McDonnell OK with secretary on boards

By Michael Sluss

RICHMOND

Republican Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell said Monday that his designee for secretary of commerce and trade can remain on corporate boards while serving in state government and that the arrangement "will not pose any conflict."

Robert Sledd said last week that he intends to remain on three corporate boards while overseeing 13 state government agencies that handle business-related matters. Sledd donates earnings from those boards to charity and will continue to do so, according to McDonnell's transition team. McDonnell said Sledd also has offered to serve in the Cabinet without receiving a taxpayer-funded salary, but details of Sledd's compensation have not been finalized. Cabinet secretaries have maximum salaries of $152,793.

Sledd will be a key player in the McDonnell administration's efforts to create jobs, a task the incoming governor considers a top priority.

"He has expressed a preference to stay on some corporate boards, which I think is fine," McDonnell told reporters after speaking at an education conference in Richmond.

"One, he'll keep abreast of what's going on in the private sector, and, two, I understand he intends to donate all the money from that to charity," McDonnell said. "This is the kind of guy he is. He's a terrific guy. It will not pose any conflict."

McDonnell, the former attorney general, said Sledd would recuse himself from any decision-making role if state business conflicts with his corporate board work.

But state Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke, questioned the arrangement, saying Sledd still could have divided loyalties in his dual roles. Edwards chairs a Senate Privileges and Elections subcommittee that reviews gubernatorial appointments before the legislature votes on them.

"As a director, he has a fiduciary duty to that corporation to maximize profits," Edwards said. "The question is: Is that in conflict with the duties of serving as secretary of commerce and trade?"

"I think these are issues that will be probed," Edwards said. "This is unprecedented as far as I know.... It seems to me that if you're going to take a Cabinet-level position, you should sever your ties to the private sector for the duration of your term."

House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, said the arrangement does not pose an inherent conflict. Griffith said Sledd "will have to be willing to have more scrutiny" of his work for the administration but added that McDonnell made a compelling argument for tapping the successful businessman.

"Part of the reason you want to have somebody tied into the business community is so that you can create jobs," Griffith said.

He added: "With the success he's had in business, (Sledd) didn't need to do this job."

Sledd revealed the arrangement last week in an interview with a writer working for the Blue Ridge Business Journal, which is owned by the same company that owns The Virginian-Pilot and The Roanoke Times. Sledd said last week that the arrangement would enable him to stay engaged in the business community and see "on a personal basis" how companies are affected by government regulations.

Sledd is a director for two Richmond-based corporations - tobacco giant Universal Corp. and Owens & Minor Co., a medical supplies distributor. He also is on the governing board of Louisiana-based SCP Pool Corp. He earned $177,270 as a director for SCP Pool Corp. in 2008 and $46,874 from Owens & Minor. He joined the Universal board in 2009. No earnings information for the Universal board was available Monday.

Sledd, who lives in Richmond, is a former CEO of Performance Food Group and now is a managing partner of Pinnacle Ventures LLC.

"He's a Fortune 500 business leader," McDonnell said. "He's grown a business from 50 employees to 11,000 people. This is exactly the kind of person that we need to have heading up our department of commerce and trade."

Sledd could not be reached for comment Monday.