With the defeat of the light-rail initiative, opponents won a battle, but they are still waging war against the Utah Transit Authority.
Concerned Taxpayers of Utah plans to pursue a lawsuit regarding a newsletter sent out by UTA and also has accused UTA of improprieties and conflict of interest.Another group, Grass Roots, has issued a press release calling for a federal investigation into UTA's continued use of federal money for light-rail engineering studies.
But Mike Zuhl, director of Citizens for Balanced Transportation, which supported light-rail, wonders why opponents are continuing to fight.
"The voters spoke the other day - what's the point of all of this?"
David K. Mast, a Draper resident who heads Concerned Taxpayers, said he will amend a lawsuit that he and the organization filed before the election in 3rd District Court. The suit concerns a newsletter, called "Transition," that UTA sent to Salt Lake County households.
Mast's suit said that UTA broke a state law forbidding the use of public dollars to lobby for the light-rail referendum. Estimates are the newsletter cost $36,000.
Mast originally asked that the referendum results be overturned if the measure won.
It didn't win, but now Mast wants the money that was spent on the newsletter returned to the taxpayers or the general fund. "The money was spent illegally," Mast alleged. "We would let the Legislature decide how that should be disbursed."
Mast said he and Concerned Taxpayers also are contemplating suing Citizens for Balanced Transportation.
Mast said there could be a conflict of interest regarding a member of Citizens for Balanced Transportation and a business that donated money to the cause. He also takes issue with letters sent under the signature of various members of the group to people in communities where they live. Mast said Citizens for Balanced Transportation did not identify itself except for "tiny print" on the back of the envelopes.
"In my opinion, this was an attempt to deceive voters," Mast said.
Mast believes that information resulting from his first suit will produce evidence showing that Citizens for Balanced Transportation was "a front for UTA."
He also doubts that Citizens for Balanced Transportation was properly registered to voice support for a public issue.
All of this has Zuhl baffled.
"On the face of it, this seems absurd to me," Zuhl said. He said Citizens for Balanced Transportation is a private, nonprofit corporation that filed the proper papers and financial disclosure statements with the county.
The Utah Department of Commerce's Division of Corporations and Commercial Code has a listing for "Citizens for Better Transportation." The offices of the Salt Lake County Clerk and Election Clerk say Citizens for Balanced Transportation filed necessary papers.
As for the letters, Zuhl said Citizens for Balanced Transportation asked supporters to write to people expressing a personal message about the need for light rail.
"There was nothing deceptive or improper about it," Zuhl said. "It is commonly done in political activities, by nonprofit organizations and business interests."
UTA general manager John Pingree said no formal relationship exists between UTA and Citizens for Balanced Transportation and that UTA was not involved in any of the group's decisions.
Pingree said it was proper to send out the "Transition" newsletter. "Federal guidelines indicate that if there's a project with federal funds in it, that we must inform the community what the impacts of that project will be. That's what we were trying to do with `Transition' - inform the community."