The director of Utah's Division of Corporations has resigned after superiors discovered he was running a private business conducting seminars for notaries public, who are regulated by his agency.
Peter Van Alstyne insisted Friday there was no conflict of interest and that the non-profit Utah Notary Association he set up with his wife, Mary Ann, and division employee Fran Fish, was above board.Van Alstyne's boss, Commerce Department Director David Buhler, sees it differently.
"It at least created the appearance of a conflict, to be wearing two hats like that," Buhler said. "I feel like he had good intentions, but it's something that shouldn't have been done."
Training sessions for notaries were offered through the division until last winter, when they were halted by budget cuts.
Buhler said Van Alstyne decided to scrap the program. But Van Alstyne said he was ordered to halt the program by the department financial director, with Buhler's knowledge.
The two also disagree on what happened next.
Van Alstyne said he came up with the non-profit corporation as a creative way to fill a need for notary training. He said he discussed the project with Buhler and established it with guidance from a department attorney.
"I did not perceive a conflict of interest because I had gone through proper channels and had consulted with management to make sure everything would be in accordance with law and public perception," he said. "In fact, there was no conflict of interest."
Buhler said he was unaware of Van Alstyne's association and would have blocked it if he had known.
"All I remember was about a 10-second conversation. He said, `My wife's starting a business to help notaries,' and I said, `You'd better be careful there's no conflict.' In hindsight, I wished I'd delved into it," Buhler said.
Van Alstyne said he never made a penny from the association, which charged $15 for a two-hour workshop. Only about 200 notaries attended during a three-month period, requiring him to put some personal money into the business, he said.