Ned Hill, the former dean of BYU's Marriott School of Business, was called by an acquaintance recently and told he was a finalist for the presidency of Utah Valley University in Orem.
The caller said he had a lot of supporters and had one of the most impressive résumés. But before he could get the job, he needed to "make nice" with the Utah County Republican legislators.
Some of those lawmakers, apparently, were miffed that his wife, Caralyn Hill, had run as a Democrat against Republican incumbent Rep. Chris Herrod of Provo and that she had made legislative ethics one of her key campaign issues.
Days later, Hill got another call, this time from a legislator who repeated the need for him to make amends to the Utah County legislative delegation. But this caller said he also should bring his wife to apologize to the legislators for questioning their ethics.
Hill said the callers were not threatening. They were friends and he felt they were trying to be helpful, but they just wanted to let him know what he needed to do to keep his candidacy viable.
Instead, he withdrew his name from consideration.
Hill said that with the current economic downturn mandating drastic budget cuts, he was worried that his candidacy, given his wife's perceived apostasy, would offend Utah County legislators in a position to punish UVU by slashing its budget. So he felt it was better to distance himself from the process.
Getting Brambled: I wrote in October about a confrontation between Republican-establishment critic Mike Ridgway and the family of Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, during a meet-the-candidates event at the Provo residence of John Curtis.
Ridgway, who was supporting Bramble's opponent, had called Curtis earlier in the day and asked if he could videotape the event. When Curtis told the candidates of Ridgway's request, Bramble objected and called top officials of the Utah Highway Patrol, who sent two troopers to the event.
When Ridgway appeared, he was confronted by Bramble's wife Susie and their adult sons. One witness wrote later on a blog that one son, Jeff Bramble, appeared as though he was about to "punch out" Ridgway.
Ridgway eventually left at the request of Curtis but later filed a complaint with the Provo police over what he felt was threatening behavior by the Brambles.
So guess who recently got charged with disorderly conduct? Ridgway. He is to appear Feb. 24 in Justice Court. Jeff Bramble also was implicated in the complaint filed by the Provo Police Department, but city attorneys declined to charge him.
