It didn't last long.
Former state Rep. Chris Caruso was hired last month as a high-profile urban advisor to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy at the Department of Economic and Community Development.
But less than a month later, Caruso was switched to the state labor department.
"He's at labor now, but he still does the same thing he did at DECD,'' Juliet Manalan, a spokeswoman for the governor, told Capitol Watch. "It made more sense for him to be in labor than in DECD. His portfolio just made more sense at DOL.''
A Bridgeport Democrat, Caruso handles unemployment, underemployment and job training at the labor department, focusing specifically on urban unemployment.
In his days in the General Assembly, Caruso was one of the most outspoken critics of then-Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell and her chief of staff, M. Lisa Moody - launching blistering attacks against them and holding seven days of often-contentious public hearings regarding Moody's involvement in delivering invitations to a Rell fundraiser at the Marco Polo restaurant in East Hartford.
In a move rarely seen in the splendor of the Hall of the House, Caruso spun around during Gov. John G. Rowland's budget speech in 2003 and turned his back on the governor.
``In the last budget, he turned his back on the poor, the workers, and the cities of this state,'' Caruso said at the time. "It's high time people started turning their back on him and letting him know that his approach is just not acceptable. His taxation [plan] is not a tax on the millionaires. It's going after people making $44,000.''
Known for his outspoken nature, Caruso, 51, declined to comment on his move to the labor department when reached by Capitol Watch.