Pelham will change roles
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Tom Pelham |
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BY Louis Porter Vermont Press Bureau - Published: July 2, 2009
MONTPELIER – Tax Commissioner Tom Pelham will leave his current post and become deputy secretary of administration under Neale Lunderville.
Pelham, who has had a variety of jobs in state government across several administrations, will move over to the new job gradually. The challenge of the state's current budget crunch – which could be as bad or worse over the next year – is why he wants to move to the administration position, said Pelham, who is 59 years old.
"This fiscal problem we are in needs to be solved," Pelham said. "I care very much about the state. The kind of financial mess the state got into in the late 1980's when the state spent into the red took five or six years to get out of."
"On the other side I have seen the benefit of what can happen when government is fiscally responsible," added Pelham, who was also Finance Commissioner under Gov. Howard Dean and was appointed as a state Representative by Gov. James Douglas before becoming tax commissioner.
Linda McIntire, the current deputy secretary, is going to retire by September. In the meantime McIntire, who has been filling in as director of human resources for the state as well as being deputy secretary of administration. She will continue doing the state's labor relations job until she leaves in the early fall.
David Herlihy, the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Human Resources, has been called up for active duty with the Vermont National Guard and will not return until December of 2010.
McIntire, 63, said she and her husband have a house in Maine they have not been able to spend as much time at as they would like.
"My husband has been retired for a number of years," she said. "We had been considering it, quite frankly, for a couple months."
McIntire started in state government as a civil rights investigator for the Attorney General's office in the 1980's and read law – an alternative in Vermont to law school for aspiring attorneys. She has also worked for the Vermont Labor Relations Board, as well as both of the agencies that are now combined into the Department of Labor.
"I wouldn't trade a minute of it for anything," McIntire said. "It has been an incredible opportunity."
McIntire has also applied for an early retirement incentive made available to state workers in legislation this year. McIntire would be eligible for a retirement incentive if she won the lottery, through which 300 early retirement spots are chosen. Nearly 1,000 state workers could potentially qualify.
Initially the administration and McIntire – as acting human resources chief – were not in favor of the idea because they did not think it was thoroughly researched and considered. In the end – after more work was done on the program – the administration was not opposed to it, McIntire said.
Pelham has sometimes found himself at odds with lawmakers in the Democratically controlled Legislature, and may again in his new position.
Only by limiting spending can the state give those who rely on state programs some assurance those programs will be there for the long term, Pelham said.
He does not know who will take over at the tax department, but the agency has a strong staff and is prepared for various tax changes and an impending sales tax holiday, Pelham said.
"I will be spending some time at the tax department until there is a replacement," he added.
Pelham's current job pays $89,000 a year and McIntire's pays a little more than $90,000 a year.
Lunderville said McIntire has done good work for the state.
"She's been a key member of the Governor's team and will be sorely missed," Lunderville said by e-mail. "Tom brings a wealth of experience and financial know-how at a critical time in our budget challenges."
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