Demo targeting Workman

If you're like most people, you've probably never heard of Peter Corroon.

Until now.

If you live in Salt Lake County, you're going to be hearing a lot about him — Corroon is the Democratic Party's standard-bearer in the Salt Lake County mayoral race. He officially announced his candidacy Monday.

Despite his initial lack of name recognition, Democratic leaders say Corroon will give incumbent Nancy Workman a serious run for her money. Those leaders were the ones who approached Corroon in the first place, asking him to run based on his experience in law, real estate and community involvement.

"Pretty much everything in county government he's done," county Democratic Party chairwoman Nichole Adams said.

A lawyer, engineer and businessman, Corroon runs his own real estate management and development company. He is president of the Salt Lake Vest Pocket Business Coalition and chairman or member of several other community groups.

He made an abortive run for the Salt Lake City Council in 2001, losing in the primary, and was erstwhile presidential candidate Howard Dean's Utah campaign manager. (Corroon is Dean's first cousin.)

In his announcement speech, Corroon took aim at Workman, chiding her for having eight staffers with salaries topping $100,000 a year, installing the Salt Lake County logo and her own name on the doors of county facilities, and blaming her for the county Arts Department's accounting boondoggles and an Equestrian Park employee's embezzlement.

"The current administration touts its biggest accomplishment as not raising taxes," Corroon said. "But the bottom line is that wasting tax dollars is the same as, or worse than, a tax increase.

"The current mayor's campaign slogan is, 'It's Working,' but my question is, who is it working for?"

Workman defended her staffers' salaries and said the logo/name is an inexpensive way to help people understand which facilities belong to the county.

"Before I came in, the County Commission passed the largest tax increase in county history," she said. "We cut that in half, increased services and kept the budget flat. (The staffers) are definitely earning their money."

Corroon also said Workman lacks a cohesive focus.

"We need vision," he said. "We need progress and economic development."