Ex-assistant prosecutor named to Whitmer post
A former assistant prosecutor in Macomb County who ran for Congress has been named as director of the Office of Children’s Ombudsman for Michigan.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Monday that Clarkston native Suzanna Shkreli, who is currently deputy legal counsel for the governor, next month will begin serving in the new position. The prior occupant of the post, Lisa McCormick, was appointed earlier this year as a judge to the 30th Circuit Court in Ingham County.
“Suzy is a tough, whipsmart public servant who has spent years working on behalf of the children of Michigan, and she has served as a key member of my team as we have worked to protect all Michiganders from the COVID-19 pandemic this year,” Whitmer said in a news release.
“While she will be sorely missed in my office, I and everyone on our team know that Suzy is the right person to serve as director of the Office of Children’s Ombudsman.”
The Democratic governor also announced two other appointments Monday:
• Dave Massaron will serve as state budget director beginning Jan. 4 to replace Chris Kolb, who stepped down to serve as vice president for government relations at the University of Michigan. Massaron has served as the chief financial officer for the city of Detroit, where he supervised the city’s financial and budget activities.
• Katherine L. Peretick will serve as a commissioner with the Michigan Public Service Commission beginning Jan. 4 to fill the final six months of the term of Sally Talberg, who resigned to join the board of directors of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. Peretick currently serves as the director of engineering for NRStor Inc., an energy storage project developer, and was a project engineering manager with General Compression, a grid-scale energy storage technology company.
Shkreli, 33, said of “it has been an honor” to serve in her current role, and she looks forward to her new post.
“I am humbled and grateful to the governor for the opportunity to continue my work on behalf of the children of our state. Protecting Michigan’s children is a tremendous responsibility, and I am deeply committed to the mission of this office,” she said in the release.
Shkreli, a political unknown at the time, was tapped by the Democratic Party in 2016 to run for the 8th congressional seat against Republican Mike Bishop, who won that race. Two years later, Democrat Elissa Slotkin of Holly defeated Bishop in his attempt at a third, two-year term in the 8th Congressional District, which stretches across Ingham and Livingston counties and northern Oakland County.
Shkreli worked in the Child Protection Unit of the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office for seven years before being named to Whitmer’s legal team after Whitmer won election in November 2018.
Shkreli in her new post will be part of Whitmer’s cabinet.