In 2004, the first year the process was in place, the committee scratched an incumbent off the list it sent to the governor. Voters who had elected that public education supporter never got a chance to hold him accountable for his record, whether they thought it was good or bad.

The experience left a bad aftertaste for public ed proponents, but their real concern was the murky way the committee did its work, hastily, in the dark, behind closed doors.

The good news is that this year, the committee chairman vows to let more sun shine on the process. Former Provo legislator Jeff Alexander told me Friday that candidate interviews will be conducted privately, as allowed by state law, on May 2 and May 8.

But the committee deliberations will be done in a publicly noticed, open meeting in late May or early June. The vote might be done by ballot, but it's possible a committee member could make a motion to make the votes public.

Alexander also believes it's important for the committee to present the governor with a good variety of candidates.

Both decisions are sound. The public should be able to see how candidates are selected.

And voters — including first-timers like Matt — should have a variety of choices when they look at their ballots in November.

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Utah County Bureau Chief Tad Walch lives with his wife and five children in Provo, their home for the past 21 years. E-mail twalch@desnews.com.