Huntsman's 'kitchen cabinet' does effective work

Pignanelli & Webb: On a frequent basis, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. meets with a small group of people to discuss the goals and objectives of his administration. This activity is certainly not unique to the Huntsman administration. For thousands of years, emperors, kings, nobility, presidents, governors and mayors have assembled friends and advisors on an informal basis to review progress and plot strategy.

Indeed, many candidates for executive offices promise that they will include private sector leaders in deliberations in order to bring proven business management practices into government to improve efficiency and effectiveness. In reality, these commitments are often soon abandoned as elected leaders find it much easier to go with the flow of government-as-usual.

But with help from his "kitchen cabinet," Huntsman has gone about quietly implementing some effective management tools in his administration. The governor's approach has been somewhat unusual because his circle of outside advisers has been formalized in an organization called the Utah Policy Partnership (UPP). Its behind-the-scenes influence has continued to increase.

UPP actually evolved out of the Huntsman transition that occurred immediately after his election. He organized committees to look into every state agency and make recommendations for improvements and efficiencies. His transition team was directed by an executive committee of volunteer leaders, including Larry H. Miller, auto dealer and Utah Jazz owner; Scott Anderson, president/CEO of Zions Bank; Dr. David Patton, director of the Center for Public Policy & Administration, University of Utah; prominent entrepreneur Dr. Dinesh Patel; community activist Pamela J. Atkinson; and former U.S. Sen. Jake Garn.

A number of strong recommendations came out of the transition process, including a need to consolidate and centralize state information technology operations, improve efficiency in state central purchasing, and implement performance measures in state agencies. The transition committees found that few agency leaders had efficient means to really measure the performance of their agencies on key metrics.

To help put these recommendations into action, Huntsman asked the transition leaders to continue to serve after his inauguration, and he formalized the arrangement by creating the UPP, which exists entirely outside of state government and does not receive state funding. The UPP is not a political organization and is not a fund-raising entity preparing for the next campaign. Instead, it is focused on public policy and improving the performance of state government, as promised by Huntsman in his election campaign. Managing director is Steve Starks, and UPP even has a Web site, www.utahpolicy.org.