The Cabinet

There were fourteen departments and two commission-departments in the executive branch of Utah state government when I took office, each headed by an executive director or commissioner. Collectively, these executive directors, commissioners, and the governor’s chief of staff were considered the cabinet. The cabinet is not a statutory body; in actuality, a governor could define the term to include anyone they choose. By tradition, governors had also met regularly with a larger group of people, which included the leaders of state government organizations who did not serve by direct appointment of the governor, such as the heads of the Board of Regents, the State Board of Education, or the Workers Compensation Fund. Collectively, the heads of these state government organizations was called the Cabinet Council.

Whenever there is succession in the Governor’s Office, it is expected that turnover within government departments will follow. Because I was succeeding Governor Bangerter, a fellow Republican, there was some question about how many of his department heads I would retain, especially since many of the existing directors were my friends and most had supported me in the election once I got the Republican nomination. All, I think, were on pins and needles about their futures.

Changes in the Cabinet

During the first two weeks after the election, I was consumed by organizing my personal staff and attending various meetings for governors-elect. However, during that time I had been reviewing recommendations from our transition committee.

I started the decision process with some biases. First, during the campaign, particularly in the primary, my opponents had tried to brand me as a continuation of the status quo. When Governor Bangerter endorsed my candidacy pre-primary, it really left Richard Eyre, my opponent, little alternative but to claim I was just more of the same. To counter that argument and show that I would be establishing a new direction, I had been up-front that significant changes would be made. Likewise, I thought change would be constructive. Many had served well but had also served long.

By December 1, 1992, roughly three weeks after the election, I had made my decisions as to who I would retain and who wouldn’t be kept on. I felt it was not respectful of me to have somebody else deliver the news, so I invited each director to meet with me in the transition office in thirtyminute intervals.

That day, I notified ten of the fourteen that they would not be retained. I commended their service to the state and worked to ensure they knew this was part of a wide effort on my part to make the changes required to keep government fresh. Most were gracious and understanding, but still disappointed. One or two argued that it was a bad decision. One of those two later tried to organize a minor campaign to reverse the decision, but it was, of course, fruitless.

Disappointing people and inflicting unwanted change into their lives is always uncomfortable, but it was critical I do it, for many reasons. The next day, the newspapers reported the turnover in bold headlines: “Ten Department Heads Fired!” While it was untrue—not retaining is not the same as firing—and more unfortunate for the people being released than for me, it was not entirely bad. The characterization that I had fired nearly a dozen department heads demonstrated very clearly that I was now taking charge. I reflected later that while I was elected on November 3, 1992, and inaugurated on January 4, 1993, I actually became governor in most people’s minds on December 1, 1992, when I hired my cabinet.

“I feel deeply there is a need for renewal in government,” I explained at the time, “That doesn’t mean people have done a bad job. It’s not political. It’s not personal.”

Slowly over the next two months, I made decisions on who would be coming in. The process of assembling the Leavitt Cabinet varied some, but decisions generally encompassed the creation of a prospect list based on analysis by the transition committee, a background paper on each individual, checking of references, and then a series of interviews. I would typically interview the last three finalists myself, sometimes more than once. At times I guided list creation by telling the team who I wasn’t interested in, or suggesting they interview others I thought would be good candidates.

I feel deeply there is a need for renewal in government,” I explained at the time, “That doesn’t mean people have done a bad job. It’s not political. It’s not personal.

One thing I did insist upon doing with each cabinet candidate was participating in the last interview where an offer was finalized. There was an important understanding I wanted to have with each. Once we had agreed that they were willing to accept the job if it was offered, I would explain my expectations of them. The conversation would go something like this:

“I am offering you a position in my cabinet because you are a competent, credible, and experienced person. However, I also expect you to be loyal. There are four things that define loyalty and I want you to understand, remember, and agree to them.”

I want to know exactly what you think. That is loyalty.

“First, I expect you to run the department. I will never know about 99 percent of the decisions you make. I trust they will be made in an honest way that represents your best judgment and comports with what you understand to be the administration’s views. That is loyalty.”

“Second, there are going to be times when a decision you are called upon to make will have ramifications beyond your department and could affect other departments or me in very direct ways. I expect you to elevate those matters to a bigger conversation. That is loyalty.”

“Third, when you or others elevate a matter to a larger conversation, I expect you to be a good collaborative player in coming up with the best solution. I want to know exactly what you think. That is loyalty.”

“Finally, when I’ve listened to the facts and I make a decision other than what you wanted, I want you to remember who got elected governor. That is loyalty.”

The message I wanted to communicate was that we would do things collaboratively; however, I was ultimately accountable to the people, and although my cabinet was accountable to the people also, the cabinet was accountable through me. It was my job as governor to make priority decisions and to weigh competing factors.

Interestingly, when I became a member of President George W. Bush’s cabinet eleven years later, he had almost exactly the same conversation with me.

I do not recall having any problem with cabinet disloyalty. The most difficult place to manage the different agendas was at the legislature. I asked cabinet members not to advocate legislation that was not on a list of legislation the administration supported formally. At times, they would have legislation they needed or wanted that had not made our list of priorities, and it was understandably irritating to them not to be able to pursue them independently. However, the legislature always viewed legislation promoted by the executive branch as an opportunity to horse trade. We had to keep control of that and would devote care to working through those matters.

The budget was another place where occasionally cabinet members got off-message. If it wasn’t in the governor’s budget, I asked them not to advocate for it. Otherwise, we could end up negotiating against ourselves.

The four Bangerter department heads I chose to keep in the same positions were Doug Bodrero as commissioner of the Department of Public Safety; Ed Leary at the Department of Financial Institutions; Rod Betit, who had been the acting executive director of the Department of Health; and Corrections chief Lane McCotter, who had been hired during the previous year by Governor Bangerter after a nationwide search.

Commissioner Bodrero had been a county sheriff in Cache County and served as deputy commissioner under Governor Bangerter. He was well respected by law enforcement statewide. I didn’t want to deal with disruption in law enforcement with all the other changes being made, and I knew I could have confidence in him. Ed Leary was the banking commissioner. He was respected throughout the United States and served several governors before me—and after me. It was an area that was going well and would have presented unique challenges to disrupt.

Rod Betit was an interesting case. Frankly, I went into our interviews disposed to make a change. I really had not worked with Rod before, and Governor Bangerter had hired him out of the Alaska Health Department and brought him to Utah to solve some problems in the Medicaid system.

As I talked with Rod, I really liked his story. He was a Vietnam veteran who served as an intelligence officer. People in and out of the department spoke very highly of him, and it became quickly evident that Rod was a uniquely gifted manager. However, there was a barrier to his service as the permanent director: the law required that a director have either a master’s degree in public health or a medical degree. Rod had neither.

I was particularly interested in understanding how the hospitals would respond to Rod. I figured the public health community would advocate for one of their own and the medical association would push for the director being a doctor, yet the hospitals were very supportive of Rod.

I became governor in people’s minds the day I hired my cabinet.

Positions requiring a specific degree have always bothered me. They seem territorial and ignore entire ranges of skills. I determined to retain Rod, but I would need to get the legislature to change the statutory qualification requirement. Lawmakers complied, and Rod was in.

He served for most of my time as governor. I continually called on him when I had a significant problem to be fixed. There was a time when I had him running the two largest departments in state government—Department of Health and Department of Human Services. I dispatched him twice to solve a protracted legal and political contretemps over child protective services that erupted shortly after I took office. An out-of-state advocacy group had sued the state to compel changes in the mission and focus of the child-services agency, and the courts concurred. Rod was by my side time and again, pitching innovative ideas in Washington, and later preparing for the Olympics. He became a trusted friend and occasional golf partner.

At Corrections, Lane McCotter had been hired only months before by Governor Bangerter. Lane had retired from the U.S. Army as a Lt. Colonel, having served in the Special Forces as a Green Beret, later embarking on a successful career in the corrections field. He had held the top corrections posts in the states of Texas and New Mexico prior to Utah. Governor Bangerter, who made very few requests of me, asked specifically that I consider retaining Lane, given his short tenure in the prior administration. I think he probably committed to Lane he would do so as part of a recruitment process. I was impressed upon interviewing him and enjoyed our service together.

New Cabinet Selections

Several of my initial cabinet appointees had a direct connection to the campaign trail. I mentioned Ted Stewart as my second chief of staff. However, for the first four-and-a-half years of the administration, Ted served as executive director of the Department of Natural Resources. As such, Ted had oversight over land management, water, fish and wildlife, and most of the state’s interactions with federal land managers.

Ted was exquisitely well qualified to oversee Utah’s national resource interests. As a lawyer, he had been Congressman Jim Hansen’s chief staff person, with a heavy concentration on land and water issues. He had exceptional relationships with leaders throughout rural Utah. However, my interest in Ted’s serving in the administration can be traced to a snowy all-night drive the previous February.

Every general election year, each county Republican Party holds a Lincoln Day dinner as a fundraiser. It is nearly mandatory that candidates for major offices attend, though the schedule did not always mesh with rationality. For example, the Duchesne County dinner was to be held in Roosevelt on Friday night, and Iron County in Cedar City was holding a Lincoln Day breakfast the next morning at 8:30 a.m.; Cedar City and Roosevelt are 331 miles apart over mostly two-lane roads—a six-hour drive under the best of conditions. Naturally, a massive snowstorm moved into the eastern Utah region during the dinner, which was already pushed past 10:00 p.m. with the literally dozens of candidates all needing to make their impression on prospective delegates.

The plan had been for my brother Mark, a private pilot, to fly me from Roosevelt to Cedar City early the next morning. The blizzard grounded us, with weather reports showing the storm would intensify until noon the next day. I would need to drive or miss the Lincoln Day event in my hometown.

Ted, seeing my plight, offered me a ride. It meant that five fairly large bodies would be crammed into his rather small car, so Ted and I took the wheel, alternating driving through the storm as three of his staff people dozed fitfully in a back seat meant for two. On we drove for seven-and-a-half hours on those two-lane roads through the storm, talking about every conceivable subject—some rather personal and sensitive. By the time we got to Cedar City we had achieved a new level of friendship. I didn’t know if either of us would win at that point, but if I did, I determined to serve with people like Ted Stewart.

When Ted accepted the job as chief of staff, I appointed his deputy director, Kathleen Clarke to replace him. Ultimately, Kathleen was appointed by President Bush to head the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Robert Morgan, director of the Division of Water Rights, was promoted to take her place.

While Mike Stewart was a competitor in the race for governor, the two of us quickly came to realize we had much in common. There was a point in time I considered him as a lieutenant governor selection, but the timing wasn’t right. When Mike was eliminated at the state convention, my primary opponent Richard Eyre worked hard to get Mike to become his running mate. Mike declined and opted to endorse me. That was an important development because it demonstrated he would keep his word in the face of an offer. I knew from our time together on the campaign trail that he had a passion for public assistance services to the needy. It had been the focus of his work as a county commissioner; he was fluent in socialservices issues and well-liked by many of the advocacy organizations in the department’s orbit. Consequently, his name figured prominently in discussions by the transition committee, and I chose him to head the Department of Human Services.

Within months, he was awash in negative news coverage reporting that some of the rental properties he owned and rented out to lower-income tenants had code violations, and that he also had failed to pay taxes on some of them—and failed to disclose it in transition discussions. In August of 1993, he resigned. It was a political firestorm that singed the early months of my administration, as I had ultimate responsibility for cabinet selections.

I am offering you a position in my cabinet because you are a competent, credible, and experienced person. However, I also expect you to be loyal.

Mike was replaced by Kerry Steadman, who had been Human Services Director for Salt Lake County. When he left the job, I appointed my longtime colleague Robin Arnold-Williams.

Two other cabinet picks had a close connection to the 1992 campaign. Joe Jenkins was a popular mayor of Provo. He had considered running for various offices himself, and I had been told by others that Joe would be an excellent candidate for lieutenant governor. I had continually pushed for his endorsement and was delighted to receive it. It was important that I do well in Utah County, and I felt having Provo’s mayor as a supporter would be enormously helpful. His mayoral chief of staff, Raylene Ireland, was a very competent woman who wielded enormous influence within the Utah County Republican Party. Both Joe Jenkins and Raylene Ireland played vital roles in both my elections, especially during the primary.

In the selection of cabinet officers, the geographic region they came from was often of great significance to others, especially party and community leaders from outside Salt Lake City. The truth is, I had concluded I wanted both Joe and Raylene in leading roles in the administration before I was sure where they would fit best. They were both extraordinarily talented people who could serve in several places.

I wanted to ensure that women were well-represented in leading roles. Raylene had also been on my lieutenant governor short list, but ultimately, I invited her to head the Department of Administrative Services, a role her leadership in city and county government had well prepared her to take on. Initially, I was going to bring Joe into the Governor’s Office to handle intergovernmental relations, but later concluded he best fit at the Department of Community and Economic Development. When Joe and his wife were called later for a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,1, 2 David Winder, a well-respected CPA, was then chosen.

The Department of Transportation is prominent in the daily lives of Utahns as they travel and commute. The transition committee developed a long list of potential candidates to head it up. One that immediately jumped out at me was Craig Zwick, who had been the leader of Zwick Construction Company before serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ in Chile. I loved the idea of a private-sector orientation in the department, and while Craig had no government experience, I felt confident his abundant management and leadership skills would make him a strong department head. He had been working most recently in business development for his former competitor, Layton Construction. It seemed like a great fit and we asked him to accept the position.

In 1995, Craig left to provide service as a General Authority of the Church of Jesus Christ. I did a national search, hiring Tom Warne, who had been the Deputy Director of Transportation in Arizona.

Surprisingly, choosing a Commissioner of Agriculture turned out to be one of the most controversial decisions I made. I found myself in the middle of an ongoing dispute among dairy groups; the milk-producing interests and the milk co-op groups had bad blood between them. The transition committee forwarded me the names of three people, all very good friends and allies of mine. First, Glen Brown, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives member and brother of Rep. Mel Brown, who would later become Speaker. Glen and his brother were milk producers and deeply involved in milk politics. Second, Ken Ashby, the elected president of the Utah Farm Bureau. The Farm Bureau was aligned with the co-op managers. And finally, Cary Peterson, a longtime friend of my family, who had served in the legislature with my father for years.

Any of the three would have been excellent. However, it became clear to me quickly that choosing either of the milk interests was a recipe for certain trouble with the others. Choosing Cary Peterson avoided the diary/farm bureau complication and he was a first rate policy person who was widely respected. Unfortunately, the decision caused my relationship with the Brown family to suffer for a while. Some years later, Glen joined my administration. He is one of the finest people I know.

For the Department of Environmental Quality, I wanted a scientist. Dianne Nielson was among a number I interviewed. She had been working at the Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining, and both the industry and the environmental interests liked her. She is a PhD-level geologist. I really enjoyed the interviews and concluded to go with my gut on this one. It turned out to be one of the truly wonderful relationships I developed as governor. I came to trust her implicitly. She carried a heavy load of issues for me in Utah, regionally and nationally.

At the Department of Commerce, I was impressed with the department’s legal counsel, Connie White, and promoted her to executive director, where she took the seat being vacated by Ted Stewart’s move to Natural Resources. Later in my administration, Douglas Borba headed the department.

Because I came from the insurance industry, there were abundant rumors about who I might choose as Commissioner of Insurance. Therefore, I knew it was a selection that required political care. I quickly settled on a no-nonsense actuary, Bob Wilcox, who I had worked with on several projects over the years. There was little drama after his announcement. I think the industry recognized his competence. Bob had worked with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners a fair amount and was able to quickly become a leader within that organization. Bob served for the first term, and was succeeded by Merwin Stewart, a retired Beneficial Life executive whose tenure lasted the next eight years.

Rounding out the appointments were former Lieutenant Governor Val Oveson, Governor Bangerter’s very competent second-in-command, to head the Utah State Tax Commission; Steve Hadley at the Utah Industrial Commission; and Karen Suzuki-Okabe at the Department of Human Resource Management.

Cabinet Meetings

Cabinet meetings both at the presidential and gubernatorial level tend to be somewhat of a ritual. However, they also serve an important purpose. It is an efficient way of keeping people informed, as well as a physical reminder that each one is part of the larger whole and their interests at times need to be subordinated to the whole. There is value in a periodic reminder that they work for the governor and not just their department or other interests.

The reality is that most of the work among departments has to be done in smaller groups to be productive. However, after the informational portion of cabinet meetings was finished, we would have a couple departments each time talk about their initiatives. Often those sessions would create a productive dialogue between departments, and also served to cross-pollinate ideas. Routinely, I would choose a subject I wanted to hear discussion about from various points of view, and we would have free-flowing conversations.

We also developed a tradition of taking the entire cabinet on a road trip together and dubbed it “Capitol for a Day.” A city would be selected and we would symbolically move the center of government power there for a day. We would have each of the department heads visit constituents, work on problems, and then meet for a town meeting. While I’m sure the communities felt the value, it was a great thing for the cabinet. We would ride on a bus together, and though we would almost always ask people to read a specific book for discussion on the trip, by the time we finished it had devolved into the adult version of a high school band trip. It was great for relationship building and a good policy gesture, too. I still count my former cabinet colleagues to be among my favorite people. Great friendships are made in public service.

Department Heads (Cabinet Members)

Department of Administrative Services

Raylene G. Ireland 1993 – 2002

S. Camille Anthony 2002 – 2003

Department of Agriculture (Commissioner)

Cary Peterson 1993 – 2003

Department of Commerce

Constance (Connie) B. White 1993 – 1995

Douglas C. Borba 1996 – 2000

Klare A. Bachman (Interim) 2001

Ted Boyer 2002 – 2003

Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED)

Joseph A. Jenkins 1993 – 1996

David D. Winder 1997 – 2002

David G. Harmer 2003

Department of Corrections

O. Lane McCotter 1992 – 1997

H.L. (Pete) Haun 1998 – 2000

Michael P. Chabries 2001 – 2003

Department of Environmental Quality

Dianne Nielson 1993 – 2003

Department of Financial Institutions (Commissioner)

G. Edward Leary 1992 – 2003

Department of Health

Rod L. Betit 1993 – 2003

Richard Melton 1996 – 2003

Department of Human Resource Management

Karen Suzuki-Okabe 1993 – 2003

Department of Human Services

D. Michael Stewart 1993

Kerry David Steadman 1994 – 1995

Rod L. Betit 1995 – 1997

Robin Arnold-Williams 1997 – 2003

Department of Insurance (Commissioner)

Robert (Bob) E. Wilcox 1993 – 1996

Merwin Stewart 1997 – 2003

Department of Natural Resources

Ted Stewart 1994 – 1998

Kathleen B. Clarke 1998 – 2001

Bob Morgan 2002 – 2003

Department of Public Safety

Douglas D. Bodrero 1992 – 1996

Craig Dearden 1997 – 2000

Robert L. Flowers 2001 – 2003

Department of Transportation

W. Craig Zwick 1994 – 1995

Thomas R. Warne 1996 – 2001

John R. Njord 2001 – 2003

Department of Workforce Services

Bob C. Gross 1996 – 2002

Raylene G. Ireland 2002 – 2003

Elected Officials

State Auditor

Tom Allen 1992 – 1994

Auston Johnson 1995 – 2003

State Treasurer

Ed Alter 1992 – 2003

Attorney General

Jan Graham 1993 – 2001

Mark Shurtleff 2001 – 2003

Other Senior Staff (Cabinet Council Members)

Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice System

Camille Anthony 1993 – 2002

Ed McConkie 2002 – 2003

Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget (Director)

Lynne Ward 1993 – 2003

Other Cabinet Council Members

Department of Employment Security

Floyd Astin 1992 – 1996 (This department became a part of Department of Services in 1997)

Superintendent of Public Instruction

Scott Bean 1993 – 1998

Steve Laing 1999 – 2003

Division of Finance

Gordon Crabtree 1993 – 1995

Kim Thorne 1996 – 2002

Utah Housing Finance Agency (UHFA)

William Erickson 1993 – 2003

Utah Industrial Commission

Stephen Hadley 1985 – 1996

State Court Administrator

Ronald W. Gibson 1992 – 1994

Daniel J. Becker 1995 – 2003

Board of Regents

Rolfe Kerr 1993

Cecelia Foxley 1993 – 2003

Military Affairs (Military Adviser)

John Matthews 1994 – 1998

Adjutant General of the Utah National Guard

John Matthews 1992 – 1994

Jim Miller 1994 – 2000

Brian L. Tarbet 2000 – 2003

Utah State Tax Commission (Executive director)

Clyde R. Nichols Jr. 1993

Rodney G. Marrelli 1994 – 2003

Utah State Tax Commission (Chair)

Val Oveson 1993 – 1998

Rich McKeown 1998 – 1999

Pam Hendrickson 1999 – 2003

Utah State Tax Commission (Chair)

Val Oveson 1993 – 1998

Rich McKeown 1998 – 1999

Pam Hendrickson 1999 – 2003

IT Coordinator/Chief Information Officer

Gordon Peterson 1993 – 1997

David Moon 1998 – 2001

Phil Windley 2002

Val Oveson 2003

Board of Pardons

Mike Sibbett, Chairman 1993 – 2003

Worker’s Compensation Fund of Utah

Lane Summerhays, executive director 1992 – 2003

Utah Retirement Systems Board

M. Dee Williams 1992 – 1999

Robert V. Newman 1999 – 2003

Alcoholic Beverage Control

Kenneth F. Wynn 1994 – 2003

School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration

Scott Hirschi 1995

David T. Terry 1996 – 2001

Stephen G. Boyden 2001 – 2003

Kevin S. Carter 2003

Speechwriter

Laurie S. Maddox 1997 – 2003