From Deseret News archives:

Davis official writing Rocky 'one last letter' — for now

Published: Friday, Feb. 4, 2005 10:50 p.m. MST
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FARMINGTON — One last letter and he's done.

But if Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson angers him again, Davis County Commissioner Alan Hansen promises to continue the fight.

"I won't back down," Hansen said.

For now, though, Hansen said he will agree to disagree — but not before getting the final word.

Anderson penned a lengthy letter to Hansen dated Feb. 1, charging the commissioner mischaracterized statements Anderson made about his "friends from the north."

In his Jan. 11 State of the City speech, Anderson chided his "friends from the north" who clog traffic, foul the air and "make us sick simply because of the choices they make about where they live and how they get around."

Hansen is in the process of writing one final response to Anderson. In the letter, which he expects to finish within the next few days, Hansen said he will reiterate that Anderson's comments were "insulting" and a slap in the face to Davis County.

"Come on, I read the same speech that you wrote; you said the words, not me," Hansen said. "Everybody else that is responding in letters to the editor and his own City Council, good grief, they are not taking it wrong.

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"Is he the only one right and everybody else — the majority of us — are wrong?"

After Anderson's speech, Hansen sent the capital's mayor a letter demanding an apology.

Since that letter, Anderson has said he didn't mean to offend residents, but his comments came out of his disdain for the Legacy Parkway, a 14-mile stretch of road through western Davis County that is expected to cost some $760 million.

In his letter to Hansen sent earlier this week, Anderson said he is fighting against the parkway because he thinks it will lead to more dependence on the automobile, which will lead to more air pollution along the often badly polluted Wasatch Front.

"Construction of the Legacy Highway, as it is currently planned, will merely perpetuate our reliance on single-vehicle occupancy automobiles, contribute to further deterioration of our air, harm the public health throughout the region, destroy open space, and increase traffic congestion over the long run," Anderson wrote.

Hansen said Legacy Parkway is only part of a comprehensive transportation plan that gives commuters a variety of options for travel, including commuter rail, bus-rapid transit, light rail and building new roads.

The majority of Davis County residents want Legacy Parkway now, he said.

"The keyword there is choices," Hansen said. "He can't take away our freedom of choice. This is America."


E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com

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