A search committee charged with finding a new executive director for the Utah Committee of Consumer Services will not consider a late-stage candidate seeking the position.

The candidate was put forward by Sen. Greg Bell, R-Fruit Heights, after the committee had settled on four finalists for the position.

Francine Giani, executive director of the Utah Department of Commerce and chairwoman of the search committee, acknowledged that the last-minute candidate did not have any utility experience — a requirement under Utah law for the committee director. She added that upon closer review of the candidate, it was decided to move forward with the original four finalists, she said.

The fifth name drew criticism from Claire Geddes, one of six members of the search committee, who said consideration of the new person extended the search process by nearly two months in order to accommodate an interview.

Giani said the fifth candidate was out of town during the month of July. An interview for the candidate was scheduled for August.

Candidate names have not been released.

A national search to find a new director was launched in March when Leslie Reberg, the former executive director, announced her decision to run for Salt Lake County recorder. Reberg had served as executive director of the committee since April 2005.

The search committee received 34 applications for the position and narrowed the list down to 10. In early June, the list was shortened to four names, Giani said, all of which are Utah residents.

"We were not dragging our feet," Giani said. "And for anyone to say otherwise is really a disappointment. My thing is we want to interview the world. We want to give everybody the opportunity to step forward if they think this is something they can do."

On Wednesday, the four candidates will be interviewed by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., who will then forward a name to the consumer committee, which must confirm the appointment by a majority vote.

Giani said she anticipates a new director could be in place within the next two weeks.

"I believe that we have done a yeoman's job trying to bring in as many players as possible," Giani said. "I think we have gone out of our way to try to bring in as many people as we could into this process."

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