What is unclear is whether the name Huntsman ultimately sends to the members of the Committee of Consumer Services for approval will ignite the same controversy as his previous choice, who in March resigned after just a year on the job.

"We've done our best to make sure the selection process was handled the right way," said Francine Giani, executive director of the Utah Department of Commerce and chairwoman of the search committee. She said Huntsman tried to include as many different viewpoints as possible on the search committee.

Yet one selection committee member, consumer advocate Claire Geddes, said she doesn't support two of the candidates whose names were forwarded to the governor's office for consideration.

"This is just too important of a decision for me not to continue to speak out," Geddes said. "The executive director and the committee are the only people standing between consumers and the utilities."

Of the four candidates whose names were forwarded to the governor, two emerged as the favorites of selection committee members - Reed Warnick and Sue Ashdown.

Warnick, who previously served as the attorney for the Committee of Consumer Services, stepped into the role of its interim director after former executive director Leslie Reberg resigned in March to run for Salt Lake County recorder.

Giani is supporting Warnick. Her second choice is John Gothard, who serves as a utility analyst for the Utah Division of Public Utilities.

Geddes favors Ashdown, a former owner of the Salt Lake City-based Internet service provider X-Mission, who went on to organize the American Internet Service Providers Association in Washington D.C. Geddes' second choice is Tim Funk, housing project director for the Crossroads Urban Center.

Geddes has accused Giani of trying from the beginning of the search to engineer Warnick's appointment. She contends that after selection committee members were polled and Warnick failed to emerge as a clear favorite, Giani sent the names to the governor without including the member's recommendations.

"I believe it is important that the governor know what each member of the selection committee thought," Geddes said. "And we certainly don't need that information filtered through Francine Giani."

Giani contends that Geddes wanted only her candidates considered. "It's all right to disagree, but I don't think anyone should be out taking pot shots just for the sake of taking one."

It isn't unusual for controversy to surround the position of executive director of the Committee of Consumer Services.

Previous executive director Reberg, a former U.S. West lobbyist, came under intense criticism after Huntsman named her his choice to replace Roger Ball, whom he fired after the governor's transition team characterized Ball as being too much of a "pit bull" in his representation of the state's consumers.

Geddes argues that Warnick failed to support Ball after his firing and didn't urge the Committee of Consumer Services to contest the governor's decision. And she points to Warnick siding with Questar Gas in trying to prevent her and Ball from contesting a settlement that allowed the utility to begin charging its customers for the cost of processing their natural gas.

"Committee members and the executive director are the people who meet with representatives of the utilities behind closed doors and set our rates," Geddes said. "The public needs to have confidence those people are independent, looking out for their interests and, in the case of the executive director, not beholden to anyone for their job."

Although the consumer services committee operates under the Department of Commerce, it ostensibly is an independent organization outside the department's bureaucratic oversight. Yet, prior to Giani, two directors of the Department of Commerce were involved in the firings of committee directors.

Geddes maintains that can have a chilling effect on the committee's executive directors, especially when utilities complain to politicians because the committee is too good at doing its job when fighting to keep rates down.

Dee Jay Hammon, chairman of the Committee of Consumer Services and a member of the selection committee, said he was pleased with the process that resulted in the names of the best four candidates being forwarded to the governor.

"It was fair and it was democratic, and I couldn't have asked for a better process," he said. "I told Francine [Giani] that I could support any of the four candidates and wouldn't have a problem working with any of them."

steve@sltrib.com

Candidate backgrounds

Sue Ashdown: Former owner of X-Mission, an Internet service provider based in Salt Lake City, has fought to represent the the interests of small ISPs in Utah and Washington D.C.

Tim Funk: Housing project director for the Crossroads Urban Center, who has represented the interests of low-income Utahns on a variety of issues, including utility matters.

John Gothard: Certified public account and attorney who is serving as a utility analyst for the Utah Division of Public Utilities.

Reed Warnick: Previously served as attorney for the committee and earlier this year was named its interim director

Consumer Services Committee

Gov. Huntsman met with three of the candidates for executive director Wednesday and meets the fourth, Sue Ashdown, today. He will forward a name to the Committee of Consumer Services, which can either accept or reject his selection. He also could send all four names to the committee for consideration.