One thing that's angered some members of the Hispanic Advisory Council and the Hispanic community is that it's taken more than four months for the governor to find a director.
The top three candidates were submitted to the governor about two months ago. The council has been running the office of Hispanic Affairs without a leader since July.They're angry because of the problems created by the void. Normally, the director would handle all inquiries, complaints and investigations. A director would also contact any agency involved in an investigation or complaint and work out solutions.
Lisa Hurtado-Armstrong, chair of the advisory council, said the council has been fielding all calls individually, discussing them as a group and voting on how to handle them.
"I can contact agencies (with problems or violations)," she said. "But people question your authority when you're not the director."
Another problem is lobbying for money, she said. Hurtado-Armstrong said the office hasn't been asked for budget requests, hasn't participated in any budget discussions or hearings and hasn't been asked to meet with a fiscal analyst.
"If you don't lobby for a budget, you don't get one," Hurtado-Armstrong said. But Vicki Varela, the governor's deputy of communication, said the office won't be overlooked in the budget process.
"We've had a number of situations already in our administration, where a department or a division or a council has been without a leader during the budget process," Varela said. "Their interests will continue to be represented."
Approval of all council decisions is also a problem as it creates sometimes long delays in action. Hurtado-Armstrong said the council waited more than a month for approval to hire a part-time intern and members were then told they couldn't direct the intern.
To handle complaints from the community, the council has enlisted the help of advocacy groups like the Utah Coalition of La Raza.
An executive order also requires the office to write an annual report on the state of Hispanics in Utah.
"We can't direct our staff to write the report," she said. The council was denied its request for an additional part-time intern to help write that report.