On Monday, a new era will begin for the Utah Transit Authority, but Utah and Tooele counties won’t be on board — literally.

The UTA’s new board calls for three trustees — one representing Salt Lake County, one for Box Elder, Davis and Weber counties and one for Utah and Tooele counties. Gov. Gary Herbert has filled two of the seats, but rejected the two nominees put forth by Utah County.

Because the governor’s office and the commissions in Tooele and Utah counties have failed to reach an accord on this seat, Utah County residents don’t have a voice on the governance of the massive public transportation agency. As Utah County’s roads and rails struggle to keep up with the ballooning population, this sets back efforts to craft a modern system that can provide essential connections to those without cars and entice others to consider giving up their vehicles for some trips and free up space on congested roads.

Seeing this lack of representation, particularly on how Utah County taxpayers’ money is spent, the Utah County Commission filed suit at the state Supreme Court. Utah County is seeking to compel the governor to appoint one of the county’s two nominees — Rob Crawley and Ben Stanley.

To this point, Herbert declined to submit either name to the state Senate for confirmation. In his letter to the Utah County board, he called for Utah County to submit “consensus nominees” — candidates agreed upon by the commissions in Tooele and Utah counties.

That’s not what the law says — the word consensus doesn’t appear in the new code enacted by the Legislature and approved by the governor. A plain reading of the new state law calls for a county the size of Utah County to nominate two or more individuals. It also states that this county “shall consult with the executive governing individual or body of a county of the third or smaller calls within the large public transit district.”

By our eyes, it appears that Utah County must consult with Tooele County, but there’s no requirement to reach consensus between the two entities.

That’s for the best. Utah County’s contribution to UTA and its service needs are far greater than Tooele County’s. Utah County commissioners previously estimated that Utah County provides nearly 20 times more revenue to UTA than Tooele County does.

Utah County is also served by 17 bus routes, including the new Utah Valley Express, and the FrontRunner commuter train. Tooele County is served by just six bus routes, and some of them have the lowest passenger boardings in the entire UTA system, according to a 2017 story by The Salt Lake Tribune.

Given the considerable differences between the two counties, it makes sense for Utah County to put forth the nominees. At the same time, it also makes sense for Tooele County to be consulted — their taxpayers and riders need to have a voice as well, but it needs to be proportionate to Utah County’s.

Previously, Tooele County officials have raised concerns about how Utah County consulted with them, which may be a reasonable point. However, it’s not reasonable under the law for them to be so disappointed that their preferred nominee wasn’t submitted to Herbert.

We understand the Legislature’s desire to start anew with a different board structure, but we’re scratching our heads about the decision to lump Utah County with Tooele County. Our cities and public transit development — primarily aligned along the Wasatch Front — are wholly different from that of Tooele’s, which relies on a steady connection to Salt Lake City and a handful of city circulator buses. Davis and Weber counties have differences, but they have far more in common than we do with Tooele.

That’s the hand we’ve been dealt, but it doesn’t allow Gov. Herbert to shirk his responsibilities under the law. The new law says the governor must make appointments to the board.

In his earlier letter to Utah County, he acknowledges the law but noted “there is no penalty for a late submission.”

It’s unfortunate that the Legislature didn’t set forth any penalties for noncompliance. It’s led to the Utah County filing a lawsuit to seek relief.

We generally don’t like it when governmental bodies sue each other, especially because of the waste of taxpayers’ money. At the same time, Utah and Tooele counties must have a voice at the UTA.

Instead of retreating to each other’s corners to battle over this lawsuit, we call on all sides to come to the table and work through this process. All sides — especially Herbert — should follow the law as set forth and appoint a local representative to the UTA board.