This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2005, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Starting a house-cleaning that likely will play out in many state departments, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s staff fired 32 economic development employees Thursday.
The firings left many former employees angry, they said, because the terminations were disrespectful, cold and "corporate."
Huntsman Chief of Staff Jason Chaffetz, however, described the process as "standard operating procedure" during a gubernatorial transition.
The workers, who as a group had been asked to sign resignations, received word by e-mail Thursday whether their "resignation had been accepted." Those fired constituted the majority of 56 "at will" employees not covered by civil-service protection.
People shown the door were asked first to attend a group meeting with Chaffetz, during which a state trooper was stationed outside the door and the workers' state computer access was immediately blocked.
The fired workers demanded over Chaffetz objections that reporters be present during the question-and-answer portion of the meeting.
"We are angry," a tearful Mary Ann Flinders, a business development employee, told Chaffetz. "We were not even given the respect of being asked what we've accomplished - of being interviewed. It's a kick in the pants. There is no appreciation of what we have done."
Chaffetz told the employees Huntsman appreciates their work, but is committed to doing economic development differently. "Has the governor sat down with each and every one of you? No. It just isn't practical."
In answer to a question about the "primary architect" of the economic development overhaul, Chaffetz said Huntsman takes responsibility for it, but acknowledged the governor's senior adviser for economic development Chris Roybal, formerly director of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah, was central in the decision making.
Huntsman and his staff say the economic development cuts are a routine part of political change and were necessary to whip a tired department into shape.
As a result, for example, the Division of Travel Development, often known as the Utah Travel Council, took a big hit - 25 percent of its 20-member staff.
Fired were assistant director Spence Kinard, marketing manager Dwight Rimmasch, media relations manager Ken Kraus, publication manager Scott Iverson and Kathleen Truman, who provided rural technical assistance in Castle Dale.
"I'm disappointed they are losing that much experience on the Travel Council staff - close to 50 years of experience on state tourism," said Kinard. "That is now wiped out."
Another one of those fired was Arts Council Director Frank McEntire, who spent two years as head of the organization responsible for promoting and directing funding to a variety of arts organizations.
Chaffetz said such change is wrenching. "There's nothing fun about this. These are good, hard-working people who have done good work. But we're going in a different direction."
That new direction apparently includes changing the state's tax structure and business and environmental regulations to be more competitive with neighboring states, establishing public-private partnerships or even privatizing some of the state's economic development functions. Huntsman wants to manage the State Travel Council and Division of Business and Economic Development from his office, separating community development and the arts from business functions.
"The governor himself will be involved, sometimes on a daily basis," said Chris Roybal, Huntsman senior adviser for economic development. "We would hope that will make the process a little simpler for business."
Huntsman's staff would not provide a list of fired employees. "It was a personnel issue - we're just not going to release the names," Huntsman spokeswoman Tammy Kikuchi said.
At the time the terminated employees were cleaning out their desks Thursday evening, the governor's office emptied so staff could attend the Governor's $250-a-plate, black-tie fund-raising gala at the Salt Palace.
Huntsman has claimed a mandate from voters. And he intends to follow through, Chaffetz said, reforming how the state deals with business on a structural level.
One of the first steps is reforming Utah's taxes on businesses, perhaps eliminating corporate income taxes and cutting capital gains and income taxes - taxes that put the state at a competitive disadvantage with its neighbors, Roybal said. Former Gov. Olene Walker suggested those ideas in a tax reform proposal released last November, and Huntsman has said he will adopt portions of her plan.
The governor's office staff also plan to review business regulations - from licensing to clean water requirements - that might impede business development.
And Roybal said Huntsman is drafting a new strategy to "brand" the state and boost tourism, recruit international companies and ease technology transfer.
The department budget could be shifted or streamlined. Some of the functions could develop into public-private partnerships or be contracted out, Roybal said. And many of those fired Thursday will be replaced. "We're not looking to minimize our efforts. We're just looking to be more effective," he said.
Jonnie Wilkinson, a former assistant director of business expansion and retention who said Huntsman had tossed years of experience "like so much trash," feared that economic development statewide will suffer. "There is a potential that [economic development] will become a Salt Lake metro-focused group. I believe Utah County will get shortchanged."
Former DCED employee Richard Leyba agreed. "Rural Utah is going to lose out."