State's chief tourism officer will step down next week
by Ed Anderson - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

BATON ROUGE - Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, fresh from an election victory for his first full term in office, said Friday that his chief tourism officer will be leaving Nov. 11. Dardenne said that Jim Hutchinson, who holds the title of assistant secretary of the Office of Tourism in the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, has "faced the challenge of working under three lieutenant governors in the 2½ years he has been here." "It was a mutual decision," Dardenne said. "It was a decision to move (the tourism office) in a different direction. He has done a very good job for us." Hutchinson could not be reached for comment. The lieutenant governor oversees the department and the state's tourism and cultural initiatives. Hutchinson started working under ex-Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu and stayed on while interim Lt. Gov. Scott Angelle took over when Landrieu was elected New Orleans mayor. He has been with Dardenne since last fall.