A few changes will take place at the Utah Public Service Commission and Department of Commerce as a result of three appointments made Tuesday by Gov. Mike Leavitt.
The governor named Ted Boyer as a member of the commission, replacing Steve Mecham, who retired Friday after serving as commission chairman since 1992.
Boyer will leave the post of executive director of the Department of Commerce and be replaced by Klare Bachman.
Ric Campbell has been named by Leavitt to succeed Mecham as commission chairman. He has served as a member of the three-person panel, which regulates utilities, since March 1, 2001.
Boyer's appointment is subject to Senate confirmation.
"I have asked Ted to apply the same problem-solving and collaborative skills at the Public Service Commission that he used so judiciously at the Department of Commerce," Leavitt said of Boyer in a prepared statement. "Ted's regulatory track record is of the highest professional standards and will serve citizens well."
Boyer became the department's director in February 2001. Prior to that, he was director of the state's Real Estate Division. He practiced law from 1975 to 1996 after teaching at Murray State University. He received his law degree from the University of Utah and bachelor's and master's degrees from Brigham Young University.
Prior to serving on the PSC, Campbell was an adviser to Leavitt on energy issues and had served as director of the Utah Division of Public Utilities since 1995. He also was executive director of the Utah Health Policy Commission before joining the division. He has a bachelor's degree in accounting from BYU and a master's in economics from the U.
Campbell has served as a member of the Utah Telecommunications Advisory Council and the Utah Rural Telecommunications Task Force. He also was a member of the Staff Subcommittee of Executive Directors of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.
Bachman had been deputy director of the commerce department since 1998.
"Klare has played an integral role in the Department of Commerce's transition to online government," Leavitt said. "She has played a leading role in the department's commitment to consumer-friendly services, and I will ask her to continue this momentum."
From 1990 to 1997, Bachman was business development director for a state-chartered community bank in Minnesota. She also was office manager for a crisis and outpatient community mental health center in Minnesota.
Bachman has a master's degree in management from St. Mary's University in Minneapolis and a bachelor's degree in business administration from Winona State University, also in Minnesota.
E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com