March 2002

The benefits will be impossible to measure and quantify, but they are undisputably there. I believe we found benefit in at least four areas. The first is that the state improved in almost every area. It's impossible to have an event that permeates so deeply to involve literally hundreds of thousands of Utahans and to have the full attention of all two and a quarter million plus the entire world, without improving.

Reporters (in order of appearance):

KEN VERDOIA, KUED
JENNIFER JORDAN, KCPW
DAN HARRIE, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
TOM JORDAN, METRO NETWORKS
ROD DECKER, KUTV
JOHN DALEY, KSL-TV
JASEN LEE, KSL RADIO
CRAIG HISLOP, UTAH PUBLIC RADIO
CATHERINE BLAKE, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Transcript:

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Governor, thanks for joining us today. As we meet on this Friday, the final events of the Paralympics are at hand and are playing out. This closes five weeks of intense activity and exposure for Salt Lake City and Utah, closes out years of preparation in executing the Olympics and the Paralympics. Will there be a final accounting, an audit, if you will, of the big picture, of costs and benefits, and performance against expectations of this Olympic commitment by Utah?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: The benefits will be impossible to measure and quantify, but they are undisputably there. I believe we found benefit in at least four areas. The first is that the state improved in almost every area. It's impossible to have an event that permeates so deeply to involve literally hundreds of thousands of Utahans and to have the full attention of all two and a quarter million plus the entire world, without improving. Our roads got better, our railroads got better, our restaurant service got better, our police learned to work together better, everything just got better. And we had to learn to do things different, and better than we had before. And that's a long-term benefit that, again, how do you quantify everyone's improvement?

The second area is that the Utah brand is now a global grand. Yesterday I had a governor from Russia who was in Washington and asked his host if he could visit Utah. He wanted to come to the place that the world had centered for this grand event, he wanted to see what he had felt. People from all over the world, three and a half billion people saw the Olympic experience. They came to understand what Utah's about. They came to see the competence of our people, the natural beauty. And one of the great things that happened during the games was that- - an unpromoted but central theme emerged, one of the surprising performances, if you will, and it was the Utah people. The international media very quickly grasped on to that as the deciding element, as the unique element, the volunteers, the level of organization, the competence with which the transportation and the venues and the information systems, the media, everything was handled. So the Utah brand became very well known. And what's the value of that? It's huge. But it'll be hard to quantify it.

The third thing that happened is that I believe Utahans came to understand themselves in a different way. Like an athlete that competes at the world level for the first time and discovers, "I can do this. Not only can I do this and compete, but I can win," that happened to our state. It became clear to us that we have the capacity to compete and win on a global level.

And last, I think, again, a difficult one to quantify but remarkable in its power is that this was not a landing. It was a launch. We're on day 37 of our 1,000-day Olympic experience. It has to become 1,000 days or more, not 17 days or not 28 days with the Paralympics. It needs to become a lengthy process, and we are, and good things are happening. Yesterday we had a 120 million dollar venture capital fund in the state announced. On the first day we had 240 teacher scholarships that were offered. On day 41, next Tuesday, we'll have a couple of additional good things that will had a be happening that I think were directly contributed to by the Olympics. Not the only reason they happened, but employers who decided to come here, people who are supporting our high-tech high schools, other kinds of things. There's a lot of momentum, and there will be a financial accounting that SLOC will account, I think it'll turn out that we not only met our commitment to return the money to the state and to operate within available Olympic revenues, but I think it will demonstrate ultimately to have been a very successful financial experience. But the long-term benefits, they're just almost uncalculable.

JENNIFER JORDAN, KCPW: Governor, a lot was made of the security for the Olympics, and I was surprised when we went to the Paralympic opening there was none. Do you have any explanation as to the reason for not having any magnetometers, no bag search at the Paralympics?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Well, the economics are completely different with the Paralympics, and I think the threat level is different.

JENNIFER JORDAN, KCPW: 50,000 people is 50,000 people in an open arena.

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Well, we go to a lot of events, and the level of security is based on both the intelligence that's there and the assessment of professionals as to the likelihood of a problem. And the professionals have concluded that the likelihood of a serious event is relatively low, and therefore they've chosen not to protect that with the same hardness that was available at the other Olympic events.

DAN HARRIE, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Can you tell us now, was there anything during the Olympics that you were aware to, privy to privately that there was a serious threat? Was there any specific threat against the Olympics?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: No. No, I think that it's clear we had 150 or more incidents where there were suspicious packages. We had one event that was publicized that, where we thought, at least for a couple of hours it appeared we were in the midst of an incident involving anthrax. That did not turn out to be true, but we had all of the jets scrambled and the systems working, and I'll tell you, my heart was beating for a while with some edge to it. But it was a remarkable event, and I think the system worked and the plan played out just as we'd hoped it would.

TOM JORDAN, METRO NETWORKS: Given your venture capital fund, have you seen any actual- - I think every foreign government representative I talked to is very interested in the whole high-tech world and the fact that there would be the potential for reciprocal trade in some form or another. Have you actually heard anything at this relatively early stage that would be concrete about foreign trade?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Well, I don't suspect that we'll see anything that can be actually attributed directly to the games for several months. We do intend to follow, and we'll be announcing more specifics soon, about a series of trade missions to follow on our Olympic experience that will go into major markets of the world and try to build on the relationships and the notoriety and the- - as sort of a chance to celebrate the athletes in various places, and it'll be a very good opportunity for Utah businesses to follow. International deals for the most part are put together by individual businesses, not government to government. So we'll, our goal will be simply to help create an environment where those individual businesses can make the deals and create the commerce.

ROD DECKER, KUTV: You're going to start building a new capitol complex up there. Could you tell us about that.

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: The Capitol was, I noticed the cornerstone was set in 1914; I think they actually moved into the capitol in 1916. The construction of the Capitol, the design of that day was really not up to the standard that we hold ourselves to now, nor did it accomplish what needs to be in terms of making certain that the integrity of that building lasts for another hundred years.

For example, the pillars on the exterior of the building are held to the building by a single pin that basically the roof rests on. So if there's a serious earthquake, it's pretty clear that pin shears, those pillars fall, the roof comes down, and you can literally lose the whole building. So we do need to earthquake the building. And then the interior of the building, while the rotunda and so forth is beautiful and I think among the most spectacular in the country, the basic services of the building, the air-conditioning, the heating, other things, the lighting and so forth, are just antiquated, old, and in very serious need of repair. So we are going to go through a legacy project, we're going to use part of the money that we received from our repayment of the Olympic funds as a means to renovate and to restore, or to renew, I think is a better term, the Capitol. We'll start by building two additions to the Capitol to the north. They'll basically form wings going north and south on the ends of the building. They will match almost, I wouldn't say perfectly, but they will match the design of the- - Hopefully the design will be perfect, but they're not exact.

There'll be pillars and granite, and it'll be a spectacular look, forming a courtyard behind what is now the rear of the capitol where the, what people who go up there and eat, like reporters, know as the round house, it's a cafeteria, they'll move all of that out. And then we'll move the functions of state government into those two areas of space, the legislature will meet there, the governor's office will be there, all of the offices that are now in the state capitol will be in those two new additions. And then we'll go through about a three-year period, it'll begin shortly after 2005 begins, in the spring of 2005, we will begin a renovation, and they'll have to literally go through and earthquake the building, and do quite a substantial amount of restoration and renewal to that complex.

We made the decision to go with the new wings of the Capitol, it was both a financial decision and an aesthetic decision. We're working to restore, to the extent we can, the full grandeur of the original design, but it was substantially more efficient for us to build those two new spaces than it would have been to move all of the state government functions somewhere else for a period of four or five years, and then back in. I think the new space is around $40 million, as I recall it was about $26 million to move everyone out, to pay the leases, and then to move everyone back in. So we're getting the space for a very, a relatively low amount of money.

JOHN DALEY, KSL-TV: Governor, I wanted to ask you about the Legacy Highway. On Wednesday we have the appeals court hearing in that case. Could you handicap what you think the state's chances are, A? And B, what will the state do if you don't prevail in Denver?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: I think we'll win, and if we didn't we'll just go back and redo the process. The highway's going to be built, that's not the issue. I guess that's why I feel, I think this is regrettable. We need the road. And much of the excavation's already done. This is really about a narrow issue about process, and we'll just, we would just simply have to go back and redo the process and it would cost taxpayers more money. I just don't understand the point of this, but nevertheless that's where we are.

JASEN LEE, KSL-RADIO: In light of that, since UDOT has now announced this agreement that will allow the state to save money from their contractor, have you decided whether or not you're going to sign the legislation that would allow the state to sue people who are opponents of state-funded projects?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: First of all, as well as I can tell--I haven't read this legislation yet, I've just read about it, but it hasn't come to me yet--that really has no impact on the Legacy Parkway. It would only affect situations similar to this in the future. So I would choose to look at the legislation, not in the context of the Legacy Parkway, but- - And I don't know what I'll do on that bill yet.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Governor, we're going to change our attention to our microwave location in Logan at Utah State University, and I believe we have Craig Hislop standing by. Craig.

CRAIG HISLOP, KVNU-AM: Thanks. Governor, a question on a piece of legislation, House Bill 331, that's the non-resident tuition bill that is going to require 60 semester hours to get residence in the state. As it stands now you only need to live in the state for twelve months, and it's going to affect a lot of people. What's your attitude on this one? How are you going to deal with this one?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Well, I first of all think that those who come from out of state to attend school here ought to pay their entire, they ought to pay their entire cost. I've always felt that it was somewhat- - And it goes on lots of places and in lots of ways, where students will come and go to school here for a year, and then declare residency, and then begin to get a subsidized rate on their education. And I've never fully understood how it was that, or why we did that. And so whether 60 months is the right time, I don't know. I've got some study to do on that. Whether it meets the expenses yet I don't know, but I do think that it's unreasonable for people to come here, to go to school for a year, and then claim residency, when they've, they or their families may not have contributed to our economy in any way. Now this is full of- - This is full of all kinds of contradictions and counterarguments, and so I don't know what I'm going to do with the bill. I just sort of give you my reflections, and I think that's what you asked for.

CATHERINE BLAKE, ASSOCIATED PRESS: Do any of the other legislative bills stand out to you as needing a veto? I know you haven't seen all of them, but- -

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Well, I'm almost every year careful to not announce my decisions on vetoes until the end of the period, because in most cases there are pieces of information that I don't feel like I've heard yet. And sometimes something that might look to you to be, on the surface, an automatic veto, you find out that, well, it wasn't bad thinking. And other times when you think of things that seem like they made sense you find out a problem, either technical or otherwise. So I don't have any announcements to make today, but I feel confident, like most years, there'll be legislation that likely will be vetoed and we'll deal with those toward the end of the signing session, which I think ends the 26th.

DAN HARRIE, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Speaking of college tuition, there was another bill passed that would allow resident tuition for the children of undocumented workers. That passed the legislature. Have you looked at that bill, and what's your idea on it?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: I haven't looked at it, but I'm familiar with the idea and I'm supportive of it and have been for some time. It's still unclear to me whether or not that requires some kind of federal action in concert with it. But this is the interesting part of the last discussion we had. You'll have a person who has lived here for five, six, eight, twelve, fifteen years, twenty, may have been born here, gone all the way through public school, and then get to college and find out that they're not--well if they've been born here they'd be a citizen, but they may have come here shortly after their birth. And because their parents may not be citizens or documented properly they're not allowed to become residents for the purpose of tuition. I think that's probably counterproductive in terms of our purpose to be able to raise the level of education, particularly the opportunities among ethnic minority families. So I'm, all things being equal I'll sign that bill, and do it with enthusiasm.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: What about those people who maintain that this would create a magnet for undocumented individuals to come to Utah seeking these extra benefits?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Well, I think the way the bill's written you have to live here for quite a while, and we have a growing population. When I became governor, eight percent of the students in our public schools were from ethnic minority families. Today it's about 15 percent, and by the time this term is complete, it will be in excess of 17, almost 18 percent. By 2010 it will be well over one in five of our students will be from an ethnic minority. Many of those will be from families where they could have these situations. Now, again, this is full of contradictions, and in the sense that it's not a perfect set of logic, but I do believe that, given the fact that a very high percentage of our work force in the long term will be from ethnic minority families, we need to assure that we're providing those kinds of opportunities. It's in all of our interests. Having a work force that's well educated is in our collective interest, and if they've lived here for the last ten years and they're likely to live here the next ten years, we ought to be doing all we can to make certain that they're a productive part of our community.

DAN HARRIE, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: Speaking of higher education again, another topic is guns. The University of Utah has gone to court to sue the attorney general to try to keep its ban on legally-concealed weapons on campus. What's your view on that?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Sounds like to me that some wise judge is going to resolve that one, and I'll leave it to them.

DAN HARRIE, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: But your opinion. I mean you had a similar rule, state employees could not carry legally-concealed weapons on the job. You have since got rid of that. You must have an opinion on it, on the subject.

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Well, Dan, you know the only opinion that matters now is the judge

JENNIFER JORDAN, KCPW: Governor, can I get your opinion then, you say you're not familiar with the bill which would penalize citizens who challenge state projects. Can I get your opinion on its Constitutionality and the precedent that it might set to citizens who want to challenge the government?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: I'm sorry, would you describe it again? I didn't catch the bill you were talking about.

JENNIFER JORDAN, KCPW: The bill that was passed that would- - It's probably going to end up being called the Legacy Highway bill. The bill that will enable the state to sue citizens who challenge, or challenge in court state projects.

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Okay, we talked a little bit about this earlier, and as I said I'd prefer not to think about this in the context of the Legacy Parkway, because it really doesn't affect that. And it's a really interesting public policy question. I have to confess to having some, feeling some harmony with the sentiment of it. I think people who choose to use the courts as a means of slowing down a project that they politically don't like, when they don't have, in the long term, a very reasonable argument, ought to bear some of the consequence of that. On the other hand, I'm not anxious to see the courts a place where you have so much risk that you don't have, that it precludes people with legitimate arguments. I don't know where I'm going to come down on that, but I do feel some sense of harmony with the sentiment it expresses.

ROD DECKER, KUTV: Press reports say that there is or may be an FBI investigation, an FBI request for data from the Goshute tribe and from PFS with respect to the temporary nuclear waste repository project out there. Press reports say that there have been investigations, they were stopped at the request of, maybe stopped twice at the request of the Department of Interior, that they may have got going at the request of Utah's Senators Hatch and Bennett. Do you know anything at all about this?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: I know nothing of any contact between the senators and Justice on this matter. But I do have great concern over the allegations that have been made. I have great concerns about the process fundamentally that interior went through, or lack of process. They had the application to approve the lease for three days. How they could have done any analysis on it, I don't know. It seems to me they had a responsibility to assure, first of all, that the lease was in the interest of the tribal nation to begin with. I think they had an even broader requirement, responsibility, to determine if the lease was proper in the context of the state and the United States. And I don't think they could have possibly done that in three days, and they just booted it on up to the NRC, who, in my judgment, has a fairly significant conflict on this issue. And it has always been, I think, a very reasonable question to ask, how much money, and where did the money go? And those answers have been withheld. And not just from the public, but from the other tribal members. And I would go further to say that there were not just moneys coming from PFS, but I think that there were public moneys that went into the tribal coffers through grants, the Department of Energy, and the NRC. I think those ought to be accounted for at some point, if not just to the tribal nation, but to the people of the country. So I think it's a reasonable series of questions that ought to be asked, and I think it's something that the tribal government, whoever it is, has an obligation to account for. As far as I know there's never been an accounting of it, there's never been an audit of it other than those who were responsible for the purpose of administering it, and that was a very small group, I might add.

ROD DECKER, KUTV: Are you doing anything other than speaking publicly? Have you talked to Attorney General Ashcroft, or any way to the Justice Department? Have you talked to Mr. Shurtleff, the attorney general, Utah attorney general to see if there's legal action he can bring? Is there anything you're doing about it other than stating your opinion publicly?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: About the investigation?

ROD DECKER, KUTV: Yeah, about these questions that you're asking, and seeing that answers are forthcoming.

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: Well I've been asking these questions for some time.

ROD DECKER, KUTV: Are you doing anything other than asking- -

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: I'm not had any contact with the attorney general, and as I said, I have a lot of concern about the issues that are being raised. We are aggressively seeking to block, but this has been an investigation that grew out of allegations by members of the tribe that the administration, or the Justice Department is now following up.

ROD DECKER, KUTV: Have you spoken to Mr. Shurtleff to talk about any state action in terms of an investigation or anything else with respect to these rumors, I guess is their status now?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: There were conversations between myself and the current attorney general and the previous attorney general about various ways in which the state might find out that information, because, frankly, it's information that ought to be known. But it would be unconnected in my mind to what the U.S. attorney's doing.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: Governor, we have about a minute left. In less than a month the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will be conducting what appears to be a final round of field hearings in Utah on this proposal for temporary storage on the Skull Valley Reservation lands. From everything you've seen over these intervening years, do you believe these field hearings will have a legitimate opportunity to shape the decision process of the NRC?

GOVERNOR LEAVITT: I think that the NRC process has been flawed in lots of different ways, one of which is I don't believe they have the power to license a private for-profit entity like this. And as you're probably aware, we have made that charge in Federal Court and intend to pursue that. We'll make our case to the NRC, but it looks like to me they've got a mission, and they're going to do it no matter what. I don't think they've listened to us before, and I don't think they'll listen to us again.

KEN VERDOIA, KUED: And on that note we are out of time for this edition of the Governor's News Conference. A transcript is available online at www.uen.org. Thanks for joining us.

 

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