If the people of Utah don't agree with how their elected officials are handling the light-rail issue, they can petition them or, eventually, vote them out of office. That is how representative government works.
Rep. Merrill Cook, R-Utah, appears to prefer democracy in its purer form, which is why he keeps pushing for a referendum on mass transit. But pure democracy has many inherent dangers, the most obvious being that, in this age of apathy, few people would bother to educate themselves and actually show up to vote.Cook wants voters to choose how to spend $640 million Congress has set aside for mass transit in Utah. They would be given two choices: extend light rail in Salt Lake City or start a commuter rail system from Ogden to Provo.
If only the choice were that easy.
Transportation officials want commuter rail. They understand the logic of meshing that kind of rapid system with a more localized light-rail system. But Union Pacific has balked at the use of its tracks, claiming that would be too much of a disruption to its regular freight service. Much negotiation remains.
The wisest course right now is to expand light rail and make it a viable, reliable transportation alternative for as many Salt Lake County residents as possible. That means the Salt Lake City Council should decide now to reverse its short-sighted rejection of the line to the University of Utah. Time is running out. The project has to be completed before the 2002 Olympics in order for the federal money to be available.
Later, when officials have negotiated a solution with Union Pacific, and when people have become used to the benefits a rail system can offer, the commuter rail system could be pursued.
In a representative government, the people elect leaders and entrust them with the intricacies of government -- the full-time job of learning every nuance and negotiating every detail. Those elected people hire the managers who head agencies filled with professionals, but the elected officials remain accountable for it all. If they or their subordinates do something terribly wrong, the public may initiate a referendum through a petition process or it may campaign to elect someone other than the current leader. But government cannot proceed in an orderly or responsible way if the public involves itself directly in the daily details and decisions.
As someone who was elected to represent the interests of the state's 2nd District, Cook ought to know this. His stubborn insistence on pushing for a referendum can only hurt the Wasatch Front's mass-transit interests.