Washington Gov.-elect Bob Ferguson reappoints these 3 directors to state agencies
Gov.-elect Bob Ferguson on Friday revealed his choices to direct three state agencies — and they’re all reappointments.
Cami Feek will lead the Employment Security Department, Derek Sandison will head the Department of Agriculture and Major General Gent Welsh will serve as the adjutant general of the state’s military department.
“I am thankful for these individuals and their unwavering commitment to Washington state,” Ferguson said in a Dec. 6 news release. “Their experience will help us move our state forward to better serve all Washingtonians.”
In June 2021, Gov. Jay Inslee appointed Feek as commissioner for the Employment Security Department, where she has held other leadership roles, according to the release. Before her time at that agency, she worked in the General Administration (today called the Department of Enterprise Services), the Department of Financial Institutions, the Attorney General’s Office and the Washington State Patrol.
Sandison was appointed director of the state’s agriculture department in June 2015, per the press release. Before that he directed the Columbia River office in the Department of Ecology. He’s the second vice president on the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture’s executive board and previously served as president of the Western United States Agricultural Trade Association.
As adjutant general of the state’s military department, Welsh is responsible for more than 8,000 Washington National Guard soldiers and airmen, the news release says. He acts as the governor’s homeland-security advisor and directs the Washington Military Department, which encompasses the Washington Youth Challenge Academy and Emergency Management Division.
Earlier this month Ferguson named Tim Lang as secretary of the Department of Corrections and Casey Sixkiller as director of the ecology department.
Last month he announced Cheryl Strange, the current corrections secretary, as acting director of the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services.
The governor-elect revealed two other reappointments on Nov. 27: Marcus Glasper as director of the Department of Licensing and David Puente Jr. as director of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The week of Nov. 17, Ferguson said he would be hiring leadership for nine state agencies.
This story was originally published December 6, 2024 at 2:52 PM with the headline "Washington Gov.-elect Bob Ferguson reappoints these 3 directors to state agencies."
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