| Legislative
Bulletin |
February
2, 2001 |
 |
 Who's
who on the Easley Team
It
is taking Gov. Mike Easley longer than most people thought it
would to assemble his Cabinet and appointed
other key advisers. He has not yet appointed secretaries of
the departments of Commerce and Revenue. But most other
positions are filled, so here's a quick overview of who's who in
the new administration.
Department of Administration: Gwynn
Swinson
Swinson was special deputy attorney general for administration
and worked on Easley's transition team.
Before joining
state government, she was the associate dean for admissions at
Duke University School of Law. Swinson also worked for the
U.S. Department of Justice for five years where she received
numerous awards and served as an assistant branch director for
the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Civil Division.
 Department of Crime Control and Pubic
Safety: Bryan Beatty
Beatty (left) was director of the State Bureau of Investigation who
worked for Easley at Justice before Easley chose him as the
first African-American to lead the SBI. From
1981 to 1984, Beatty served as a special agent with the SBI.
His assignments included narcotics investigation and providing
security to the Governor of North Carolina. After completing
law school, Beatty practiced with the law firm of Johnson,
Toal & Battiste in Columbia, South Carolina, before
joining the North Carolina Department of Justice.
 Department
of Cultural Resources: Libba Evans
Evans, 48, is a
Winston-Salem business leader who is a native of Clarkton.
Evans (right) is a 1974 graduate of Wake Forest
University and earned her MBA there in 1978. She
is CEO and sole shareholder of West Third Street Management Co.,
a real estate management consulting company. She is also president
and majority shareholder of West Third Street Inc. and Clark,
Evans and Tate, Inc., two real-estate holding companies. From
1986 to 1993, Evans was president of Health Equity Properties,
a NYSE listed real estate investment trust. Evans resigned in
1993 when the company merged with Omega. Prior to 1986, Evans
worked in the investment banking business with Alex, Brown
& Sons, Inc. and with Merrill Lynch, Pierce Fenner and
Smith. Evans has served as the chairman of the Winston-Salem
Arts Council and on the boards of Penland School of Crafts,
Reynolda House, the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce, the
North Carolina Hospital, Lift Academy, Juvenile Justice
Council, Winston-Salem State University Foundation, Prodigals
Community and Best Choice Center. Evans, a member of NCCBI,
is married to James T. Lambie and has three stepdaughters.
Department of Health and
Human Services: Carmen Hooker Buell
Buell, a member of NCCBI who is the widow of the late UNC-Chapel
Hill Chancellor Michael Hooker, has been vice president for
government relations at Quintiles Transnational Corp. in
Research Triangle Park and formerly was a vice president at
Carolinas HealthCare System in Charlotte. Before she and her
husband came to North Carolina, she served 11 years in the
Massachusetts House of Representatives, where she authored
that state's health care reform legislation, including the
first health insurance plan for children of the working poor.
Easley also appointed Kathleen Tobin of Cary as the HHS
Medicaid budget advisor and gave her the specific challenge of
finding savings in the department's budget. Tobin served on
the Bush-Cheney transition team for the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services and before that was on the staff of
the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, where she was primary
legislative aide on a 1996 welfare reform bill.
Department of Juvenile Justice and
Deliquency: George Sweat
Sweat (right) is a
native of Winston-Salem and graduated from R.J. Reynolds High
School in 1966 and from East Carolina University with a
bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1970. He
served on the Winston-Salem Police Department for almost 29
years and was the chief of police for 12 years. In 1997, Sweat
was appointed to the Commission on Juvenile Crime and Justice.
In January 1999, Sweat was appointed as director of the Office
of Juvenile Justice in the Governor’s Office. Sweat was
appointed as the first Secretary of the Department of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention in September 2000. Sweat
and his wife, Lenna have three children and one granddaughter.
 Department
of Transportation: Lyndo Tippett
Tippett (left), a Fayetteville accountant, has been a member of the state Board of
Transportation for the past eight years. He is a member of
NCCBI. Easley appointed Gene Conti,
a former assistant U.S. transportation
secretary for policy, as chief deputy Transportation
secretary. Conti also is a former aide
to Cong. David Price (D-4th) where he specialized in transportation
issues.
Other
Key Players
John McArthur, Susan Rabon, Hampton Dellinger, Alan Hirch
-- these four trusted aides will have the governor's ear on
most issues and should exert considerable clout in the
governor's office. Ron Hawley as state chief information officer. He held this
position in the Hunt administration and previously was the
agency's COO. Before that he worked at the state Justice
Department, managing its information technology operation and
overseeing the Criminal Justice Information Network. Hawley
spent 26 years with the SBI. Sonia Barnes as the governor's special assistant for community
affairs. She will advise Easley on multicultural issues and
initiatives and direct constituency and outreach for the
Governor's Office, including the Governor's Office of Hispanic
and Latino Affairs. Barnes is currently a program consultant
for the state Division of Social Services' office of
children's services. Thomas Wright as director of the Office of State
Personnel. Wright has been personnel director for the state
Department of Justice since 1997. Sondra Davis is in
charge of appointments to boards and commissions. Cari Hepp
is communications director.
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