Claudia Nakano and Ally Isom were appointed to posts by Department Director Yvette Diaz earlier this month.

Nakano will be the department's communications director, serving as spokeswoman for its six divisions, including the Office of Ethnic Affairs and Office of Division of Housing and Community Development. One of her main responsibilities will be to publicize the new department and its services, Diaz said. Nakano starts her new job May 31.

Isom is the department's deputy director and started work Monday, Diaz said. She will oversee the department's six divisions, including the Utah Arts Council, Division of State History and Division of State Library.

Nakano is the mother of Lindsay Mueller, an assistant to the communications director in Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s office. Her appointment does not appear to violate the state's nepotism law. Under the law, an appointee cannot be directly supervised by a relative, although there are exceptions.

Diaz said she was unaware of the mother-daughter relationship.

Nakano and Mueller were out of town and could not be reached for comment.

Diaz said she interviewed three people for the positions. She said she clicked well with Nakano and Isom and liked that they were both outspoken and strong managers.

"I wanted to pick people who can tell me the good, the bad and the ugly," Diaz said Wednesday. "It's going to help me make better decisions."

Diaz said she picked Nakano because she was sharp and articulate with a background in media relations. Diaz said she also liked that Nakano, an Asian-American, is aware of minority issues and open to working with the ethnic media.

Nakano resigned this month as Salt Lake County's Clark Planetarium marketing and public relations manager, a job she had for about four years, a planetarium spokeswoman said. She owned Nakano Marketing Inc. for seven years in the 1990s. Nakano, who graduated from the University of Utah, has served on the state's Asian Advisory Council.

Isom for the past two years had been working part time at R & R Partners Government Services, an advertising and public affairs firm in Salt Lake City, a spokesman said. She is a 1993 Brigham Young University graduate and was the campaign manager for state Attorney General Mark Shurtleff.

jsanchez@sltrib.com