Curtis has courage to stick to beliefs

By Terry Diehl and Necia Christensen
Published: Monday, June 18, 2007 12:40 a.m. MDT
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Doug Robinson's opinion piece regarding Speaker Greg Curtis and his role in the Real soccer stadium and voucher issues (June 5) highlights the tension between democracy and leadership. In essence, Robinson argues that public officials should always follow the will of the people.

We believe that leadership sometimes requires public officials to take unpopular positions — that are well-informed — and stick with them. The pull between direct democracy and leadership is probably healthy, but we fear that if we strip our public officials of the courage to defend the unpopular, we will be left with a government of cowards.

Let us just give one important example where, thankfully, public officials had the courage to push forward despite popular opinion polls: light rail. In the late '80s population growth and a concern about the environmental impact of commuter traffic in the I-15 corridor led to a feasibility study on light rail. The study showed that light rail could work — but that it would not be free.

In 1992 this issue was put to the voters in the form of a proposal to increase the sales tax to fund light rail. It failed miserably. Despite this public rejection, a handful of strong political leaders and the Utah Transit Authority pushed forward. In a move that infuriated the public, the UTA went ahead and purchased the right of way through Salt Lake County. On Capitol Hill, a group of protesters literally burned the UTA's executive director in effigy.

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It took a while, but over time the opposition to light rail began to recede. Mildly at first, but then after Dec. 4, 1999, the opposition fell flat. On that day TRAX became operational with a 17-mile line from Salt Lake City to Sandy. It was an immediate success. In fact, local public officials who had actively campaigned against light rail were now clamoring for more lines and a stop in their cities.

Today, we can't build lines fast enough.

So while we have no idea whether the soccer stadium or vouchers will have the success that TRAX has experienced, we do know that if we had put all of our faith in the polls or in the opinions of some columnists 17 years ago, we would not have light rail today.

Sometimes we need leadership. Sometimes we need public officials who have the guts to do the unpopular. We believe that it is important for elected officials to consider public opinion as decisions are made, and it is nice to read the results of these newspaper-commissioned polls. But more importantly, we need politicians who are not afraid to stand for something and are willing to lead, not just follow.

We commend Speaker Curtis for being different than many politicians and being the bulldog that he is. And maybe because of this characteristic the very people who know him the best, his colleagues in the Utah House of Representatives, have chosen him to be their speaker.

While a reporter, a pollster or a newspaper editorial board can always tell you what is popular, we just hope our leaders will have the courage to do what is right.

Terry Diehl and Necia Christensen are UTA board members.

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