KANSAS HAS A NEW lieutenant governor.
Gov. Mark Parkinson had promised he would appoint someone to take his old job as soon as the legislative session was over, and on Thursday, he did just that.
Parkinson chose his chief of staff, Troy Findley, for the job.
Findley is a good choice for several reasons. The first is that he has been chief of staff to the Kansas governor for almost seven years, having been hired for the job by Kathleen Sebelius. That means that Findley knows the workings of the executive branch inside and out and knows all the power players in Topeka and across the state. He is also used to working in the background — the common habitat of lieutenant governors.
The only things Findley will have to learn for his new job are how to cut a ribbon with panache and how to smile and wave at the same time. As learning curves go, that’s not steep.
Findley, like all modern Kansas lieutenant governors, will have another job to keep him busy. But his day job will be unusual. He will continue to be Parkinson’s chief of staff. That means that the two will be joined at the hip for the remainder of their terms and that Findley will have unprecedented access to the governor and a role in all of the important decisions in the governor’s office.
Will such a close executive team have benefits of the people of Kansas? We’ll find out.
But for now, the appointment looks like a bargain for the state.
The only catch is that Parkinson’s choice leaves Kansas Democrats without a presumptive candidate for governor in 2010. Parkinson has already said he will not run and Findley, who could have used the second spot to get a running start on a campaign, ruled out his own candidacy in his introductory news conference.
The state’s executive offices are fully staffed again, but the Kansas Democratic Party still has a help-wanted sign in the window.
Patrick S. Kelley
Editorial Page editor
dale011 (anonymous) says...
Good, let them have a vacancy long enough for us to reclaim out government from them.
May 18, 2009 at 4:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seriouslyfolks (anonymous) says...
With only one party, what will we do?
May 18, 2009 at 8:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )