Text of Sierra Club letter to the governor

Dear Governor Huntsman:

We are in the unfortunate position of having to bring to your attention behavior by the Director of the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) John Njord, and his Deputy Director Carlos Braceras, which can only be characterized as conduct unbefitting of any public official.

In a meeting with Legacy project director John Thomas last week, and in subsequent phone conversations with him earlier this week, we happily agreed to a series of meetings with UDOT and its consultants in an effort to work more cooperatively toward a potential solution to the longstanding Legacy controversy. We were particularly pleased with Mr. Thomas' efforts to meet to discuss the Citizen's Quality Growth Alternative, a proposal we believe can better meet North Corridor transportation needs while saving the state significant amounts of money. Indeed, we have been seeking just such discussion for more than a year, but until recently have been rebuffed by both state and federal officials. We scheduled meetings beginning next week to bring our consultants together with UDOT officials and their consultants in an effort to explore our proposals more carefully. We remain committed to those discussions, which at least have the potential to bring this longstanding policy dispute to an amicable solution.

Imagine our utter surprise, then, when just days after these meetings were arranged, Mr. Njord and Mr. Braceras launched a vicious and entirely unprovoked attack on the proponents of the Citizens Growth Alternative both in the news media and in the state legislature. Rather than waiting to see whether the recently scheduled discussions would bear fruit, or having the courtesy of discussing any problems with us in advance, Mr. Njord and Mr. Braceras chose to act in this unnecessarily confrontational way. Not only have they badly misrepresented the history of this matter and the actual reasons the state incurred significant delay costs; they also inexplicably sought to undermine the discussions we mutually agreed to before they have begun. This is classic duplicity, bearing an olive branch in one hand while wielding a dagger behind one's back. Moreover, we would like to try to set the record straight regarding the significant misrepresentations of fact made by UDOT officials this week.