Bacon's Rebellion

by Dick Hall-Sizemore

I was perusing the latest list of Governor Glenn Youngkin’s appointments and could not help smiling when I came across one entry: Carl Beckett, Special Assistant, Department of Corrections.

I have no idea who Carl Beckett is. It was the position that caught my eye.  “Special assistant” is a pretty non-descriptive job title.

Some context is needed. Generally, most state personnel positions fall under the Virginia Personnel Act. Filling those positions is accomplished through a competitive process “based on merit principles.” After a state employee has been hired and completed a probationary period, he or she cannot be dismissed except for certain specified reasons and there are systems in place to ensure due process for the employee.

There is another classification of state employee: at-will. The governor has complete discretion in the hiring (appointing) of people to serve in these positions and they serve at the pleasure of the governor. They include people in the governor’s office; cabinet members and their staff; and agency heads. In addition to these employees in policy positions, the governor may appoint up to two at-will positions for each agency, in addition to the agency head.  The statute authorizing such appointments describes them as those “serving in the capacity of chief deputy, or equivalent, and the employee who has accepted serving in the capacity of a confidential assistant for policy or administration.”

People appointed to these positions are usually folks who have worked in the governor’s campaign or have some other political connection and the administration does not have another suitable position to offer them.

Agencies really do not like these appointments and they resent them. These are people that have been assigned to them by the governor and about whom they had no say in the assignment. Often, the at-will employee does not have any knowledge or experience in the subject matter of the agency. The appointment was not in response to any specific need of the agency or a vacant position within the agency. As a result, the agency has to figure out what to do with this staff person just assigned to it. Finally, there is the assumption or concern, especially with an at-will appointee at the chief deputy, or equivalent, position that the appointee’s chief role is to “spy” on the agency and report back to the governor. Due to all these misgivings, the at-will appointee is usually given an assignment that isolates him or her from the major operations of the agency doing something that will have as little impact as possible.

I hope Mr. Beckett is assigned to a role he finds interesting and something that he thinks will contribute to the good of state government.