By a 4-to-3 vote Tuesday, the Salt Lake City Council agreed to waive a city rule to allow Mayor Rocky Anderson to raise funds from private sources for his planned nonprofit organization dubbed HumanKind Education Fund Inc.

The mayor wants a head start in fundraising for the climate change and human rights organization before he leaves office in January. He has pledged not to take cash from city contractors to avoid any conflict of interest. And, he vowed to reveal names of donors should the City Council want. The mayor says he needs "seed money" for HumanKind as well as office space to get started. Still, Councilwoman Nancy Saxton, an Anderson foe, argued the waiver unnecessarily relaxes a city standard.

"This administration has been very critical of the previous administration," said Saxton, who predicted Anderson would reject such a request from a council member if the roles were reversed. "This opens the door for future fears."

But Councilman Eric Jergensen suggested denying the waiver based on a hypothetical is silly.

"That's not even relevant," said Jergensen, who noted the mayor actually has exceeded disclosure requirements by offering to name his donors.

Anderson was not present for Tuesday's vote. Neither was Councilwoman Jill Remington Love, who nonetheless cast the decisive vote by phone while vacationing in Mexico. - Derek P. Jensen