Change for change's sake is not necessarily good, said Curtis. Make changes after thought and study, he adds.

In any case, Huntsman is keeping at least eight top Leavitt/Walker executives. Two other groups — the Tax Commission and the Board of Pardons — serve set terms, and Huntsman can't replace any of them until their terms run out.

And if he keeps the acting directors at the departments of Workforce Services and Human Services, then Huntsman's new Cabinet will have 12 old faces to the eight new.

That doesn't mean that a Huntsman administration will be a continuation of the Leavitt/Walker years. But radical change likely isn't coming, either.

A former governor once told me, "bring me a real problem, and I'll solve it." But often local, state and federal government officials look for problems to solve and ways to help people more. And the old problems — some admittedly pretty difficult — are pushed aside for some easier, made-up concerns.

Utah has some big real problems ahead — 140,000 new public education children; college tuition increases, as well as more college students; a crumbling I-80 and gridlock on Utah County freeways; a growing prison population; and never enough money to help clients of Human Services, people who are in real need.

Huntsman and the 2005 Legislature have some cash this year — $370 million in estimated ongoing revenue growth and more than $100 million in one-time surpluses.

What will they do with that extra half a billion dollars?

The new people tapped by Huntsman this week will have some ideas. So will the top state bosses who are staying on the job.

Huntsman seems to be a pretty bright guy. On the handwritten, creased paper he carries in his jacket pocket that includes his top priorities for 2005 and beyond, he'd do well to write down: "Listen, listen, listen."

New ideas are needed. But a lot of veteran legislators and state managers alike have experience. And that's worth something, too.

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Deseret Morning News political editor Bob Bernick Jr. may be reached by e-mail at bbjr@desnews.com