He did the media blitz, toured City Hall, named a transition chairman, then hopped a plane to Little Rock - all within 48 hours of winning the Salt Lake City mayor's chair.
Perhaps Ralph Becker will follow Rocky Anderson's frenetic pace after all.
By Thursday afternoon, the mayor-elect was in Bill Clinton territory for an inaugural fellows program meeting organized by the Democratic Leadership Council.
"I guess I'm the guinea pig," Becker said in a phone interview after landing in Arkansas, where he spent the weekend with 25 other Democratic leaders from around the nation.
The meeting was planned before the election, explained Becker, who said former DLC chairman Clinton was to be the host but had another commitment.
Becker praised the DLC - the nonprofit heralds Clinton as its standard-bearer - which argues the Democratic Party should shift away from traditionally populist positions without steering toward the "loony left."
No word on whether Becker will hire strictly New Democrats who follow the Third Way.
County's 'globe' theater
The Clark Planetarium soon could have the world in its hands.
Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon wants to sink $190,000 into a new "Science on a Sphere" exhibit that would give gawkers a spacewalker's glimpse of the globe.
The three-dimensional sphere - capable of showing not only continents, but also changes in weather patterns or global catastrophes - could do wonders for education, the mayor said.
Or for advertising.
With cinematics uncommon to the county's budget presentation, the mayor's chief financial officer illustrated the technology online during a hearing before the Salt Lake County Council. He showed the shifting of continental plates and the ripple effects of a devastating tsunami that struck Indonesia in 2004.
Then, with a smile, Chief Financial Officer Darrin Casper showcased the sphere's commercial appeal. With a button click, the continents of North America, Africa and Asia vanished and a Hewlett-Packard logo took their place.
Now that's global advertising.
Write-ins win - twice
Write-in votes usually are a way for the electorate to vent frustration for candidates listed on the ballot.
Under Utah law, these votes usually get discarded because, unlike other states, candidates here are required to register to be considered as write-in candidates. Otherwise, offices could go to Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and, possibly, Pedro.
But don't give up on write-ins just yet. If it weren't for write-in votes, Goshen's Town Council would be two members short come January.
In July, nobody bothered to file to run for the council in the Utah County hamlet west of Santaquin. But in October, Steve Hopes, Kimberly Neal and Cary Woodland registered as write-in candidates.
So in last week's unofficial results, Hopes got 142 votes and Woodland 93 to win council slots, while Neal finished third with 89.
'Elder' Nelson gets job,
despite some baggage
Payson City Councilman Larry Skinner already knows the new city manager, Richard H. Nelson, and it wasn't a good first meeting.
Skinner told the council that Nelson, who previously served as North Ogden's city administrator, was his first LDS mission companion in South Korea. He said Nelson welcomed him into the mission field by getting their housekeeper and cook to hide his luggage, causing him some anxiety that first day.
Despite that, Nelson got a unanimous council vote to replace Andy Hall, who left to work in Henderson, Nev.
Nelson starts work in Payson on Nov. 19.
---
* Have a tip for Off the Agenda? Contact DEREK P. JENSEN at djensen@sltrib.com, 801-257-8785; CATHY MCKITRICK at cmckitrick@sltrib.com, 801-257-8778; ROSEMARY WINTERS at rwinters@sltrib.com, 257-8737; KRISTEN MOULTON at kmoulton@sltrib.com, 831-0467; JEREMIAH STETTLER at jstettler@sltrib.com, 801-257-8755; STEVE GEHRKE at sgehrke@sltrib.com, 801-257-8717; DONALD W. MEYERS at dmeyers@sltrib.com, 801-440-2859.
