That's the lineup for a Salt Lake City Council race that pits two political greenhorns against each other for the east-bench District 6 seat vacated by mayoral candidate Dave Buhler.

So while Buhler battles for the capital's top job, his constituents are being wooed by two very different candidates: Salt Lake City attorney Roger McConkie and Emigration Market owner J.T. Martin.

McConkie describes himself as a compromiser, rather than a polarizer. As with litigation - where the vast majority of lawsuits end in settlements, not trials - he said the council could use someone who can find common ground.

"People ought to spend their energy, time and emotional strength resolving problems."

Martin, on the other hand, professed a more steadfast approach to public policy. He characterized himself as rooted more in principle than compromise.

"When you are doing the right thing, you should never compromise," he said. "There are times you don't weaken the truth. Right is right."

McConkie was raised a University of Utah fan, cheering Ute athletics with such zest that he imagined himself a sports broadcaster. He got his chance in college, landing jobs at two Salt Lake City radio stations.

McConkie never became the Brent Musburger of Rocky Mountain radio. Sure, he idolized the famed sports broadcaster. But McConkie soon realized that the weekend and evening hours would wreak havoc on his future family life. So he studied law and now practices it professionally.

While McConkie speaks much about returning "civility" to City Hall, he also talks of connecting the city through green space, education and business.

That vision includes a global trade center that would tap the state's foreign-language speakers, a U. law center downtown that would forge closer ties between students and the legal community, and plenty of urban open space.

The attorney ranks public safety among his highest priorities and said he supports a $192 million bond to replace the city's existing police and fire headquarters. McConkie said he would push for a police precinct east of the Wasatch Fault to better serve residents on the bench, particularly during a natural disaster.

"I recognize that it is a huge expense," McConkie said of the bond. "But I'm sold on the fact that it needs to be done."

Martin has made his livelihood in small business - not surprising, perhaps, for the man who swept door-to-door sales contests as a Boy Scout and opened a tree-cutting and window-washing business as a high-schooler.

His bread and butter is Emigration Market, the now-thriving grocery and cafe he has operated for the past eight years.

Before that, he opened and sold a jewelry shop, studied in Austria and landed a marketing job for a European airline. But his path ultimately brought him back to Utah - thanks to his future bride - to the same east-side neighborhood where his grandparents built their home.

With his shop now running smoothly, he wants to help City Hall do the same.

Martin's campaign has everything to do with small businesses, which he says are impeded by a no-can-do attitude at City Hall. He said he would work to remove the bureaucratic barriers blocking small-business projects.

"Small-business guys don't have the time to fight through the bureaucracy," he said. "They need to have a go-to guy on the City Council."

Martin said he also would push for more community policing - such as roving volunteer patrols in a marked vehicle - and for the creation of a community-council committee to discuss ways to reduce District 6's carbon footprint.

"Our air quality is not going to get any better unless we think about it differently than we are," he said. "We've got to do it."

jstettler@sltrib.com