A new leadership team at the state’s Department of Human Resources was announced Tuesday afternoon. The Tax Department’s Maribeth Spellman will take over as commissioner on Sept. 2, joined by newly appointed Deputy Commissioner Kari Miner.
Former Commissioner Kate Duffy moved to the Attorney General’s Office on Aug. 11 to work on the state’s legal defense of the new GMO labeling law. The Human Resources deputy position has been vacant since 2011, when Duffy was promoted to commissioner.
Gov. Peter Shumlin said in a statement that Spellman and Miner will work with the state workers’ union and build value for Vermont taxpayers.
“I am confident that they will lead the department ably, and will build bridges with key constituencies including our managers and the VSEA, to produce great results,” Shumlin said.
Spellman is moving to DHR’s top job from the Department of Taxes, where she started as director of policy, outreach, and legislative affairs in 2013. She spent more than a decade working for the federal government in the areas of personnel, labor and employment law, according to a press release announcing the lineup. Spellman’s tenure in Washington, D.C., included six years as senior litigator for the Army. She previously worked in Vermont as an equal opportunity officer.
Miner is currently a senior program manager at the Vermont Transportation Training Center. Prior to joining VTrans, she spent more than two decades with the Department of Human Resources and Personnel Department in a variety of roles, including field operations and labor relations.
A spokesman for the Vermont State Employees Association, the union representing more than 5,000 state workers, said the group had not yet been formally introduced to Spellman or Miner. The department’s change in leadership follows tension between the union and the administration. VSEA has accused the department of retaliatory practices against state employees who criticize managers.
“VSEA leaders are looking forward to sitting down soon with the newly appointed DHR leadership team to listen to any and all ideas they have to foster improved dialogue and cooperation between DHR and VSEA moving forward,” said VSEA spokesperson Doug Gibson.
Spellman said her leadership approach is to empower people “to think creatively, challenge themselves, and value their own contributions, and the contributions of others.”
Miner said she hopes to elevate the department’s focus on customer service, including recognition and support of employees in state government. She wants to build on professional development opportunities for managers and emerging leaders, complete investigations promptly and resolve disputes “at the lowest level possible,” Miner said.
Gibson said it’s too soon to know if or how the state employee-administration relationship may change.
“We hope from the press release announcing the appointments, that this DHR leadership team will agree that a culture of management retaliation and heavy-handed investigations is not productive, and that this DHR team will work with VSEA to change this culture for the good of all frontline state employees and the Vermonters they serve,” Gibson said in a written statement.
Secretary of Administration Jeb Spaulding said before Duffy decided to leave her post, the department was already working on speeding up investigations and improving professional development opportunities. Those initiatives will continue under the new management team, Spaulding said.
“Both Maribeth Spellman and Kari Miner have (those priorities) as something we don’t need to tell them,” Spaulding said.
He praised DHR Interim Commissioner Christine Hetzel for her leadership during the transition. Hetzel will continue to lead the department’s professional development efforts once Spellman and Miner are in place.
“Maribeth and Kari will complement each other well and will hit the ground running,” Hetzel said. “I look forward to supporting their leadership. The combination will, I believe, be well received at the department and throughout state government.”
