Beshear adds former Supreme Court justice and U.S. attorney to his cabinet
Kentucky Gov.-elect Andy Beshear completed naming secretaries of his cabinet Monday with seven appointments and named three others to major positions in his administration, which begins Tuesday.
They include former Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Mary Noble as justice secretary and former U.S. Attorney Kerry Harvey as public protection secretary.
At a Capitol news conference with Lt. Gov.-elect Jacqueline Coleman, Beshear said he is adding “all stars” who will help “lead state government with integrity and help us change the tone in Frankfort.”
Noble, who served on the state’s highest court from 2006 until she retired in 2016, said justice is her passion and that she especially wants to focus on the state’s opioid crisis.
Noble said she will appoint a state police commissioner at a later date, with Beshear’s blessing.
Harvey was U.S. attorney for Kentucky’s Eastern District. In that role, he placed special emphasis on financial fraud and public corruption. He previously was general counsel for the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services as well as its acting inspector general.
Other cabinet secretary positions Beshear filled Monday were:
▪ Gerina Wheters, personnel secretary. Whethers has more than 16 years of public service in the state. She most recently was executive director of Attorney General Beshear’s office of senior protection and mediation. She also has served as executive director of the victims advocacy office in the attorney general’s office.
▪ Larry Roberts, labor secretary. Roberts began his state government career with the state Labor Department in 1973 as an investigator. He spent 29 years with the Labor Cabinet in various positions and was state director for the Kentucky State Building and Construction Trades Council from September 2002 to April 2013. In 2013, then-Gov. Steve Beshear, Andy Beshear’s father, appointed him labor secretary, a job he held until December 2015.
For the last four years, Roberts has been a consultant for the Kentucky Pipe Trades Association, providing political, public relations and legislative assistance to construction workers.
▪ Rebecca Goodman, energy and environment secretary. Goodman has worked for Beshear the last four years as executive director of the attorney general’s office of rate intervention. Prior to that, she was executive director of the legal services office in the Transportation Cabinet and was lead counsel on the Louisville Bridges project.
▪ Eric Friedlander, health and family services acting secretary. He will be appointed as deputy secretary and will stay on in that role after a full-time secretary is named. He has more than 30 years of experience leading and managing complex organizations.
He led and managed implementation of the Affordable Care Act for Steve Beshear. He currently is chief resilience officer for Louisville Metro Government.
▪ Larry Hayes, interim economic development secretary. Hayes was economic development secretary in Steve Beshear’s administration. He also has been deputy mayor and finance secretary for the city of Louisville and was cabinet secretary for former Gov. Martha Layne Collins.
▪ Jonathan Smith, deputy chief of staff in the governor’s office. Most recently, Smith has been deputy campaign manager for the Beshear/Coleman campaign. Before that, he was legislative director for Attorney General Beshear.
▪ Ruth Day, commissioner of Commonwealth Office of Technology. Day has 30 years of management experience involving accounting, planning, budgeting, administrative process and systems analysis. She was vice president for Ligon Nationwide Inc. in Louisville.
Beshear said salaries for his appointees have not yet been set but said Day will not be making the $375,000 annual salary departing Gov. Matt Bevin had the state pay Charles Grindle, his longtime friend.
▪ LaShana M. Harris, juvenile justice commissioner. Harris, a lawyer, began her career as executive director of a non-profit child advocacy and mental health service provider for victims of child abuse and child sexual abuse. She has been executive director of the state office of the inspector general for regulated child care.
Asked if he has any Republicans in his cabinet, Beshear, a Democratic, said he did not ask his appointees their political party registration.
This story was originally published December 9, 2019 at 4:35 PM.
