Governor-elect Peter Shumlin today announced the appointments of Vermont’s next Secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources and Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation. Deb Markowitz will be Secretary of ANR; David Mears will serve as Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation. Markowitz is one of three political rivals Shumlin has appointed to key posts in his administration. The two others who also sought the Democratic nomination for governor are Doug Racine, who will head Human Services, and Susan Bartlett, who is a special assistant brought in to help write the new budget.
‘I am incredibly excited to welcome Deb Markowitz to our team,’ said Shumlin. ‘With her leadership, management skills and vision we will make ANR more customer friendly while also maintaining our commitment to our environment.’
Deborah Markowitz was elected Vermont’s 37th Secretary of State in 1998 and is serving her sixth term of office. She is widely recognized for enhancing customer service at the Secretary of State’s office and for eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy to make it easier to start and expand businesses in Vermont. A graduate of the University of Vermont (1983), Markowitz received her Juris Doctorate degree from the Georgetown University Law Center.
Markowitz practiced law with Langrock, Sperry, Parker and Wool and she served as the founding director of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns Municipal Law Center where she wrote numerous handbooks including the Environmental Law Handbook and the Municipal Guide to Land Use Regulation. As Secretary, Markowitz’s salary will be approximately $109,000.
‘David Mears is widely regarded as an environmental leader in both Vermont and around the country,’ said Shumlin. ‘David brings an expertise to this important role that will allow us to establish Vermont, once again as a leader on environmental issues. I am deeply grateful for his willingness to take on this position.’
David Mears is a professor of law at Vermont Law School and director of the law school’s environmental and land use law clinics. He has been working in the field of environmental and natural resources protection since 1985 when he graduated from Cornell University with a degree in environmental engineering technology. Mears graduated from Vermont Law School in 1991 with both a Juris Doctor and Masters of Environmental Law and Policy degrees. Mears served as the energy and environmental policy director with the Texas Office for State-Federal Relations in Washington, DC, then served both as a trial attorney and counselor for state and local affairs with the U.S. Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division. In 1998, he was appointed senior assistant attorney general and chief of the Ecology Division in the Washington Office of the Attorney General. He is currently in Guangzhou, China, on a Fulbright scholarship, lecturing on United States law at Sun Yat Sen University of Law. As Commissioner of DEC, Mears’ salary will be approximately $85,000.
Democratic gubernatorial primary debate at the Addison County Fair & Field Days in August. Left to right, Peter Shumlin, Matt Dunne, Doug Racine, Susan Bartlett and Deb Markowitz. The latter three shrugged off disappointment and campaigned for Shumlin in the general election against Brian Dubie. They all will be working in the Shumlin administration. Photo: Vermont Business Magazine.