Lawmaker, new watchdog group calls for investigation of UTA

SALT LAKE CITY — Flanked by members of a new citizens coalition, state Rep. Janice Fisher, D-West Valley City, called Wednesday for a criminal investigation of the Utah Transit Authority.

Fisher said she's sent letters spelling out her concerns to Utah's Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and Salt Lake District Attorney Sim Gill.

"The questions we're asking the AG to investigate: Was the law broken? Have UTA board members profited off of the business of transit in Utah, and if so, how much?" Fisher said.

Both Gill and a spokesman for Shurtleff said they'd review the letter and its allegations.

Fisher said the questions revolve around decisions and transactions by UTA involving the selection of a FrontRunner transit stop in Draper.

Members of FIXUTA, a new coalition of government watchdogs and citizens, said board minutes from November 2008 show 3 UTA board members declared conflicts of interest regarding the site.

"Maybe they didn't make anything. I don't know, but this is not right," said Zach Frankel, executive director of the Utah Rivers Council. "It's high time there is a fact-finding mission to understand why this station was selected."

Frankel said UTA had abandoned a pair of other sites, one it had even bought land for, to instead build at the site located at 12800 South in Draper.

In December, a Legislative Auditor General's office audit found Utah law may have been violated, and recommended the issue be forwarded to the Attorney General's Office.

The audit found developer and UTA board member Terry Diehl did have a conflict of interest and made an "undisclosed amount" of money involving a land deal near the Draper rail stop.

The report stated Diehl properly disclosed he had a financial interest in the deal as the law requires and that despite the conflict, it did not influence the selection of a FrontRunner rail stop in Draper.

But the Legislative Auditor General asked lawmakers to consider referring the matter, which could be a class B misdemeanor, to the attorney general for further review, a recommendation legislative leaders chose to disregard.

Diehl was unavailable for comment Wednesday.

UTA spokesman Justin Jones rejected suggestions the agency deserved further scrutiny, pointing to efforts by UTA to open up board meetings and place more documents on its website.