Good Morning Governor Deal

So, if you are Gov. Nathan Deal, and your spokesman’s girlfriend needs a job, what do you do?

Hire her as the state’s mental health ombudsman despite having no experience in mental health, while paying her $25,000 more than her predecessor who was, you know, qualified. Natch.

Deal named Corinna Magelund to the position earlier this month at a salary $25,000 above what her predecessor made, while also giving Magelund more responsibility. Magelund, who previously served as then-Gov. Sonny Perdue’s scheduler, does not have direct hands-on experience in mental health. Deal’s office said she was not hired because of her relationship with Brian Robinson, Deal’s deputy chief of staff for communications, but for her experience in state government.

The mental health ombudsman is an important job in Georgia, which continues to operate under an agreement with the federal Justice Department to change its mental health system. The agreement followed an investigation into the abuse and deaths of dozens of patients in state mental hospitals, abuse uncovered by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution starting in 2007.

Magelund, in an interview with the AJC,said that while she doesn’t have direct mental health experience, her role in Perdue’s administration forced her to serve “every constituency there is. “I’ve just seen, with my time with the Perdue Administration, the progression the mental health program in Georgia has gone through.”

While I will tell you to read the story, be forewarned, the amount of eye rolling you’ll do after reading the administration’s “justifications” will probably leave you dizzy.