Rolly: Sleepy UTA employee is noticed for his naps

For a taxpayer-funded agency that has raised customers' rates, discussed abolishing free-fare zones and cut services, it's probably not good public relations to have a supervisor in a Utah Transit Authority van seen napping nearly every day, right next to the TRAX station at South Temple and West Temple.

But the same guy in UTA van 07606 often can be seen in a no-parking zone in front of the Salt Lake Plaza Hotel taking a good snooze, according to hotel employees.

He is seen sawing the logs in the morning and in the afternoon. Apparently, there is no set time for Mr. Sandman to pay a visit.

Joseph Littlewood, a driver who makes daily deliveries to the hotel, became miffed when he parked in Sleepy's spot one day and got a parking ticket. But Sleepy gets to take his naps apparently uninterrupted by Salt Lake City parking enforcers. Littlewood emailed photographs of Sleepy's adventures in dreamland to The Salt Lake Tribune.

Spokesman Steve Allnatt says UTA brass is not aware of the naps but will investigate the matter and take appropriate action.

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Didn't get the memo • The Utah lieutenant governor's office is running public service announcements urging residents to log onto its site, vote.utah.gov, to get sample ballots, poll locations and other information about voting this year.

The tagline on the ad says, "Democracy: It's better when you participate."

That should cause some apoplexy in the Utah Legislature, which went to great pains during its 2011 session to mandate that schoolchildren be taught the United States is a republic, not a democracy.

Gov. Gary Herbert, Lt. Gov. Greg Bell's boss, even signed that bill.

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Ignorance isn't bliss • Val Noni Hill says her family recently visited from Idaho and, while in downtown Salt Lake City, parked their car to do some sightseeing.

Not used to the 21st century solar-fueled kiosks installed for parking services, she looked around for a meter to plug but saw none. She scoured the area and figured she was in a free-parking zone.

Boy, was she wrong.

When they returned from their excursions, they found a "welcome to Salt Lake City" ticket on the windshield.

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Selective enforcement • The Division of Air Quality is holding public hearings about regulations to reduce winter pollution, and under the Clear Air Act, must come up with an emissions-reduction plan. At the same time, The Tribune recently had a story about airport security cracking down to identify criminals with outstanding warrants trying to get jobs at the Salt Lake City International Airport.

So why is it, as any visitor to Salt Lake's airport will notice, that cars in the pick-up areas waiting for friends and loved ones are able to sit for several minutes idling their cars as airport security officers gleefully walk by, ignoring Salt Lake City's anti-idling ordinance.

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Overzealous volunteers? • I wrote recently about a Gary Herbert/Greg Bell campaign sign that was on the Glover Lane overpass in Farmington, not far from a sign at the end of the overpass stating that it is illegal to put signs on the overpass.

I've since been alerted that signs for the governor and lieutenant governor have been placed on I-15 overpasses in Scipio and Holden.

Meanwhile, Salt Lake City code enforcement has been inundated with complaints of campaign signs from various candidates on utility poles and other public venues.

So politicians, it seems, have a tough time with rules.

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Identity theft? • It appears some people in Utah just can't handle it when a Democrat is elected to public office. Or maybe someone is asleep at the wheel. But the 2012 Dex Directory, on page seven of the Salt Lake County government pages, lists Lohra Miller as the district attorney.

Miller, a Republican, was defeated in her bid for re-election by Democrat Sim Gill two years ago.

prolly@sltrib.com —