Workforce Safety and Insurance executives met with the governor's office Thursday morning to start the dialogue on selecting a new director.

Gov. John Hoeven's Chief of Staff Ron Rauschenberger met with WSIInterim Director Bruce Furness, board of directors chair Mark Gjovig and board member Mark Jackson to discuss the transition from a board-selected director to a governor-appointed director, as approved in Measure 4 on Tuesday.

"We're committed to the transition," Gjovig said, adding that they've just begun the discussions.

Furness said he may stay with WSI through a majority of the legislative session and may commit to helping a new director transition into the position to make it as seamless as possible.

Perhaps a larger impact of Measure 4 is returning employees back into the state employees classification; Furness said there was some initial nervousness among staff, but that the transition should be smooth.

"They're just unsure about how it's going to happen,"Furness said. Gjovig said they wanted to emphasize that the staff would not experience reductions in pay.

Gjovig emphasized that business is moving forward as usual.

"We didn't turn the lights out,"he said about the passing of the measure. "Business is moving forward. There are just questions that have to be answered moving forward."

- Crystal R. Reid