This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Who are the bigger crooks? Shurtleff and Swallow, or the 11 cities and council members who invested millions of taxpayer money into a private company, UTOPIA!
Maybe it's time to investigate the misuse of public funds to profit in misguided adventure which has not shown a profit in over 10 years. Now six of the 11 cities want to continue to impose this outrageous burden on all their constituents for a mere $20 a month for 30 plus years.
The city council members are having a hard time trying to justify such a bill every month because its not a utility. West Valley City council members are indifferent to the needs of the people they represent and believe they are being as transparent as any government office here in Utah can be, something they must of learned from Shurtleff and Swallow.
We want our government to be transparent but not to the point that we can't see what their doing! UTOPIA may be a wonderful Internet company one day, but it's a luxury I and many others are not wanting to support as our roads and schools go neglected.
As the state is looking for more tax money maybe they should ask the cities that have misused taxpayer money and explain they're actions and stop them from further mismanagement of public funds. Paying for UTOPIA is no different than highway robbery, not to mention taxation without representation.
Linda M. Sagendorf
West Valley City