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Kaine Fills Va. Public Safety Positions
"We think he's done an extraordinary job as secretary of public safety," Huggins said of Marshall. He also praised Crouch, 57, saying that "continuity is the issue here. Virginia is ahead of most states as it relates to public safety and homeland security issues. These three choices are outstanding men with proven records of accomplishment."
Del. L. Scott Lingamfelter (R-Prince William), a former Army colonel, said picking Newman, 53, for the top guard job is smart.
  Gov.-elect Timothy M. Kaine, right, appointed Robert B. Newman Jr., left, as adjutant general of the National Guard; Robert P. Crouch Jr. as homeland security adviser; and John W. Marshall as secretary of public safety. (By Steve Helber -- Associated Press) |
"The governor could not have picked a steadier, more trustworthy or qualified individual," Lingamfelter said, adding that "the potential is very high that Governor Kaine could see a major incident during his term."
Crouch said his primary job will be to live up to a new set of public expectations for security in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and Hurricane Katrina.
"The expectation is that the government work efficiently and caringly," he said. "Natural and man-made disasters will happen. It's the pattern of history. We just don't know which they will be."
Newman, who flew fighter jets for 20 years and will be the first airman to lead the guard, said he will work on guard members' morale, which has become strained under the heavy burdens of natural disasters and the war in Iraq.
"It will be something that will be a priority," he said.
Marshall is the son of the late Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall. He was a state trooper for more than a decade and served as head of the U.S. Marshals Service before Warner appointed him to his Cabinet in 2002.
Marshall considered running for lieutenant governor as a Democrat this year but decided to stay in the Cabinet.
Kaine has not disclosed whom he is considering for some of the most high-profile jobs in his Cabinet, such as secretary of transportation and secretary of education. He has said he will make more announcements next week in advance of a 10-day vacation scheduled to begin Dec. 16.
For the transportation job, sources have said Kaine is considering Pierce R. Homer, the current secretary, as well as Katherine K. Hanley, the former Fairfax County Board of Supervisors chairman.
The next transportation secretary will face a major test early in the administration. For the past several weeks, Kaine has been holding town hall meetings around the state to discuss the need for a major effort to address the state's traffic problems during the 2006 legislative session.
Kaine will be inaugurated Jan. 14 in Williamsburg because the state Capitol is being renovated. He will be the first Virginia governor since Thomas Jefferson to be inaugurated in Williamsburg.
