Chances are there has not been a governor who has seen more of Utah than Gary Herbert. As lieutenant governor, Herbert spent enough time on the road to have covered nearly every single mile of asphalt in the state -- four times over.
The hard-driving governor logged more than 170,000 miles behind the wheel of his state vehicle, more than Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and Attorney General Mark Shurtleff combined during that same 4 ½-year period. And Herbert says he has no plans to slow down.
In his inaugural address last week, Herbert vowed to continue the "same level of outreach."
"The governor ought to be accessible," Herbert said in an interview. "You've got to be out on Main Street, Utah, ascertaining the issues, listening to the people, having dialogues and discussions, making sure there is not the perception that the only people that talk to him are lobbyists, high-priced business people, people who have special access that the rest of the people don't."
As lieutenant governor, Herbert served as Huntsman's Road Warrior, dispatched to the far-flung corners of the state for ceremonial appearances, rural conferences and Republican Party events. He also used it for family trips, most recently to Bear Lake.
The lieutenant governor traveled, on average, more than 38,500 miles per year since taking office in 2005, according to state travel records for January 2005 through June 2009 obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune
"I have come to appreciate the rich diversity of our people as I have met with you in your homes, churches, schools, businesses and factories," Herbert said in his inaugural speech. "I believe that state government -- and most importantly your governor -- should be accessible to the people. To this end, I fully intend to continue to travel and meet with people throughout this state from all walks of life."
Add to that public outreach the 80-mile round-trip drive Herbert makes from his Orem home to the Capitol on most work days -- a trip that will get considerably shorter once he and his wife, Jeanette, move into the Governor's Mansion in the coming days -- and the miles add up in a hurry.
So does the taxpayer-funded fuel cost, which runs in excess of $5,000 per year, even though Herbert traded in his Chevrolet Suburban last year for a hybrid 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe, raising his average mileage from about 17 miles per gallon to close to 20 miles per gallon.
Taxpayers have also paid the tab for Herbert to travel to and from political events -- he attended numerous Republican county conventions in 2008 -- and for personal trips, including a recent family trip to Bear Lake.
Herbert says he's abiding by the law in his use of his state vehicle.
"We follow the law and one of the benefits ... they give you is a vehicle for your government service," Herbert said. "There is a cost to doing business. There is a cost to government. My job is to make it efficient as we can and still provide the services people expect."
State law does provide the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, state auditor and state treasurer "a vehicle for official and personal use."
Shurtleff, the attorney general, makes a point of paying for his own gas when he's using his 2005 Dodge Durango to travel to political events.
"In those cases I'm always way careful to fill it up with gas from a different card" from the campaign, he said. He will also fill it up or pay to have it washed himself, he said, when he's logging a lot of personal miles. "I don't have to, but taxpayers are paying for it and sometimes I just feel responsible. ... It's a nice benefit. I don't want to abuse it."
Shurtleff traveled more than 23,000 miles per year on average, although there were large portions of late-2007 and a three-month period in the spring of this year when he didn't use his state vehicle at all because he was recovering from surgery to try to save his leg after a motorcycle accident and had to ride in a wheelchair-equipped van.
In June 2007, Huntsman had his 2005 Chevrolet Suburban converted -- at his expense -- to run on compressed natural gas.
"You travel knowing that you are saving the state a lot of money and you are doing well for the environment," Huntsman said at the time.
Since making the switch, taxpayers spent more money washing his SUV ($1,599) than they did fueling it ($1,488).
Huntsman averaged about 13,500 miles a year in travel. A second vehicle, a 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe, provided to the governor -- either for his family or to accommodate visiting dignitaries or other official transportation needs -- got more use, being driven more than 15,000 miles per year on average.
State Treasurer Richard Ellis has also tried to economize since taking office in January. He has traded in the 2007 Dodge Durango SLT that his predecessor Ed Alter drove and now drives a 2008 Toyota Avalon. His mileage has jumped from 18.7 mpg with the Durango to 24 mpg in the Toyota.
"I thought we could get rid of a 4x4 -- I didn't need it -- and get a little better gas mileage, too," Ellis said.
Before Ellis made the switch, all five of the state's elected officials drove sport utility vehicles.
Herbert says the miles he travels pay dividends, and he plans, as governor, to take to the road beginning in October to begin holding a series of meetings with CEOs and business leaders to find out what the state can do to help revitalize the economy -- lessons he says can't be learned from inside the Governor's Office.
"Keeping in touch with what's happening in the real world is easily
lost on a full-time politician," he said. "Part of that ought to be an
effort to keep in touch with all parts of the state from a real
standpoint ... If we're up here in the ivory tower all the time, we're
a little bit less able to be in touch."
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