Imagine you have been elected as the new chief firefighter. You walk up to the nearest firefighter who is trying to put out the massive fires burning down the town. As you approach him, he says “My time’s up. This fire is all yours.” and he hands to you the hose. The hose is under full pressure and as you grab the hose, it jumps up and down, dragging you all over the landscape. The only way to gain control is for your team to come to your rescue and take the hose out of your hands and direct the water to the burning buildings. Welcome to Kentucky State Government Transition 101. Governor Elect Steve Beshear has now announced, as of December 7, 2007, eight major cabinet level positions. This is 89 % of the existing cabinet structure of state government. Not bad for only having a total of 35 days from the election to put together a new government to take on the immense problems facing Kentucky for the next four years. Beshear’s transition team has only been working full time since November 15. Cabinet Government Governor Beshear’s Administration will be framed around these individuals. The Secretary of the Cabinet will be the day-to-day head of the Cabinet. It will be his job to make sure that the cabinet secretaries are aggressively moving the Governor’s programs forward and taking care of business for the administration. Secretary of the Cabinet.......Larry Hayes.............Central Kentucky Finance and Administration.....Jonathan Miller.........Central Kentucky Transportation.................Joe Prather.............Central Kentucky Education......................Helen W. Mountjoy.......Western Kentucky Justice........................J. Michael Brown........Central Kentucky Personnel......................Nikki Jackson...........Central Kentucky Environmental & Public Protection...Robert Vance.......Eastern Kentucky Commerce.......................Marcheta L. Sparrow.....Central Kentucky Health & Family Services.......Ellen Hesen.............Central Kentucky Economic Development............not announced yet Labor (not yet a Cabinet position)......J. R. Gray......Western Kentucky