A governor and his or her chief of staff work very closely. It sounds almost like a political marriage. The team has to be on the same page about everything, with the chief of staff able to speak for the governor and put out dozens of small fires of governing every day while the governor looks at the big picture and spend time with constituents.
Former Gov.and U.S. Rep. Mike Castle joins Delaware governors' chiefs of staff in discussing the merits of the "Delaware Way".
Former Gov.and U.S. Rep. Mike Castle joins Delaware governors' chiefs of staff in discussing the merits of the "Delaware Way".
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David Swayze served as chief of staff for Gov. Pierre S. du Pont from 1977 to 1985. He compared his position to that of a chief operating officer, “to protect the governor from the minutia of government.”
Other chiefs of staff including Tom McGonigle, chief of staff for Gov. Jack Markell, agreed and shared their experiences in office and impressions of Delaware politics. The discussion was presented during a Delaware Rotary luncheon Thursday at the Hotel du Pont in Wilmington.
“You’d be surprised how many decisions of policy are made by the chief of staff on a daily basis,” said Jeffrey Bullock who served as chief of staff to former Gov. Tom Carper. Bullock said he made decisions while the governor was out “pushing the bigger agenda.”
“The chief of staff needs to understand where the governor’s head is about things. There’s a lot of policy that gets made in the moment.”
The job of chief of staff is a 24/7 position, said Mike Ratchford, former Gov. Mike Castle’s chief of staff. It’s spending hours pouring over the state budget or addressing the secretary of agriculture’s concerns about dying evergreen saplings.
“You try to laugh when you can laugh and you work incredibly, incredibly hard,” Bullock said. Bullock added he didn’t realize how tired he was until his time in the governor’s office was over after 15 years. It took him six months to decompress.
The First State is somewhat unique in its bipartisan spirit in the legislature, referred to often as “The Delaware Way.” Most of those in government relish this, but sometimes there are those who think there should always be more conflict in government, said Mark Brainard, chief of staff for former Gov. Ruth Ann Minner.
Moderator and former Delaware governor and U.S. Rep Mike Castle said he thinks it’s often people from outside of the state who come into Delaware politics and think they need to stick to the party doctrine more than to work together across party lines.
“I think the Delaware Way is frankly the way to go. It’s why Delaware has been successful. I would hope that those that come from afar will learn from that and realize that by working together when you’re a small state you can get more done than fighting each other all the time,” said Castle.
Castle added the First State’s size requires Republicans and Democrats to work in a bipartisan way if it wants to compete.
“We are a small state. If we’re going to compete for jobs, and in education and in a variety of other ways with bigger states we have to be able top stay together and work together. So, that’s been at the heart of a lot of what’s happened in Delaware under Republican and Democratic governors. And I think is been a good success story,"
“(Some) people on the edge of the process look at the Delaware Way as something that is bad,” Brainard said. He then recalled a quote from another legislator who said, “When it comes to Delaware finances and economy, we’re all Delaware patriots.”