Tamminen the shrewd: Gov. selects new cabinet secretary
By Daily Press staff
A Santa Monica man was appointed this week by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to serve as his cabinet secretary.
Terry Tamminen, 52, has served as secretary for the state’s environmental protection agency for nearly as long as Schwarzenegger has been in office.
“Terry has been a bold and innovative counselor to me as a CalEPA secretary over the past year,” Schwarzenegger said. “He has a contagious passion for public policy and will be a tremendous advocate to translate my vision for California into action. I look forward to his guidance and advice as we work together with my cabinet secretaries to shape policy that benefits all of California and keeps our state on the path to economic recovery.”
Tamminen has a diverse range of experience, with expertise in business, farming, education, non-profit management, the environment, arts and government. Prior to serving as the state’s EPA secretary, Tamminen served as executive director of the Environment Now Foundation in Santa Monica, a private foundation dedicated to protecting, preserving and restoring the environment of California. Tamminen founded Santa Monica Baykeeper, serving as its executive director for six years, and co-founded Waterkeeper programs in San Diego, Orange County, Ventura and Santa Barbara.
He began his career in the 1960s with a family-run tropical fish breeding business in Australia, continuing with studies on conch depletion in the Bahamas, manatee populations in Florida coastal waters and mariculture in the Gulf states with Texas A&M University.
From 1976 to 1983, Tamminen managed the largest sheep ranch east of the Mississippi, assisting the University of Minnesota in developing new methods of livestock disease control, and managed a successful real estate company. As a small business owner from 1984 to 1991, Tamminen owned and operated a successful recreational services business. From 1991 to 1993, he owned and operated his own consulting firm, through which he assisted Nigeria with the creation of its first solid waste recycling program.
In addition, Tamminen has served on many civic and charitable boards and commissions, including as chair of the Public Advisory Committee to the Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project and on the U.S. Navy Pt. Mugu Naval Air Station Restoration Advisory Board, the Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor Safety Committee and on the board of the Wishtoyo Foundation, a group that preserves natural resources through Chumash Indian traditional teachings. Tamminen, who has authored numerous technical papers and several theatrical works on the life of William Shakespeare, is fluent in German, Dutch and Spanish.
314,“Over the past year, I have worked with Gov. Schwarzenegger to shape policy that balances resource conservation and environmental protection with economic benefit,” Tamminen said. “I look forward to using my background in not only environmental policy, but also my experience as a small business owner, as a consultant, in agriculture, and in education to work with the governor and his cabinet to create and implement policy that keeps California moving forward.”
The new position does not require Senate confirmation, and Tamminen will be paid an annual salary of $123,255.
The cabinet secretary is a direct liaison between the governor and cabinet members, including all agency directors and department directors.
Tamminen is expected to assume the cabinet secretary position Dec. 1.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 6, 2004. Read the original PDF.