Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 22, 1993 TAG: 9312220075
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Allen also picked his campaign finance director, Betsy Beamer, as secretary of the commonwealth. Beamer is a native of Giles County.
The Republican governor-elect said Finance Secretary Paul Timmreck asked for a job in his administration after working under the last three Democratic governors.
"He is simply the best person for the job," Allen said.
Timmreck helped draft the $32 billion 1994-96 budget proposal that Wilder unveiled Monday. Now he will be advising Allen on changing that budget.
"I'm here basically to serve my boss, whoever that person is," Timmreck said. "I do not see myself as a partisan person."
Timmreck, 48, has been in Virginia government since 1975. He worked for the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission and the Senate Finance Committee before becoming budget director for Govs. Charles Robb and Gerald Baliles.
Wilder praised Timmreck for helping Virginia be rated the best fiscally managed state by Financial World magazine for the last two years.
"Paul also has helped to educate people about the hard choices that face us in the years ahead," Wilder said. "His reappointment signals that the incoming administration understands these realities, and that the vision set forth during [Monday's] budget briefing is required."
Robert Martinez, 38, was deputy administrator of the U.S. Maritime Administration and an associate deputy secretary of transportation under President Bush. He now lives in Virginia Beach and manages strategic planning for Norfolk Southern Corp.
A native of Havana, Cuba, Martinez is believed to be the first Hispanic named to a Cabinet post in Virginia.
Martinez "will work closely with me to ensure that our state's transportation projects are prioritized to address Virginia's most pressing transportation needs," Allen said.
Beamer, 34, has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Radford University and was a reporter for The News Gazette in Lexington. She has served as finance director in Republican campaigns for a decade and has been active in the Muscular Dystrophy Association. She will help Allen make hundreds of appointments to boards and commissions.
Allen named five men and three women to his Cabinet, which must be approved by the General Assembly when it convenes Jan. 12. His appointees include one black and one Hispanic and represent most regions of the state. Three live in the Richmond area, two live in Northern Virginia, one lives in Hampton Roads and two - Beverly Sgro of Blacksburg, secretary of education, and Jerry Kilgore of Scott County, secretary of public safety - are from Southwest Virginia.
Three previously worked in Washington for the Bush or Reagan administrations: Martinez; Kay Coles James, Health and Human Resources, an assistant secretary in the Department of Health and Human Services under Bush; and Becky Dunlop, Natural Resources, an assistant secretary and deputy undersecretary in the Department of the Interior under Reagan.
Most of the Cabinet nominees are in their 30s or 40s. The governor-elect is 41.
by CNB