As far as Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos is concerned, Milwaukee and Madison, the two biggest population centers in Wisconsin, should be ignored. “If you took Madison and Milwaukee out of the state election formula, we would have a clear majority” in the last election, he has noted. He followed that up with complaints about new Gov. Tony Evers’ hirings, grousing that too many came from these two cities.

He also carped that some of the hirings “lack significant state government experience,” a strange complaint for someone who opposes big government — and all more bizarre given the consistently high level of talent seen in Evers’ appointments.

Consider the 30-member Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Policy Advisory Council that Evers created. It includes two former state Supreme Court justices (Janine Geske and Louis Butler), three former state corrections secretaries (Rick Raemisch, Matt Frank and Walter Dickey), four judges, two sheriffs, leaders of Milwaukee’s African American community, and state Public Defender Kelli Thompson, daughter of former Gov. Tommy Thompson.

Or how about the members of Evers’ economic development policy advisory council, a wide-ranging and impressive group, including business and union leaders, academic experts and local development professionals. Yet Mark Morgan, the executive director and new hit man of the Wisconsin Republican Party, was quick to complain that only five of the 25 were from outside Milwaukee and Madison, which “shows Tony Evers is beholden to the liberal special interests.” In short, the people of Milwaukee and Dane County, which represent 25 percent of the state’s population, are now considered a “special interest” by Republicans.

I responded to Morgan by email and phone message, asking for an example of a better balanced advisory council set up by Scott Walker in his eight years as governor. I never heard back.

Perhaps that’s because Walker rarely created any advisory councils or held any public hearings before launching major policy changes. Republican-leaning columnist John Torinus dubbed this “government by surprise,” and he did not mean it as a compliment.

Evers, by contrast, has already named more than 100 people to his transition team and advisory councils and is expected to name another 25 to advise him on transportation issues. What we’re seeing is a very transparent leader reaching out to a wide range of advisors, but with one goal foremost.

“I’m seeking talent,” Evers has said, “and people that will work with the civil servants and others in their agencies to provide the best services possible.”

Across the board, Evers’ appointments have been impressive. His secretary of the Department of Natural Resources, Preston Cole, is Milwaukee’s Commissioner of Neighborhood Services, has a degree in forestry services, and has served on the state Natural Resources Board since 2007. The Department of Corrections secretary will be Kevin Carr, a former inspector and 30-year veteran of the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office, who’s been a federal marshal for the state’s eastern district since 2010. The transportation secretary is Craig Thompson, longtime executive director of the Transportation Development Association of Wisconsin, and one of the foremost experts in this field.

Brad Pfaff, the new head of the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, served as executive director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency during the Obama administration. New state health secretary Andrea Palm was formerly a senior counselor to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. New Commissioner of Insurance Mark Afable previously served as chief legal officer at American Family Insurance and as counsel for the National Association of Independent Insurers. New state Superintendent of Public Instruction Carolyn Stanford Taylor was a longtime assistant state superintendent with decades of experience as an education administrator.

Yet as Evers announced pick after pick, all with so much talent and experience, Vos offered not one word of praise until Evers appointed Democratic Rep. Peter Barca as revenue secretary. “Evers finally got one right,” Vos declared.

There’s certainly nothing wrong with the pick, but frankly, Barca’s expertise doesn’t compare to that of many other choices by Evers. The difference, it seems, is that Barca has a “friendship” with Vos, as the Assembly speaker noted.

Apparently Vos has gotten so comfortable with the cronyism of the last eight years, as the civil service system was greatly weakened and political loyalty was consistently rewarded by Republicans, that he simply doesn’t understand the appeal of hiring talented people.

The Walker era was one where experts and blue-ribbon committees were eschewed, where the governor had a penchant for appointing people lacking a college degree, and where proposals written by such special interest groups as Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce and the American Legislative Exchange Council sailed through the Legislature with little public input.

Last February Isthmus reported the Walker administration’s hiring of Sean Brown to oversee the division of trade and consumer protection’s three bureaus — trade practices, consumer protection, and weights and measures. Brown, a graduate of Marquette University Law School, had worked less than a year as an attorney but was handed a $99,590 job with a recommendation from Walker’s office.

Vos offered not one word of criticism about the appointment.

Bruce Murphy is editor of UrbanMilwaukee