Rep. Merrill Cook wants to send Congress a message regarding mass transit by means of a citizen referendum.
Local decisionmaking bodies are all over the map when it comes to mass transit, Cook says. The Legislature, county commissions, city councils, Wasatch Front Regional Council, Utah Transit Authority, Utah Department of Transportation -- all differ on what should be constructed and when, and Cook says that's putting the $640 million Congress has approved for mass transit along the Wasatch Front in jeopardy.The solution: Show Congress that Utahns -- or at least Wasatch Front residents -- are united in their support of mass transit through a referendum on the issue.
"Until we speak with a united voice . . . it's going to be very, very difficult to get an appropriation," Cook, R-Utah, said in a press conference Monday. "I think we sometimes get tied up in some specific city issues, as we've seen over the past several weeks, when we've got this money already set aside."
The Salt Lake City Council voted two weeks ago to kill the proposed TRAX line from Main Street to the University of Utah. UTA, UDOT and others are lobbying hard to resurrect it.
Even given that roadblock, UTA general manager John Inglish doesn't think much of the referendum idea.
"I guess (Cook) sees it as a populist approach, to call for a referendum on everything we do in government, but that's not the system of government we have," Inglish said. "To add another condition -- a referendum -- comes out of nowhere. That process would not have the rigor of analysis that elected officials have. I don't know why we can't rely on our elected officials to make those decisions, after study. That's their job."
Inglish said a referendum would have no bearing on whether Congress appropriates the money. He declined to speculate on other reasons Cook might have for raising the issue but did note it gets him in the public eye.
"It's really something Congressman Cook seems to have a connection with the press on," he said. "He's the only one who raises this issue."
Congress has authorized the $640 million for commuter rail, light rail, intermodal facilities, park-and-ride lots and buses in Utah. However, if it's not appropriated -- the final step required to actually get the money -- within six years, it goes elsewhere.
Cook said he plans to go to the Legislature next session and ask it to put a referendum on next November's ballot. The question would be whether voters would prefer using the $640 million first for east-west light-rail extensions in the Salt Lake Valley or for commuter rail running potentially from Ogden to Provo.
Doing nothing would not be an option. "I'm not even including that in the discussion." That eliminates the possibility that Utahns would basically tell Congress they don't want the money.
Like Inglish, state House Speaker Marty Stephens, R-Farr West, was dubious when told of the referendum proposal.
"We've generally not supported those, but I would like to hear Merrill make his pitch," he said. "We're elected to make those kinds of decisions -- that's what they hire us for -- so traditionally we've not tried to put everything on as a referendum."
Stephens noted that in his 11 years in the Legislature, the only referendum lawmakers supported putting on the ballot was one regarding whether to bid for the Olympic Winter Games.
Cook said if the Legislature rejects him, he'll go to a citizens group to put the matter on the ballot. He's done it before: In 1988, Cook led three tax-limitation initiatives, in 1990 an initiative to remove sales tax on food and in 1994 an initiative to limit the terms of state and federally elected officials.
With the 2002 Winter Games fast approaching, and with the delay of almost a full year before the referendum would take place, Cook said he is not seeking to complete the mass-transit projects before the Olympics. He said the $640 million has been "double authorized," making it possible to get the money appropriated with or without an Olympic tie-in.
In fact, trying to convince Congress that the west-east TRAX line in Salt Lake was Olympic-related "went over like a lead balloon," he said. (The House refused to fund the airport-to-downtown portion, which spelled the end for that part of the line.)