Gov. Wes Moore takes page from Obama, staffer from Biden in chief performance officer hire

Maryland’s governor is taking a page from a former president in creating a chief performance officer position to improve government operations while simultaneously snapping up a staffer from the current commander-in-chief to fill the role.

As a new executive, President Barack Obama took office in 2009 with the country facing a challenging fiscal situation. The Democrat decided to create the post of chief performance officer to, in his words, “cut costs, and find best practices” in government.

Maryland’s new executive, Gov. Wes Moore, also confronting fiscal challenges, has followed suit. Last month during a speech in Ocean City, Moore, also a Democrat, said the state has to “reckon with the structural challenges” facing the economy and announced his intent to hire a chief performance officer, whom he named on Aug. 31.

More: In Ocean City address, Moore declares 'new season of challenge' for Maryland economy

“I am thrilled to welcome another talented, dedicated and experienced senior staff member to our team,” said Moore, in a press release announcing the addition of Asma Mirza to his administration. Mirza, formerly the deputy for implementation management for the White House Infrastructure Implementation Team in the Biden administration, fills the job first posted in May.

The new chief performance officer role in Maryland is responsible for “the overall creation and implementation of a performance management strategy for the State,” according to the online job description, and comes with an annual salary of between $126,635 and $153,314.

Responsibilities of chief performance officers

Additional responsibilities, according to the online posting, include the tasks of:

• coordinating “with the state’s Chief Data Officer on the design and implementation of systems that use data and metrics to measure performance and identify areas for improvement,”

• working in “close collaboration with the Department of Budget and Management to define the strategic planning process statewide,” and

• advising the Department of Budget and Management on “the implementation of Managing for Results and its publishing of agency goals, objectives, and performance measures.”

The new governor indicated during his Ocean City speech that the chief performance officer would also work with local officials to “track progress.”

More: Gov. Moore, Day visit Salisbury with federal officials in push to broaden broadband program

Several other states have had the position, including the Democratic-led Connecticut (in 2019) and the Republican-led Vermont, which still has the role to this day after its creation in 2013 (under a Democratic governor).

“What these roles entail is really intentional goal-setting for different agencies,” said Dave Wilkinson, a former chief performance officer in Connecticut, “(and) thinking about how government agencies collaborate together to better serve residents.”

In a phone interview, Wilkinson, now the executive director of the Tobin Center for Economic Policy at Yale University, cited reducing wait times at the Department of Motor Vehicles and measuring the success of job placement programs as two examples of what a chief performance officer may address.

There was no U.S. chief performance officer during the presidential administration of Donald Trump, the only Republican to come into the Oval Office since Obama.

Maryland Municipal League representative, Biden adviser praise pick

Moore maintains that the hire of the former Biden administration official with a background in biotech will benefit Maryland.

“Asma’s expertise in leading through change and creating new approaches to solving big challenges will be an exceptional asset to our state,” Moore said in the release.

A representative of the Maryland Municipal League, an organization made up of members from the state’s 157 cities and towns, including Salisbury and Hagerstown, shared Moore’s belief.

“We are excited about the appointment of Asma Mirza as Chief Performance Officer,” said Justin Fiore, the league’s deputy director for advocacy and public affairs, in an email. “It takes all levels of government to provide services to our shared constituency. When state agencies can increase performance and service delivery to Marylanders, the rising tide lifts all boats.”

Mirza's former boss, White House Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu, highlighted a pair of recent responsibilities that she had working in Washington with trillion-dollar legislation.

“Asma has been a critical part of our success implementing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” said Landrieu, the former mayor of New Orleans, in a release, referencing the $1.2 trillion bill passed by Congress and ultimately signed by Biden in November 2021, “from setting up the process for federal hiring to creating a data process so Americans can see how the law is impacting their community.”

The law, also known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, has provided funding for both internet and road projects in the process of being implemented in Maryland, among other things. Landrieu, a senior adviser to the president, said Mirza will help Moore and Maryland on the road ahead.

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“She will be a tremendous asset for Governor Moore as he drives Maryland’s state government performance to new heights,” he said.

Dwight A. Weingarten is an investigative reporter, covering the Maryland State House and state issues. He can be reached at dweingarten@gannett.com or on Twitter at @DwightWeingart2.

This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Gov. Moore hires Biden staffer as Maryland chief performance officer