Gov. Andy Beshear announced several changes within his executive cabinet on Tuesday.
Changes effective on Tuesday include updates within the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC), the Energy and Environment Cabinet (EEC) and the Public Protection Cabinet (PPC), with two career employees moving into secretary roles.
Jim Gray, who has served as the secretary of KYTC through the entirety of the Beshear administration, will step into a new part time role as special advisor to the governor on transportation. Prior to joining Team Kentucky, Gray served two terms as mayor of Lexington and before that was president and CEO of Gray Inc.
“Jim helped us see through major projects like the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project and finalizing the Mountain Parkway while also delivering safer roads and bridges across Kentucky and supporting preparations for, response to and recovery from some of the state’s worst natural disasters,” said the governor. “I am grateful he will continue to make an impact through this next well-deserved role.”
Moving into the role of secretary for KYTC will be current EEC Secretary Rebecca Goodman. Goodman has been the state’s top environmental officer since December 2019. She began her career at KYTC as a cartographer and then returned to state government as a staff attorney at the Kentucky Public Service Commission after receiving her law degree. She has spent more than four decades in various roles throughout state government, including as general counsel at KYTC and the Executive Branch Ethics Commission.
John Lyons, who currently serves as deputy secretary of EEC, will transition into the role of EEC secretary. Lyons is a career cabinet employee, serving the state for over 35 years in roles ranging from an enforcement specialist within the Kentucky Division of Water to a director of the Division for Air Quality and more.
PPC Secretary Ray Perry will become deputy secretary of Beshear’s executive cabinet under Executive Cabinet Secretary John Hicks. Perry, who moved into the secretary post at PPC in August 2021, has served the citizens of the commonwealth in a variety of roles for nearly three decades. He previously served as assistant director of consumer protection and deputy commissioner at the Department of Insurance and as executive director of the then-Labor Cabinet’s General Administration and Procurement Services.
Deputy Cabinet Secretary DJ Wasson will move into the top position at PPC. Wasson is another career employee, beginning at the Department of Insurance in 1992 and serving in roles ranging from legislative liaison to market conduct examiner and more. In her most recent role at PPC, Wasson has been instrumental in the creation and implementation of the Eastern Kentucky high-ground initiative for flood survivors.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
