It's spring (although as hot as summer), and along with the daisies and the lilies, issues are breaking out all over. It's time LaVarr and I did our "Spring Potpourri":

Wilson:

Nordstrom: I would have told them to take a hike. I know that sounds like stupid brinksmanship, but when people threaten to leave, there is little you can do to assuage them. But now city hall is frozen in its tracks trying to find some way to come to terms. It's hard to believe The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can come up with something Nordstrom will be pleased with at the present location.

Leavitt/Norton Wilderness Compromise: The king of Enlibra, Gov. Mike Leavitt, struck a deal with Interior Secretary Gale Norton behind closed doors and is now facing the fact that money could be lost over the deal. The outdoor equipment convention people are ready to bolt and take their bucks with them. This will be an issue the governor will squirm over. It's a good chance to see if he can kick Enlibra into action and salvage the deal some way. The governor needs some kind of Enlibra success or it is just talk.

The Democratic Salt Lake County Convention: This year the Democrats fought mostly among themselves: Mayor Rocky Anderson vs. challenger Frank Pignanelli; Incumbent State Chair Meghan Holbrook vs. Donald Dunn for election to state chair at the August state convention. But when they turned on the wrath, it was targeted at Mayor Nancy Workman of Salt Lake County. Insiders say one of the Democrats on the County Council will announce against Workman. It is likely to be Joe Hatch or Jim Bradley. Hatch has distinguished himself as a council member and Bradley has proven his ability to get elected countywide. Look for a feisty battle for the county's top spot.

Governor Wanna-be Watch: Scott Matheson, Jr. must be serious as a Democratic candidate. He is showing up at most of the Democratic county organizing conventions. Not something a busy law dean normally does. Republican Jon Huntsman, Jr. is also showing signs of interest even though he hasn't yet arrived back in Salt Lake City after his federal stint. Huntsman is talented and substantive but will undoubtedly face the perception of a "silver spoon in his mouth" because of family wealth and his famous philanthropist father. He can dispel that by an aggressive announcement that he is a candidate no matter who else is in the race; that would include Governor Leavitt.

In the meantime, Republican House leader Marty Stephens — reportedly upset at low poll numbers in the Deseret News/KSL-TV Dan Jones poll — is still pushing ahead aggressively.

Street talk has it that Nolan Karras, a favorite for governor among many opinion leaders, based on his performance as a state legislator and as an Olympics big-wig, is getting cold feet and won't be running.

Webb:

Main Street Plaza: Anderson's proposal to resolve the LDS Church plaza controversy may come up for a vote in the City Council on Tuesday. Here's hoping the council steps up and passes the proposal so we get at least closer to resolving this divisive issue once and for all.

The ACLU is making threats, of course, that a new lawsuit will be filed challenging the city action. The extremist civil liberties group will do what it will do. Anyone can file a lawsuit, no matter how ridiculous. But that threat should not intimidate the City Council. The council ought to do what's right and ignore the ACLU.

With the church, the mayor, the City Council, other elected officials, the business community and the vast majority of Salt Lake City and Utah citizens all supporting the proposal, the ACLU will clearly be off in outer space if it challenges the agreement.

If the city totally extinguishes its easement across the plaza, which is privately owned — lock, stock, and barrel — by the church, and some weird clause or precedent in the law still allows the ACLU to argue that free speech rights yet exist on the plaza, then, as Charles Dickens said, "The law is a ass, a idiot." (And that goes doubly for the ACLU and any judge who rules in its favor.)

That's particularly true considering the miles of public access and the accompanying free speech rights that exist all around Temple Square and the rest of the church campus.

Outdoor Industry Association: I've never much liked threats, intimidation and blackmail used as political tools. So if the outdoor retailers and the radical environmentalists want to pull up their tent pegs and head to the clogged freeways of Denver, I say let 'em go.

The hit on the Utah economy will be minuscule compared with the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars to rural economies if half the state is locked up in wilderness as the environmentalists would like.

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Despite Ted's assertions, Gov. Leavitt's settlement of a lawsuit with Norton precisely follows the principles of Enlibra and will spare Utah a great deal of expensive litigation.

As an avid hiker, backpacker, fly fisher and lover of solitude (who grew up in rural Utah and appreciates the concerns of rural leaders), I along with the vast majority of Utahns would be perfectly satisfied with around 3 million acres of wilderness, especially because the other enormous tracts of Forest Service and BLM land would still be protected by a wide assortment of federal laws.

It is unfortunate that the coalition of rural interests, traditional land users and sportsmen and women have, once again, allowed environmental interests to win the public relations battle on this issue.


Democrat Ted Wilson, former Salt Lake mayor, directs the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah. E-mail: tednews@hotmail.com. Republican LaVarr Webb was policy deputy to Gov. Mike Leavitt and Deseret News managing editor. He now is a political consultant and lobbyist. E-mail: lavarrwebb@msn.com

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