Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Stafford Sworn In At Ceremony

Harold Ellis Stafford, son of Ellis and Beatrice Stafford of Gurdon, was appointed in January by recently elected Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner to the position of Secretary of the Delaware Department of Labor (DOL).

The DOL consists of seven divisions: unemployment insurance, employment and training, labor market information, vocational rehabilitation, industrial affairs, office of administration and commission for women. The DOL has over 500 employees statewide.

On January 24 the Delaware State Senate cast 21 unanimous votes to confirm Stafford as Secretary of Labor.

On Feb. 15 Stafford was officially sworn in by Judge Charles H. Toliver IV as the new Secretary of Labor. Minner officiated at the ceremony, which was held in the State Capital in Dover and was attended by about 200 well wishers.

Stafford was pleased to have at the swearing in ceremony his parents, Ellis and Beatrice Stafford of Gurdon, his wife, Velvia, formerly of Gurdon, his three children, Alisa, Brian and Stephanie, and his three grandchildren, Jamie, Alexis and Marcus.

A reception was held immediately after the ceremony, which was hosted by Stafford and his family and the governor.

Prior to Stafford's appointment as Secretary of Labor, he was acting director of the Delaware Economic Development Office (DEDO). Previously he served as director of administration at DEDO from July 1998 to September 2000 as director of Administration in the Department of Labor from 1993 to 1998 and as Bureau Chief of Community Custody and Supervision in the Department of Correction from 1990 to 1993.

Before that he served as Bureau Chief of Industries and Services at Correction from 1983 to 1990 as director of planning, research and information services from 1981 to 1983 and as a human services planner in the Delaware office of Management, Budget and Planning from 1974 to 1981.

Stafford is a 1966 graduate of Bell High School. He earned his bachelors of administration from Henderson State University in 1970. He received a masters of social science in 1973 from Bryn Mawr Graduate School of Social Research.