Mayor Rocky Anderson began his 2005 "state of the city" speech Tuesday night by quoting the "Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy," which encouraged decision-making with future generations in mind.
From there, Anderson embarked on a 55-minute speech that espoused the mayor's opinions on a broad spectrum of global and local issues, but contained few new initiatives.
Anderson first discussed global warming, saying the world "stands at the brink of environmental catastrophe from global warming" and that global warming could "spell the end of much of the ski industry."
Next, the mayor moved to big boxes and Wal-Mart.
"We must all understand the damage the Wal-Marts of our nation have done to local communities and their locally-owned businesses — and the way in which taxpayers often end up subsidizing their low wages and lack of decent benefits, including health care coverage," he said.
The mayor's comments ran counter to his 2003 state of the city speech, in which he welcomed Wal-Mart's new Supercenter to the city. That store opened this summer.
"A Wal-Mart store will be built near 300 West and 1300 South," Anderson said in 2003. "When completed, the store will allow west-side residents reasonably priced, convenient shopping options."
Throughout 2003, Anderson often touted the store's opening as a good thing for the city's west side during his re-election bid.
Tuesday, the mayor said local governments can work to effectively stop Wal-Mart. In Chicago, he said, Wal-Mart gave up a planned store after an ordinance was passed that would have required the store to pay a living wage.
Anderson then turned to other elected officials in Utah, like those who don't preserve open space. Anderson mentioned two Davis County plans — North Salt Lake City's desire to develop 80 acres in Salt Lake City's foothills and the Legacy Parkway, which he said would "asphalt over open spaces," increase suburban sprawl, waste tax dollars and increase pollution.
"Those elected officials . . . who pursue the destruction, rather than the preservation, of open spaces betray the responsibility they have as stewards for the future," Anderson said.
The mayor added: "We want our friends from the north to come to Salt Lake City; we just don't want them to increase our city's traffic, further foul our air, undermine the quality of our lives and make us sick simply because of the choices they make about where they live and how they get around."
Anderson also decried elected officials who politicize sexual orientation and religious affiliation.
"Those elected officials who pander to those who would divide us on the basis of differences in sexual orientation or religious affiliation betray the trust imposed on us to lead toward a fairer, more compassionate and just society," he said.
The mayor touched on many familiar themes, like downtown development, mass transit, good environmental policies, pedestrian safety, walkable communities and others. He highlighted the city's accomplishments in those areas.
City Council members said they liked the speech but were disappointed there was little discussion of budget issues. For instance, the mayor encouraged the completion of at least five multimillion-dollar multi-million-dollar projects — daylighting City Creek, redeveloping Pioneer Park, remodeling the Utah Theater on Main Street, building a new Major League Soccer stadium downtown and reconfiguring Union Pacific's rail line near Grant's Tower — but didn't talk about how to fund those projects.
"He talked about five multimillion-dollar projects without talking about the funding issues we face," City Council chairman Dale Lambert said.
Councilman Dave Buhler said he wished the speech, which focused on "sustainability," also discussed the sustainability of funding city government.
"How are we going to sustain the services we are providing on the revenue we are generating?" asked Buhler, added that he didn't like the mayor's apparent attack on commuters.
"It's too bad that he would seemingly attack commuters coming into our city," he said. "We should be welcoming them, not lecturing them."
A few new initiatives were included in the speech. For one, Anderson said his office is working with Xmission (a local Internet service provider) to provide wireless Internet access to much of the downtown area. The mayor also said in the coming year the city would be working toward creating bicycle lanes separated from the roadway in some neighborhoods.
The mayor said he would bring a proposal to the City Council to require all buildings built with city funds to meet "high-performance" standards, which would make the buildings more environmentally friendly.
And finally, Anderson said he would be asking for the council's support for creating a northwest quadrant master plan that would help guide development in that area, including integrating mass transit into the neighborhoods.
E-mail: bsnyder@desnews.com