Gov.-elect Peter Shumlin named the appointment today at a press conference in the treasurer’s office on the fourth floor of the Pavilion Building in Montpelier.
Shumlin said there were many applicants for the position including “some with a more political background” but he decided to choose Pearce because she is “the most qualified treasurer Vermont has ever brought to the job.”
“No one has trained more carefully, no one understands state finances better and no one else can step into the job without missing a beat,” Shumlin said.
Shumlin said it was also important to him to bring a woman into a statewide office “to balance out the imbalance” of state officeholders who are, at this juncture, predominantly men.
Pearce has been a deputy in the Vermont treasurer’s office since 2003. She has been responsible for unclaimed property, debt and capital financing, and management of the state employee, municipal worker and teacher retirement funds.
She has more than 30 years of experience in government finance. Before she moved to Vermont, Pearce worked as the deputy treasurer for Cash Management at the Massachusetts State Treasurer’s Office from 1999-2003.
A complete story will follow this evening.
