Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, will be sworn in next month. He was appointed by Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan, Draper Mayor Darrell Smith and Taylorsville Mayor Janice Auger. The three cities share a single UTA board representative.

Hughes said he hopes his participation on the board will help ease tensions between UTA and the Legislature, where hostility has built because influential lawmakers want more control over the transit agency's budget and operations. Lawmakers also have complained that because the board members are appointed by cities and counties based on population, they aren't as accountable to the general public as they ought to be.

"It's a quasi-governmental entity. Most government entities have representatives elected by the people," Hughes said.

Until 2004, elected officials were prohibited from serving as UTA board members. That year, former Sen. James Evans, R-Salt Lake City, sponsored a bill to reverse that prohibition. The bill also gave the Legislature more oversight power because it required UTA to circulate its annual budget proposal - $140.5 million for 2006 - to every lawmaker and municipal entity in its service area for preliminary approval.

At the same time, lawmakers shortened board members' terms from three years to two years but allowed them to serve more consecutive terms.

Herriman City Council member Michelle Baguley was the first sitting elected official appointed to the board after the new law was enacted. Larry Ellertson, a Utah County commissioner, was appointed soon after.

There also have been lawmakers who served on the board before and after their time on Capitol Hill, including Sen. Ed Mayne, D-West Valley City, and Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo. Last week, former Democratic Rep. Judy Ann Buffmire of Millcreek was sworn in as a board member.

Hughes said having a lawmaker on the board gives the legislative branch some clout during early decision-making but also will allow him to present UTA's point of view from an insider's vantage and perhaps head off problems.

"There always has been a tense relationship between the Legislature and UTA and the UTA board," Hughes said. "I think what you'll find in the end is my participation can only be a positive."

Hughes said that when he was growing up in Pittsburgh, he and his family were entirely dependent on public transit, so he understands how threatened low-income UTA riders can feel when fares go up. Now, as a developer and manager of transit-oriented development near the new 900 South TRAX station, he sees how clustering housing around transit benefits urban living.

John Inglish, UTA's general manager, agreed that the agency's accountability and the large amount of money handled has raised questions, with the board as well as legislators.

"The board is there to run UTA as a business. They become the surrogates for the stockholders. In this case the stockholders are the public," Inglish said.

But the cities and counties are completely autonomous in their appointments.

"We don't interfere, we don't react one way or another," Inglish said. "We will be happy to accept anyone they appoint."