Now that he's won re-election, South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard is making changes on his senior leadership team. The governor’s Chief of Staff Dusty Johnson is leaving his post this week. That opening prompts Daugaard to find a new chief of staff and make an addition to his executive committee.
Daugaard says his current director of policy and communications Tony Venhuizen is moving into a new role as Chief of Staff. That’s one member of the governor’s executive committee. Venhuizen says some of his duties shift with that change, and a new director takes on some of his former responsibilities.
"Nathan Sanderson, who is a policy advisor in our office working on agriculture and natural resources issues, and prior to that worked in the Department of Agriculture as policy director, will be stepping up into the job of director of policy and operations," Venhuizen says.
Venhuizen says the governor has a six-person executive committee now, but Daugaard is adding a seventh person to the panel. Jim Seward is general counsel to the governor and will now serve as a member of the team-based management working group.
The changes are effective following former Chief of Staff Dusty Johnson’s last day, which is Friday, November 7, 2014.