House speaker hires ex-GOP official as staff chief

Utah House Speaker Greg Curtis is reorganizing the House's professional, full-time staff and is hiring former state Republican Party executive director Chris Bleak to fill the new position of the speaker's chief of staff.

Bleak (pronounced Blake) left the party's executive director position about a year ago to manage the foundering — and ultimately unsuccessful — re-election campaign of then-Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman.

This is the first time a part-time legislative leader has had a chief of staff. Previously, both the House and Senate staffs — like the research, legal, budget and auditor arms of the legislative branch of government — had full-time, nonpartisan employees.

Bleak's appointment raises a number of questions, said House Minority Leader Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake, adding that Curtis didn't tell him he was reorganizing the House staff and hiring Bleak.

Traditionally, these decisions are made in consultation with the minority party, Becker said. "I had nothing to do with this hire."

The hiring of Bleak — "who I know a little and who is a nice guy," Becker said — further politicizes a small, professional House staff that, by and large, has been nonpartisan, Becker said.

With the retirement this summer of a longtime House staffer, and with Curtis' current administrative aide leaving her job, Curtis, R-Sandy, said the reorganization and the hiring of a chief of staff could be handled within the existing House budget for fiscal 2005-06, starting July 1.

Curtis said Bleak will represent him in front of other governments, the news media and community and help him with policy issues. He will also supervise House staff members — a responsibility of the speaker — including those who work exclusively for the Democrats, although those staffers are generally given autonomy from the majority party staffers.

"Theoretically, the speaker supervises all House employees, and I'm elected on a partisan basis," Curtis said. "But I think that it can all work because we give latitude to the minority party for their own hirings."

While the departing administrative aide, Kat Dayton, makes in the $50,000 range for full-time employment during the session and part-time work the rest of the year, Bleak will earn over $80,000 for his full-time work, Curtis said. In a brief biography put out by Curtis' office, Bleak, 30, said he has seven years of experience working on Capitol Hill. He started his political affairs career by working in intergovernmental relations for Salt Lake City.

Bleak stated, "I am thrilled to get this opportunity. I really look forward to the challenge and hope to serve the public well."