Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon stumps at state Capitol again

SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon brought his campaign to unseat GOP Gov. Gary Herbert to the Capitol again Tuesday, this time calling for the state to get "back to basics."

Corroon, a Democrat, called on the governor to push a bill that would cut state elected officer salaries by 10 percent. Herbert and lawmakers, the mayor said, "need to set the example and do what is right."

That bill, HB436

, sponsored by Ogden Democrat Rep. Neil Hansen, is not expected to be heard this session. Reducing the salary of the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, auditor and treasurer would save some $68,600 annually.

Corroon now makes $129,958 after he took the same 2.75 percent pay cut as county employees did this budget year, according to his campaign manager, Donald Dunn. The mayor said he would take a 10 percent pay cut as governor because state employees are making sacrifices to balance the budget, including being furloughed.

Herbert will sign the bill if it passes, his spokeswoman, Angie Welling, said. "In so doing, however, he would also call upon Mayor Corroon to similarly reduce his own salary, at least to the current statutory level of the governor's salary," she said. Herbert earns $109,900.

Welling also said that while state agencies have experienced significant budget cuts, "state employees have not received across-the-board salary reductions." She said Herbert "worked diligently to prevent any significant job losses" in his proposed budget.

Corroon in his latest press conference at the Capitol during the legislative session also called for support of economic development and education programs that will help create more jobs in the state.

The only proposal the mayor offered to pay for those programs in a budget year marked by cuts to most state agencies was HB118, a bill sponsored by a Republican, Rep. Wayne Harper of West Jordan, to boost the state industrial assistance fund.

Welling said the Governor's Office of Economic Development is supporting HB118.

"Economic development is the governor's top priority and No. 1 within economic development is to foster an environment that allows local companies to grow and expand," she said.

Corroon said he continues to support an increase in the cigarette tax as a health issue rather than a revenue source. "It just makes common sense," the mayor said. He said he would like to see the money raised through such a tax increase used mainly for smoking prevention and other health-related needs.

Pressed about covering the costs of improving the state's economic development efforts and education system, Corroon said he will release detailed proposals at a later date.

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