PROVO — It didn't take long for the war of words to begin in one of the races for Utah County commissioner.

Former commissioner Gary J. Anderson has fired the first shot in his campaign against Jerry Grover, saying the incumbent has isolated the county and hurt its credibility in the eyes of state legislators, the Mountainland Association of Governments and local mayors and city councils.

"(Grover) has made a lot of enemies," Anderson told the Deseret Morning News. "He's spent the past 12 years breaking things up, and that's not what needs to happen. We need to put things back together."

In a press release, Anderson criticizes the county's decision to withdraw from MAG at the end of June 2005. He also contends that the commission has "alienated many mayors and city councils" and "created an atmosphere wherein county employee morale is at an all-time low."

"They're tearing things apart in the name of conservative government," Anderson said, "and that doesn't need to happen."

Anderson cited as an example the county's departure from MAG, the association designated by the federal government as the transportation-planning entity for Utah County and the agency in the region in charge of services for the elderly.

That decision, Anderson said, prevents the county from having a voice in regional and state issues.

Grover's response: "He doesn't know what he's talking about."

Grover, who has served on the commission since 1994, defended the county's decision and said that the withdrawal from MAG only applies to aging services. That decision was made because the county was petitioning the state to take over aging services, he said.

"(Anderson) wouldn't understand this, but it's a total conflict of interest for someone to sit on a board that they are petitioning to take half the funding away from," Grover said.

The county's relationship with MAG in the area of transportation has not changed, he said. The Utah County Commission chairman continues to sit on the Mountainland Regional Planning Committee.

"(Anderson) obviously isn't following the news," Grover said.

As for morale among county employees being at an all-time low, Grover said that's not possible because "the last two candidates have said the same thing."

Grover fired a shot of his own: "He waited 20 years to run because he wants everyone to forget how the county operated under his management, which in my opinion was horrible. Any long-term county employee will tell you that."

Anderson was on the commission from 1983 to 1988, serving a two-year term and then a four-year term. He opted not to seek a third term, at the time, citing the Timpanogos Community Mental Health scandal as one of several reasons.