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Show I Alene Bentley works at a Matheson's third press secretary. word-processin- terminal g in her office in the state Capitol building. Bentley is Gov. Scott M. ALENE BENTLEY Whether in a tailored suit and nylons at her office in the state Capitol building or stepping out of a National Guard chopper in Levis and cowboy boots, Alene Bentley is right at home. As Gov. Scott M. Mathesons press secretary she must be equally at home at the state Capitol, in Washington, D.C., or inspecting a disaster site in Spanish Fork Canyon. It is an exciting job because you dont have time to get bored with one subject before you have to move on to another r , j, one, she said. The job came as a surprise while the Carbon County native was working with the Utah Energy Office. Part of her job with the UEO included writing speeches for Matheson when he spoke on energy subjects. One day I got a call from the governor and he said he wanted to see me right away, Mrs. Bentley said. It was the day after I had written a speech for him and I thought that something was wrong with the speech. By the time I got to his office I was shaking so bad that I couldnt hold the coffee cup without slopping it. Then he asked me to be his press secretary. Mrs. Bentley, who grew up in Price, had to leave her hometown before she could appreciate what a good training ground Price had been. When I was in high school I couldnt wait to get out of Price and to the big city but I found that people are more cosmopolitan in their attitudes in Price than in Salt Lake, she said. We grew up with a real appreciation of other people and their cultures. I think the cosmopolitan attitude I gained in - Price has helped me a lot, Mrs. Bentley said. The most important thing for me was to be able to disagree with someone and not have to foist my . . opinion on them. There are a lot of people in Salt Lake I meet that are from Price and they all say the same thing: Isnt that a great little place, she said. It is almost like a state in its self. After graduating from Carbon High School, Mrs. Bentley spent a year at the College of Eastern Utah. She then transferred to the University of Utah where she spent another three years completing a degree in journalism. Her first job out of school was selling copiers for Xerox. That led to a job as a media buyer and later as a media coordinator with Constitution Mint. Returning to the field she graduated in, she landed a job as editor of The Enterprise, a Salt Lake City business and financial weekly. After four and a half years she left the magazine to work for Billings Energy Corp. in public relations. That job lasted until the company moved to Missouri. The job with Billings led to a job with the Utah Energy Office and, later, to her present position. One of the duties of a press secretary is to see to the governors speeches. Most weeks Matheson gives about seven speeches. Mrs. Bentley still doesnt write all of the speeches she is now responsible for all of them. If something isnt right with a speech he doesnt yell at the department head who wrote it, he yells . at me, she said. from Price to state Capitol Mrs. Bentley spends a lot of time in Washington trying, in her words, to keep up with the governor. Although Matheson is chairman of the National Governors Association this year, the time he spends in Washington has not increased over last year. I dont think that a governor can sit back in his state house and govern any more, she said. Congress has so much influence on things that affect the state that a governor has got to get back there and protect his states interests. As chairman of the NGA the governor has put himself in the national limelight. For Mrs. Bentley that means that she must now deal not only with the Utah press but the national media as well. It is exciting for me to get a call from people like David Dow of CBS every week and deal with the big boys of the national press, Mrs. Bentley said. This experience has also pointed out to me how good the Utah press really is. For a city its size, Salt Lake has as professional news coverage as any in the nation. Following the governors mild heart attack more than a month ago the frequent trips to Washington, D.C., have stopped. But the governors staff has been as busy as ever. Since the governor has been in the hospital it has not been much different than having him on an extended leave, Mrs. Bentley said. I think that he has had a chance to think and be more reflective and as a result the staff has gotten more assignments. We have almost had to work double time, if thats possible. We already work a 70- - or week. 80-ho- ur There is no such thing as a normal day at the governors office, according to Mrs. Bentley. The day usually starts around 7 or 8 in the morning with a breakfast meeting with the governor, which Mrs. Bentley sometimes must attend. The day usually ends around 11 or midnight, that is if the Legislature is not in session, then it is even later. According to Mrs. Bentley, the legislative session is 60 days of controlled chaos. People look to the governor as the place of last resort, she said. If someones garbage doesnt get picked up they are in to the office. You can name any problem in the state and it has been here first. In addition to her responsibility as part of the governors staff, Mrs. Bentley is a wife and mother. She had her first child last September. Her new responsibility as a mother has caused her to reflect on her own childhood. I think about raising my little boy in Salt Lake and I think that he is going to be missing a lot of what I enjoyed growing up in Price, she said. I cant say that my job is any tougher to juggle than any other career womans, Mrs. Bentley said. But it does make it hard because the majority of the staff is single and cant appreciate my situation. Mrs. Bentleys job as press secretary may end in a year and a half, should the governor not seek a fourth term or be defeated in the next gubernatorial election. Then what? I get bored real easy. Im going to have to get a job that is exciting, she said. But, its all I can do just to make it through the day much less think about whats in the future. Matheson and Bentley listen to concerns of a delegation of Carbon County officials on the shores of Lake Thistle. Story by Brandon Ford Photos by Steve Heiner & Brandon Ford |