Caliente native named as Sandoval?s Chief of Staff

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Caliente native and Lincoln County High School graduate Michael Willden has been named as Chief of Staff for Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval.
Mike Willden, a native of Caliente, has been named by Gov. Brian Sandoval to be his new Chief of Staff. Willden has served since 2001 as the director of the State Department of Health and Human Services. (Dave Maxwell photo)

Caliente native and Lincoln County High School graduate Michael Willden has been named as Chief of Staff for Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval.

In a published report in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Willden, the director of the state Department of Health and Human Services, begins his new job June 16, replacing Gerald Gardner, who is leaving to join a Las Vegas resort company.

Willden became director of the Department of Health and Human Services in 2001 and has served under governors Kenny Guinn, Jim Gibbons, and Sandoval. He also served? as the State Welfare Administrator and in other capacities of the agency for 25 years before heading the Health and Human Services department.

Romaine Gilliland has been appointed to serve as director of Health and Human Services. Gilliland previously served as the administrator of the Division of Welfare and Supportive Services.