Every Monday on GovExec.com, the People column (formerly known as "Comings and Goings") announces the arrivals and departures of top federal managers and executives. To submit an announcement, e-mail it to ksaldarini@govexec.com or fax it to 202-739-8511.
The Agriculture Department has made several changes in its communications and congressional affairs ranks.
Andrew Solomon has been named press secretary and director of public affairs. In that role, he will be the chief spokesperson for Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman. Sedelta Verble is the new director of the Office of Communications. She replaces Tom Amontree, who is leaving to become the director of strategic communications for the American Trucking Association. Verble will oversee strategic communications for Glickman and the 29 agencies in the department and coordinate USDA's communications with its customers.
Andrew C. Fish is USDA's new assistant secretary for congressional relations. He will be responsible for legislative affairs and intergovernmental relations. Fish is the former deputy chief counsel to Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.
President Clinton has nominated Air Force Major Gen. Norton A. Schwartz to be deputy commander in chief of the U.S. Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. The President has also nominated Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers to be vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon.
Frederick C. Belen, a former deputy U.S. postmaster general during President Johnson's administration, died Wednesday at 85. Belen was chair of the committee that came up with zip codes as a way to speed mail service.
Kudos to the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agencies were among 10 organizations at the federal, state and local levels honored this week with $100,000 prizes in the annual Innovations in American Government awards program. HUD won for its Continuum of Care program, which assists homeless people, while CDC won for its PulseNet effort, which helps quickly identify foodborne diseases.
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