This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated.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.

Former Lindon Mayor and Utah County Commissioner Larry Ellertson has a long résumé of public service. You could say he has done his part.

Gov. Gary Herbert nominated Ellertson to be chairman of the Utah Transportation Commission, the six-member board that oversees state highways and their roughly billion-dollar annual budget. But that nomination has brought an unusual amount of blowback from Utahns who have watched Ellertson work.

As chairman of Utah Transit Authority's board in 2010, he vigorously defended UTA's large executive compensation — packages that were later reduced after audits and public outcry. And in an episode that defies accountability, Ellertson once admitted that he took a free trip to Switzerland as a public official, and he doesn't know who paid for it.

"When I say I don't know who paid for the trip, I am being very honest. I don't know," then-Commissioner Ellertson told the Provo Daily Herald in 2013. He may not know, but that is not "being very honest." It's called not asking too many questions, and it's hardly a sign of integrity.

The nomination was enough of a red flag that Utah Senate leadership elected to hold a public hearing before the Senate transportation confirmation committee. That brought out several speakers who said he was opaque and dismissive of constituents. Ellertson survived that committee, which moved the nomination to the full Senate on a split vote. But even those who voted to move it forward reserved the right to vote against him on the Senate floor, citing the complaints they heard.

This is a recurring problem in Utah. We keep going back to the same people for government oversight boards, and not because there aren't others who are capable. Herbert, a former Utah County Commissioner, nominates Ellertson, the guy who followed him on the county commission. In addition to the UTA board, Ellertson also has been president of the Utah League of Cities and Towns, another group recently found to be undersupervised.

If confirmed, Ellertson would represent a quarter of Utah's population across the middle of the state, including Juab, Utah, Wasatch, Duchesne, Uintah and Daggett counties. There is no shortage of transportation and government expertise in the area, and virtually all other candidates will have less political baggage.

Ellertson has indeed done his part, and the Utah Senate should reject his nomination to the transportation commission. Then the governor needs to look harder the next time.