Dick Brown, a spokesman for Humana Corp. and a former Louisville television reporter, is Steve Beshear’s new Communcations Director. Brown starts his new job later this month.

Brown is a safer choice than Phil Osborne, Beshear’s first choice, who didn’t take the job after conflict of interest concerns surfaced. Osborne owns a P.R. firm with ties to state government business.

According to Mark Hebert, Brown is a popular choice among media members.

It seems to be hiring season in the financially-strapped state government.  The Governor’s Office of Local Development (GOLD)  has hired Jennifer Chandler (as in Mrs. Ben) as executive director of the office at a salary of $72G. It’s a political post, and she’ll have the former Bell County Democratic Party Chairman, Leo Haggerty, on board with a $50K salary.

The Department of Parks announced four appointments today as well.

The GOLD appointments drew some criticism from the Republican Party’s Steve Robertson, but sadly that’s just the way things work in state government.