Salt Lake County Councilmen Joe Hatch and Jeff Allen ventured deep into the Hundred Acre Wood on Tuesday in debating the otherwise-contentious shortfall in the county's Zoo, Arts and Parks projects.
With Mayor Peter Corroon recommending millions of dollars for earth-friendly buildings - even though the projects already were more than $15 million over budget - Allen warned that the county was nickel-and-diming itself to death. One bad economic turn, he said, and the county could find itself in financial trouble.
Hatch, who suggested a brighter economic future ahead, characterized himself as "Christopher Robin" and Allen as the unfortunate "Eeyore."
"What if things go good?" Hatch asked.
Allen stuck to the storybook theme and fired back, "We are taking Winnie the Pooh's honey pots - plus next year supplies, plus some from another Hundred Acre Woods - to pay for this."
Hatch chuckled. Without spending money on the environment, he responded, "the bees die."
May the best wallet win
It's no endorsement, but a straw poll at the recent Salt Lake County Republican Convention put the conservative vote clearly in Mitt Romney's camp for president.
The former Massachusetts governor and former head of the 2002 Olympic Games received 79 percent of the convention's vote - no surprise really for a candidate whose Mormon faith resonates with the state's largest voting bloc.
Sen. John McCain of Arizona captured a distant second with 6 percent, and Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee ranked third with 4 percent.
But who knows whom delegates really preferred.
This was a pay-to-play poll. With eligibility hinging on $1 for one vote, all we can say for sure is that Romney's supporters were the biggest spenders.
Jenny goes diverse
Salt Lake City mayoral hopeful Jenny Wilson used Cinco de Mayo as a backdrop to unveil her agenda on diversity.
Among the tenets, Wilson would forbid discriminatory profiling by police and strengthen the capital's support for minority-owned businesses, if elected.
"As mayor of Salt Lake City, I will celebrate and advocate for Salt Lake's diverse communities," said Wilson, who is one of eight candidates vying to succeed Rocky Anderson.
The full text is available on the Web at www.votejennywilson.com.
Wilson also has been endorsed by the Utah Democratic Black Caucus.
Sucker born every minute
Craigslist and eBay may be a haven for ticket deals for most events - but don't count the Rocky Anderson-Sean Hannity debate-turned-all-star wrestling match among them.
"Salt Lake Showdown" tickets listed up to $125 on the sites the week of the debate. Putting on their promo hats, radio hosts on KSL insisted the prices went even higher.
But as a genteel crowd shuffled into Kingsbury Hall - they would shed their scruples and turn hostile later - scalpers aplenty lurked on the sidewalks. Asking price: $20, or face value. Pushed - barely - by some Tribune reporters, one scalper slashed his price to $10.
About right, considering most people could hear only half the dialogue.
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