As the latest step in a series of reforms, The Utah Transit Authority held its first full meeting of its Board of Trustees on Wednesday, May 25 under a new format that allows for more public comment before and during the meeting. With this new format, UTA posts information about action items on the board agenda online at rideuta.com in advance of the meetings, with the ability for people to submit comment. Comments submitted by 9am the Monday before board meeting are collected and reported to the board for their consideration prior to taking action at the meeting. The public may also give comment at the board meeting, with a general comment period held at the start of the meeting, followed by additional comment taken throughout the meeting on each action item. 

While this format is new and UTA continues to improve the new format, this month agency posted the board agenda and information on action items five days prior to the board meeting. A recent media report in the Salt Lake Tribune, however, gave the impression that some comments were not accepted by the UTA Board of Trustees on its Title VI report at the meeting Wednesday.

By way of clarification, the UTA Board of Trustees heard and considered all feedback that was offered prior to voting. One of the comments in question that was cited in the article was submitted by email at 1:37 p.m., almost 40 minutes after the meeting started. While UTA will still receive and review all comments, the late submission past the deadline stated online did not allow the board reasonable ability to consider it, since the board meeting was already underway. Additionally, the person providing the comment did not attend the board meeting to comment in person.

The other person wanting to speak to the Title VI issue arrived at the meeting long after it started, and after the board had voted on this issue. Even so, staff approached the board and explained the situation. The meeting was interrupted and this person was allowed to make his comments. Unfortunately, the Tribune article made it seem as though UTA was to blame for the lateness of the comments in an effort to avoid consideration.

We want to assure our riders and the community that UTA is committed to transparency, increasing opportunities for public comments, and considering all comments before taking action if they are received in time to hear them.