Salt Lake County Commissioner Randy Horiuchi wants UTA's boss to resign, and some UTA board members want Horiuchi to mind his own business.
In a controversy already rich in irony, Horiuchi has accused Utah Transit Authority General Manager John Pingree of overstepping his bounds and called for Pingree's immediate resignation.Salt Lake Mayor Deedee Corradini and UTA Board Chairman Jim Clark countered by saying Horiuchi had overstepped his bounds in calling for the resignation of a UTA employee.
"This is a board problem, and the board should deal with it," Clark said following Horiuchi's 11 a.m. press conference.
"We are fighting to keep the county out of the UTA board's business," Corradini said. That was one of the reasons the city sued UTA, Horiuchi and Salt Lake County Commissioner Brent Overson Thursday, she said. The city's complaint accuses the two commissioners of violating Utah's open-meeting law and the board of violating Pingree's right to due process.
Horiuchi originally planned to hold a press conference outlining his complaints about Pingree. But after he learned of the lawsuit, he decided to call for Pingree's resignation, drafting his comments moments before the press conference started.
Horiuchi cited Pingree's $175,000 salary - the second highest in the state after University of Utah basketball coach Rick Majerus' - as proof that Pingree has been around too long.
Horiuchi also hammered Pingree for lobbying to take away the county's power to appoint UTA board members, diffusing that authority among the larger cities in the county.
UTA and Salt Lake City joined forces this summer to give the cities appointment power, sparking the county's fight to get rid of Pingree.
Salt Lake City officials have a hearing before 3rd District Judge Homer Wilkinson Nov. 1 at 10 a.m. to seek a restraining order blocking the pre-emptory dismissal of Pingree by only 13 board members. The city wants University of Utah President Arthur Smith seated as the 14th board member before the board votes on the matter.
However, UTA board member Dan Berman, a vocal Pingree critic, said the board will not postpone its Oct. 30 vote until after the court hearing.
The city will try to get its hearing moved up, Corradini said Friday after learning that Berman will fight to keep the meeting scheduled for Oct. 30.
Horiuchi doesn't want Pingree to wait for a board vote. Resign now, he urged in front of TV cameras. "If Mr. Pingree really cares about the future of transit in this great county, I think he'll find it in his heart to do the right thing."
UTA union boss Steve Booth attended the press conference, going up to Horiuchi's office with him after the meeting was over, making it clear that unhappy union members are players in the effort to oust Pingree.
Ninety-five percent of the union wants Pingree gone, Booth said. But he acknowledged that the union hadn't voted on the matter. Booth made that assessment based on conversations with some of UTA's more than 1,000 union employees.
Horiuchi fired salvos at Corradini Friday for suing him and UTA. A lawsuit could hinder UTA's ability to sell $50 million in bonds next year necessary to begin light-rail construction, he said.
"Mayor Corradini is one of the strongest supporters of light rail, yet filing this lawsuit may be the biggest threat to the continuation of the light-rail system. I find that quite ironic," Horiuchi said.
But Corradini said the coup d'etat staged by Berman and the commissioners casts more of a shadow over UTA's credibility than the city's lawsuit, which attempts to right the wrong.
Corradini wants Berman and other unhappy board members to hold off until the Legislature has decided whether Salt Lake County or Salt Lake City has the power to appoint the statutorily mandated 14th board member.
County bosses want former state Sen. Stephen Rees, not Smith, to serve on the board.
Horiuchi, in turn, is trying to hamstring Corradini's legal move by telling political leaders in Davis, Weber and Utah counties that if Corradini had her way, they couldn't appoint members to UTA's board. If UTA's and Salt Lake City's interpretation of the appointment power stands, the board would have at least 25 members. But state law allows only 15 members. "That means all Davis, Weber and Utah council members would have to be eliminated," he said.
Corradini, in turn, has already wooed the support of most mayors in the valley for the appointment of Smith, not Rees, to the UTA board. The county's Council of Governments voted 11-2 to seat Smith, she said.
Unhappy board members are rushing to get rid of Pingree now because they know they wouldn't have the necessary votes in a month or two, she said. "It certainly seems like desperation tactics to me. We all agreed to let the Legislature fix this in January. Why the big rush now?"
Berman said UTA can't wait. With half the board losing all confidence in Pingree and the $300 million light-rail project around the corner, UTA needs to heal and move forward with new leadership now, not a few months from now, he said.
Pingree flew to Florida Thursday to make a speech at a transit convention. He returned to Utah Friday afternoon, but couldn't be reached for comment.