'Un-Rocky' candidate enters S.L. race

Add another name to the list of Salt Lake City mayoral candidates.

Retired engineer and self-proclaimed "freelance philosopher" Rainer Huck filed his candidacy with the city recorder's office Thursday, becoming the fifth official candidate among eight people who have declared their candidacy in the crowded race.

Huck's campaign may be as much about who he isn't as who he is.

"The theme of my campaign is that I am the un-Rocky," he said, referring to Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson, who is not seeking re-election. "None of the other candidates seem like they're willing to speak out against some of the antics Rocky has pulled. They're probably concerned about the polls that show he still has a lot of support. I'm not worried about that."

Huck, as president of the Utah Shared Access Alliance, has written a number of letters to the editor and guest editorials in recent years, decrying what he sees as extreme environmentalism and calling for more access for off-road vehicles.

On Thursday, he decried "the abuses that (Anderson) has perpetrated while in office, especially his environmental extremism and the global-warming business, which I feel has absolutely no place in the mayor's office."

Anderson has been an outspoken advocate on the international level for fighting global climate change, including co-hosting the Sundance Summit, a gathering of mayors at actor Robert Redford's Sundance resort that focuses on ways local governments can reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Anderson has also traveled to speak at dozens of environmental summits, conferences and other meetings.

Huck has filed a voluntary declaration to limit his campaign expenditures to no more than $75,000 of his own money and no more than $375,000 total. He is the only current candidate to have made the voluntary pledge.

In fact, Huck said he plans to accept no campaign contributions — at all, from anyone. He said he hopes his campaign will be a rebuff to "all the special-interest influence in the mayor's election and the amount of money that's going into it."

Huck also pledged to serve only one term if elected.

"I will put the interest of the taxpayers as my No. 1 priority," he said, promising to reduce the city's budget by 25 percent in four years.