Doyle Should Shed This Thompson-Era Mistake

After then-Gov. Tommy Thompson seized control of the Department of Natural Resources by morphing its Secretary into a political appointee, then-Attorney General Jim Doyle said he'd return the appointment to the DNR Board if he were elected Governor.

Now the Governor has changed his mind.

And as The Capital Times puts it, he is wrong to go back on that commitment.

Thompson, and his successor, Lt. Governor Scott McCallum, extended the politicization of the department, and began some in the agency believe is an ongoing fall in morale and internal timidity.

George Meyer, the last Secretary appointed by the board, was dismissed by McCallum during the former Lt. Governor's short, undistinguished stint as Governor after Thompson left to serve in the cabinet of President George W. Bush.

Doyle then beat McCallum in the 2002 general election.

Meyer and environmental groups have led an effort to restore the DNR appointment power to the board, have enough support in both houses of the legislature to get it done, but that could lead to a veto, and a problematic override.

Messy.

And it should have never come to this.

Chief executives do not like to lose perks and forfeit power, but in this case, the Governor would retain some control over the DNR secretary because the Governor appoints the DNR board.

Regardless of whom is Governor, insulation from direct gubernatorial intervention into DNR's activities is a good idea, given the agency's regulatory functions - - tasks that are best performed with reasonable distance from political considerations.

I hope Gov. Doyle decides that a DNR Secretary with a bit of independence is good for the state.