Governor Walker Announces Administration Staff Changes

MADISON – Governor Scott Walker today announced the following administration staff changes:

• Scott Neitzel – Leaving the Department of Administration.
• Ellen Nowak – Secretary, Department of Administration.
• Lon Roberts – Chairperson, Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC).

“We welcome Ellen and Lon to their new positions in the administration, and we thank them for their continued willingness to serve. I know these strong leaders will continue to help us get positive things done for the people of Wisconsin,” Governor Walker said. “I give my deep appreciation and thanks to Scott Neitzel for his valued service and counsel. He will be missed in our administration. Scott is an effective executive, and his leadership has served the people of our state in a very consequential way.”

Ellen Nowak will begin her role as Department of Administration (DOA) secretary on Monday, March 5, 2018. Nowak was appointed to the PSC in 2011 by Governor Walker and was named PSC chairperson in 2015. Prior to her time at the PSC, Nowak served as the chief of staff to Waukesha County Executive Dan Vrakas and as legal counsel and subsequent chief of staff to Wisconsin State Assembly Speaker John Gard. Nowak has a law degree from Marquette University and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.

“Serving the public at the PSC has been a tremendous honor, and I thank Governor Walker for placing his trust in me to lead DOA,” Ellen Nowak said. “We will continue building upon Governor Walker’s reforms which have made Wisconsin a stronger, more prosperous state for everyone.”

Scott Neitzel’s last day as DOA secretary will be Friday, March 2, 2018. In 2015, Neitzel left a senior management position at Madison Gas & Electric to join the administration.

“It’s been an honor serving the people of Wisconsin under Governor Walker’s leadership, and I wish Ellen Nowak the very best as she begins this exciting journey as DOA secretary,” Scott Neitzel said. “We set out to make our government more efficient, effective, and accountable to the people, and that’s exactly what we’ve done. I thank Governor Walker for this opportunity, and I am proud to have served with such a dedicated team during such a historic and momentous time for our state.”

Commissioner Lon Roberts begins as PSC chairperson on Monday, March 5.

“I am humbled by this appointment to serve as chairperson of the PSC, and I look forward to working with utilities and industry stakeholders to fairly and efficiently facilitate quality utility services for the people of Wisconsin,” Lon Roberts said.

Lon Roberts was appointed to a six-year term at the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin by Governor Scott Walker in March 2017 and confirmed by the State Senate in April 2017. Governor Walker previously appointed Roberts to the positions of Secretary of the Department of Financial Institutions in February 2016, and prior to becoming secretary, Roberts served as chair of the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, and as a committee member of the Governor’s Judicial Selection Advisory Committee. Roberts joined the law firm of Ruder Ware in Wausau Wisconsin upon graduating from law school in 1973 and concentrated his 43 years of practice in business and commercial law, primarily in the area of corporate mergers and acquisitions and finance and private equity capital transactions. Roberts served as the firm’s president from 1999-2010.

Governor Walker’s appointment to replace Ellen Nowak on the PSC is forthcoming.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.