My big, extended family was stuffed into Grandma Rose's little bungalow, eagerly gathered around the Duncan-Phyfe table. The younger cousins were squirming in their folding chairs at card tables, drinking from plastic cups and forced to endure each other's knock-knock jokes.
The adults had a Quaker lace tablecloth, cloth napkins and crystal goblets. As a seasoned 11-year-old, I had won the coveted invitation to dine with them. The grown-ups talked about politics, their jobs, their church callings. It was different, exhilarating.
It was power.
Joining the Big People Table wasn't based on reaching a certain age. It hinged on your maturity level. You had to keep up with the momentum and understand the finer points of dialogue. After that first fancy meal with the grown-ups, I felt like a wolf pup who finally got to run with the pack.
Last week, the governor, key Republican legislators, UDOT officials and a coalition of environmental groups announced the best possible compromise to the protracted battle swirling around the construction of Legacy. Strictly Big People Table behavior.
It really looked like the best plan all sides could hope for, compromise being the key word here. Their talks were rooted in mature behavior and a grasp of the bigger picture - a rare occurrence between Utah's road lovers and tree-huggers.
Those wise enough to sit at the Big People Table realize we simply can't run roughshod forever over the ecosystem, driving bigger cars with bigger gas tanks on bigger roads and expect no sacrifice in exchange. And even the enviros know we'll never give up our vehicles.
For once, everyone seemed to get it. There was a nip here, a tuck there. After four years of legal battles and construction delays, which have added $240 million to the price tag, we had reached that all-important closure.
Nah.
It turns out the Little People Table is very upset. The big, bruisin' trucking lobby is mad. Ditto the itty-bitty pool of legislative Democrats. They say they weren't properly consulted - as if they never had ties to the Sierra Club and other players in this game. About half of the GOP caucus and assorted Davis County mayors are griping, too. Some call the plan extortion by environmentalists.
The truckers are mad because they would be banned from using the four-lane Legacy Parkway. Other bows to the environment include $2.5 million for a UDOT study leading to construction of a light-rail route along the 14-mile corridor, and a 2,200-acre nature preserve around sensitive Great Salt Lake wetlands. The speed limit will be posted at 55 mph and any reconstruction of I-15 would be postponed until 2020.
All of this hinges on approval of the Legislature, which will meet in an October special session.
So, what's not to like? Perhaps the folks at the Little People Table would prefer to take it all back to court, where the current projected cost of $700 million for Legacy could really rocket off the charts. Traffic in and out of Davis County could keep stacking up.
And wouldn't you love to see the reaction of a federal judge to all of this? He or she would likely look at the reasonable negotiations among stakeholders, which led to a decent compromise, and laugh the straggling opponents right out of court.
It's time to grow up and start making sense. It's the only way to snag a chair at The Big People Table.
hmullen@sltrib.com
