Rocky's speech likely to raise eyebrows

Mayor Rocky Anderson is outspoken about many things — his dislike of the Iraq war, his penchant for mass transit and bicycles, and his affinity for LED bulbs — but he's tight-lipped about his State of the City speech scheduled for Tuesday night.

If he follows his form from last year, though, there's a good chance he'll raise some eyebrows.

In past speeches the mayor has railed about a planned highway in Davis County, global warming and big-box stores, so there's no telling what topics he'll tackle at his annual report to the City Council and residents.

In 2005, Anderson blasted Davis County commuters for driving to Salt Lake City, which he said pumped unwanted pollution into the air.

"We want our friends from the north to come to Salt Lake City; we just don't want them to increase our city's traffic, further foul our air, undermine the quality of our lives and make us sick simply because of the choices they make about where they live and how they get around," Anderson said a year ago.

The swift and angry reaction from Utah's third most populous county and state legislators reached a feverish height with the war between "I (heart) Davis County" and "I (heart) Salt Lake City" bumper stickers a few weeks after the speech.

Anderson apologized and clarified that he disliked Legacy Highway, not Davis County residents. Yet, despite opposition and lawsuits backed by Anderson and others, crews will likely begin the Legacy Highway in March; it's expected to cost $680 million and take two years to build the 14-mile freeway from North Salt Lake to Farmington.

The flap caught the attention of lawmakers, who gave Salt Lake City a bigger bill for the Salt Palace expansion than the city had planned on and largely ignored Anderson's legislative agenda, which included a proposed hike in tire recycling fees to move a tire recycling plant and moving Union Pacific trains off 900 South rail lines.

This year, Anderson's address will come on the second day of the 2006 session, but the City Council has less at stake, with only shared interest in major initiatives to revise state taxes and alter some development procedures.

Otherwise, the environmental points Anderson touted during his speech last year have long been among his favorite causes. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Sierra Club, the Utah Medical Association and the National Clean Cities Coalition are among the organizations that have recognized Anderson and Salt Lake City for environmental work.

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E-mail: kswinyard@desnews.com