Middle-school teacher joins Salt Lake City mayor race

The 10th person to declare his candidacy for Salt Lake City mayor is the first to agree to self-imposed caps on his campaign financing.

Middle school wood shop teacher Robert Comstock, 53, joins a crowded field of would-be mayors, all seeking to replace Rocky Anderson, who has said he will not seek a third term.

Comstock filed a declaration with the city agreeing to spend no more than $75,000 of his own money on his campaign, and his total expenditures will be no more than $375,000. Those restrictions are a voluntarily pledge instituted by Anderson in his 1999 campaign that none of the other candidates this year has signed onto.

"It's my ongoing perception that special-interest money is creating a political environment in which the needs and the legitimate interests of the lower-middle class and the working poor are rarely, if ever, properly acknowledged or addressed," Comstock said.

He pointed as an example to zoning changes in Sugar House that he worries will "change forever the Sugar House community as we have known it. ... Very wealthy developers dictating to the city and the entire community of Sugar House what's going to happen."

He said equity among all economic classes is one of the top focuses of his campaign, which he said will focus on local issues as well as big-picture issues more commonly dealt with at the state and national level. That, he said, is because progress often starts at the grass roots.

"I think Rocky Anderson set a precedent, a holistic view of municipal government," Comstock said. "The mayor can be a spokesperson as well as the City Council directing city government to comment on issues."

He listed six commitments he would stand by as mayor, including class equity. The other five are:

• Lessening the achievement gap between white and minority students.

• Hiring ethnic minorities as directors of city departments at a number proportionate to their representation in the population.

• A dedication to "the preservation of our natural and architectural and community heritages."

• Easing the tax and regulation burden on small businesses.

• Pushing for reform of social welfare programs so that they encourage people to better themselves.

Comstock ran for the District 2 seat on the City Council in 1999, losing to current Councilman Van Turner. He has also run for state House of Representatives — twice.