This may be a first for me.

Steve Urquhart - yes, that Steve Urquhart - writes on his blog (I’m posting the whole entry since it is short):

Some excellent candidates are lining up to run for Salt Lake City mayor. SLC mayor is one of those interesting positions where a finite group of people elect someone who will take actions that ripple far beyond the boundaries of the City itself. The rest of us wish the citizens of SLC well in making a good choice.

Steve is right - the mayor of SLC is an interesting position in which a small group of people have influence beyond their numbers.  The Mayor of Salt Lake City is treated as the Mayor of Utah.  He or she receives disproportionate media coverage and attention both in and outside of Utah.  He/she has a unique position in which they have  megaphone and can in fact, at times, be more visible than even our State governor.

Rocky Anderson is as unpopular outside of the City boundaries as he has been popular inside them.  I suspect when Steve Urquhart says he wishes us well in making our choice, his definition of a wise choice is different than mine.  I believe Rocky Anderson has been a wise choice - because he has represented the wishes and opinions of the majority of Salt Lake City’s residents.  Rocky Anderson has become a lightning rod for controversy and a public figure openly espousing different views than the majority of Utah residents precisely because he has been our city’s mayor and has spoken for the people of Salt Lake City. 

When we - the voters of Salt Lake City - wisely choose our next mayor, he/she will likely be at odds with the views espoused by Representative Urquhart.  And what will make our choose wise will not be his/her comity with the majority of Utah’s elected officials, but his/her willingness to openly and forcefully represent the people of Salt Lake City and our unique perspective.  Concerns about whether or not the next mayor gets along well with the legislature, or agrees with the majority of Utah’s voters isn’t a factor in making our choice wisely.  The people of Salt Lake City are unique in Utah and our perspective is a minority perspective in Utah.  Our mayor, whoever he or she is, must speak for the people of Salt Lake City.

Salt Lake City is more ethnically and religiously diverse than the rest of the state (Salt Lake is about 22% latino versus 9% for the state).  Salt Lake City’s population is slightly more non-Mormon than Mormon and the city’s residents are significantly more socially and politically liberal than other Utahns.  Salt Lake City is distinctly urban in character compared to other Utah cities - Sandy for instance feels like an endless sea of suburbs pretending to be a city - which certainly contributes a unique political cliimate in the city.

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson has done a good job representing the city’s voters - but in doing so has found himself at odds with voters and leaders in much of the rest of the state.  Our next mayor will find him/herself in the same position and must choose how to respond.  But, our next mayor will not be representing the people of Salt Lake City well if he/she simply goes along with the majority and does everything in his/her power to not make political waves.

This entry was posted Friday, May 11th, 2007 at 11:45 am and is filed under Rocky Anderson, SLC Politics, Salt Lake City, This Blog, Utah Politics. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.