October 30, 2017 at 4:24 p.m.
Meyer: Customer service is the goal
New DNR secretary sees signs of change
Meyer: Customer service is the goal
Customer service was the mantra for now departed DNR secretary Cathy Stepp, and so it apparently is for Meyer.
"From what I can tell on my floor I'm very impressed with the people that I've met," Meyer told The Lakeland Times in an interview earlier this month. "I believe the people on my floor understand what Cathy was trying to move the department toward. Instead of saying no all the time, trying to work with people to find solutions."
But Meyer says he also understands there might be forces resistant to change - layers of bureaucracy - still within the agency, just as there were throughout Stepp's tenure.
"Our goal is to protect natural resources," he said. "We're going to follow science but our goal is not to have individuals with their own agendas running the department or certain areas of the department. Having said that, it's not changing next week, or the week after, but there will be a focus on making that change."
Meyer pointed to the agency's recent realignment, which changed some reporting structures and division assignments to better align the department's functions and organizational structure with available resources and to ensure accountability.
The intrigue
Meyer replaced Stepp last month when she departed to take a job with the Environmental Protection Agency. He had previously served as executive director of the Eagle River Chamber of Commerce, as the mayor of Eagle River, and as a state representative for the 34th Assembly district.
Meyer said he took the job because it presented a challenge in a policy area in which he has had a long history, natural resources.
"It's an honor to be nominated by the governor," he said. "And it's a challenge, a unique challenge, that not everybody is going to be able to have. And it intrigued me and I was willing to do it."
Meyer acknowledged he is facing a steep learning curve.
"When I was on Joint Finance, the DNR was one of my issue areas, but it's a little bit different when you actually get into the agency," he said. "I get briefed weekly on different departments and stuff, and the scope and the breadth of the department is huge. There is a steep learning curve. It's going to take time and you know how that works."
It will be hands on, Meyer said, but in time it gets easier.
"I remember when I ran for the Assembly for the first time," he said. "You're struggling to learn the issues and by the time you've been there three terms, it's second-hand. So it'll take a while."
Meyer does say he is seeing some signs of change within the agency since his days in the Legislature.
"When I was in the Legislature, I always criticized the DNR for have these listening sessions," he said. "People would come there and testify and I alway felt it went in one ear and right out the other ear. But from what I understand now they are getting the groups (County Deer Advisory Councils) together and actually sitting down and taking input from the groups."
Richard Moore is the author of The New Bossism of the American Left and can be reached at www.rmmoore1.com.
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