Selling to State and Local Government

Appointed Executives

Appointed executives are generally executives who head either departments of the parent government (county department of parks, state health department, etc.), or semi-autonomous agencies (port authority, water district, etc.). It is important to note that some of these types of positions may be elected and some appointed. This can vary from place to place. The Chief of Police may be an appointed position in one city and an elected position in another.

Their functions are very much like a CEO in the case of an autonomous agency. In the case of a department they function more like a VP reporting to the CEO. For example, in the private sector the VP of marketing will make most decisions regarding advertising contracts and the like. But they still are answerable to the CEO.

The general process for appointing people to these positions is that the elected official (governor, mayor, etc.) announces the person for appointment and they need to be confirmed by a representative body (senate, representatives, city council, etc.). So the person cannot simply be a favorite of the elected executive, he/she must also engender favor or at least neutrality from the representative body to confirm them.  

While elected officials tend to be somewhat similar (politicians), there are some different types of appointed officials.

Politicians: Some appointed officials are politicians as are elected officials. They may have held elected office in the past and this may be a higher profile position that will lead to a higher elected office in the future.  An example is a city mayor later appointed by the governor as the head of the State Health Department to be followed by a campaign for State Attorney General. This group may or may not know much about the actual “business” of the department they are appointed to head. These people are generally appointed because of personal or political relationships with the appointing official. They are trusted political partners who will help to carry out the agenda of the elected executive.

Political Insiders: These are the people who do not run for office themselves, but are very involved in the political process. They work on campaigns, assist elected officials, conduct fundraisers, help build coalitions of supporters, or donate sums of money themselves. In essence they are “true believers” in a particular candidate, political issue, or political party. They are often appointed to these positions for the same reasons as the politicians, but sometimes also as a reward for a job well done on a campaign.

Political Professionals: This group is generally appointed to positions where there professional and/or technical expertise is required to run the organization and they also will be required to drive policy. An example may be the chief engineer of a department of public works. The job may require that the director be a civil engineer by training. Another may be the position of chief counsel or attorney general, both requiring the holder of those positions to be an attorney. These positions are given to politically connected professionals who also fit the educational/vocational requirements of the position

Technocrats: These are the people who are appointed to a position because they have the experience, skills, and abilities to actually to run the organization or department regardless of political history. In fact, these people often are not very politically oriented at all and may be known to the appointing executive by reputation only. Examples here may be a Chief Information Officer who is a retired CIO from private industry or a Director of Economic Development who previously was the head economist for a large bank.

In any case, appointed officials are differentiated from elected officials in a very major way. Their allegiance is not to the voters, but to the politician who appointed them. The political professional and particularly the technocrats have less allegiance as they often have many career options outside politics. This is good in that they often are more willing to listen to you, think outside the box, and take a calculated risk. But they also are often more loosely connected and may not have the political clout to push a particular procurement through the process.  

The hot buttons for the more politically oriented appointees are generally the same ones of their appointing elected officials. Whatever makes their benefactor look good is what makes them happy. By the way, is this any different than dealing with the young VP who is the CEO’s favorite?