Gov.-transition team chief experienced

Jason Perry is no stranger to making the transition from one governor to the next.

After all, he started working for state government when Mike Leavitt was governor, continued through Olene Walker's tenure and became Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s economic development director.

Now Perry, 38, also is heading the transition team for Utah's next chief executive, Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert, who will take over as governor after Huntsman is confirmed as ambassador to China.

But don't expect business as usual from Perry, an attorney who first took a state job as an administrative judge just for the legal experience.

"I'm kind of decidedly not a government guy," Perry told the Deseret News Monday. "You could easily start becoming a guy who's entangled in bureaucracy. Somehow, I've managed to never be that guy."

His approach, Perry said, is to look for ways to streamline government. That's what he's done at the Governor's Office of Economic Development and what he said he brings to his new post.

"We make things better, not worse," Perry said of his efforts to ease the bureaucracy associated with bringing new businesses to the state. "Government usually makes things worse, not better."

Herbert announced last week that Perry would head his transition team, a decision widely seen as meaning he'll be named the new governor's chief of staff. Perry will only say that he's happy serving as transition director — for now.

Still, it's clear he's thinking beyond the day Herbert takes the oath of office as governor. Because of a recent change to the state constitution, Herbert will have to run in 2010 for the remaining two years of Huntsman's term.

"That is the unique thing about the role that Lt. Gov. Herbert is going to have to fill," Perry said. "He needs to make sure he's actively engaged in governing the state, which he will be. But he also has to be thoughtful about the looming election."

Not that Perry expects Herbert to have any trouble gearing up for a race at the same time he takes the reins of office.

"One of the great things about him is he's been in this political game for a while," Perry said. "He knows how to do these things. He knows how to run a campaign. I think he'll be able to fill both those roles very well."

Complicating Perry's preparations is the fact that Huntsman's confirmation hearings before the U.S. Senate have yet to be set even though President Barack Obama announced the appointment in mid-May.

Even without a timetable for the transition, Perry is putting together a plan for the new administration. Herbert has said doesn't want to make any big changes, at least not right away.