And Renteria insists his heartburn over the church's development role isn't anti-Mormonism.

"It just happens to be the LDS Church," he says. "It could have been any religion. It's not a Mormon thing. It's a religion thing. If it would have been the Catholic Church doing it, I would have been just as adamantly opposed to my own religion doing something like that."

As for the rest of downtown, he says a number of issues have been ignored. Renteria believes Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson has neglected a broader effort to foster a pro-business climate.

Renteria says the solution could include boosting loans and revolving grants to downtown businesses, lowering fees and loosening regulatory ordinances.

He also wants to see more ethnic minority involvement in city government, both in city employment and political activism.

"I'm not going to blame generational changes, but then I have to," he says of the city's lack of minority representation. "I just don't see enough young people getting involved the way I did when I was an undergrad" and an intern at the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics.

"I would hope that my candidacy in this and other races stirs the kettle to get younger people involved enough to run for office," he says. "I'm not your typical candidate: white, Mormon, squeaky-clean. Yet I realize the irony of it all, because you don't really have to be a saint to run for office in this state. If you look at the Legislature — you just don't have to be a saint."

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E-mail: dsmeath@desnews.com