Seattle Mayor Ed Murray is replacing his press secretary, less than a month after two memorable mixups sent heads shaking.

Rosalind Brazel is taking on a “new assignment” with the city’s Department of Personnel in which she will be “developing a strategy” for regularly communicating to city employees from the Mayor’s office.

She will be replaced temporarily by Megan Coppersmith, an experienced City Hall hand who served as the Seattle City Council’s press secretary and has lately worked for the Department of Information Technology.

Murray went through a rocky patch in February. He had to defend Interim Seattle Police Chief Harry Bailey after Bailey removed a misconduct finding and canceled the slap-on-the-wrist punishment of a police officer who accosted and threatened to harass Stranger news editor Dominic Holden.

The result were back-to-back news conferences, late on a Friday and early on a Monday morning. The first featured an uncomfortable Murray, the second a very testy Bailey.

A few days later, the Mayor’s office sent out a news release eulogizing former Department of Neighborhoods director Jim Diers. Diers was, as it turns out, very much alive. He had been confused with former state investment board director Joe Dear, who passed away in February.

A permanent replacement for Brazel will be found.

Revolving communications directors are frequently a feature of politics. Ex-Gov. Chris Gregoire was famous for running through press secretaries and speechwriters. Three U.S. House members from Washington have just seen a turnover in the spokesperson’s job.

The offices of Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., have enjoyed stable communications staffs over the last few years, which has worked to their benefit.

Mayor Mike McGinn was embroiled in many controversies, but was understood and well served by his spokesperson Aaron Pickus, who lasted from the first day of McGinn’s term to the last.