Is Gov. Otter dialing back? His schedule shows fewer appointments, work hours and business travel in his second term.

Since his landslide re-election, Gov. Butch Otter is spending significantly less time in the office.

Otter, 69, typically doesn’t show up at the office Mondays, instead scheduling “general office time” with no appointments. He works from home, according to a former chief of staff.

Comparing 12-month periods from Otter’s third year in office with his fifth year, an Idaho Statesman analysis shows:

- 27 percent fewer appointments, both official and unofficial.

- 29 percent fewer hours scheduled for those appointments.

- 33 percent less time spent traveling for official and unofficial purposes, both in Idaho and elsewhere.

- 28 percent increase in personal and vacation days, with 41 days off during the business week over the year.

The analysis is based on three years of scheduling records, from Nov. 1, 2008, to Oct. 31, 2011, obtained under Idaho’s public records law.

The Statesman provided the governor with its analysis of his records, but he declined repeated requests for comment, beginning in mid-November. Otter’s spokesman, Jon Hanian, also would not comment on Otter’s workload but did not dispute the findings.

NOW PLANNING A 3RD TERM

On Dec. 14, Otter surprised a crowd in Coeur d’Alene with an exceptionally early announcement: He’ll run again in 2014. “It surprised me, it surprised a lot of people,” said his two-time campaign manager, Debbie Field.

Otter made the statement at a campaign fundraiser. In the last finance reporting period, Otter’s campaign owed him $206,000 for loans he made to support his 2010 re-election.

Field scoffed at speculation that Otter would be re-elected a third time and then resign to hand the job to a man he appointed, Lt. Gov. Brad Little. “You do not as a candidate work this hard and then turn it over to someone else,” Field said, adding that Otter’s vow to run was loudly applauded. “I will tell you he feels really great.”

Little said he and Otter have never discussed Otter resigning. “No. None. Zero. Not even close.”

Public awareness of Otter’s schedule has risen in recent weeks, with news that he sent Little on a trade mission to Brazil and Mexico last month and vacationed at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas instead.

Otter also spent a week in Hawaii and a week in Florida in November, but those trips wouldn’t count as vacation under the Statesman analysis — Otter was speaking to the California Independent Voter Project in Hawaii and attending the Republican Governors Association annual meeting in Florida.

MONDAYS AT HOME

Since re-election, Otter has had a particularly light schedule on Mondays. In the 52 weeks following his re-election, he had a full schedule on six Mondays. On 30 of those Mondays, he had no appointments.

“General office time” did not appear on Otter’s schedule at all in the 2008-09 records (a new scheduler began working for Otter in November 2009). The absence of the “GOT” designation appears to account for a higher number of “personal” hours logged during the business day in 2008-09. Otter scheduled 353 personal hours in 2008-09, 118 personal hours in 2009-10 and 291 personal hours in 2010-11. Meanwhile, general office time rose from zero in 2008-09 to 221 hours in 2009-10 and 358 hours in 2010-11.

Otter may not be commenting, but two confidants offered insight into how the office operates and praised Otter’s work ethic.

“He works from home,” said Jason Kreizenbeck, Otter’s chief of staff for almost four years. “There were a lot of times when he wasn’t in the office and he didn’t have anything officially scheduled, but he was still working. We would send stuff to him and talk to him about things. Whenever there was work to be done, he did the work.”

Kreizenbeck, who left in October to join a lobbying firm, reviewed the Statesman analysis and deemed it flawed.

“I don’t agree with the basic premise of your story to begin with and still have not heard people saying he’s not working very hard,” he said. “I don’t feel you can measure how hard a governor or any elected official works by measuring their office hours or how much time they dedicate to meetings. It should be measured by outcomes and accomplishments of the administration.”

Jeff Malmen, Otter’s chief in 2007, said working from home is a way to ease the burden of a 24/7 job. “You’re on call all the time,” he said. “If we could make his life a little bit easier by shipping things home, we’d do that.”

Malmen also was Otter’s campaign manager and congressional chief of staff for six years. He is now vice president of public affairs for Idaho Power and said he’s seen no evidence Otter is mailing it in.

“There’s a whole lot more to the job than sitting there and yakking with people who sit across the desk from you,” Malmen said. “There’s a lot of stuff that goes on that has nothing to do with appointments.”

A FOOD TESTER?

Little said Otter may be scheduling fewer events since he’s been re-elected but remains fully engaged. “There may be something about profile, but not work. I don’t see any holes.”

Little added that Otter regularly jokes about Little’s designs on the top job, including telling a group gathered on the edge of the Snake River Canyon, “Don’t let the lieutenant governor push me over.”

The governor also has a standard mealtime jibe, Little said. “Every time he eats something and I’m there, he asks for a food tester.”

Little bristles at speculation that Otter’s health is failing. “I hear this stuff every six months,” Little said. “I hope it’s infectious because I’m with him enough I hope I’ll catch it.”

Watching Otter during his 6-hour-long Capitol-for-a-Day events held across Idaho, Little said he marvels at the governor’s mental powers. “He walks in a room and meets 60 strangers,” Little said. “Then 25 of ’em get up to leave, and he calls ’em by name and remembers their issues.”

EASING UP IN HARD TIMES

Little said Otter asked him to fill in on the December trip to Mexico and Brazil. When announced in February, Otter was to have led the mission, then scheduled for June.

Commerce Director Jeffery Sayer said the decision to reschedule was made in the governor’s office. Hanian, Otter’s spokesman, declined to say why Otter rescheduled.

House Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, said he has no trouble reaching Otter but finds the governor’s lighter schedule concerning. “I think it is a little strange. I’m surprised what the data show.”

Rusche said Idaho’s budgetary and economic challenges are formidable. “I would think that would take more time, rather than less time.”

At an October reception for the Idaho Statesman’s “Private 75,” the largest privately held companies in the state, several business leaders grumbled — off the record — about how Otter wasn’t working hard enough to attract new business.

Still, Rusche said Little is a more-than-suitable replacement. Little led a trade trip to Taiwan in June that Rusche joined. “Brad may be a better fit,” Rusche said. “He knows a lot of the businesses in Idaho. Brad is stepping up, particularly in economic development, trade and business.”

Ron Nilson, CEO of Ground Force in Post Falls, was on the Brazil-Mexico mission and said their hosts showed no sign of feeling slighted. “I’m not sure the countries we go to know the real difference between a lieutenant governor and a governor. They know it’s a high-ranking official. Brad did a great job. He’s got a great personality.”

Added Nilson: “The governor, clearly, is more polished than Brad is, but it’s after a number of times that Butch has gone that he has developed an ability to lead this delegation. But Brad did an incredible job. I’d be happy to go back with either one of them.”

HAWAII TRUMPS NATURAL GAS INDUSTRY

House Speaker Lawerence Denney, R-Midvale, is critical of Otter being in Hawaii Nov. 15, rather than chairing the meeting of the state Oil and Gas Commission. Little stood in, overseeing the approval of new rules for natural gas exploration, which are subject to review by the 2012 Legislature.

“I wish he was there,” Denney said. “This is a big deal for not only my district, but it’s a big deal for Idaho.”

Instead, Otter and his wife were in Maui on a five-day trip with expenses paid by the California Independent Voter Project. Otter had planned to stay longer but changed his plans to be home for the Nov. 18 execution of Paul Ezra Rhoades.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna, one of five oil and gas commissioners, said during the meeting that the nascent industry holds great promise for boosting the economy and revenue for schools. “Wyoming hit the natural resources lottery,” Luna said. “We have an opportunity to do the same thing ourselves.”

Hanian, Otter’s spokesman, said Otter had committed to travel to Hawaii in August and that he has missed only four of 66 meetings of the Land Board, which has the same membership as the commission. “So missing Land Board meetings in this job sometimes happens, but with this governor that occurrence is rare.”

Generally, Denney said, he can reach Otter when necessary. “Of course, I have his cell number, so he may not be in the office but I feel like I can get ahold of him any time.”

CONFIDANTS SAY OTTER’S ENGAGED

House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Maxine Bell, R-Jerome, said the scheduling records show Otter does “have a different pattern of activity” in the last year but that it has had no impact on her.

“I did not see anything different,” Bell said. “If there is a budget issue, we are called and the subject is visited. Perhaps he is finding as he continues to serve that his hours and days can look different and still accomplish what he feels necessary.”

Bell’s counterpart, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, has served with five governors. He said he is able to reach Otter whenever he needs him, sometimes by cellphone.

But Cameron said Otter spends less time with lawmakers than his predecessors. “It’s been a little more difficult for me working with this administration and having a little bit less access during the session with Gov. Otter. But each governor has the right to run their office the way they want. If they’ve got the information they need to make a decision from someplace else, then that’s their option.”

Cameron added that since the 2010 election he’s seen no change in his access to Otter, or in the governor’s interest. “I really haven’t noticed any difference in his level of engagement, his ability to command a discussion about the budget or health insurance exchanges or any of those issues. He’s certainly been fully engaged in that regard.”

Senate President Pro Tem Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, who has been the Senate’s leader for a year, said he finds Otter “very engaged,” and has at least weekly meetings with legislative leaders during the session.

“I can find no fault with Gov. Otter’s executive leadership in the legislative process,” Hill said.

Otter’s budget chief, Wayne Hammon, said he’s had better access to Otter since the election. In 2010, Otter held no budget meetings ahead of the election and just two before he presented his budget in January 2011. This year, Hammon said he’s had six scheduled meetings with Otter in anticipation of Monday’s State of the State and Budget Address.

“Compared to last year when he was gone so much for the re-election, it’s nice to have him back full steam,” Hammon said.

ACCESS DENIED?

Brian Whitlock is a former chief of staff to Gov. Dirk Kempthorne and now a lobbyist for the Idaho National Laboratory. He said Otter has been “very accommodating to our scheduling requests” and that he’s also available at public events, a venue where Hanian often suggests reporters contact Otter.

“I’ve always been able to corner him at a public event, or he’ll sometimes pop in if I’m updating or briefing the staff on something,” Whitlock said.

Jim Weatherby, professor emeritus at Boise State and an observer of Idaho politics for 40 years, said he finds the analysis of Otter’s schedule unsurprising. “He’s never held himself out to be a hands-on, nuts-and-bolts governor. He’s been very clear about delegating a lot of his responsibilities to department heads.”

Weatherby said he also expects top lawmakers and lobbyists can reach Otter. “The real question here is: As a result of the governor’s cutting back his hours, has it meant the denial of access to average citizens who want to communicate with him?”

Rusche, the Democratic leader, agreed. “That’s a good question for somebody else. Do people that don’t have the access of a minority leader or a potent lobbyist have trouble with the governor being responsive?”

Dan Popkey: 377-6438