Bustle of activity surrounds Corroon

Peter Corroon has been a busy man of late.

Case in point: Known for promptly returning phone calls, the Salt Lake County mayor-elect has been meeting with so many county officials, working so hard to untangle himself from his real estate development and maintenance company, spending so much time forming a transition team, accommodating — and in some cases, fending off — so many constituents and interest groups who want to bend his ear, that it takes Corroon an uncharacteristic several hours to return a reporter's phone call.

"With all this going on, I just haven't had enough time," he said. He will step up to the mayoral plate Jan. 3, but meanwhile, with the possible exception of Jon Huntsman Jr., Utah's governor-elect, "he's probably the most pursued person in the state right now," said a mayor's office staffer who has seen his comings and goings.

Acting Mayor Alan Dayton made Nancy Workman's old office available for Corroon to use during the transition period, but he hasn't taken advantage of it, mainly walking around "with a briefcase stuffed full, like he's carrying his office around with him," said mayor's legislative liaison Kara Trevino.

That's in keeping with Corroon's character, quiet, thorough and as unostentatious as Workman was visible. (County employees laugh at the mere thought of Corroon putting his name on the doors of county facilities, as Workman did.) Why should he use that big office when a portable one will do?

Corroon was present at most of the County Council's marathon budget meetings through November, and he and members of the transition team (well-known names such as Ted Wilson, Bill Orton, Archie Archuleta, Ken Bullock, among several others) have been meeting with all the appointed county officials, department heads, division directors and others to get a handle on what issues are important, what are the sideshows and what is irrelevant.

"He's talking to absolutely everybody he can," council member Joe Hatch said.

"He's been mostly listening, but he's done more than that," GOP Council Chairman Steve Harmsen said. "Whenever he's felt he had an issue to raise, he's raised it."

An example is the one-third reduction in the mayor's office budget which Dayton proposed and the council passed at Corroon's behest. Workman was frequently criticized for the high salaries she paid to top staffers and for other expenditures, and Corroon said during the campaign that he would put a stop to that.

He is well on his way. Corroon says he will pay no one more money than what he himself makes ($111,000), and will otherwise spend judiciously.