Sometime during 2002 members of the Davis Chamber of Commerce enjoyed a visit from his excellency, the mayor of Salt Lake City. I have to compliment Anderson for his willingness to face what he knew would be a hostile crowd. After all, his opposition to the sorely needed Legacy Parkway was and remains legendary. This occasion meanwhile provided most of us in attendance with our first orientation in "Rocky Logic." Now pay attention or the following may go over your head:

If county "A" builds roadway "B," the number of vehicles "X" will increase exponentially. Now if you fail to grasp this most basic of Rocky Logic principles, you're not alone. More than 85 percent of residents in Davis County, including all 15 mayors, city councils, county commissioners and state representatives, have also fallen short of mastering this concept.

We fail to grasp Rocky Logic because, ironically enough, logic itself keeps getting in our way. I implore and respectfully ask that his excellency assist his hillbilly friends to the north to hurdle some of the realities that plague our minds. Once freed from these spasms of reason, I'm confident we will fully embrace and master Rocky Logic. Here are some of the more bothersome realities over which we continue to stumble:

Roads do not lure people to Davis County any more than setting a few extra plates on my table results in more people at dinner. People who have chosen to live and work in Davis County do so because we offer a positive environment for both raising a family and operating a business.

A highway which facilitates the flow of goods and services between Salt Lake businesses and their third largest market would be good for Salt Lake City. I guess that's why the Salt Lake Chamber has endorsed the construction of Legacy.

Assuming as real Mayor Anderson's passion for protecting the environment, he must already understand that an idling car produces much more air pollution than a moving vehicle.

Along the same line, the Legacy Parkway project places more than 2,000 acres of wetlands in permanent reserve, 20 times the amount of land affected by the construction. Without Legacy, development will eventually continue to the lake.

Mayor Anderson's city is the beneficiary of more than $2 million — the price for his staying out of the Legacy negotiations. Yet he sent an envoy to a recent public hearing hosted by the Army Corps of Engineers and has, since his promise to remain neutral, publicly railed against the project.