Businessman and former city councilman Keith Christensen opened his campaign for the 2007 Salt Lake mayor's race Monday morning with an endorsement from Rocky Anderson.

The current mayor spoke well of Christensen, 55, at a news conference at the City Library, giving a kick-start to Christensen's 15-month campaign and cementing their public friendship.

"Keith Christensen will be a mayor who will make us all proud," Anderson said. "Keith is a person who really gets it."

Christensen, a Republican, is part owner of a gas station chain and started a company that manufactures military-airplane parts, while Anderson, a Democrat, is known for his environmental causes to

reduce greenhouse-gas pollution and for his anti-war stance. The two have had their differences: Christensen said, for example, that he never would have protested President Bush's visit to Utah last summer as Anderson did.

But both said Monday that partisanship doesn't belong in municipal races, where the focus should remain on good governance.

Christensen said that he wants to make Salt Lake City one of the most liveable cities in the world. Building on a slew of accolades from magazines such as Money and Outside, he wants the capital to be everyone's zenith.

"Why aren't we on everyone's top-100 livable places list?" Christensen said. "I'll tell you what, we're going to be."

Christensen broadly outlined the bullet points of his campaign: transportation, beautification, community and neighborhood development, public safety and city administration. He has few specific plans now — a brief mention of pedestrian- and bike-friendly streets, for instance — but he told voters to watch for more details in coming months.

Christensen is a one-half owner of Wind River Petroleum, the company that operates 31 Top Stop convenience stores and gas stations in Utah and Idaho. He also started Christensen Industries, a company that manufactures airplane parts for private and military aircraft. Christensen owns two planes — one for business and one for personal use, a Cessna Skylane.

Salt Lake City has an ordinance that allows candidates for mayor to voluntarily limit themselves to contributions of $75,000 or less from their own accounts and to overall expenses of less than $375,000 throughout the course of the campaign. Christensen has declined to follow voluntary contribution limits for the mayor's race. He said that he doesn't plan on using any of his own money in the race and that he plans to start fund-raising soon.

"We have enough that I can afford to give some time back to the community, and that's why I'm doing this," Christensen said. "I intend that others will support me because my part in this is to donate my time."

City Councilwoman Nancy Saxton, who is the only other person to formally announce a run for mayor in 2007, said this race is starting early and will cost plenty for anyone serious about winning the post. In the 2003 mayoral race, Anderson outspent challenger Frank Pignanelli by $769,000 to $385,000. Saxton said the level of spending in that contest raised the Salt Lake mayor's race to new financial heights.

"There are people with lots of money who are very interested in Salt Lake City," said Saxton, who recently sold off all but one of her businesses to settle private debts. "I just hope that with this early interest and with the importance of Salt Lake City, the citizens will also realize that it is important to donate early and to the candidate of their choice."

Besides Saxton and Christensen, City Council members Dave Buhler, Eric Jergensen, Jill Remington Love and Carlton Christensen are rumored to be considering the mayoral race. Additionally, County Councilwoman Jenny Wilson, Salt Lake Republican Party Chairman James Evans and House Minority Leader Ralph Becker are considering running. And to add a face of youth to the race, 24-year-old Nick Bryson contacted the Deseret Morning News on Monday to declare his candidacy.

Christensen helped to broker a deal with Anderson over the east-west TRAX rail line in 1999 just after the mayor was elected to his first term. Christensen, who was on the council from 1993 to 2001, worked through major Salt Lake projects such as the development of the Grand America block, the Main Street TRAX line, The Gateway's inception, the beginning of the Main Street Plaza exchange with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and an anti-discrimination policy for the city.

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Through Wind River Petroleum, Christensen has purchased products from Sinclair Oil, a company owned by Earl Holding, who built the Grand America hotel on the downtown city block between Main Street, State Street, 500 South and 600 South.

During court fights between Sinclair and two businesses on the block throughout 1995 and 1996, the businesses argued that Christensen had a conflict of interest both because of the business dealings and two loans from Sinclair to Wind River Petroleum. Christensen was ultimately cleared of any conflicts of interest in the case, and he still purchases gas for Wind River's Top Stop chain from Sinclair.


E-mail: kswinyard@desnews.com

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