Former SLC Mayor to Join Governor's Cabinet

None by KCPW

Palmer DePaulis Will Direct Department of Community and Culture

(KCPW News) Former Salt Lake City Mayor Palmer DePaulis will head the Department of Community and Culture. Governor Jon Huntsman Junior says he looked simply for the best candidate to head the department, which oversees ethnic affairs, culture and housing.

DePaulis replaces Yvette Diaz, who was the first Latina to sit on the Governor's cabinet. In defending his selection of a white male to take Diaz's place, Huntsman says his selection was quote "not based on categories."

DePaulis is currently a State Tax Commissioner. In 1985 he was appointed by outgoing Mayor Ted Wilson to lead the Capitol City. He was elected to another four-year term after that, and says his mayoral experience qualifies him to handle ethnic issues. He was selected on the recommendation of community advocate Pamela Atkinson, who did a five-month analysis of the fledgling Department of Community and Culture at the Governor's request.

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