This particular seat on the seven-member commission calls for a person who had worked in the investment field for at least 10 years to be appointed by the governor. A number of appointees had held the seat, none of whom had any real affinity with public sector employees or retirees.

On the other hand, Doane knows first-hand what the public sector is all about at both the state and local level. He had once served as town moderator in the Cape community of Harwich which is where he still lives. He was a state senator representing the Cape and Island District from 1981 until 1989. At that time he did not seek reelection and instead returned to the private sector as a senior trust officer with State Street Bank.

In June 1991, he was appointed executive director of the Commonwealth’s Pension Reserves Investment Management (PRIM) Board where he served until October 1993 when he resigned to take a management-level job with Oppenheimer Capital, a New York-based financial service board. He is now a senior vice-president.

Association President Ralph White says that Mitt Romney did “something right” a month before leaving office in appointing Doane. “As a senator with the minority party, Doane was well respected by both sides of the aisle.