by Mary Scott Nabers
In the last couple of weeks, Texas has seen the heads of two major state agencies – the Health and Human Services Commission and the Texas Water Development Board – resign, with replacements appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott. The chairmanship of the Texas Railroad Commission has changed hands and the president and CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas has announced his retirement.
The announcement by Health and Human Services Commission Executive Commissioner Dr. Kyle Janek that he would resign July 1 resulted in Abbott naming Deputy Executive Commissioner Chris Traylor as his replacement. Additionally, Charles Smith, deputy for Child Support at the Texas Office of the Attorney General, was named to be Traylor’s deputy commissioner.
Less than a week later, Carlos Rubinstein, chair of the Texas Water Development Board, announced that he will be stepping down after two years at the helm of the board. Abbott chose Bech K. Bruun, who has served as a member of the TWDB since 2013, as the board’s new chair. And finally, Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) President and CEO H.B. “Trip” Doggett announced this week that he plans to retire in 2016 and David Porter, who has served on the Railroad Commission since his election in 2010, was elected by his two fellow members of the commission to serve as chair.
At HHSC, Traylor has a long public service career covering 25 years. Prior to joining HHSC, he was head of the Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS) for two years. Prior to his DADS assignment, he was Texas Medicaid director for three years. He has also served as chief of staff at HHSC. Traylor is a graduate of Texas Tech University.
His new deputy executive commissioner, Smith, was appointed deputy for child support at the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) in 2013. His career at the OAG began as a volunteer in the Child Support Division in 1988 and he remained with the division for 26 years. Smith was reappointed to his position by Attorney General Ken Paxton in January. Smith is a graduate of Texas Tech University.
At the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), Rubinstein put his stamp on the agency during his two years of service as head of the board. He is also the former deputy executive director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Rubinstein also was the Rio Grande Watermaster and is a former city manager in Brownsville.
To replace Rubinstein as chair, Gov. Abbott has appointed Board member Bruun. Bruun has served on the TWDB since September 2013. Much of Bruun’s public service career was in the office of a former Texas governor. He was serving as Appointments Director immediately prior to being named to the TWDB. Heh also served as government and customer relations manager for the Brazos River Authority and has worked in the Texas Legislature as chief of staff to a state representative and as general counsel to a House committee. Bruun holds a bachelor’s degree from The University of Texas at Austin and a law degree from The University of Texas School of Law.
Porter, who was elected to a six-year term on the Texas Railroad Commission in a statewide election in 2010, was elected unanimously by his fellow commissioners to chair the Commission. Porter replaces former Railroad Commission Chair Christi Craddick, who began her service on the Commission in 2012.
Prior to his election to the Commission, Porter had a private Certified Public Accountant (CPA) practice in Midland. He became a CPA in 1981. The new chair is a magna cum laude graduate of Harding University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree.
Doggett is leaving the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market, where he began service in 1998 as a consultant to Austin Energy. He signed on with ERCOT in 2008 as chief operating officer, where he was responsible for overseeing system operations, system planning, market operations and compliance. He was named president and chief executive officer in 2010.
Prior to joining ERCOT, Doggett was employed for 22 years by Duke Energy, where he worked in transmission substation engineering.
Mary Scott Nabers is President and CEO of Strategic Partnerships, Inc., where this story originally published and is reprinted here with full permission. Ms. Scott Nabers has decades of experience working in the public-private sector. A well-recognized expert in the P3 and government contracting fields, she is often asked to share her industry insights with top publications and through professional speaking engagements.