Inside the commission chamber that will soon be his workplace, Marvin Hendrickson looked stricken.
From 7 to 11:15 p.m. last Monday, hundreds castigated, ridiculed and pleaded with the Salt Lake County Commission during its 2001 budget hearing. A few minutes in, Hendrickson was reminded of a trip he made to China some years ago. He'd walked through Tiananmen Square, where another outspoken crowd had been brutally silenced.
During the public hearing, "I thought, 'I'm sure glad this is America,' " he said. "People are allowed . . . to speak from their hearts" when protesting the government.
Hendrickson, 60, recently became part of the new government of Salt Lake County. He was elected to the County Council to represent District 6, the southeastern swath that includes Holladay, Alta and a considerable piece of unincorporated land. This is the Treasure Valley Real Estate Co. owner's first time in elected office, and he's been voted chairman by his eight fellow councilors.
Now he's facing a Christmas gift from the outgoing County Commission: one of the thorniest budgets in history.
"I'm hoping we can pluck some of those (thorns) out later," Hendrickson said. "Later" starts soon: The council will convene its first meeting at 4 p.m. Jan. 9 in the commission chambers.
Hendrickson, a Republican, is one of a few newcomers to county government. He'll work with former Democratic commissioners Randy Horiuchi and Jim Bradley, who were elected to the County Council in November, and Brent Overson, appointed policy analyst by Mayor-elect Nancy Workman last week.
"I'll be a go-between," said Overson, "between (Workman) and the lobby team at the state Legislature. And then I'll be responsible for special projects, working with the cities, and interfacing with the council."
The swearing-in of the new mayor and council is set for New Year's Day, and old acquaintances, clearly, will not be forgotten. The old commission's chief of staff David Marshall will become Workman's chief administrative officer; Commission Staff Counsel Alan Dayton will be her deputy mayor. Dayton predicted that soon after Jan. 1, Overson would call a "budget summit."
But Overson said he hadn't yet heard of such an event. If such a summit is called, he said, the mayor and county council will be the ones who call it. Overson said he will be "a policy adviser" on the 2001 budget he co-wrote with commissioners Mary Callaghan and Mark Shurtleff.
Overson also said the mayor-elect has asked him to work on the Hansen Planetarium's move to the new Gateway development. As for other projects included in his $85,000-per-year position, "we haven't talked about anything else yet. But anything (Workman) wants me to do, I'll be happy to work on."
The policy analyst job was more attractive, Overson said, than that of county recorder or deputy mayor. Other county officials had made overtures about those positions, he said, but "I didn't want the administrative headache." Overson does want to keep his county health insurance, however, since he's had health problems for the past year.
Overson's appointment and salary, the planetarium's funding, the County Commission's $5 million tax refund to Alliant Techsystems — the new council can revisit it all, and "we can meddle in that," said Bradley. He's returning to officialdom after a six-year hiatus, having lost his commission seat to Callaghan in the 1994 election.
"We can reopen the budget any time we want, between now and June," Bradley said. He calls the 2001 budget "the commission's mess." Horiuchi, his fellow councilor-elect and former commissioner, calls it "a train wreck."
"We'll try to make some judgments on what services the county can afford. That's a good month or two of hard work, but we're going to do that," added Bradley. The nine council members are paid a part-time salary of $18,500, but they all plan to hire full-time administrative assistants to conduct research and attend community council meetings.
"With these people," said Bradley, budgeting county money "is a whole different process. It's more laborious, but it may be better. The redeeming feature of this council is that they're all very bright. Very conservative, but bright and conservative."
While Bradley seems ready to challenge Overson's appointment, Workman says she needs his connections.
"I've promised to go back to Washington and fight for money, and (Overson) is going to show me the ropes," she said.
Before such a trip, Workman plans to go over the 2001 budget item by item. "We'll identify ways we can save money, in a way we don't disrupt services," she said. "We've told the directors they need to come up with new ways of reinventing" the departments of human services, public works and community services. Consolidation of staff — almost certain to include job cuts — will make the county more efficient, said the mayor-elect. "People can be cross-trained. So in one day, somebody can work in all three departments."
But Workman admitted that she's unsure about where cuts and other changes will be. First she has to be sworn in on Jan. 1. The ceremony is set for noon, she said, and it will be over in time for the new officials to watch the holiday football games. "That's of premier importance. It's playoff time, you know."
E-MAIL: durbani@desnews.com