Gov. Gary Herbert speaks out against state ed board nominating selection process

SALT LAKE CITY — The nominating process for state school board members needs to be changed, Gov. Gary Herbert said Thursday.

"I think we can do better," the governor said during the taping of his monthly news conference on KUED. "The system we have in place, although people would argue it's better than we had before, certainly currently leads to confusion, misunderstanding, allegations of manipulation, too much politics involved. I think the Legislature needs to take a closer look at the process and see if there's not a better way to do this."

He said his staff is looking at how state school board members are selected in other states, and he will bring his own proposal to legislative leaders.

"Let's find a system that's better in Utah, that people have more confidence in, that's not so confusing. The public doesn't understand it," Herbert said. "It just lends itself to a lot of frustration."

Candidates for the State Board of Education are nominated by a commission created by the Legislature. The members are appointed by the governor. The commission chooses a minimum of three candidates per district to forward to the governor, who then whittles the list down to two names for the general election ballot.

Last week, the 12-person committee interviewed 29 candidates, then announced its top picks last Wednesday after voting in a secret ballot.

The commission came under fire after its selection announcement for both the secret ballot and for eliminating incumbent Denis Morrill. An attorney, he has represented District 9, the southwest Salt Lake County area, on the board for 10 years.

The committee's nominees for District 9 were Joel Coleman, a charter school founder; Milton Witt, a financial adviser; and 26-year-old Daniel Ishman, who, according to his filing declaration, is an "asisstant (sic) custodian" at a junior high school.

Committee member Stan Lockhart, who proposed the secret ballot, said Morrill was judged by his interview, discussions with those who know him and from his past work on the board.

According to information obtained by the Deseret News through the Utah Government Records Access and Management Act, the votes for District 9 were 12 for Coleman, 11 for Witt and seven for Ishman. Morrill received six votes.