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Mills recruits committee to find cabinet members

The governor-elect has named a 14-member committee to conduct the search.

PORTLAND (NEWS CENTER Maine) — Maine Gov.-elect Janet Mills is searching for quite a few good men and women to join her cabinet. Mills has formed a special executive search committee to screen applications and find those she considers the best people to help manage state government.

Gov.-elect Mills told NEWS CENTER Maine on Monday her advisors have already received hundreds of inquiries from people who want to work for the new administration. A big job, she says, which needs to be done quickly.

"Immediately you have to think about the budget," Mills said. "Got to think about the legislature and the agenda. Got to think about DHHS, obviously. Got to have somebody who knows federal law, knows Medicaid, can manage personnel and budget. So it's a big, big job."

The governor-elect named a 14-member committee to conduct the search. It includes former CMP President David Flanagan, Mills’ brother and Maine Turnpike director Peter Mills, former Speaker of the House Hannah Pingree, former Senate President Justin Alfond, Peter DelGreco of Maine and Company, and Thomas College President Laurie LaChance.

Mills said she has told the search committee to find the best people, and that being a Democrat is not a requirement.

"I’ve instructed them to look high and low and sometimes across the country for the best talent we can find, whatever their affiliation is," Mills said. "I haven’t excluded anybody."

Mills says she is looking for commissioners to implement key items in her agenda: health care, creating new jobs and fighting climate change. She also plans to hire a staff member to take charge of fighting the opioid drug crisis.

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