Re-elected Rocky ready to roll

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson is ready to consummate the commitment to economic development he professed during and after last year's successful re-election bid.

Tonight, a day after being inaugurated for a second term, Anderson will ask the City Council to fund a new position in the mayor's office dubbed the "senior adviser for economic development."

With bare city coffers, Anderson is proposing to cut two lesser positions to free up funds for his new economy czar.

This new adviser, who will work in the mayor's office instead of in the Community and Economic Development Department, will take the reins in the city's efforts to keep, develop and attract businesses and will serve as Anderson's liaison to the Salt Lake Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.

The adviser will help target locations for business expansion and develop incentives, such as fee waivers, to entice local and national businesses. And the yet-to-be-named adviser will keep Anderson's commitment to locally owned businesses by assisting in developing neighborhood commercial nodes like 900 East and 900 South, 1500 East and 1500 South, and 900 West and 400 South.

"Small, locally owned businesses are an enormous component of the soul of a city," Anderson said in his inaugural speech Monday. "Unique restaurants, bookstores, coffee shops, clothing stores — they all provide an essential element of an identifiable community. Our administration, as we have for the past four years, will continue to steer toward the path of supporting locally owned businesses."

Development department director Alison Weyher said the new position is welcomed since her department encompasses so much more — housing, transportation and licensing — than simply economic development.

"One of the mayor's commitments has been to focus attention on economic development, and this is one way to do it," she said.

The new position was similarly welcomed by Redevelopment Agency executive director David Oka.

"The more help we can get, the more experience we can get on city staff, the better," Oka said.

Mayors and other city officers across the state elected in November were sworn in Monday.

Anderson didn't mention the new adviser in his inauguration speech but touched on the mayor's goals and projects, like YouthCity, sprawl reduction and inclusiveness.

The ceremony was full of diversity. There were black, Native American, Hispanic, Tongan and Caucasian performers as well as Methodist, LDS, Baptist and Catholic choirs.

Former Gov. Cal Rampton spoke, and 3rd District Court Judge Andrew Valdez swore in Anderson.

"One thing I can promise you for sure (about Anderson's second term), it won't be dull," Rampton said.

Before Anderson took the oath, three City Council members — Van Turner, Nancy Saxton and Dave Buhler, all incumbents — were sworn in.

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E-MAIL: bsnyder@desnews.com