Matt Livingston, the 17-year-old columnist who took on Mayor Kim Lawson over Kanab's passage of the headline-grabbing natural-family resolution, did so again Wednesday - this time not in the weekly newspaper but face to face during a live radio broadcast.

"People look at Kanab and think it's a crazy place," said Livingston, who was applauded by about 200 residents and students attending the KUER-FM broadcast at Kanab High.

After Livingston's critical columns appeared, the mayor had fired off letters of complaint to the teenager's school superintendent and LDS stake president.

"He never confronted me," said Livingston, sitting at a long table with the mayor Wednesday in what was their first public confrontation. "Instead, he just took off for two weeks, which tells you who the man is."

Lawson, a part-time mayor who went on a two-week vacation last month, told Livingston he held no animosity toward him and even congratulated the Kanab High senior for winning a scholarship.

The mayor also said he supports freedom of the press, but stressed that it carries responsibilities with it.

As a member of the "old school," Lawson said journalists should adhere to the traditional formula of reporting the who, what, when, where and why of events and issues while refraining from "personalized criticism and name-calling."

In one column, Livingston wrote: "Mayor, I'm callin' you out, along with your 'Family' Vision for the City of Kanab. As a fellow LDS member, I would expect a more Christ-like countenance on your part."

Lawson suggested Wednesday that the columns attacking him might have been the workings of Southern Utah News Editor Dixie Brunner, an allegation she and Livingston deny.

The mayor said it is too early to tell if a boycott - called for by critics of the nonbinding natural-family resolution - will harm his tourist city of 3,500.

"It may have some impact, I admit," Lawson said. "But the jury is still out on that."

Many Kanab business owners contend the verdict is in. They point to a canceled convention, scrapped hotel reservations and hundreds of blistering e-mails as evidence.

Allen Gilberg, who owns a Kanab sign company, said the resolution makes it hard for businesses and hurts the image of this scenic southern Utah city.

"The mayor is of one mind, but the rest of us aren't bigots," Gilberg said.

On the positive side, he added, the controversy has stirred up a healthy civic activism among residents.

"Where before they displayed apathy, now they feel they need to be more involved," Gilberg said. "Some people are afraid of change, but it's the only thing that's certain."

That's what Livingston is counting on - change. When KUER radio host Doug Fabrizio asked him if he plans to stick around Kanab after graduation, the teenager said it all depends on who wins the next election.

That response won Livingston another round of applause.

mhavnes@sltrib.com

Natural-family resolution

* Kanab's City Council adopted earlier this year a nonbinding natural-family resolution, which touts marriage between men and women as "ordained of God" and conceives homes as "open to a full quiver of children."

* It also promotes young women becoming "wives, homemakers and mothers" and young men growing into "husbands, home builders and fathers."

* Since then, women's advocates, gay-rights activists and others - inside and outside of Kanab - have criticized the resolution. Famed travel writer Arthur Frommer called for a boycott of area businesses.