Democratic County Councilwoman Jenny Wilson said she has the chops to work with officials of all political persuasions — she's already done so, she said, in her county work and as a member of the Council of Governments and other organizations. Anderson, she said, has not been active in those organizations, and the effect has been felt on issues such as efforts to get a light-rail line built to the airport.

"I really believe that you can be true to your progressive leanings but still enter into productive dialog with neighboring folks who may be of a different party," Wilson said.

And Centro Civico Mexicano director John Renteria denied any need to make nice with lawmakers — or with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, naming the religion despite the fact that it was not part of the question or any other candidate's response.

"We don't owe any apologies to the Legislature" or the LDS Church, Renteria said. The church, he added, is "accustomed to always getting its way" on social and other issues.

The eight candidates crammed a potpourri of issues into their hour-long discussion, from economic development to diversity to education.

State Rep. Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake, called public education "the greatest opportunity we can give our children and our families."

For more than one-third of city students, English is a second language. The majority of Salt Lake students are ethnic or racial minorities.

"We have got to focus our attention on making sure that we give every child that opportunity, and that means having the city play an extremely supportive role as a partner," Becker said.

Among his ideas for roles the city can play in public schools: the creation of family and lifelong learning centers, the use of schools as community centers and the possibility of opening kindergartens downtown for the children of workers who live outside the city and want to be close to their kids.

City Councilwoman Nancy Saxton, a Democrat, touted her status as somewhat of a political outsider.

"I haven't caved into the powers that be," she said. "No one has ever accused me of being one of the good old boys and one of the power brokers of the city."

On diversity, colorectal surgeon J.P. Hughes, a Republican, said, "I love working with people and most of the time forget that we come from worlds apart."

Asked about the viability of a San Francisco-style universal health-care plan in the city, the doctor praised the ideas as "fabulous" and said he would make it a top priority.

Wilson, Becker and Saxton praised Anderson's local environmental initiatives and said they would expand on them.

And Saxton, who has made neighborhoods the focus of her campaign, said she would spend most of her time focusing on the mundane issues of daily life in the city.

"It's what we face every morning when we wake up," she said. "Those problems and those issues are the ones that probably get the least amount of attention. ... They're not that popular. They're not that chic. But they are what a mayor and a city council should be about."

E-mail: dsmeath@desnews.com