Utah vs. Idaho: Transportation
As many are familiar, I am at work on my Ph.D. dissertation, which is exploring how Idaho and Utah, which seem so similar politically, culturally, and socially, have such different economic development outcomes. I’ve just returned from a trip to Salt Lake where I interviewed a number of key leaders, among them the CEO of the Utah Transit Authority.
Just a week after I returned from Utah, AP writer John Miller posts a brilliant piece about previous troubles at ITD. And really nothing better illustrates why Idaho, until political attitudes shift, is going to struggle economically.
A former Idaho Transportation Department director was asked to resign in 2006 after a scathing whistleblower complaint, a detail hidden from the public until it recently emerged in court documents filed as part of a separate lawsuit.
The papers, filed in U.S. District Court on Thursday, show the circumstances of how former director David Ekern exited the state’s top highway agency job in August 2006.
Ekern announced that month that he was leaving after 3 1/2 years to pursue “two potentially significant career opportunities.” He later took a job in Virginia that he quit in 2010.
But the Idaho Transportation Board had previously voted in executive session to remove him after an internal complaint in March 2006 alleged Ekern engaged in favoritism and “misuse of power and authority.” The board then gave Ekern an opportunity to leave of his own accord, the court documents show.
“The Board was dissatisfied with his performance and he should look for other employment,” according to the documents. “Chairman Frank Bruneel told Mr. Ekern that they would give him the opportunity to gracefully leave ITD. There was a general agreement that Mr. Ekern could leave basically in good standing if he voluntarily retired. Shortly after this discussion, Mr. Ekern submitted his retirement letter.”
Former Transportation Director Pamela Lowe filed the documents last week in her ongoing bid to convince a federal court judge she was illegally fired in 2009.
She was fired despite good job reviews after Idaho Transportation Board members raised concerns about her rapport with some Idaho lawmakers; Lowe blames her dismissal on a backlash after she began trimming a highway management contract with a big political donor, URS Corp.
I encourage you to review the whole article, but the short story is that political leadership in Idaho is driven by hyper-individualism, and personal vendettas to such an extent that the big picture is lost. This state has a completely dysfunctional Department of Transportation since at least 2006 - nearly 6 years, and because there has been no real change in policy direction, funding, or management structure at ITD, the only conclusion one can reach is that the electeds are ok with that.
To contrast that with Utah, about the same time that Utah legislators (conservative Republicans) were passing a bill to allow for public transit authorities (with public option taxation authority) we were trying to figure out how to get money away from the Ada County government which was building roads to Star and Kuna while the City of Boise struggled to fill in potholes. Though the problem was the state funding mechanism, legislators instead gave us the Ada County Highway District. Utah created what is now geographically the largest transit provider in the U.S.; Idaho was adopting a form of local transportation authority that has only one other example in existence. That’s what we refer to as worst practices.
I know I’ve mixed a lot of agencies here, but the story is not so much about them as it is about leadership: while we fight petty battles and adopt truly bizarre policy solutions literally seen nowhere else, our neighbors are kicking our butts. And those who suffer are those who have a fixed investment in Idaho, and Idaho’s residents at large.
Transportation infrastructure is a critical component for economic development - it shows the private sector that we are willing to invest in what they need to get their employees to work, and their products to market. But history again and again points to an Idaho that is not willing to subvert its hyper-individualistic nature for something that might be good for all of us - like a functioning transportation department.
Economic Development, Government, Transportation | admin July 19, 2011
