The hiring committee knew this guy and they asked him to apply for the job? Then they knew he was the Senator's son and they knew about his lack of qualifications when they asked him. This thing was cooked from the beginning.

Well, if they don't require any formal qualifications, then the kid is qualified. Nuf said.

Senator Stowell is one slick dude. He gets my vote for smartest Utah politician ever!

So. Qualified people were available. One lady with 25 years experience and one certified guy. Yet, the hiring committe went out ant recruited the Senator's son? And he was "unanimously picked?" Evidently he had the most important qualifications the hiring board wanted from the beginning. Sounds like an agenda to me.

The question is WHY didn't they list any qualifications for the position? Seems like quite the scheme was cooked up here between Sen. Stowell and the CEBA board. I hate to admit it, but I was once hired for a position where another applicant was more qualified (I was an undergraduate, he had a master's). The only way I got that job was because the position had been created expressly for me and written without any specific qualifications listed. It was a fix, and so was this!
Stowell and CEBA had an arrangement from the outset, the good senator wrote a letter of rec. for another candidate to cover his tracks.
If not that, someone explain how it is that on the first round this person with 25 yrs experience was the top pick, but then Stowell's son got the position wound up getting the position unanimously in the end because he was "the most qualified" in Schultz's words. The peices don't add up. Put together everything that Sen. Stowell said and that Schultz said from today and yesterday's article and its clear that at least one of them is lying.

its interesting that he interned for sen hatch he would never lend his influence would he?

Yep. The fix was in. From the very beginning.

Oh yeah! We know that the Democrats NEVER appoint cronies or show favoratism to unqualified kids. Is there a Kennedy nearby? It's just two sides of the same coin.

So what. The kid got a job because of his dad or because of who he knows. Is this the very first time this has happened on the planet earth? Give it a rest.

UNreal!!! I do consulting all the time. When it comes to a government consulting contract using State funds there are usually standards that have to be met. How did these guys get around that?

Yep. You nailed it. A fix from the very beginning. And we didn't even have to hire a professional detective. I guess they just thought no one would ever know or care.

People with connections get hired all the time. In fact, sometimes they get hired because of their connections. But, the connections are a plus factor when you at least have some bare minimum formal qualifications. This just doesn't even pass the straight face test. They go and recruit this kid. Knowing who he is and how much he lacks in credentials---after rejecting qualified people? That speaks volumes.

Yep, this is the same Dennis Stowell who colluded with former Sen. Tom Hatch to fix the District 28 primary by keeping out any qualified challenger.

Hatch knew he was not going to run for re-election, but he filed to run anyway. Fifteen minutes before the filing deadline, Hatch walked into the county clerk's office and withdrew from the race. Stowell followed him and filed just before the deadline.

Before then, no one else had even bothered to file because Hatch was considered untouchable. So Hatch gets out of the race at the last minute, and Stowell gets in unchallenged in the primary. Strictly speaking, it wasn't illegal, but something stinks.

Funny thing is, Stowell reacted the same way when he was called on the carpet by the Iron County Republican caucus. He feigned innocence. His exact quote was, "I'm sorry about the misunderstanding here."

There was no misunderstanding then -- and there's no misunderstanding now, either. Stowell used his political connections to get his boy an $80,000-a-year job. Anyone claiming he didn't is a liar or is just plain naive. (Wanna buy some ocean-front property in Arizona? It's going fast, but I'll give you a good deal.)

This is why we should replace the merity system and put state employees at-will. I mean, every senator and legislator could just put their family, friends, and maybe even themselves in the most posh jobs in state govt.

Kelly "unqualified"? Consider:
1. Kelly's boyhood home was the family ranch in the mountains between Iron and Kane Counties working 12-16 hour days, sheepherding, moving cattle horseback, and operating equipment. Kelly knows the culture of Southern Utah.
2. Kelly served an LDS mission.
3. Kelly worked through college (BS, UVU, 2006)as custodian and researcher.
4. Kelly was intern to SITLA, Senator Hatch (we doubt Senator Hatch even knows Kelly has applied), and the Utah Legislature.
5. Kelly is a highly-motivated team player. He has united the student body presidents of all Utah colleges and universities in his present job.
6. The policy raising our 7 children during 21 years of public service was no political favors for family members. They are each self made, independent citizens. None except Kelly has shown any interest in Government service.
7. Kelly found and applied for this job on his own. He spent days preparing for his interview, searching the internet for information about Kane County, CEBA, and CEBA board members, and was unanimously chosen. We have had no contact with any CEBA board member regarding this job.
Kelly is highly qualified, earned this job on his own, and will do an excellant job.

This isn't about the young Mr. Stowell. It seems he is a fine young man by any standards according to everyone's account. I doubt if it is about Senator Stowell either.

What it is about is public officials exercising their office in the public interest and expending public funds.

Why would the "QUALIFICATIONS" section of the job announcement me skipped?

Why would Mr. Stowell be invited to apply for the job?

Isn't CEBA about education, business, and the arts. What artistic, business, and education credentials does Mr. Stowell have to qualify him as the $100K Executive Director?

What economic development experience or professional standing does he have?

The good old boy network in Kane County owes an apology to their citizens, Senator Stowell, and Kelly Stowell for the way THEY created this situation with THEIR actions.

I am a parent. It's completely understandable that good parents would stick up for a good son.

Now, go straighten up the CEBA board that made this mess for you and your son.

Nothing says "he deserves the job" more than a background in sheep herding.

This keeps getting better and better. Which is it? Did Kelly find this job "on his own" as his mom and dad claim, or did the CEBA board ask him to apply?
And why does his father answer the questions? Where is Kelly and why does he refuse to talk about this? The CEBA folk still have not explained why Kelly is better qualified than the other applicants, unless the real CEBA plan is to begin herding sheep on a massive scale.

I am curious as to why there were no qualifications posted at Dixie State College while the listing in Kanab's Southern Utah News were very specific.

I've been involved in dozens of employee and contractor review processes. Typically, the purchasing or personnel department takes the first cut at the applications to narrow them down to a small list for the agency to review. This weeds out unqualified applicants and avoids the situation we had here. Then you go through a rating and ranking process based on the qualifications and needs of the job. In a process like this, you almost never see a unanimous choice, especially if there are several qualified applicants as it appears in this case. The process was flawed which leaves the outcome to quesion.

I'm writing to stick up for Senator Stowell. While
I wasn't directly involved with the hiring process (thank goodness!), I'm close enough to the players and the process to have a good idea of what happened. I'm convinced that Senator Stowell was caught completely by surprise on this one. I'm certain he didn't try to pull strings or influence the outcome. While it might look bad from the outside, he's getting a bad rap on this.