Council member aims to be Salt Lake mayor

The race for Salt Lake City mayor has begun, with the first contender declaring her candidacy.

With a year and a half remaining until the November 2007 election, Salt Lake City Councilwoman Nancy Saxton has said she wants Mayor Rocky Anderson's job.

"I'm planning to run for mayor, whether the mayor runs or not," Saxton said Tuesday.

The councilwoman's announcement makes her the first to enter the race, although several potential candidates say they are considering a run. Anderson himself has not yet decided whether to seek re-election.

Anderson was out of the office for meetings and travel all day Tuesday and could not be reached for comment.

Saxton has been on the council for six years — as long as Anderson has been mayor — and the two have regularly butted heads. "It's time for a change," Saxton said, alluding to some of Anderson's more high-profile battles. "I have a great relationship with elected officials all over the state. I have great respect for (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). I honor their positions."

Anderson regularly polls poorly among the city's LDS voters, a fact he has attributed to his support for gay and lesbian rights and revamping liquor laws. He has also had run-ins with state lawmakers and other statewide politicians, including North Salt Lake Mayor Kay Briggs, with whom he has argued over 80 acres of open space on the cities' shared border.

"We have basically created a climate for Salt Lake City that we have alienated and isolated the rest of the state, and yet this is the capital. Salt Lake City belongs to all of Utah," Saxton said.

Anderson, a Democrat, is widely regarded as one of Utah's most liberal politicians. Asked how she would define herself on the conservative-liberal spectrum, Saxton, who is also a Democrat, said, "I consider myself very reasonable."

Saxton touted her experience running the Saltair Bed and Breakfast, saying she brings "great insights as a small-business owner." And she said she would promote fiscal conservatism, a trait she said Anderson lacks.

"We have not had an easy time in the six years I've been on the council with our budgets, and that is important for someone who is in a mayoral position to understand, that the well is not endless," she said. "The people who are paying taxes and that we represent are barely squeaking by."