Wolf’s 1st day starts with ethics, open government training hours
HARRISBURG – Gov. Tom Wolf spent part of his first day on the job Wednesday undergoing a few hours of training on ethics and making government open to the public.
Aides said the governor arrived at the Capitol at about 11 a.m., the morning after his inaugural ball, and parked his trademark Jeep outside the executive offices before joining senior staff and others for the training.
Wolf spokesman Mark Nicastre said it was Wolf’s idea to start off with the training, “to get everybody on the same page on the first day.”
Wolf leads a state government that comprises 74,000 full-time employees and more than 50 agencies, boards and commissions.
He hired or identified his choices for all his Cabinet members, but other decisions about personnel will be playing out for weeks and months to come, Nicastre said.
“It’s not a magic wand where you can snap your fingers and make decisions,” Nicastre said.
Signs of change were evident at PennDOT’s executive offices, where photos of former Republican Gov. Tom Corbett and Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley have already been removed.
The transition has been in the works for weeks at the Office of Administration, where Wolf’s appointees have been getting new employee orientation and their state email addresses, said spokesman Dan Egan.
Wolf, a businessman and civic leader from York County, beat Corbett by 10 percentage points in the November election.