Fit Cook is primed for another run

Having spent the past two years literally getting into fighting shape, former congressman Merrill Cook is jumping back into politics.

A Republican, Cook filed Wednesday to run for Salt Lake County mayor as an independent candidate, unaffiliated with any political party.

"I'm not going to shed my Republicanism, but I really believe the office of county mayor should be nonpartisan," he said. "We need to get rid of political parties when it comes to county services."

Cook's primary campaign theme is one of eliminating waste in the county budget and relieving the burden of taxpayers. For example, if elected, he says he would establish a task force (bipartisan, in keeping with his nonpartisan stance) to identify and eliminate wasted budget dollars.

Salt Lake County's projected 2004 budget is $740 million, second only to the state of Utah among statewide government entities.

"He will trim the budget like he has trimmed himself," campaign aide Deborah Reed said.

The latter, at least, is certainly true — if this guy doesn't look familiar to you despite his frequent political campaigns and presence in the public eye over the years, you're probably not alone. Over the past year, Cook has maintained a weight of 195 pounds, having lost more than 100 pounds the year before. He says he did it simply by adopting more healthful eating habits, without the aid of surgery.

"I stopped eating french fries in toto, that was 50 percent of it," he said.

A big part of Cook's message is that while incumbent Mayor Nancy Workman is technically correct when she says she hasn't raised taxes, county budgets have increased because home assessment values have outpaced market values, resulting in residents paying more property taxes regardless of tax rates.

In response, Workman's chief of staff David Marshall pointed out that state law forbids counties from capturing additional taxes resulting solely from higher assessments on existing properties. He says higher taxes on residences in recent years have resulted from a decrease in state centrally assessed properties like Kennecott.

He also pointed out that the office of county assessor (currently occupied by Lee Gardner) is elected separately and is legally independent of the mayor.

"The mayor is, by ordinance, by the county plan, not even involved in assessment at any level," he said.

As for Workman herself, "I think Merrill jumping into the race will certainly add some interest and spice."