State department heads and division directors were to hear some bad news from Governor-elect Mike Leavitt's transition team Friday: All of them are out of a job as of Jan. 4.
Everyone - except for several unnamed department heads - will be invited to reapply for their posts after the noon meeting, according to Nolan Karras, chairman of the transition team and Leavitt's interim chief of staff.Some may be hired back. "It isn't in our minds to make a wholesale slaughter of people just to say we did it," Karras said. But he said more new faces than old ones will be seen in the Leavitt administration.
All of the applications, including those from Leavitt supporters seeking a place in the new administration, will be reviewed by special screening panels recruited from community leaders with expertise in particular areas.
Members of the screening panels are already being chosen and should be named beginning next week. Leavitt hopes to start making appointments by the end of the month and fill the top jobs by February.
Karras, who discussed the transition plans with outgoing two-term Gov. Norm Bangerter on the eve of the election, said the final selection will be made by Leavitt.
"It is a more open process but it's not meant to be a search committee," Karras said. "The decision is up to Mike. He's going to pick who he likes and who he wants."
So far, the new governor has "less than a handful" of people in mind for the state's top jobs, Karras said, declining to name either the people or the positions.
LaVarr Webb, the campaign's executive director, is expected to serve as executive assistant to the governor. Karras intends to serve only through the transition, after which a permanent chief of staff will be named.
Leavitt left for a brief family vacation the day after the election and is due back on Tuesday. He'll meet personally with each state department head Tuesday and Wednesday, Karras said.
All state employees are anxious about the transition, even though Leavitt succeeds fellow Republican Gov. Norm Bangerter, who announced almost two years he would not seek a third term.
"Since the election, people want to know. They want to know what's next. You can't blame them," said Carol Nixon, Bangerter's chief of staff. "That's just a natural feeling everybody has in transition."
Because the new administration will also be headed by a Republican governor, Nixon said employees may be more hopeful of landing a job with Leavitt. Nixon said they need to be realistic. "He has his own team," she said.
Bangerter, who endorsed Leavitt before last September's primary election, said state officials whose jobs are vulnerable shouldn't be concerned. "Anybody who's worrying about their job hadn't ought to have it," the governor said.