The new SBOE Chair is not who I expected.
State Board of Education member Barbara Cargill, R-The Woodlands, will take the helm as the board’s new chairwoman, Gov. Rick Perry announced Friday.
She will follow Gail Lowe, who was appointed chairwoman two years ago but did not win Senate confirmation during the just-concluded legislative session. Lowe, who returns to her seat as an elected member of the board, also got the position when her predecessor, Don McLeroy, failed to get Senate confirmation in 2009.
I figured Perry would pick David Bradley. I’m sure he has his reasons for going a different route. Cargill is part of the same social conservative bloc, but off the top of my head I can’t think of anything horrible she’s done. Fortunately, we have the Texas Freedom Network to keep track of these things, and their Cargill files can be found here. We’ll see if she can break the streak of non-confirmed SBOE Chairs; she has nearly two full years to convince the Senate that she’s not just another nutjob.
Meanwhile, Perry also named a new Chair of the Forensic Science Commission.
Gov. Rick Perry today announced he has appointed Dr. Nizam Peerwani, a well-known Fort Worth medical examiner, to lead the Texas Forensic Science Commission.
Peerwani, who has served on the commission since 2009, will replace Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley as leader of the panel that has been embroiled in controversy practically since its inception. Bradley, a law-and-order prosecutor, failed to win Senate confirmation during the legislative session that ended last month.
[…]
Peerwani, who was appointed to the commission at the same time as Bradley, is chief medical examiner for Tarrant, Denton, Johnson and Parker counties. His term will expire “at the pleasure of the governor.”
Well, at least he’s a scientist. The Commission could use more of a scientific influence these days. I presume Dr. Peerwani will need to be confirmed as Chair as well in 2013. At this time, I have no particular reason to believe that he will have any difficulty with that. At least, I sure hope that’s the case. Grits has more.
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