One of the combatants has temporarily removed himself from a fight brewing over a huge proposed mall on Salt Lake's west side.
Owing to a possible conflict of interest, Salt Lake City Council Chairman Carlton Christensen recused himself from a discussion Tuesday regarding a rezoning at 5600 West and I-80 that would make the proposed Grand Mall possible.Christensen and Mayor Rocky Anderson have been at odds for some time on whether the development is a good idea (it is within Christensen's council district). Anderson has been dubious and at times outright hostile to the idea, saying it would siphon customers and revenue from downtown, while Christensen has maintained it is just the sort of thing westside residents have wanted for a long time.
Anderson has also maintained that Christensen should not be part of the discussion because the council chairman works for Zions Securities Corp., which is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which also owns Property Reserve Inc.
Property Reserve sold land at 5600 West and I-80 to the mall developers. Zions manages some Property Reserve properties, and Christensen's brother works for Property Reserve.
Christensen maintains that he can treat the matter fairly but decided to stop his involvement in the matter pending a decision by the city attorney regarding whether he has a conflict of interest.
"The relationship of my employer to the mall transaction is non-existent. . . ," Christensen said. "My employer, Zions Securities, is owned through another arm (of the church) and has not had participation in the transaction, nor do they have any direct fiscal benefit from it."
On another front, Anderson strongly objected to Christensen's lobbying the Legislature for an I-80 interchange to serve the mall, saying lobbying is an administrative function.
He and Christensen have also had some lively exchanges over the propriety of Anderson urging mall developers to also develop downtown. Christensen said that if Anderson's request was purely voluntary he was OK with it, but if it was tantamount to a requirement, it had the "taint of extortion."
Anderson, not surprisingly, objected to that terminology. The quote "is hardly conducive to a cooperative, collaborative relationship between the City Council and me," he said.
"Perhaps I should have tried another word, but nevertheless I am not comfortable with the latter method," Christensen responded.
You can reach Alan Edwards by e-mail at alan@desnews.com