Adam Edelen

Governor Steve Beshear (D-Lexington) will be travelling around the state this summer during a nearly month-long tour stopping in at least 13 towns across the commonwealth.

As reported by the Lexington Herald-Leader, Beshear will take his act on the road to discuss current issues in Kentucky and field questions from attendees at the public forums.

The tour – which stretches from eastern to western Kentucky - was announced shortly after a difficult start for Beshear and a series of changes in his office.

One way Beshear's chief of staff, Adam Edelen, mentioned the governor’s agenda could be pushed forward was by putting Beshear in front of the Kentucky public more frequently.

“I think [Beshear] is the best natural communicator that we've had as governor in the modern era,” Edelen told PolitickerKY.com in an earlier interview. “You are going to see a lot more of Governor Beshear actually out in the state talking directly to citizens and elected officials in their own communities.”

Staff reshuffling in the office of Gov. Steve Beshear (D-Lexington) continued today, with the announcement that communications director Dick Brown will be replaced by Jay Blanton.

Blanton comes to the position after a nearly four year tenure as executive director of marketing and public relations for the University of Kentucky. Prior to that job, he served as deputy communications director for Louisville's Democratic mayor, Jerry Abramson.

He also worked with the public relations firms Guthrie-Mayes and Preston-Osbourne.

The switch in the office comes seven months into Beshear's first term as governor and just a week since an earlier change by Beshear brought Adam Edelen in as chief of staff.

The lexicon in the office of Governor Steve Beshear (D-Lexington) may be changing with the arrival of Adam Edelen, who took the helm as Beshear's new chief of staff last week.

In an interview with PolitickerKY.com conducted last Friday, Edelen says he is bringing the lessons of his experience in the private sector with him into Beshear's office, noting he wants the administration to become more "customer service oriented" in its dealings.

"It's important to note I am not a political professional. I would bristle at the term," Edelen said. "I am a businessman who has been involved in politics and not the other way around."

Edelen joins Beshear's staff after a stint heading Kentucky's Office of Homeland Security. With Beshear already having faced a fair share of struggles in his first 6 months in office - including stalls in the legislature on his proposed expanded casino gaming and tobacco tax initiatives - Edelen has his work cut out for him in the high-pressure chief of staff role.

Still, the 33 year-old University of Kentucky graduate - who began his career working as an aide to former Democratic Governor Paul Patton - says his business training and his close relationships with many of Frankfort's prominent faces will help him push Beshear's agenda forward.

In the interview below, Edelen says he plans on helping Beshear "invert the pyramid" of traditional leadership models by having the governor bring his policies to the people of Kentucky more frequently, with the expectation that Beshear will be increasingly visible across the state