Election 2009: Alta mayor faces first election challenge

ALTA — Incumbent Mayor Tom Pollard is facing an election challenge for the first time ever.

The 50-year-old manager of Alta Rustler Lodge is defending himself against everything from having a residence in the valley to spending of local property taxes. When first elected four years ago, Pollard was unopposed.

"My major goal is to keep Alta the way it is," he said, explaining that he is raising two children. "My goal is to try to keep it the greatest place in the world for them and their children."

Pollard, 50, has an apartment at the lodge where he works. He uses that address on voter registration forms, he said, in response to criticism that he's not a true Alta resident.

Pollard's competitor, Barbara Jordan, 60, said she wants to use tax money for a town marketing campaign to boost the tax base. Jordan calls herself a full-time Alta resident with the time to be a full-time mayor, though she doesn't support changing the part-time salary of the job.

Jordan wants a new long-range plan for the city and is working with another challenger, Roger Bourke, to turn a proposed subdivision into the lodge originally envisioned by its owner.

Bourke, a 71-year-old rocket science consultant, is running partly to give voters a choice, he said. His main concerns for Alta are long-range issues such as global warming, population growth and forests being decimated by bark beetles and aging trees.

Bourke is up against Town Council incumbents Cliff Curry, a 49-year-old manager at Alta Lodge, and Paul Moxley, a 62-year-old trial attorney. The men have endorsed one another, and Pollard, for re-election.

Curry's campaign has focused on preserving open space and continuing on a course of fiscal responsibility. He also wants to defend the mountain town against development-based lawsuits, he said.

Moxley said he believes his legal expertise is needed for Alta. He also wants to continue cooperating with entities such as the forest service, the Utah Department of Transportation and valley municipalities, he said.

"Nothing happens in a vacuum," he said.

e-mail: rpalmer@desnews.com