Appointees to liquor commission advance

Gov. Gary Herbert's appointees to the state liquor commission received a unanimous recommendation Tuesday from a Senate confirmation committee.

Richard Sperry and Jeff Wright go before the full Senate on Wednesday for a final vote.

There were few questions for the pair from members of the Senate Business and Labor Confirmation Committee during a hearing that lasted less than 30 minutes.

Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem, the committee chairman, asked both Sperry and Wright whether it mattered if members of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission were drinkers or nondrinkers.

Sperry, a member of the LDS Church, doesn't drink alcohol, and Wright is a social drinker. Both said consuming alcohol is not a prerequisite to regulating its sale in the state.

With Sperry and Wright, there would be three nondrinkers and two drinkers on the five-member commission.

Sperry, a medical doctor with an extensive academic background in health care, stressed his knowledge of the public policy reasons for the government's involvement in alcohol control.

Wright, founder of both a private equity firm and a communications company, said his business experience and interest in economic development will guide his work on the commission.

— Lisa Riley Roche