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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Transit Authority trustees voted Wednesday to continue discussing commitments proposed in a "Taxpayers Bill of Rights," including ending transit-oriented development projects and releasing conflict of interest disclosures.
"A large portion of the taxpayers do not trust this agency. And there's enough that don't to deny the funding necessary to achieve the agency mission," the trustee behind the document, North Ogden Mayor Brent Taylor, told the board.
Taylor blamed the controversy surrounding UTA for the defeat of the 2015 sales tax increase for transportation known as Proposition 1 in Salt Lake and Utah counties, and warned that the agency "will change ourselves or the Legislature will."
The agency was the subject of critical state legislative audits in recent years and earlier this year announced a nonprosecution agreement had been signed in the ongoing investigation of transit development projects.
Several trustees pushed back against Taylor's characterization.
Bret Millburn, a Davis County commissioner, said while the public's concerns about the agency should be talked about, it is time to "stop flogging ourselves about it. … Stop this bickering and self-loathing and things of that nature."
Realtor Babs De Lay, the only vote against reviewing the document, said she disagrees with much of the document and wants to know if other transit agencies provided such commitments in a similar form.
"I can see tomorrow's headlines: UTA board fails to approve 'Taxpayer Bill of Rights,' rather than the reality," De Lay said, calling for time to "vet and research" the proposal.
Taylor said he worked on the document with Sen. Jim Dabakis, D-Salt Lake City. Dabakis had been nominated by Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski to serve on the UTA board, but the City Council voted against the appointment.
Dabakis said he doesn't believe the document is being taken seriously because of UTA's "long, bold history of ignoring even the most essential of changes."
The 10-1 vote at the end of nearly an hour of discussion means the document will be reviewed as trustees put together "strategic goals" going forward. Taylor, a self-described "watchdog," had tried to present it at a recent board retreat.
"It was the best outcome I could have hoped for. I think the board and leadership are taking it seriously, and I appreciate that," he said after the meeting. "I hope out of it all will come some very concrete things."
If that happens, Taylor said he "will be the first one out there to say I have confidence in the agency." He said he wants to become a "true believer" in UTA and is now optimistic that can happen.
UTA had tried to block Taylor's appointment as a trustee, citing his father's employment as a FrontRunner driver, and there has been friction over a number of issues since he joined the board earlier this year.
Jerry Benson, the transit agency's president and CEO, said after the meeting UTA had been working for the past year and a half on coming up with a "public committment" on service as well as governance.
"Some of his issues are new so the board is going to need to have a more thorough conversation about it," Benson said. "I don't think it hurts to be explicit about how we're going to conduct our business."
The 10 articles in Taylor's proposal also included spelling out all meetings will be open, scaling pay and bonuses to what state agencies offer, limiting trustees to two terms and making it clear they can speak to the media, and eliminating lobbyists.
