Like Corroon? 43% don't know

Rocky Anderson, he isn't.

Three months into Peter Corroon's term, people don't feel strongly about the new Salt Lake County mayor one way or the other — unlike his Salt Lake City counterpart, about whom people have strong feelings.

In a new Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV poll conducted by Dan Jones & Associates, the number of residents responding "don't know" to the question of whether they approve or disapprove of the job Corroon's doing was a whopping 43 percent, much higher than any other public official or legislative body the poll-takers asked about.

"A lot of people just don't know who he is," Jones said. What's more, "you can like a guy but not know what kind of a job he's doing."

Historically, county residents know much less about the county mayor and what he does than their city mayors. To one extent or another, in fact, all of the candidates in the last county mayoral election complained that some residents still didn't know that they vote for both their city mayor and the county mayor.

That's partly due to the fact that the county mayor position is still relatively new — it's been only four years since county government changed from a three-member commission to a mayor and nine-member council. Add the fact that Corroon is just starting out in his new job and it's no surprise that many residents just don't have enough evidence to judge.

"For having been in office only three months, I'll take it," Corroon said.

The corollary of Corroon's large "don't know" contingent is his extremely low disapproval rating — a paltry 6 percent, lower than any other public figure pollsters asked about, including the popular Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.

"People want to give him a chance," Jones said. "They're giving him the benefit of the doubt. They're very, very leery of county government right now, and they'll be very observant of the programs he introduces and how he gets along with the council. . . . That rating could be a lot different in two or three years."

If ever county government were in the spotlight, it would be the past year. Corroon came into office after Nancy Workman's administration imploded under the combined weight of county vehicle use scandals (in which she herself was not implicated) and being charged with misuse of public money (of which she was later acquitted).

"(Residents) are not hearing a lot about county government right now, and that's probably a good thing," Corroon said.

Political observers during the election noted that, while Corroon had his supporters, some of his votes resulted from people simply wanting a change — Corroon is a Democrat, while Workman and her eventual party nominee replacement, Ellis Ivory, are Republicans. Party affiliation doesn't seem to make much difference in how people view Corroon's performance, however. His approval ratings in the latest poll were about the same among Republicans and Democrats.

So far in his administration Corroon has introduced measures limiting cell phone use among county employees; expanded his Cabinet; opened Cabinet meetings to the public; frozen county vehicle purchases until "guzzle-gate" can be further studied; hosted several open houses, including one for Hispanic residents; and battled the Legislature for Salt Palace expansion funds. His actions so far have garnered generally favorable responses from other county officials.

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E-mail: aedwards@desnews.com