subject to Senate confirmation. No insurmountable hurdles are expected from the Republican-controlled chamber.
The jobs are going by and large to campaign contributors and people Mr. Corbett has worked with before, either as U.S. attorney or attorney general.
No nominees are holdovers from the Rendell administration, but some served in executive offices under previous Republican governors.
Gov.-elect Tom Corbett will be sworn in at noon Tuesday outside the Capitol during a traditional and stoic ceremony that follows a Catholic Mass at St. Patrick Cathedral and the swearing-in of Jim Cawley as lieutenant governor.
After the formalities, the party gets going at a black-tie-optional ball at the Farm Show Complex from 7:30 p.m. to midnight.
Attendees will dine on Pennsylvania regional cuisine including pierogies, cheesesteaks and deconstructed pot pie while they swing and sway to jazz, big band and orchestral music provided by three ensembles.
No tax dollars are being used to fund the ball. It is being paid for through private donations and ticket sales.
Tickets are $150 and are available at www.corbettcawleyinaugural.com.
Leading Mr. Corbett's group of top advisers is William Ward of Mt. Lebanon, who will be chief of staff. To take the job, he left the Pittsburgh firm Ward McGough, where he litigated civil and criminal cases. Mr. Ward is expected to be a methodical, detailed and even-tempered leader who will run the administration's schedule, supervise other aides and develop policy.
Another Pittsburgh attorney, Glenn Cannon, was tapped to run the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. He has worked as senior vice president in the Pittsburgh Office of Hilliard Heintze LLC Strategic Security Advisers and as an assistant administrator in the federal Department of Homeland Security. He also served as Allegheny County manager and Pittsburgh's public safety director.
First Published January 17, 2011 12:00 am
