'We've done what we said,' Corroon says

Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon unofficially started his re-election campaign Tuesday by highlighting his cleanup job of the county's scandal-ridden past.

"When I came into this office, there was a great need to restore Salt Lake County's morale and reputation," Corroon said at Tuesday's annual State of the County speech. "Today, I'm proud to say that we've done what we said we'd do."

Corroon was elected in 2004, when Salt Lake County leaders, including his predecessor, faced intense scrutiny and criminal charges.

Since then, the county has been controversy-free, Councilman David Wilde said. But Corroon can't take too much credit for cleaning things up — Wilde believes Salt Lake County wasn't that dirty to begin with.

"I don't want people to feel like Salt Lake County government was in shambles when Peter Corroon came into office," Wilde said. "I think it was in very good shape, despite a couple of controversies with Mayor (Nancy) Workman."

Even still, Corroon touted his platform of a "transparent, not opaque" government run by "planning, not politics" during his State of the County speech Tuesday.

After the speech, Corroon posed for pictures as a paid photographer snapped shots of the mayor in action with fellow Democrats for some election literature.

Now, if he only had an opponent.

No Republican has stepped to the plate as of yet, but that isn't stopping Corroon from gearing up for the November election.

Corroon's State of the County speech included no real new ideas. Many of his platforms mirror those he included in his 2007 speech: quality, open government, economic development, protecting the environment, quality of life and public safety.

Councilman Joe Hatch attributed that to good, long-term planning.

"He set the right agenda a year ago," Hatch said. "These are goals that will exist over the long haul. It's not like a checklist — build a theater. This is a philosophical statement."

The mayor did add one new priority this year: education.

The county does not manage a school district or university, but "we do play a vital role in education."

"The opportunities we carve out for children buttress our entire economy," he said.

The county will continue to run after-school programs in Kearns and West Valley City. Corroon didn't announce any plans for expansion of the program.

Corroon will continue pushing his environmental agenda in 2008. The year will see an expansion in curbside recycling, a push to place solar panels in homes, businesses and government buildings, and a continued effort to plant one million trees in the next 10 years.