Gov. Janet Mills announced Thursday that she will renominate three commissioners who served under former Gov. Paul LePage.
Mills renominated Patrick Keliher as commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources, Anne Head as the commissioner of the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, and Maj. Gen. Douglas Farnham as commissioner of the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management.
Keliher has served in his position since 2012. He previously was director of the Bureau of Sea Run Fisheries and Habitat within the Department of Marine Resources.
Head has served in her position since 2008. She was first appointed by Democratic Gov. John Baldacci, and LePage kept her in her post at the start of his administration in 2011. If confirmed again, Mills would be the third governor Head serves as head of the department that handles occupational licensing and oversees state-chartered banks, along with a number of other functions.
Farnham has served in his position since 2016. He is also adjutant general of the Maine National Guard. The Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management includes the Maine Emergency Management Agency and the Bureau of Veterans Services.
Farnham, a pilot who lives in Bangor, joined the Maine Air National in 1991, and he commanded the 101st Air Refueling Wing in the Maine Air National Guard before LePage appointed him adjutant general.
All three will be subject to approval from the Maine Senate after legislative committees that oversee those department consider the nominations. Keliher’s nomination will go to the Marine Resources Committee, Head’s will go to the Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services Committee, and Farnham’s will go to the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee.
In a statement, Mills said the three “have led their departments ably, are well-respected, and their collective knowledge and decades of experience are incredible assets to our state. I look forward to working with them in the years ahead.”
This article originally appeared on www.bangordailynews.com.
