In a news conference that sounded a lot like the game Six Degrees of Separation, the governor announced plans to shift a handful of top state executives into different jobs.

It all starts with former Salt Lake City Mayor Palmer DePaulis. He will take over as director of the Department of Community and Culture, replacing Yvette Diaz, who abruptly resigned more than two months ago.

To replace DePaulis, now a state tax commissioner, Huntsman shuttled Administrative Services Director D'Arcy Dixon Pignanelli to the tax policy post.

State Budget Director Richard Ellis will move to Administrative Services to replace Pignanelli.

John Nixon, deputy Workforce Services director, will take over Ellis' job.

And Jesse Gallegos, a member of the Board of Pardons and Parole, will head the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice. He replaces Michele Christiansen, who earlier was named the governor's general counsel after Huntsman legal adviser Mike Lee was picked to clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.

"This all follows very logically," Huntsman said.

Huntsman, who touted his diverse Cabinet when he came into office, has seen unusual upheaval in the top ranks in his first year and a half on the job, as candidates withdrew in the midst of controversy or simply resigned. As a result, the governor's group of chief advisers has become less diverse with a net loss of two women. With Wednesday's changes, Huntsman's 20-member Cabinet includes four women and a Latino.

The governor insisted his Cabinet eventually will be representative of the state's minority population of more than 16 percent. He simply picked the best candidates available now. The choice "wasn't based on categories. It was based on who I thought was best suited to lead out," Huntsman said.

DePaulis - a Democrat, Catholic and son of an Italian immigrant - said he's looking forward to working with the community again after seven years as a tax commissioner. DePaulis will oversee six divisions, including the Office of Ethnic Affairs and Housing and Community Development. His annual salary will be between $72,400 and $97,600.

"My style is usually to sit down, listen to people and find out their concerns - before I go into the problem-solving mode," he said after the news conference.

Pamela Atkinson, who led the four-member search committee for DePaulis, said he was one of seven candidates interviewed for the job. After talking with department employees and community members about what was needed in the department's next director, Atkinson said DePaulis "stood out" and was the best qualified because of his management and leadership experience.

"He always makes people feel important . . . it doesn't matter who the person is," she said.

The department's former director, Diaz, resigned March 8 after only eight months officially on the job. Diaz, a Republican and attorney, was the state's first Latina department head.

In naming Pignanelli as DePaulis' replacement in the Tax Commission slot reserved for a Democrat, Huntsman said, "I can think of no better advocate for taxpayers."

Pignanelli, who ran for state treasurer and worked as chief of staff to Murray Mayor Dan Snarr before taking her post in state government, has limited tax credentials. But she said she is focused on learning the finer points of the governor's tax reform proposals and helping ferry them through the state Legislature.

Ellis, long the numbers guy in the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget, will take over Pignanelli's job in Administrative Services. Previously, Ellis served as chief deputy state treasurer for seven years.

Nixon, now taking over as Huntsman's budget chief, worked in that office under former Gov. Mike Leavitt.

Noting Utah's reputation as one of the best-managed states in the nation, Nixon said, "I feel a great weight stepping into this position."

Gallegos, an attorney moving over to lead the CCJJ, previously worked in the state auditor's office, legislative research and corrections. Gallegos will have to leave his job with pardons, leaving another empty job for the governor to fill.

"It's going to be a bit of a relief to be sitting across the table from [someone] other than inmates," Gallegos said. "That can be a bit trying."

The governor insisted the musical chairs had nothing to do with recent controversy over errors in cost estimates of his original tax reform proposal. The embarrassing mistakes have been attributed to Tax Commission economists.

"These are positions that became open as the result of the sequence of appointments," Huntsman said.

Meet the new C&C director

* Palmer DePaulis

* New job: Utah Department of Community and Culture executive director

* Last job: State tax commissioner (since 1999)

* Education: Bachelor's, Sacred Heart Seminary. Master's, Wayne State University.

* Former jobs: Teacher; Salt Lake City Corporation public works director, 1983-1985; Salt Lake City mayor, 1985-1992; planning and client relations director for a law firm; attorney general chief of staff, 1993-1999.

* Family: Married to Jeanne DePaulis. The couple have two grown children and three grandchildren.