The county's budget has grown substantially under Workman's watch — something Corroon and Cook have criticized — though that has been due to population growth, issuance of bonds and other factors.

Corroon noted that the county had 3 percent fewer jobs at the end of 2003 than when Workman took office in 2001 — though how much Workman could have affected that is debatable.

During those three years, "the effects of the 2001 recession, the 'job-loss' recovery, and the end of all the temporary 2002 Olympic-related employment (were) painfully clear," wrote regional economist Jim Robson in a recent article. "(But) by the end of 2003, the Salt Lake County economy showed definite signs of job growth, although at a slow pace."

As for Cook, he said in a press release issued some hours after Corroon's press conference that he would do his Democratic opponent one better by cutting the mayor's office budget by 50 percent and requiring all department heads to either trim their budgets by 10 percent or resign.

He would also consolidate the county's disparate economic development programs into one.

"Just because you have money doesn't mean you have to spend it," he said.

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E-mail: aedwards@desnews.com