Buhler to back Rocky's rival

Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson's comments last week about LDS influence on the Salt Lake City Council have contributed to the loss of even more political support among council members.

At a Tuesday press conference, Councilman Dave Buhler announced he is throwing his support behind candidate Frank Pignanelli, a former Utah House minority leader and current lobbyist who is vying for Anderson's job in the Nov. 4 municipal election.

Buhler said Anderson's comments last week about some LDS council members voting in favor of the church's position on the Nordstrom-Gateway issue "crystallized" his support for Pignanelli.

But the increasing schism between the council and Anderson is actually a good thing, the mayor contended after the press conference.

"A tension between a City Council and the mayor's office is healthy because it provides balance," he said. "As I talk with mayors all over the country, I have found that the situation we have here in Salt Lake City is the norm."

Buhler had been neutral in the race, saying he wanted to focus on his own re-election bid. But Tuesday, he said the city needs a change.

"(Anderson's) total lack of respect and total disrespect is just abhorrent to me," Buhler said of Anderson's comments last week.

Buhler's endorsement means Pignanelli now has the support of five of the seven council members, with Dale Lambert and Van Turner remaining neutral.

Buhler and Pignanelli were joined at the press conference, just outside City Hall, by council members Nancy Saxton, Carlton Christensen and Eric Jergensen. Jill Remington Love, who is also backing Pignanelli, wasn't able to attend.

Christiansen said Pignanelli would bring Salt Lake City to a point where "we can have economic development be more than just rhetoric at a press conference."

The council members claim they don't agree with everything Pignanelli does or with all his plans or political views, but they said their relationship with Anderson is too strained to work. Some council members said they have been forced to vote against some of Anderson's proposals because they haven't received enough information from the mayor's office.

For instance, Anderson had wanted the council to place Pioneer Park renovation on the upcoming municipal bond election. However, the council didn't receive firm designs for the renovation until the 11th hour and therefore declined to put the project on the ballot.