Branstad asks former aides to serve on Transpo Panel

Governor Branstad was just at the Iowa DOT Commission meeting in Ames today, announcing the membership of his “Transportation 2020 Citizens Advisory Committee.”  (Observers can’t really remember the last time a governor actually attended a commission’s meeting.)

Branstad’s asked a number of folks who had roles in his previous administrations to be a part of this “2020” transportation vision thing.   Here’s the list of “2020” panel members and I’ve added a note behind the names of those who I remember having roles in Branstad 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 & 4.0.  I believe this administration is Branstad 5.0, as in the fifth term.

Co-Chair – Nancy Richardson – Coralville
*Co-Chair – Allan Thoms – Cedar Rapids (Thoms, pronounced TOHMZ, like big old scholarly books are called “tomes”, was Dubuque’s mayor, then he signed on to be Branstad’s economic development director.  Thoms later moved onto the governor’s central office staff, serving as chief of staff, before being named by Branstad to chair the Iowa Utilities Board)
Scott Cirksena – Clive                                                     
Jeff Corkery – Peosta                                                            
*Catherine Dunn – Dubuque (Catherine Dunn was president of Clarke College in Dubuque; she was appointed by Branstad to serve on the Iowa Transportation Commission in 1989 and in 1994 became the first woman to chair the commission.)                                
*Geri Huser – Altoona (No Branstad link, per se, but she is a former State Representative – a Democrat– who lost her bid for reelection last November to Republican Kim Pearson.)                                                           
*Jim Kersten – Fort Dodge (Kersten is a former Branstad legislative liason who also served as a state senator.)                                                        
Lindsey Larson – Jefferson                                                   
Rose Mitchell – West Des Moines                                                      
*Ann Trimble Ray – Early (Ray works with the coalitions/networks that support expansion of Highways 20 and 30.  She has also worked on Congressman Steve King’s campaigns.)                                                
Dan Wiedemeier – Burlington
Larry Winum – Glenwood