It was heartening to see Speaker Greg Hughes adamantly argue in favor of following the letter of the law during the stalled first meeting of the Utah Inland Port Authority earlier this week. His willingness to “debate this right now” with Gov. Gary Herbert over ambiguities in the board’s conflict of interest requirements was a signal that Hughes wanted to get the inland port started on the right side of the law.
However, Hughes may have had other reasons to delay taking the oath of office that would begin his service on the inland port board. As speaker of the House, Hughes has the power to appoint someone to the board, which came with conflict-of-interest provisions that prohibited the service of those who own property within five miles of the port’s boundaries.