A valuable member of our Dawson & Associates team, Honorable Tom Weimer passed away on April 6th.
I have had the privilege and honor of knowing Tom for decades going back to when he was a staff leader on the Hill (the U.S. House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, now the Natural Resources Committee, and the Committee on Science and Technology.). He was always a leader with integrity.
I worked with Tom when he was a professional staff member and then staff director on committee staffs shared by Congressman Manuel Lujan, Jr. Then Tom served Secretary of the Interior Lujan as his chief of staff. I remember particularly Tom’s good work with the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Geological Survey.
Tom always made the offices he led on the Hill and in the Executive Branch work smarter and more efficiently. He found ways to improve budget and performance measures and took very seriously the need to provide good government practices.
Here at Dawson & Associates, Tom took seriously the constitutional right our clients have to petition our government and knew that right was empty unless the citizens are informed and assisted by advocates like him. Tom always told the truth and helped a citizen shape his objectives to be in harmony with law and policy and to often bring about acceptance of a client’s position when the necessary officials are shown the worthiness of a citizen’s arguments.
One colleague here at the firm described Tom as “a fine civil servant…. The world is better for his long service.” Another veteran of the U.S. Department of the Interior, a stalwart leader here at Dawson & Associates and like Tom an engineer by training, Dr. Jon Deason, Professor & Executive Director of the Environmental & Energy Management Institute at the George Washington University, said “My most vivid memory of Tom was his consistent calm and collected manner that facilitated collaborative cooperation across the multiple interests within and external to the Interior Department, including those in Congress.”
Tom Weimer will be missed by all who value good government and good advocacy and honest hard work on behalf of our great country. I invite the reader to join me in saluting Tom’s character and his gigantic public service and his work here at Dawson & Associates.
Robert K. Dawson
Founder