SANDY — Although it may not be clear from the yard signs, the advertisements, and the rhetoric, the next Sandy mayor will have more to wrestle with than the for oposed gravel-pit development has dominated political debate in this south-valley suburb for the last year, municipal candidates will have more to contend with after Nov. 8 than whether Wal-Mart builds a supercenter. The former gravel pit at 9400 South and 1000 East is the subject of a voter referendum about whether to change zoning to allow for big-box development.
In the meantime, Sandy still provides neighborhoods with other services ranging from police to water to sanitation.
At a Sandy Chamber of Commerce lunch Thursday, Mayor Tom Dolan and challenger Gary T. Forbush reiterated their support for all Sandy services.
"Cities exist for one purpose: to provide services," Dolan said. "We believe that we have the highest services that you could possibly have in the state of Utah."
Dolan, who is running for his fourth term, touted his accomplishments and the money that Sandy has spent on securing drinking water, storm-drain improvements and road reconstruction. Money the city has spent on lobbyists — $350,000 in 2005 and more than any other Utah city, according to a report by the Utah Taxpayers Association — has come back in the form of funding for major projects on State Street, 700 East and 1300 East, Dolan said.
Forbush said that although Sandy gives its residents good services, the city has pushed the gravel-pit development too far.
"We want services, but at the same time we want the appropriate mixture of business in our neighborhoods," Forbush said.
Both candidates, however, are vested in the gravel-pit fight. Forbush is a member of Save Our Communities, the group that opposes big-box development at the gravel pit, and he also was involved in the legal battles between SOC and the Boyer Co. that led to the referendum. Dolan, for his part, has accepted thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Boyer in his runs for mayor and supports the development.
Dolan believes that without the sales tax from the Boyer development and the money that lobbyists bring, Sandy would have to dip into other sources of money for basic city services.
"The more money that we have to spend from our general fund is the more money that we lose to hire people or to use for client services," Dolan said.
Forbush has pointed to Dolan's list of contributions from realtors, developers and out-of-state companies as evidence that the mayor is not in tune with Sandy residents. Forbush, who said that he has had both the good weather and friendly people he wanted for campaigning this month, said that residents are concerned about the Real Salt Lake professional soccer stadium slated for the northwest corner of 9400 South and State Street. The league and team's finances are unproven, Forbush said, and although he would like the extra practice fields the team promises to build, the stadium may not have been the best option for Sandy.
Dolan courted Real Salt Lake with an offer of sharing a parking structure with the South Towne Exposition Center across the street. Sandy can use $20 million from Salt Lake County for the parking garage, and Dolan has said that it makes sense to share the garage between the stadium and the expo center. But a lawyer for the county has said that $20 million cannot go toward any private use that the county does not have an ownership stake in, which may complicate Dolan's plans to share the garage.
City council candidates joined Dolan and Forbush at the chamber lunch. Sandy voters will send two unopposed candidates back into office — Scott Cowdell in District One will be re-elected for four years, and Chris McCandless in District Four will be re-elected for two years. Voters will select either incumbent Bryant Anderson or challenger Brigitte Dawson as their District Three council member, and will choose between Max Burdick and Steve Smith for the at-large councilman. The general election is Nov. 8.
E-mail: kswinyard@desnews.com