Will Valley team members end up in Cabinet?

The creation of 14 transition teams consisting of about 80 chairs and coordinators indicates Gov.-elect Ted Strickland wants to make sure he knows exactly what to expect when he takes over the state Jan. 8.
It's also a perfect example of how the size of state government is out of control.
Strickland's transition team has coordinators evaluating numerous agencies and departments, including the Ohio Commission on Fatherhood, the Commission on African American Males, the Commission on Hispanic-Latino Affairs, the Minority Health Commission, Dispute Resolution, the Air Quality Development Authority, the Ohio Water Development Authority and the Expositions Commission.
There are also a few committees that just have initials, such as ODADAS and ODMH, that apparently we're all supposed to understand.
The teams are to review the agencies and provide a report on each later this month to Strickland.
When you wade through the initials and committees, there are four people from the Mahoning Valley on the list.
The list was so long that I initially bypassed the name of Jaladah Aslam of Austintown, who is serving as a member of the justice transition team and the team's coordinator overseeing the state's civil rights commission.
Four out of about 80 is only 5 percent of the transition team's makeup. Trumbull County has no representatives on the team despite 74.1 percent of its voters casting ballots for Strickland in last month's gubernatorial election.
But some of the spots are important and could indicate that positions in Strickland's administration could be offered to at least two Valley politicians.
Strickland selected Mahoning County Treasurer John Reardon as one of two chairs of the budget and revenues team. It's probably one of the most important transition teams, because Strickland has to present his proposed state budget to the Legislature shortly after he is sworn in as governor Jan. 8. There isn't much time to play around.
Reardon's co-chair is Pari Sabety, senior policy adviser of Strickland's transition team.
For Strickland to place that amount of trust and faith in Reardon is certainly a sign that the incoming governor is considering the treasurer for a post in his administration.
Reardon says he's had no discussions about joining the Strickland administration, and isn't actively pursuing a job. But if the right job is offered, Reardon says he would give strong consideration to taking it.
The other interesting selection by Strickland is Columbiana County Commissioner Sean Logan as a member of the environment and natural resources transition team and the team's coordinator of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The ODNR appointment is impressive because that agency's director is among the governor's 23 Cabinet members.
Logan's credentials related to the appointment are lengthy, including serving on Ohio House committees dealing with energy, the environment, agriculture and resources during his time in the state Legislature. He is also president of an eastern Ohio organization that assists groups with environmental-related projects.
Like Reardon, Logan says he hasn't had any discussions about working for Strickland.
But he did have this to say about working for Strickland: "Whatever helps Ted be the best governor, I'll do. However I can make that work, I'll do it."
That sounds like a definite maybe to me.
The fourth local to be appointed to the transition team is state Sen.-elect John Boccieri.
Boccieri, a major in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, is one of three co-chairs of the veterans affairs transition team. Boccieri is very close to Strickland and as a pilot, he flew the governor-elect to a number of stops along the campaign trail.
But Boccieri won't be joining the Strickland administration -- at least for the foreseeable future -- having been elected last month as a state senator after six years as an Ohio House member.