After Alaska Gov. Bill Walker was elected late last year, he reorganized his executive office, shuffling and cutting some jobs in an effort to save the state money.
One new position, however, didn't crystallize until this month: a special assistant who trails the governor to each of his meetings, observing and ensuring that requests and promises are honored.
The man Walker hired to do the job, Dean Williams, was a campaign booster of the governor's who's now serving at the highest level of the administration. He's a former superintendent of a youth detention center and recent Anchorage School Board candidate who calls the new role a "dream job."
"I mean, who wouldn't want to work directly for the governor in this kind of capacity?" Williams said in a phone interview this week, conducted jointly with the governor.
Williams, 56, was originally hired by the Walker administration to work on criminal justice issues for the state's public safety department. Walker said he "plucked" Williams from that department after waiting through seven months of his term to see who would be best for the job.
"He just has a unique background that I think is a unique fit with me," Walker said.
Since starting his new role, Williams has been spotted trailing the governor to meetings, meals and bill signing ceremonies -- typically staying in the background.
"He sat very politely and looked very good," said Tom Brice, a union official who described a recent meeting on a Juneau infrastructure project that included Walker, labor officials, local legislators -- and Williams.
Williams previously spent three decades working for the state, including running Anchorage's McLaughlin Youth Center, before retiring. He also worked at a detention center in Nome.
In 2014, Williams challenged an incumbent Anchorage School Board member, Patrick Higgins, who had been telecommuting to meetings from a job in the Marshall Islands. Williams' candidacy drew support from conservatives like Anchorage Assembly members Amy Demboski and Bill Starr, and he told an Anchorage Daily News reporter at the time that the School District had a "spending problem."
But Williams ultimately lost the three-way race, drawing 28 percent of the vote to Higgins' 52 percent.
Following the election, he spent about six months as an "energetic" and "dedicated" aide to Eagle River Republican Rep. Lora Reinbold, she said. Williams helped her organize symposiums dedicated to her opposition to the Common Core curriculum, a favorite education target of conservatives, before leaving to join Walker's administration, Reinbold said.
"He was looking to work for the governor that he got behind," she said.After the election, Walker restructured the governor's office to save money -- and in doing so, he eliminated a system used by the previous administration of Sean Parnell that made a handful of special assistants his links to the state's executive agencies.
Williams' primary role, Walker said, is to act as an informational safety net for the governor, who's often dashing from meeting to meeting.
"I wanted to make sure we follow through," Walker said. "The biggest concern to me is I'm in meetings with someone and something falls through the cracks."
Williams will be paid $95,000 a year and work from Anchorage, and he'll travel to Juneau during the legislative session.
Parnell had his own assistant with a similar role in Deputy Chief of Staff Cindy Sims. Another former governor, Tony Knowles, said in a phone interview that it's "commonplace" for the state's chief executive to have an aide responsible for follow-up after meetings.
"You just want to be thorough," Knowles said.
Then, there was Gov. Wally Hickel, who was famous for relying on advice from an adviser he called the "little man," who told him to participate in boxing tournaments, guided him to Alaska and personified his conscience.
Williams is normal-sized and not imaginary. But his close proximity to the governor also invites questions about how he'll be involved in policy decisions. Walker noted Williams' conservative background and criminal justice experience, but he also said that it was an overstatement to say he would "rely" on Williams' expertise.
"Do we kick things around? I kick things around with anybody that's in any meeting," Walker said.
Williams, for his part, downplayed his own political background, saying he's worked successfully with people across the ideological spectrum. That approach, he added, syncs with the Walker administration, which is headed by a Republican-turned-independent who was elected with a Democratic running mate.
"That's the reason, I think, why I'm a good fit," Williams said.