MONTGOMERY
| Marquita Davis |
Davis, 44, commissioner of the Department of Children’s Affairs for Gov. Robert Bentley and his predecessor, Gov. Bob Riley, in a recent interview said her groundbreaking appointment didn’t register until it was pointed out to her.
“I did not think about it and didn’t realize it,” she said. “I never even thought I was the first woman. (I thought) surely that’s not true.”
Davis, appointed Aug. 23 by Bentley, succeeds David Perry, who becomes Bentley’s chief of staff. Perry succeeds former chief of staff Chuck Malone, whom Bentley appointed as chief justice of Alabama.
Davis will be sworn in at 9 a.m. Monday by Bentley in a ceremony at the Capitol. She will be the state’s second African-American finance director.
“When the announcement went out about the position, there was no reference about race or gender,” Davis said. “The focus wasn’t on that. I think Alabama should be proud of it.”
Although Davis’s background isn’t in finance, previous finance directors didn’t have pure finance backgrounds, either. Perry and his predecessor, Jim Main, were attorneys, although Perry was an assistant finance director.
Bentley is confident of Davis’ ability to be the state’s chief financial officer and adviser.
“She is, I felt, one of the shining stars of my cabinet,” Bentley said Friday.
“I just know she can do an outstanding job as finance director because it takes managerial skills, which she has. People can learn the budget, and she had a very large budget in the agency (where) she worked.”
Davis since 2008 has been commissioner of the Department of Children’s Affairs.
She moves to the forefront of the administration in a powerful and visible position. The finance director is the chief financial officer, advises the governor on fiscal policies and enacts his directives.
Davis said she’s had to deal with state finances as an agency head.
“We do have some real financial issues we’re going to face as a state,” she said. “My hope is that we have a very thoughtful process, look at department needs and the central needs of state government and make informed decisions as we allocate scarce resources.”
Both budgets are in proration until the Sept. 30 end of the 2010-2011 fiscal year. Next year’s General Fund and Education Trust Fund budgets are anemic compared with some recent budget years. Davis will be the point person for Bentley’s 2012-2013 budget when the Legislature convenes in regular session early next year.
“I think there is understanding from the Legislature that we have to figure out how to make this work, what’s the impact of the budget across the state and what we do in Montgomery more collaboratively to make all the difference,” Davis said.
She didn’t start out to be a top state government finance officer. Her parents met in North Carolina. Her father was a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division. She grew up in Peoria, Ill., where her mother was a teacher and her father an employee of a heavy equipment manufacturing company.
Davis graduated from Northern Illinois University. She chose a historically black college, Alabama A&M in north Alabama, for a graduate degree. She earned a doctorate in early childhood education and child development from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Davis has served as deputy director of Child Development Services at the Jefferson County Committee for Economic Opportunity in Birmingham.
She said she has a good feel for the state’s finance system.
“My current position in state government gives me an interesting perspective, because I’ve been on the other side of the budget issue presenting a budget and saying this is what I want and how much I need,” she said.
“I have a good understanding — not great, and there’s always room for improvement — but a good understanding of state government, the basics of the governing process and the performance process, and (the) basics about the department’s responsibilities maintaining fiscal responsibility of the citizens’ money,” she said.
Davis said she “was drafted” for the position.
“(Bentley) called me over to his office and we were talking, and he said, ‘So, Dr. Davis, did you ever think about doing anything else in my administration?’” she said. “I said, ‘What do you have in mind,’ and he said, ‘Finance department.’”
Davis said Bentley told her, “I need someone who manages people and understands budgets, someone I can trust, someone who has good character and is loyal and a quick learn and quick study.”
She said, “I was flattered he would ask me, and I said, ‘I will pray about it.’’
She took six days to accept.
“What better place to be an advocate and a voice for families. It’s going to be an interesting experience to say the least. I think to be a part of government in such times, you really have to be courageous,” she said.
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