"I offered to Mayor Anderson and Deputy Mayor Fluhart to make a statement because I felt that the fact that the administration had sought legal advice from our office before proceeding was a fact that the public should know," Rutan said.

Olympic tradition calls for the previous host city to deliver a message on peace, youth and the environment to the next host of the Winter Games. The message is to be delivered by environmentally friendly transportation that doesn't burn greenhouse gases. Anderson's message was taken by bicycle from Salt Lake City to New York, by sailboat from New York to Belgium, then by bicycle across Europe to Torino. The mayor and his girlfriend joined the group in France on July 19 and biked through the French Alps and northern Italy for 12 days en route to Torino.

Salt Lake County Democratic Party Chairwoman Megan Risbon has also called on Yocom to investigate Anderson. Yocom is out of town all week and won't be able to make a decision on an investigation until next week.

Evans also wants Yocom to investigate whether Anderson broke the law when he used tax dollars to pay a $457 bar tab while entertaining dignitaries at the Grand America Hotel this past July. Part of that tab included alcohol and, at the time, it was against city policy to use tax dollars to purchase alcohol.

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E-mail: bsnyder@desnews.com