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Erin Hames, Deputy chief of staff for policy
Brian Robinson, Deputy chief of staff for communications
Michael Shaffer, Deputy chief of staff for legislative and external affairs
Ryan Teague, Executive counsel
David Werner, Deputy executive counsel
Bart Gobeil, Chief operating officer
Debbie Dlugolenski, Chief financial officer, Director of the Office of Planning and Budget
Carrie Ashbee, Executive assistant to Gov. Deal
Chris Riley, Chief of staff
Riley has worked for Gov. Deal for 19 years. He first worked for Deal in the then-state senator's 1992 campaign for Congress and spent the next 17 years working for Deal’s House office, serving most of that time as chief of staff. In 2009, Riley left the congressional office to run Deal’s campaign for governor. A Gainesville native, Riley graduated from North Hall High School and Georgia Southern University. He and his wife, Bambi, have two sons, 7 and 5.
(404) 656-1776
Erin Hames, Deputy chief of staff for policy
After graduating magna cum laude from the University of Georgia's College of Education, Erin taught middle school for three years. She later graduated with honors from Georgia State University College of Law. After graduating from law school, she began serving as Gov. Sonny Perdue's education policy adviser and later as his policy director. In that role, she served as executive sponsor for Georgia's Race to the Top team and led the early implementation of the plan in her role as the chief of staff at the Georgia Department of Education. Erin is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and was selected as a 2010 Henry Toll Fellow by the Council of State Governments. She and her husband, Ben, are Habersham County natives who now reside in Atlanta and are active members of Buckhead Church.
(404) 656-1784
Brian Robinson, Deputy chief of staff for communications
Robinson oversees the governor’s communications department. He joined the Deal for Governor campaign as communications director after working more than seven years in the Georgia congressional delegation. He worked five years as deputy chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Grantville) and two years as communications director for U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Marietta). The 1997 magna cum laude graduate of UGA's Grady College of Journalism began his career as a copy editor at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Robinson's roots are in the Augusta region; he now lives in Atlanta.
(404) 651-7774
Michael Shaffer, Deputy chief of staff for legislative and external affairs
Shaffer serves as Gov. Deal's top liaison to federal, state and local officials. He hails from Augusta and served many years as district director for the late U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood (R-Evans). More recently, he worked part time for U.S. Rep. Paul Broun (R-Athens) and as a partner in Oglethorpe Public Affairs. Shaffer worked on the Deal for Governor campaign as a general consultant. Shaffer serves on the board of Easter Seals East Georgia. The University of South Carolina graduate is married to Nicki and together they have an 8-year-old son.
(404) 463-7791
Ryan Teague, Esq., Executive counsel
Prior to serving as Gov. Deal’s Deputy Executive Counsel, Teague served as Deputy Executive Counsel to Gov. Perdue beginning in November of 2009. Teague previously served as General Counsel to Freedom’s Watch, Inc., a conservative, free market-focused issue advocacy organization based out of Washington, DC. Prior to his work with Freedom’s Watch, Teague was in private practice in Atlanta with McKenna Long & Aldridge, LLP. He also served as a law clerk to Chief Judge J.L. Edmondson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. His civic involvement includes service on the Board of the Atlanta Chapter of the Federalist Society. Teague received his law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law and his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Clemson University. He and his wife live in Atlanta and are members of Second Ponce de Leon Baptist Church.
(404) 656-1776
David Werner, Esq., Executive Counsel
A graduate of the University of Georgia and Emory University School of Law, Werner previously served as the policy adviser on Public Safety. He also held positions in both the state House and the state Senate. He is co-chairman of the Legislative Affairs Committee of the Young Lawyers Division of the State Bar of Georgia and a member of the Federalist Society. He and his wife, Suzanne, reside in Atlanta and are members of Peachtree Road United Methodist Church.
Bart Gobeil, Chief operating officer
Gobeil will move from deputy chief operating officer to COO on April 15. Before joining the Deal administration, he was chief of staff to Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle. He has also worked as the director of government relations at AGL resources, an Atlanta-based natural gas company, and as the legislative liaison and public information officer for the Georgia Public Service Commission. He worked on the staff of the late U.S. Sen. Paul Coverdell (R-Ga.), first as Southeast Georgia regional representative and later as a legislative assistant in the Washington office. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He and his wife, Elizabeth, live in Atlanta.
(404) 656-6519
Debbie Dlugolenski, Chief financial officer, director of the Office of Planning and Budget
Dlugolenski was appointed Chief Financial officer and reappointed as the Director of the Office of Planning and Budget by Gov. Deal. Dlugolenski has held this position since June 2010. At OPB, she has also served as Deputy Director and Division Director of the Physical and Economic Development Division; and as Assistant Commissioner of the Office of Information Technology, Planning and Development and with the Technical College System of Georgia and President of the Georgia Virtual Technical College. Debbie has three children and two grandchildren.
(404) 656-3820
Carrie Ashbee, Executive assistant to Gov. Deal
The Marietta native worked for then-Congressman Deal in Washington for nearly four years in various positions, including executive assistant and scheduler. After marrying her husband Blake, she served as a pharmaceutical representative in Tuscaloosa, Ala. prior to joining the Deal administration. Ashbee is a graduate of the University of Alabama with a Bachelor’s Degree in communications.
(404) 463-1342