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Government & Politics

Half of Hogan’s ‘Green Bag’ Appointees Are Women

Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) and Appointments Secretary Chris Cavey with the green satchel used to deliver 168 nominations to the state Senate. Governor’s office photo

Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) announced 168 “Green Bag” appointments on Friday, nominating people to serve on everything from the Agricultural and Resource-Based Industry Development Corporation to the Advisory Council on Youth Camp Safety.

These appointments have taken their name because of a tradition that dates back centuries, in which nominations handed down during the General Assembly session are delivered to the state Senate in a green satchel.

Hogan has declared 2020 to be the “Year of the Woman” in Maryland, and appropriately, exactly half of the green bag appointments he announced Friday are women.

But one of the most noteworthy appointees is a man. Hogan nominated Thomas V. Miller III, son of long-serving state Senate president (now Senate President Emeritus) Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) to become a judge on the Anne Arundel County District Court.

Hogan is not the first governor to nominate the younger Miller for a powerful position. Since 2010, Miller has served as an associate judge on the Anne Arundel County District Court, appointed by then-Gov. Martin J. O’Malley (D). In 1996, then-Gov. Parris N. Glendening appointed Tom Miller to the state parole board, where he served until his appointment to the District Court.

Hogan also made four appointments to the Maryland Board of Education: He reappointed David M. Steiner, director of the Johns Hopkins Institute of Education Policy; and appointed educator Susan J. Getty, wife of Maryland Appeals Court Judge Joseph M. Getty; and Montgomery County attorney Shawn D. Bartley, whose wife is a teacher. Hogan also named Lori Morrow, a Prince George’s County public school advocate and PTA leader, to serve as the first ever designated parent member of the state school board.

“These appointments reflect the diversity of our state, and I am confident that these appointees will help us continue to change Maryland for the better,” Hogan said of his 168 picks.

Click here to see the full list of Green Bag appointments.

In other Hogan administration personnel news, the governor announced Friday the appointment of Michael T. Pedone, assistant secretary at the Maryland Department of the Environment, as new his new chief legal counsel. Pedone will succeed Robert F. Scholz, who has held the position since the start of the Hogan administration and is retiring.

“Michael Pedone has compiled an impressive record as an attorney with experience in both the public and private sectors,” Hogan said in a statement. “I am proud to welcome him to our team as we continue our efforts to change Maryland for the better. Bob Scholz has been a highly valued member of my administration since day one, and I want to sincerely thank him for his dedicated service to our state.”

Prior to joining the Maryland Department of the Environment, Pedone was the general counsel for Tradepoint Atlantic (TPA), the real estate developer of the Sparrows Point industrial site in Baltimore County. He joined TPA after serving as the vice president and general counsel of its parent company, Redwood Capital Investments, a private investment fund. He also worked in the corporate practice group at the Washington, D.C.-based law firm Venable LLP.

Pedone called the appointment “a great honor.”

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Half of Hogan’s ‘Green Bag’ Appointees Are Women