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Salt Lake City Councilman Derek Kitchen wrote in a dispatch to supporters Tuesday that he is becoming "very concerned" as the city continues to seek a new transportation director a year after the last one announced she was leaving.

"Frankly, I am troubled by [the] lack of attention that Mayor Jackie Biskupski has given toward progressing transit and transportation solutions in our city," Kitchen wrote.

He alleged that consequences of the vacancy include the administration's request — panned by the council — to install a fence and close a crosswalk between the homeless shelter at 210 S. Rio Grande St. and The Gateway shopping mall, as well as what Kitchen regards as a missed opportunity to apply for federal funds to extend the S-Line trolley to Highland Drive.

He added in an interview later Tuesday that "I don't think the broader community realizes that for the first year of not having a transportation director, that we were just treading water."

Biskupski wasn't available for comment Tuesday.

Community and Neighborhoods Director Mike Reberg said Tuesday that after two failed searches for a new director, city staffers plan to meet Friday with an executive recruiter and lay the groundwork for a third attempt.

Reberg said there's nothing stopping the council, in the meantime, from discussing the draft transit master plan that the administration released three months ago or the housing plan that it unveiled in February.

"Council member Kitchen has been on the council for a year and a half, and I think he's really gotten good at expressing problems," Reberg said, "but I think there's a second part to being on the council and governing, and that is creating solutions."

Kitchen responded later in a text message: "The solution is simple: Hire someone."

It was reported a year ago Tuesday that the city's previous transportation director, Robin Hutcheson, was leaving to become director of public works in Minneapolis. Longtime city employee Kevin Young has since served ably as interim director, said Holly Mullen, Biskupski's deputy communications director.

"There's nothing stuck in neutral," Mullen said. "There's nothing going backward."

Reberg said Hutcheson was hired without a search by then-Mayor Ralph Becker in 2012 to replace the retiring Tim Harpst, who had led the division for a quarter-century, and that "this is the first time this job has been out there in the public."

The city last fall discovered three worthy candidates among 40 who applied during its first search, Reberg said.

One West Coast area candidate withdrew for personal reasons. Another from Texas sought a higher salary than the city was willing to offer. And internal candidate Nick Norris opted to instead become the city's planning director.

A second search yielded just one qualified candidate, Reberg said. The man worked as a consultant and had applied during a lull in business, seeking stability. When business improved earlier this year, he lost interest, Reberg said, and declined a second interview.

Kitchen, who in tandem with Councilman James Rogers quizzed Reberg about that candidate during a May council work session, wondered Tuesday: "If somebody is looking for a job and they cancel their job interview because they're no longer interested, what is that saying?"

Kitchen said there may be a perception because of the salary offered that "these positions within Salt Lake City are not valued" or that there is a "cultural problem" within Biskupski's administration.

Reberg said city offered two candidates slightly more than the $118,000 salary that Hutcheson made in her fourth year — despite having listed a lower range — and revised its salary range for the second job posting so that it peaked at $115,000.

The city's transportation division is set up differently than most others around the country, Reberg said, in that some of the transportation functions are part of the city's engineering or planning arms. The transportation division is relatively small, and its director oversees about two dozen staff.

One candidate who spurned Utah's capital wondered if there was "any thought of, down the road, turning the transportation division into a more complete division," Reberg said.

Kitchen aired his grievances amid a break in council business after the approval of a $273 million budget.

Council members last week voted down state Sen. Jim Dabakis, Biskupski's choice to represent the city on the Utah Transit Authority board, saying they had wanted a candidate with better transportation credentials.

Dabakis, D-Salt Lake City, said before his interview with the council that he felt he had been drawn into a "raging war" between the council and Biskupski. The sides have had well-publicized disputes about a range of issues since Biskupski edged Becker in the 2015 race.

Biskupski told supporters in last week's newsletter that the Dabakis nomination had "helped energize a larger conversation surrounding transparency, public trust, and the future of transit in our city," and she urged council action on the draft transit master plan.

Council Chairman Stan Penfold said Tuesday that it would be unfair to imply that the council had neglected the transit and housing master plans, given that the budget process "consumes basically two full months."

Council members expect to devote "significant time and energy" to housing and transit discussions, Penfold said. The transit master plan is likely to be introduced in July or August, with conversation continuing into the fall.

But Kitchen said "it is a little bit odd to have a discussion without a transportation director who will be in charge of rolling this whole plan out."

Reberg said the staffers most responsible for the plan are still employed by the city and would be available to answer council questions.

Twitter: @matthew_piper