His name has been muddied. Nevermind that the stories apparently are true.

A day after cornering Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson in a hallway last week, Hansen was a blubbering mess on Doug Wright's KSL Radio talk show. Reduced to tears by presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin's book about Lincoln, Team of Rivals, the Logan developer lamented the short supply of such stoic leaders.

"I am very sorry that I don't have Abraham Lincoln's patience," Hansen said.

Me too. But now isn't the time to make comparisons to an exceptional American president.

This isn't Gettysburg. This is much more earthbound; it's about taxpayer money.

The mayor and city Redevelopment Agency staff say Hansen has a twisted interpretation of his contracts with the city. His agreements for public subsidies - a $2.8 million city loan to help move KUTV from West Valley City to Main Street and interest credits for every out-of-town worker he plugs into the Wells Fargo Tower - have been manipulated to benefit his company, Wasatch Property Management.

Wasatch "has attempted (and, until now, has succeeded) to circumvent the clear requirements" of the loan, Rocky wrote in a June 1 letter to the City Council, costing the city RDA and taxpayers more than $1 million.

Hansen's explanation boils down to this: Rocky hates him. Oh, and Salt Lake City is a terrible place to do business.

He acknowledges there may be some misunderstanding about the terms of his loan (the semantics defense). He insists as soon as he found out his company was late with a payment, he told his staff to "write the check."

But when it comes right down to it, Hansen says, he has to bail on another project, Hamilton Partners' office tower at 222 S. Main (the recasting history defense). Rocky supposedly forced him out by questioning whether handing over another $1 million in RDA money for a parking garage is wise. Hamilton partners say Hansen abandoned the project before the mayor's letter.

After investing $220 million downtown in five years, buying up Wells Fargo, the First Security building on 400 South, the Chamber of Commerce building on State Street and the Chase building, Hansen apparently is done with the capital city. Hansen says even the helpful "shadow government" team of Chamber President Lane Beattie and Vice President Natalie Gochnour isn't enough to get him to stay. Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan is calling.

For good measure, Hansen says this argument over the meaning of contracts is all about politics (the remember-Rocky's-a-liberal defense). The Republican campaign financier who a year ago said he could work with the mayor, that Rocky isn't "evil," fell back on tried-and-true partisanship.

Again bringing up Lincoln, he urged Rocky to be a statesman. "He has a very different political tilt than I do," Hansen helpfully reminded KSL listeners. "I'm asking Rocky to listen not just to environmentalists, but to the business community as well."

It's a savvy damage-control strategy. Knocking Rocky reinforces the rest of Utah's perceptions of Salt Lake City's mayor.

Faced with Crazy Rocky, who wouldn't take his marbles to Dolan's state-sponsored, soccer stadium/expo center sprawl-fest?

Another mayor might have handled this more artfully. Rocky could have continued to beg Hansen's gatekeepers for a meeting with the man himself. He could have pleaded humbly for a check.

But that's not Rocky's way. If that makes Salt Lake City anti-business, so be it. Rocky is looking out for taxpayers before developers. And I'm OK with that.

If Hansen is going to take his money and go south, that's OK too.

Go ahead and pick Sandy's pockets for a while.

Goodbye. Good riddance.

walsh@sltrib.com