Shaw points to his recent work overseeing the creation of a downtown in Sandy, a city that used to have "no heart, no center." That downtown, revolving around the South Towne Center at 10600 South and State Street, now includes an office park, the South Towne Expo Center, the Jordan Commons shopping and entertainment complex and a light-rail station.

Also in the works in downtown Sandy are a couple of mixed-use developments that include residential units, "pretty unusual for a suburban area," Shaw said. "That's pretty cutting-edge."

In addition to the big projects facing Salt Lake planners, Shaw will face a staffing shortfall in the planning department, as a number of planners have recently left for other jobs within the city or for personal reasons.

One position has recently been filled, but three openings remain.

Anderson said the administration is "moving very aggressively" to fill those positions, but he said some fundamental changes need to be made to ensure the city can retain planners.

Among those changes, he said the city needs to find room in its budget to offer better pay, including overtime, to planning staffers. He said planners often have to sit through long City Council meetings, waiting for one item on the agenda to be addressed.

"I think a lot of these meetings are much longer than necessary," Anderson said. "(Council members') crucial function is to make good, well-considered decisions after spending the necessary time to prepare, not to come in and make long-winded speeches on every issue that comes up."

Shaw said a high turnover rate is "not that unusual for most planning departments around the country," and he looks forward to working with the city's experienced planners as well as new hires.

Anderson said he hopes to see Salt Lake City planning move in a more efficient direction, as "there have been tremendous delays that have held up some of the progress that we should have been making." He also wants a focus on "making certain that we do all of it in a sustainable, energy-efficient manner."

Two other top jobs in the city remain open. Airport director Roy Williams was fired in October after only five months in the job, and in September, Redevelopment Agency director Dave Oka resigned to take a redevelopment job in North Las Vegas. Oka had been at the RDA since December 2001.

Neither of those jobs has been filled, and Anderson declined to discuss the status of those searches — though he hinted that an announcement regarding the airport director may be coming soon.

Also soon to be vacant: the position of director of the Salt Lake City Library system, currently held by Nancy Tessman. Tessman plans to retire at the end of June after 30 years with the library.

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E-mail: dsmeath@desnews.com