This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Gov. Gary Herbert has nominated Larry Ellertson — former chairman of both the Utah Transit Authority and the Utah County Commission — to head the Utah Transportation Commission.

If confirmed by the Utah Senate, Ellertson would oversee the board that prioritizes Utah Department of Transportation projects and decides how to spend transportation money set aside by the Legislature.

For example, the commission currently is deciding how to spend $1 billion, which the Legislature just authorized to be borrowed over four years. UDOT has proposed using it to jump-start some huge projects, such as the West Davis Corridor freeway and accelerating conversion of Bangerter Highway into a freeway.

Herbert nominated Ellertson both as a new board member and as its chairman to replace Chairman J. Kent Millington, whose term expired.

The governor also nominated Southern Utah University administrator Donna Law as a new commissioner. She would replace Gayle McKeachnie, a former lieutenant governor, whose term also expired.

Besides work on the UTA and the Utah County Commission, Ellertson was mayor of Lindon, president of the Utah League of Cities and Towns, and chairman of the Provo-Orem Chamber of Commerce.

Law is the executive director of the Michael O. Leavitt Center for Politics & Public Service at SUU. She has served as the university's director of government relations, and in several capacities associated with the Utah Shakespeare Festival.

She has also been chairwoman of the Cedar City/Brian Head Tourism and Convention Bureau and a member of the Utah Arts and Museums board.

@LeeHDavidson