ANDERSON REMAINS CONTROVERSIAL AT HOME, RECOGNIZED ABROAD

Two weeks ago I wrote about the challenges Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky
Anderson faces in the last half of his second term due mostly to his
passion for causes that often are controversial in Utah and his
confrontational style that has earned him enemies on the City
Council, in the Legislature, the surrounding counties and his own
Democratic Party.

The following Wednesday, Anderson was the guest host of Doug Wright's
program on KSL Radio. Wright was in Washington, D.C., at the time
discussing with Republican operatives the possibility of running
against Congressman Jim Matheson next year.

I listened to portions of Anderson's program in which he promoted his
pet causes and laid out the case for each of his positions.

That led to this column and this premise: Who else is standing up -
in a loud enough way to force people to pay attention - for the
issues of clean air, urban open space, equal opportunities in the
workplace and for prevention of teenage deaths from drug overdoses by
appealing to their drug-using friends? And if Anderson is leading the
charge for those causes, not to mention being the most outspoken Utah
leader against the war in Iraq, does that make him, by default, the
voice for the values of the Democratic Party in Utah and the
personification of its soul?

Past and present Democratic officials have complained that
Republicans relish identifying Anderson as the example of what
Democrats are. More than one Democratic candidate has heard his or
her critics tell voters: Do you want another Rocky Anderson?

But what they may be missing and what is lost in the personality
attack is the message.

Anderson has argued tirelessly that increased auto emissions are
causing illness and death and that juvenile asthma is reaching
alarming rates. So he has launched a conversion program of the city's
motor fleet to natural gas vehicles, which seriously reduces auto
emission pollution. But the attention he has gotten has been for his
statements about Davis County commuters adding to Salt Lake City's
pollution. That makes Anderson "confrontational" and his principal
message of protecting public health has been lost.

The irony is that Anderson's passion for clean air seemed to offend
more people than former Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman's fleet
of county-owned SUVs fouling up the atmosphere.

Anderson's attempts to stop North Salt Lake from allowing a
residential development on a parcel of its land within Salt Lake
City's borders is consistent with a Democratic Party principle of
preserving pristine areas and maintaining open space within the urban
environment.

But the confrontation became the issue and the real issues got lost.

Anderson's participation in a lawsuit that blocked the construction
of the Legacy Parkway earned him the label of "terrorist" by some
members of the Republican-dominated Legislature who seem hell-bent on
punishing Salt Lake City, presumably because of their dislike for Anderson.

But the lawsuit resulted in a settlement that protects the air
quality and the open spaces of the west side of Salt Lake City.
Again, the benefit of forcing a compromise that otherwise would have
been lost is largely ignored and only the confrontation is emphasized.

Anderson issued an executive order directing that unmarried domestic
partners of city employees be given the same benefits that married
partners receive. But the attention is the "gay-rights" aspect of
that position and not the equal protection and economic equity issues
it entails.

Anderson has led a billboard campaign urging young people to call 911
or go to a hospital emergency room if they are with someone who has
overdosed on drugs. His program on KSL featured the parents of
several teens who died of drug overdoses because their friends
panicked and abandoned them.

It's a position everyone would likely agree with because it stresses
the preservation of life. But in Utah's "just say no" and "abstinence
only" environment, few have dared such a public appeal to drug users
to look out for their friends while doing drugs.

While Anderson, because of his passion and directness, is so
controversial at home, he has been recognized abroad.

The Human Rights Campaign has recognized Anderson as one of the top
10 "straight" advocates for the gay and lesbian community in the
country; the Sierra Club has awarded him the distinguished service
award; the Environmental Protection Agency made him one of just three
recipients of the "climate protection award"; and Salt Lake City is
one of just three cities being considered for the World Leadership
Award at an environmental conference in London this December.

If all that makes the mayor a pariah in local politics, the question
is: Who else will take up the banner for those causes?