To that end, Salt Lake City mayoral candidate Ralph Becker has honed certain elements from his so-called "blueprints" into a platform of priorities for his first 180 days in office.

"It is time for Salt Lake City to move forward aggressively and progressively to promote our agenda," Becker said Monday on a sun-splashed Library Square Plaza, with City Hall framed in the background.

Becker, who faces City Councilman Dave Buhler in the Nov. 6 mayoral chase, was joined by Democratic Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon, who offered his formal endorsement, as well as two backers from the City Council: Eric Jergensen and Soren Simonsen.

The supporters took turns praising the urban planner and Utah House Democratic leader for his planning acumen, environmental stewardship and even-keeled ability to work with the Legislature.

Simonsen, swayed by Becker's commitment to air quality, open space and public transit, says nobody is "more prepared or more visionary" to be the Utah capital's next mayor.

"The balls that are set in motion in this administration will have generational impacts," he said.

But Buhler panned Becker's 180-day "Action Plan" as "fairly vague."

"A lot of it is plans to implement other people's plans, like Downtown Rising," Buhler said.

The Republican candidate also criticized Becker for proposing to add 20 new cops, a move Buhler called for last week.

"Is this Blueprint Man or Xerox Man?" Buhler quipped.

Becker pledges to appoint a first-of-its-kind senior-level education-partnership coordinator. If elected, he also would create a mayor's monthly school summit and develop a scholarship program.

Becker wants to build green, overhaul the planning department, complete a capital network of bicycle trails, require a review of so-called carbon footprints and finish the Jordan River Parkway.

He also hopes to bolster community engagement and open dialogue with the GOP-dominated Legislature "for what seems like the first time." For the past 11 years, Becker has served as a state lawmaker representing the Avenues-Capitol Hill district, where he says he has learned to be forceful to fight for Salt Lake City but still has solid relationships.

Becker vows to send the council a broader nondiscrimination policy on his first day in office. He also would establish a city directory for domestic partnerships, allow an employee to name a domestic partner as a beneficiary, and issue an executive order that requires companies that contract with the city to extend benefits to domestic partners.

To benefit downtown, Becker hopes to form a cultural district for the arts, create a year-round public market, add bike rentals and lockers at the transit hub and initiate a downtown circulator system for public transit.

He also would work to extend the reach of the University of Utah by adding housing facilities and space for classrooms and research along the 400 South TRAX line.

Said Jergensen, "He's captured what needs to be done in the long term."

djensen@sltrib.com