Rocky's deputy mayor stepping down

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson begins his last year in office with some staffing changes at the top of his administration, including the loss of one of his only staffers who had still been around from Day 1.

Due to undisclosed health problems, the deputy mayor of seven years, Rocky Fluhart, is stepping down. The deputy mayor serves as the mayor's stand-in, carrying out the mayor's duties when Anderson is out of town or unavailable.

The new deputy mayor will be Anderson's chief of staff, Sam Guevara, who has been with the administration since the start of Anderson's second term in 2004.

"All of the duties that the mayor has, I can do, and I'm really quite honored to have this, the trust from Rocky (Anderson)," Guevara said.

Fluhart has also served as chief administrative officer and director of the Management Services Division. Those duties will be picked up by senior city attorney Lyn Creswell, who has worked for the city since 1998.

Both Guevara and Creswell will continue to serve in their former capacities.

The chief administrative officer supervises the city's numerous departments and coordinates among them. Management Services is an umbrella support division over most city operations, including human resources, policy and finances.

"Probably as important or more important would be the relationship between the administration and the City Council," Creswell said. "I am the liaison for daily activities between the administration and the council."

His focus for Anderson's final year will be to push the mayor's ambitious list of 108 goals for 2007. Those range from increasing programming for the city's SLCTV television channel to revamping the entire city vehicle fleet to be high-efficiency or capable of using alternative fuels.

"For this year, among the more important responsibilities will be to shepherd and see how many of those goals we can accomplish, so this year will be a very productive year for the city," Creswell said.

Guevara said he looks forward to the new duties, and he praised Creswell's ability to carry out his new job.

"We are happy with Lyn accepting the responsibility there," he said. "He knows the city."

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