Committee favors reappointment of Paul Warner to Political Subdivisions Ethics Review Commission

Paul Warner, chair of the Political Subdivisions Ethics Review Commission and a former Provo City Council member, received a unanimous committee recommendation to go to the full Senate for reappointment, the committee chair announced.

Warner told the Senate Political Subdivisions Confirmation Committee he has served on the commission for some time and currently chairs it. He outlined a long record of local civic involvement, including eight years on the Provo City Council and 12 years as executive director of the Freedom Festival, and said he serves on multiple nonprofit boards. "I just was very open to do that, in any case where and if it was such that it was really close I would probably not participate," Warner said when asked how he would handle reviewing someone he knows.

The committee asked Warner about potential conflicts when a commissioner knows an individual under review. Warner described a prior, similar situation and said he would disclose the relationship to the commission and step aside if he could not be fair. "We had one very, similar situation as that and so I was very open with the commission that I knew the individual…and if it was such that it was really close I would probably not participate," he said.

Chair Senator Winterton called for a motion to forward Warner’s nomination to the full Senate. Senator Musselman moved to approve, and the committee approved the recommendation by voice vote. The chair said the nomination would likely be taken up on the Senate floor on Jan. 30.

The committee did not receive remote public testimony opposing Warner; Warner himself briefly spoke again in the meeting to thank the committee after the vote. The committee adjourned after completing its agenda.