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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Attorney General-elect Derek Brown said he made a wish list of who he thought were the state's best and brightest people to offer advice on the office. And then he made a transition team of more than 40 of those people.
There are attorneys, politicians, authors, law enforcement and business experts on the list from both sides of the aisle. Former Senate Minority leader Scott Howell, former Overstock.com CEO Jonathan Johnson, state Rep. Brady Brammer, Utah County Commissioner Amelia Gardner, Washington County Attorney Eric Clarke and Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera are some of the names on the list.
The team is chaired by State Auditor John Dougall, whose term finishes soon, former Utah Solicitor General Tyler Green and former Democratic candidate for Utah attorney general Greg Skordas.
"The goal is to solicit feedback and really do a comprehensive top-to-bottom analysis of everything to see what it is that we can do to improve on what's already there," said Brown.
On the campaign trail, Brown spoke about some of the measures he plans on taking to build back trust in the office like establishing a constituents service office and making his calendar public. Now that he will assume the office in a couple of months, his transition team will be tasked with making recommendations to transform the office.
The team will look at a variety of issues including ethics, culture, technology and communications.
Lowry Snow, former lawmaker and former president of the Utah State Bar, will lead the ethics committee, said Brown. "He understands what type of guardrails that we can put up to ensure that any concerns that have taken place won't perpetuate into the future."
"Crucial Conversations" author Joseph Grenny is one of the people who will be part of the committee that deals with the culture of the office.
"His expertise obviously is transforming organizations and having crucial conversations," said Brown, calling Grenny's work phenomenal.
'Protecting people's rights'
Brown said he wants a thorough analysis of the office and recommendations from the team about how to make the Utah Attorney General's Office into the best law firm in the state.
"I want to emphasize that there are lot of amazing people that work in the office and my goal is to be a resource as well for them to ensure that they have the resources they need to do the job that they're doing for the people of Utah," said Brown.
The team is a bipartisan one. Brown said this is because he doesn't think we should have partisan politics "when it comes to defending the rights of the state of Utah and protecting people's rights."
Brown said he intentionally reached out to people across the political spectrum even though he may not agree with them on political issues.
"I believe in bringing people together and taking the best ideas out there and implementing them regardless of political ideology or where they come from," said Brown, explaining he has known many of the people on the list for years.
"I've worked with Derek for decades, and know he is the right person to restore public trust in the AG's office," said Howell in a text message. "I'm honored to be part of the transition team, and I appreciate his bipartisan approach. His willingness to consider all perspectives will lay a strong foundation for his service to our state."
Hearing from Utahns
In addition to making sure the transition team was bipartisan, Brown said it was important to him that people on the team came from all over. There are people who have worked in the office, people from the private sectors, former elected officials, people who work with the office from the outside and also people who are connected with the federal government.
Brown said there are people who work in areas like criminal defense, victims rights, human relations, business consulting, criminal investigations and constitutional issues.
"I think we've got someone from about every conceivable area that we could ever need," said Brown.
On top of the transition teams, Brown said he plans on holding town hall meetings over the course of the next month to hear from Utahns what they want from the office. Information on these town halls and the work of the committee is available on Brown's new website.
