While Mayor Rocky Anderson may not be on the ballot for re-election, he continues to have a strong presence as each candidate is forced to define what kind of role he would play as Salt Lake City’s next mayor.
Candidates Dave Buhler and Ralph Becker took sides on the issue yesterday at the Hinckley Institute of Politics, also addressing bipartisanship, the revitalization of Salt Lake City’s downtown area, public transit and education.
Although they represent different parties, both candidates advocated a bipartisan approach to city politics. Becker serves as the Democratic minority leader in the Utah House of Representatives and Buhler, a Republican, is on the Salt Lake City Council.
Buhler said he will not follow Anderson’s outspoken legacy; instead, he will focus only on issues pertinent to the city. Becker said he respects Anderson’s stances, calling global climate change an important issue.
“The job starts with Salt Lake City, but there are times we do need to step up and speak out,” Becker said.
Although Becker believes the United States should remove troops from Iraq, he said he would not have spoken out at an anti-war rally as Anderson did.
Buhler agreed.
“As mayor,” he said, “I’m not going to affect the war one way or the other.”
Robert Costa, a senior in urban planning, said Anderson has created a situation where citizens and politicians need to examine the role of the mayor.
“There are bigger issues in Salt Lake City than just Mayor Anderson’s issues, especially with design (of downtown),” Costa said.
While Becker and Buhler said they would work to regenerate life in downtown Salt Lake City, they differed on the issue of building a sky bridge across Main Street as part of the new City Creek Center.
Buhler supports the sky bridge, which he said would connect retailers and get more people downtown. He also said it is in the public’s interest to encourage private investment.
“Only in Salt Lake City is a bridge divisive,” Buhler said.
Becker disagreed, saying the bridge would take away from street-level activity on Main Street.
“We need to open up downtown,” Becker said.
Both candidates said they would improve air quality by bettering the bus system and extending the light rail to the Salt Lake City International Airport and Sugar House. Becker said he would make designated bikeways on roads.
Buhler and Becker also said they would work to improve Salt Lake County public schools.
Buhler said the tax base of public schools depends on the tax base of the city.
Becker said all public schools should have community centers, preschools and kindergartens, after-school programs and lifelong learning centers.
Becker said the majority of Salt Lake City students are minority students and a third of them are from homes where English is spoken as a second language, so he believes there should be more ESL programs in Salt Lake City schools.
Although neither candidate addressed higher education issues, U student Julie Engar, a junior in international studies and history, said improving the transit system would make life easier for college students.
Senior Costa said revitalizing downtown would provide more fun activities for college students. “There’s no downtown (for the) U,” Costa said.
Both candidates have ties to the U; Buhler is an associate commissioner of higher education for the Utah System of Higher Education and Becker is the dean of the College of Architecture and Planning.