State liquor agency chooses new director

It took only a few minutes Wednesday for the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission to choose a new executive director — longtime operations manager Dennis Kellen.

Kellen, who was unanimously approved by the commission to replace retiring executive director Ken Wynn, still must be approved by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. before taking over the agency that controls liquor sales in Utah.

There was little discussion about filling the position during the brief special meeting, but afterward, two commissioners told the Deseret Morning News they were disappointed there hadn't been a formal search.

"I didn't want to vote against Dennis, but I was not comfortable with the lack of process," commissioner Kathryn Balmforth said. "It's an important state office, and there ought to be some sort of open, objective process for filling it."

Commissioner Nicholas Hales said there should have been a national search, but commission chairman Larry Lunt wanted to go ahead and appoint Kellen. Both Balmforth and Hales, however, said they believed that Kellen would have emerged from a search as the best candidate.

Lunt said it was true he didn't see a need to look beyond Kellen. "I don't know that I pushed it. I let my opinion be known," Lunt said. "When you have qualified people within, it only makes sense. We have a man who's been here over 30 years. This is an important job."

Balmforth also said she would have preferred that the decision was left until after three new commissioners come on board. The governor is replacing the three of the five commissioners whose terms are up at the end of the month — Hales, Lunt and Frank Budd.

Lunt, though, said the three have a total of some 33 years of experience overseeing the liquor-control agency. "I think that alone should bring a lot of confidence," he said, in the decision to go forward with Kellen's appointment.

Kellen, 64, was appointed as the department's director in 1975 by former Gov. Cal Rampton, a position he held for about a year before a new commission chose a new boss. Wynn took the job nearly 30 years ago and announced recently he was ready to retire.

Change will come to the department "only as needed," Kellen said. "I have some thoughts. But I will be slow to implement them and make sure we do them right." He said he is a more "hands-on" person than Wynn.

Another difference between Kellen and Wynn is that Kellen drinks alcohol. Currently, four of the five commissioners don't consume liquor. Kellen said that having been involved "in the tasting of the products, I hope I have something more to add."