WC AGENCY GETS NEW DIRECTOR

The Texas Workers Compensation Commission (TWCC) named Richard “Dick” Reynolds, a former legislator and insurance commissioner, as the new executive director of the agency. The six-member commission voted unanimously for Reynolds’ appointment at a public meeting Aug. 30. Reynolds served as a TWCC employer commissioner from 1995 to 1998. He was a member of the Texas State Board of Insurance from 1989 to 1993, and served in the Texas House of Representatives from 1973 to 1977. Reynolds was also a former board chairman of Parkland Hospital in Dallas. According to the Austin American-Statesman, Reynolds got the job over the objections of the Texas AFL-CIO, which asserted that Reynolds has too many ties to business. But Rebecca Olivares, chairwoman and one of the three employee representatives on the commission said she was comfortable with the decision.