“Game on.” That’s what Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski told Gov. Gary Herbert when she abruptly pulled out of negotiations on the inland port in May.
Herbert tells UtahPolicy.com in a podcast interview that he thought he had a deal done with Biskupski on changes to the inland port legislation that was passed in the final hours of the 2018 legislature. He was so confident of a deal that he informed legislative leadership to prepare for a special session the following week.
“I asked her (Biskupski) what are the issues of concern? We have a bill passed. You don’t like it. What are those issues you need to have fixed and I’ll see if I can go fix them for you?” said Herbert.
Herbert says Biskupski sent him a letter identifying four different items she wanted to be addressed during the negotiations. A fifth, to exclude 4,000 acres of wetlands was added during the final day of negotiations. Herbert says he went back to Biskupski’s people at approximately 10:30 in the morning on May 7 that he had resolved all of the issues.
“By 3 o’clock that afternoon she had changed her mind and I don’t know what happened,” said Herbert. “I was told I would get a call in about an hour, but that didn’t happen.”
Herbert says he then went to see a musical theater production to celebrate his birthday. As he was about to walk into the theater, Biskupski finally called him.
“She said ‘it’s off,'” says Herbert. “She said the city may be ready to go to court and sue.”
“Game on,” is what Biskupski said at the conclusion of the phone call according to Herbert.
“It just kind of came out of the blue, so I was a little taken aback. I asked her what had happened since the morning when I thought we had a deal. I asked ‘Has somebody got to you?’ She said nobody got to her, and she didn’t want to debate over the phone.”
In July, the Salt Lake City Council reached an agreement with Gov. Herbert and legislative leaders over changes to the inland port legislation. Neither Mayor Biskupski nor her administration participated in those discussions despite several invitations to do so.
Herbert says he has not engaged with Biskupski on any substantive issue since that phone call in May.
“I was puzzled about what happened. I’m still puzzled about it. We need to have her be a part of the discussion. But, the good news is we’re in a better place now on the inland port because the Salt Lake City Council came to the negotiating table,” said the governor.
Listen to the full podcast of our interview with Governor Herbert here.
