Healing time in Salt Lake

Mayor Rocky Anderson believes Salt Lake City needs a lot more people and people need a lot more understanding to help heal the city's rift over religion.

Anderson said in his State of the City address delivered to the City Council Tuesday night that he has a plan to increase the city's population by at least 15,000 during the next seven years and that city leaders should be up-front about the city's much-discussed religious divide between members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who make up roughly 45 percent of the city's population, and those who are not LDS.

This spring, Anderson said he will initiate a two-pronged project "to encourage greater dialogue and understanding between members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and those who are not of that faith."

Initially, several community meetings moderated by trained mediators will be held to bring better understanding and brainstorming. The second prong "will be an ongoing program to bring together individuals and families who might not otherwise meet for personal, friendship-building experiences," Anderson said.

The city's religious divide became an election issue last year, with 81 percent of LDS voters choosing challenger Frank Pignanelli while 81 percent of non-LDS members chose Anderson, according to exit poll data.

Many LDS voters said they were angered by Anderson's initial stand against the LDS Church's wishes on Main Street Plaza and by comments Anderson made about the all-LDS City Council, which Anderson accused of favoring the LDS Church with its votes.

"It was admirable that after a divisive campaign that clearly fell down along religious lines he was willing to speak to that issue," Council Chairwoman Jill Remington Love said after the speech.

Still, council member Carlton Christensen cautioned that healing the city's religious divide is "easier said than done."

Beyond the religious rift the mayor spent much time talking population.

During the 1990s the city grew 14 percent, but from April 2000 to July 2002 the city lost 501 people, from 181,767 to 181,266, according to U.S. Census figures.

That trend has to be stopped, Anderson told the council.

"We can, and must, do more to attract new residents to our city and increase our population base, particularly downtown, in a sustainable way," he said. "As other communities grow at alarming rates, we must work aggressively to attract our share of new residents."