Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf answers questions from the press. As the General Assembly convenes for a new legislative session, Governor Tom Wolf today outlined his agenda, in which he continues to prioritize ensuring that Pennsylvania businesses and workers have a path toward recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic, building on bipartisan progress by removing barriers to help everyday Pennsylvanians succeed, and demanding accountability through government reform. Harrisburg, PA – January 28, 2021
Commonwealth Media Services / via Governor Tom Wolf Flickr
Angela Couloumbis has covered government, politics, courts and crime for The Philadelphia Inquirer since 1996. She has reported on forest fires in the Rocky Mountains, riots in Washington, D.C. and Cincinnati, the mob’s effort to infiltrate city hall in New Jersey’s poorest city and the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.
For the past 13 years, she has focused on government and politics in the Pennsylvania State Capitol, shedding light on backroom dealing and corruption. She was part of a two-member reporting team that, in 2014, exposed a secret effort by the state Attorney General’s office to shut down an investigation into lawmakers who accepted envelopes stuffed with cash from an undercover government informant. The reporting led to a series of resignations and criminal convictions over several years. She has spent the past 18 months focused on investigative reporting on the #metoo movement in Pennsylvania. Her coverage has included projects on secret, taxpayer-funded sexual harassment settlements in the Legislature and state government.
Commonwealth Media Services / via Governor Tom Wolf Flickr
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf answers questions from the press. As the General Assembly convenes for a new legislative session, Governor Tom Wolf today outlined his agenda, in which he continues to prioritize ensuring that Pennsylvania businesses and workers have a path toward recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic, building on bipartisan progress by removing barriers to help everyday Pennsylvanians succeed, and demanding accountability through government reform. Harrisburg, PA – January 28, 2021
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. A version of this story originally appeared in our free weekly newsletter.
(Harrisburg) — On paper, Thomas Yablonski Jr. is a man of many talents.
In less than four months, the top staffer in Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration has been nominated to serve on 28 different state-appointed boards, overseeing everything from podiatry to cosmetology to workers compensation. And that doesn’t include his appointments in a dozen counties across the state to be a sheriff, treasurer, magisterial judge, and coroner — sometimes simultaneously.
In reality, however, he’s a well-traveled political placeholder.
In Pennsylvania, the governor has the power to appoint roughly 1,000 people to dozens of boards and positions across state government, including his own cabinet. That number also includes appointments a governor can make when there is a vacancy in county courts and other elected offices, Wolf’s office said.
The power is not intended to be absolute, as appointments must be approved by the state Senate. And there are strict timing requirements that any administration must follow when making nominations. All of that leads to placeholders like Yablonski.
Courtesy Office of Gov. Wolf
The American and Pennsylvania flags over the capitol building in Harrisburg on April 7, 2020. Gov. Tom Wolf ordered the state flag to fly at half staff to honor victims of the coronavirus outbreak.
When a vacancy occurs, governors have 90 days to nominate someone. If that doesn’t happen, the seat remains vacant until the end of their term, according to administration officials. But governors are loath to give up that power, and instead turn to people to keep the seat warm — on paper only.
Sometimes, particularly toward the end of a governor’s second term, it can take more than 90 days to find someone for a post. So they turn to people like Yablonski, who are just names on paper and are never intended to fill those positions, to fulfill the 90-day requirement.
Once a suitable candidate is found, the placeholder’s name is recalled.Given his job, it is little surprise that Yablonski is a favorite for playing the placeholder. As a deputy secretary in the administration, he helps oversee, among other things, the executive nomination and appointment process. He did not respond to a request for an interview.
His latest nominations — 45 in all — occurred just since October 2020.
Just this month, Wolf submitted Yablonski’s name for a dozen new positions, including the high-profile job of state victim advocate. The last person to hold that title, Jennifer Storm, was not reconfirmed by the Senate, and the administration is now interviewing candidates to replace her.
A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.
