DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara will step down this summer to head the National Wildlife Federation.
O’Mara joined Gov. Jack Markell’s (D-Delaware) Cabinet in 2009 after working for the city of San Jose, California where he promoted environmentally sustainable economic development practices.
At the time, he was the youngest cabinet official in the country.
Gov. Markell said in a statement he is "sad to see him leave the administration," but praised O'Mara's track record leading DNREC.
“When he moves on in July, he will leave a strong and capable team prepared to build on a legacy of remarkable improvements to the quality of life in our state, including huge reductions in air pollution and impressive upgrades in our ability to deal with major storms," read Markell's statement. "Collin’s leadership has helped make Delaware a nationally recognized leader in energy and climate change policies."
During his tenure at DNREC, O’Mara also oversaw the implementation of a statewide recycling program, promoted efforts to fight childhood obesity and expanded Delaware’s trails and bike paths network.
O’Mara has most recently served as point man for Gov. Jack Markell’s initiative to detoxify the state’s polluted waterways at the cost of $30 million annually to Delaware taxpayers.
That proposal, unveiled in March, has failed to gain much traction in the General Assembly in a tough budget year and amid competition from other Administration initiatives like bolstering transportation spending.
Rep. John Kowalko (D-Newark South), Chair of the House Energy Committee, notes that O'Mara won't shoulder the political fallout should lawmakers ultimately punt on the proposal.
"I think if anything happens with the Clean Water Initiative, if it doesn't pass it'll reflect for better or worse on the [Markell Administration], not him," said Kowalko.
Senate Minority Whip Greg Lavelle (R-Sharpley) agrees with Kowalko, saying he's uncertain about the future of the legislation, despite the secretary's efforts.
"I still just think that there's bigger roadblocks to the bill than Collin O'Mara being or not being in the building. We have no details on the bill and time's a'wasting," said Lavelle.
O’Mara notes that he thought he’d spend his career in government, but says he feels that advocacy organizations are uniquely positioned to address America’s environmental problems.
“The more time I spend in Washington, D.C. though – especially testifying and working on the Hill on things – the more I realize that we actually need a broad base of support for a lot of the things that the organization cares about that we’ve been working on at DNREC and that government isn’t the best place to build some of those coalitions," said O'Mara. "You really need to build them from the outside.”
He says the priority for his next job is to bring together people that don’t agree in order to resolve their differences instead of strictly lobbying lawmakers.
“The National Wildlife Federation is the one that’s done a better job – since 1936 when it was created – to bring together hunters and anglers and birders and farmers and gardeners and folks in the forestry industry to talk about the commonality, which is basically the land and the wildlife and things that really shouldn’t be seen as partisan, Republican or Democrat issues,” said O'Mara.
Kowalo says O’Mara’s gravitas on environmental issues and reputation as a consensus builder will be missed and hard to replicate in the First State.
“You can always fill that spot with a bureaucrat or someone that’s inexperienced in that field at DNREC, but to have that distinct personality of a young man, who comes from an environmental background out in California, I think that’s very difficult to find a replacement for that,” said Kowalko.
O’Mara plans to step down July 7th, after the end of the current legislative session June 30th. O’Mara adds he intends to commute betweenThe National Wildlife Federation offices outside Washington, D.C. and his home in Wilmington for now.