SALT LAKE CITY — One week after Salt Lake County leaders threatened to block $150 million in tax money from the Utah Transit Authority if it doesn't reopen its committee meetings to the public, transit officials have conceded.

"In response to concerns we have heard from stakeholders and the public regarding the changes to the board meeting schedule, the board is announcing that future meetings will be open to the public," UTA Board Chairman H. David Burton said Tuesday.

"The board will continue to refine its meeting schedule and processes to achieve the goals of transparency, public input, trust and accountability; while also improving board involvement, engagement and communication," Burton added.

Since last week, pressure for UTA to open its committee meetings spread throughout the valley. Tuesday morning, Utah County commissioners also unanimously approved a resolution urging UTA to open its committee meetings.

It was a decision UTA board members made last month to restructure their committee meetings — which had previously been open to the public — as working sessions that would not require a quorum of members to be present and therefore would not be subject to Utah's open meetings laws.

The change would have moved all decision-making from the committee to the full board, a move that Burton said would have included increased public participation at board meetings since the agency would post action items online and allow the public to submit comments in advance of each board meeting, as well as during the meetings.

Christopher Stout, president of Utah Transit Rider's Union, criticized UTA's decision to close its committee meetings, saying the meetings are important for the public and his group to understand what the agency is planning.

"I'm very pleased that Chairman Burton recognized that committee meetings are an important source of information for groups like us," Stout said Tuesday. "I'm extremely pleased, and I'm glad that they've handled this fairly quickly instead of letting it fester. … The information we get from these committee meetings is extremely valuable for us to determine how to approach UTA on some of the issues we have."

Related

UTA taking threat to block funding 'seriously'

In the days since Salt Lake County leaders threatened to block $150 million in yearly tax revenue from the UTA if the agency doesn't reverse its decision to close its committee meetings, transit officials haven't yet announced whether they will comply.

Salt Lake County Councilman Richard Snelgrove commended UTA for responding to public concerns.

"It's important that taxpayers know how decisions are reached that affect their money and services," Snelgrove said in an email. "Assuming all meetings remain public, we will have no need to pursue further action on the proposal (that council members) discussed last week."

Stout said the controversy could have been avoided, however, had UTA not decided to close its meetings in the first place — a move that had the opposite effect the agency was aiming for.

"It's extremely important for UTA to resolve these perceived problems of their image," Stout said.

He believes the main reason that Proposition 1 — a proposed tax increase that would have funded transportation projects — failed in Salt Lake and Utah counties last year was because of UTA's poor public image.

"I did not believe that closing these meetings would make anything more transparent," Stout said. "I think they figured that out fairly quickly."

Related topics