This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker's decision to reassign rather than fire his spokesman over anonymous online political comments amounts to "a slap on the wrist," his election opponent said Thursday.

Jackie Biskupski accused the mayor of a lack of leadership in the administration's announcement a day earlier that Art Raymond will remain on the city payroll after making online attacks on The Salt Lake Tribune comment board against her and others using the pseudonym WhiskeyPete — from the desktop computer at his City Hall offices.

David Everitt, Becker's chief of staff, said Wednesday that Raymond, 49, had been demoted and placed on probation. While Raymond's new job is in the same city department, Everitt said Raymond no longer will serve as a close mayoral adviser, nor as liaison to the media or the public.

Noting that Raymond was a high-ranking member of Becker's team, Biskupski said she was "concerned about the consistent message sent by Mayor Becker to our hardworking city employees, that unethical behavior results in a slap on the wrist."

"For the Becker administration to see no serious wrongdoing in the actions of Mr. Raymond is another example of a lack of accountability and leadership by the mayor," she said in statement.

Biskupski and Becker will face off on the Nov. 3 mayoral ballot, after Biskupski won Tuesday's five-candidate primary election with 46 percent of the vote. Becker garnered 31 percent.

A spokesman for Becker's campaign said the mayor stood by his administration's review of Raymond's actions and its sanctions against him, including a $3,000 cut in his salary of about $86,000.

The measured response to Raymond's behavior, Becker campaign manager Matt Lyon said, "demonstrates the experience of managing a large organization and the skills it takes to run a city on a day-to-day basis."

Lyon called Raymond's personnel matter a relatively minor concern, saying that "there are a lot bigger issues facing the city."

"I've heard a lot of criticisms thrown from the sidelines by the Biskupski campaign," Lyon said. "But I have yet to see a vision or articulation of a platform of what she wants to do if she were to be elected."

Biskupski, who works as a program manager for Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder, said the Raymond situation mirrored Becker's earlier handling of confirmed sexual-harassment allegations leveled by three female officers against a deputy police chief.

In June, Becker, who is seeking a third term as mayor, forced the resignation of Chris Burbank over the then-police chief's 2014 decision to suspend, but not demote, Rick Findlay, who retired with full benefits.

"This isn't about Mr. Raymond," Biskupski said, "but the mayor's inability to recognize the seriousness of unethical behavior, and not setting a better example for those who work for him."

Matthew Burbank, political scientist at the University of Utah, said Biskupski appeared to be aggressively carrying on the role of election challenger, with a strategy of criticizing the mayor coming out of her decisive primary victory.

"If you're going to run against an incumbent," said Burbank, "one of the things you have to do is say, 'Here is what I would do differently. Here are the things I would change. Here is what would be different in a new administration.' "

tsemerad@sltrib.com Twitter: @TonySemerad