Chairwoman Comai to serve on Rick Snyder's Transition Committee for State Management Issues
Stephanie Comai, chairwoman of Central Michigan University’s Board of Trustees, will serve on Republican Gov.-elect Rick Snyder’s Transition Committee for State Management Issues.
The announcement was made Friday on http://www.governorelectricksnyder.com/.
“She’s going to be helping coordinate all those efforts that deal with state government and the departments and their role within the transition,” said Bill Nowling, spokesman for the Transition Committee.
Nowling said Snyder sought out Comai to help with the transition process because she has an understanding of how agencies work and how to manage them.
“She just has a broad understanding of how state government is organized,” he said. “She filled numerous (positions) under (former Governor John) Engler.”
Comai, whose tenure as a CMU Trustee ends Dec. 31, served as the director of state government affairs for the Engler administration, worked in Washington, D.C. for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Labor, according to the press release.
She also worked for the Engler administration as a special adviser for information technology and as director of the e-Michigan office. In that position, she led the effort to make all the state’s online services and information available through a new web portal.
Nowling said Comai already started as a volunteer advisor and will work through Snyder’s inauguration on Jan. 1.
Overall, the Transition Committee helps Snyder organize his office, begin the development of a budget proposal, brief him on state management issues, operationalize his economic development plan, help to fill appointed positions by recruiting qualified professionals and help develop legislation that’s in-line with Snyder’s priorities.
Snyder also appointed Ann Arbor SPARK President and CEO Michael Finney to the Transition Committee for Economic Development Friday.
Doug Rothwell is the Transition Committee Chairman. An Inauguration Committee Chair has yet to be appointed.
