REBECCA WALSH The Salt Lake Tribune | Posted: Monday, February 12, 2007 12:00 am
SALT LAKE CITY - Gary Herbert is the man who would be governor.
Not that he would ever say so. But Utah's lieutenant governor is a man waiting in the wings, willing to play No. 2 to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s No. 1 for nearly a decade just to have the chance to run for governor again.
He will never admit it.
Instead, Herbert has sculpted the lieutenant governor's job into a more robust version of its former self. He is perhaps the most powerful lieutenant governor in recent history.
No longer working in an office dedicated to making sure the state's elections run smoothly, the lieutenant governor's staffs spends equal time coordinating the governor's public lands policy, transportation proposals, and homeland security and emergency preparedness plans. Herbert's hand is evident in everything from Huntsman's roadless forest management plan - the most conservative in the country - to the administration's focus on building roads, particularly Interstate 15 in Utah County, the lieutenant governor's old stomping ground.
At the same time, the detailed work of the erstwhile Elections Office - the only part of the job required by the state Constitution - has slipped. Online databases of campaign contributions and lobbyist records are patchy. A feature that allowed searching by political contributor has been dropped, although the prompt remains on the elections Web site. And estimates of the cost of municipal and special elections in the state have skyrocketed, unchecked by the generic contract Herbert and his staff signed with voting machine manufacturer Diebold.
Herbert acknowledges some of his office's elections duties have been delayed or backlogged. But, he notes, elections are not his only priority anymore.
"We don't talk in terms of the Elections Office anymore. We talk in terms of the Lieutenant Governor's Office," he says.
An Orem High School graduate, he studied engineering and accounting at Brigham Young University, leaving college without a degree to become a real estate agent. He ran for the Orem City Council in the 1980s, losing by 32 votes. In 1990, he was appointed to the Utah County Commission, a job he held for 14 years through several elections. He distinguished himself as an affable advocate for transportation and smart growth.
Then three years ago, Herbert aspired to be governor. He joined a crowd of 10 hopefuls with every intention of running. But a few months later, just before the Republican State Convention in May, he pulled out of the race and climbed onto Huntsman's ticket.
That decision to bow out is proof of Herbert's political savvy. He knew he was an underdog - both in name recognition and resources. Lieutenant governor is a more solid stepping stone to governor than the Utah County Commission. So, he jumped, but not before exacting a promise from Huntsman to expand his duties.
Not satisfied with a "ceremonial, shoved-on-the-shelf, ribbon-cutting" job, Herbert wanted more.
"I don't want to be sitting here in the back room twiddling my fingers," Herbert says. "My job is to make this administration, and particularly Gov. Huntsman, as effective as he can possibly be. Two heads are better than one."
Huntsman agreed to put Herbert in charge of public lands and transportation. After they took office, the governor added homeland security to Herbert's portfolio. The governor says Herbert's connection with local government leaders throughout the state filled a gap in his own experience. It helped that Utah County had the second-largest number of conservative delegates at the GOP convention.
"I know where my limitations are. I knew where I needed fortifications," Huntsman says. "I thought between the two us, there wasn't an issue that one of us didn't have some experience in. From my standpoint, it was a pretty pragmatic choice."
So, with the governor's blessing, Herbert started building a kingdom within the Governor's Office.
At times, he has embarrassed his boss. The first incident came before the 2004 election, when he greeted a crowd with a reference to "Family Home Evening," the Mormon Monday night tradition of family togetherness. Huntsman was later mortified when campaign disclosure forms revealed Herbert was sleeping at a supporter's Emigration Canyon condo. And those close to Huntsman say Herbert's propensity to paste his picture on billboards for everything from emergency preparedness to cancer awareness makes the governor uncomfortable.
Despite those snafus, Huntsman defers to Herbert's governing decisions.
He cleaned house in the Elections Office, letting go of longtime staffers to replace them with his own.
At the same time, he created a new Public Lands Office, hiring his friend, San Juan County Commissioner Lynn Stevens, to direct it. Some call the office a "wholly-owned subsidiary of UAC (the Utah Association of Counties)." Stevens' influence is obvious to observers. Last year, Huntsman released a roadless forest petition that called for no untrammeled forests in Utah. The petition has been put on hold, pending federal court decisions.
But wilderness advocates see Herbert's and Stevens' fingerprints on the plan. They question how much Huntsman knows about the issue and wonder if he is brushing off his responsibility.
"It's nothing but an old-time sagebrush rebellion statement. I can't help wondering if this petition was written by someone in the early 1980s," says Dick Carter, coordinator of the High Uintas Preservation Council. "It's either coming from Gov. Huntsman, or he doesn't give a damn. In either case, it puts Utah in the position of being the only state that seems to be playing in the past."
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance Issues Director Heidi McIntosh believes Huntsman is out of the loop. "I don't think the governor is an ideologue. I just think he doesn't know what's going on," McIntosh says. "Gov. Leavitt was much more hands on. So was Olene Walker."
Huntsman and Herbert both dispute suggestions that Huntsman has abdicated his job. The governor acknowledges creating a more powerful lieutenant governor. But he says he takes responsibility for every idea that comes out of his office.
"I am absolutely engaged in all the decision-making," Huntsman says.
During Gov. Mike Leavitt's 13 years in office, then-Lt. Gov. Olene Walker was his emissary to the Legislature. She reorganized the State Workforce Services Department. And she sat in on budget hearings and judicial appointments.
"She was quite primary," says Natalie Gochnour, Leavitt's former spokeswoman.
Still, former Gov. Norm Bangerter says there is no question who is in charge.
"There are natural frustrations," says Bangerter. "But there's only one governor. And our lieutenant governor is required to support the guy."
There's no question Herbert supports Huntsman. And Huntsman defends his decision to empower Herbert in a way other governors have not.