Anderson questioned in S.L. plaza lawsuit

American Civil Liberties Union lawyers spent Friday questioning Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson about his agenda in proposing the deal to trade away the city's easement on Main Street Plaza.

That deal gained the city $5 million for a new west-side community center and Sorenson Multicultural Center improvements, along with other financial incentives.

Still, the ACLU, along with several plaintiffs, is suing Salt Lake City, saying the mayor's deal — brokered by billionaire Jon M. Huntsman Sr. — overly benefited The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which wanted the easement so it could control speech and activity on the plaza.

Anderson's Friday deposition came three days after H. David Burton, presiding bishop of the LDS Church was similarly deposed about his role in the deal.

Huntsman's deposition is slated for next week, although reporters Brady Snyder, of the Deseret Morning News, and Heather May, of the Salt Lake Tribune, will not be deposed. The ACLU has withdrawn its subpoena requests because Anderson confirmed statements that he made in newspaper articles during his deposition.

"Anderson's deposition was consistent with the statements in the paper," ACLU Executive Director Dani Eyer said. "So there was no need to depose the reporters."

Eyer said that the ACLU had planned to subpoena the reporters if Anderson denied making statements attributed to him in articles, since they could not submit quotes from newspaper articles without secondary verification from either the quoted person or the reporter.

Randy Dryer, a media attorney representing Snyder and the Deseret Morning News, who had filed a motion to quash the ACLU subpoena, said Friday evening that the ACLU decision could have been made without ever dragging the reporters into the lawsuit if they had simply waited until after Anderson's deposition. By law, reporters are protected from testifying about their work unless there is no other way to get the information.

"This is how the system is supposed to work," Dryer said. "It protects the reporters from becoming part of the story."

Through the interviews, the ACLU is seeking to uncover Anderson's motives in proposing the easement trade, after initially stating he wanted the city to keep it. The ACLU maintains Anderson's motivation was to appease the LDS Church and its members, who had lobbied hard to influence public opinion about trading the easement.

The ACLU has asked U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball to return free speech to the plaza, creating a situation similar to what existed before the easement changed hands.