This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Salt Lake County Council called a timeout Tuesday on Mayor Peter Corroon's push for a $110 million parks bond on this fall's ballot.
Over some Democratic objections, the Republican-led council voted 5-3 to punt the bond to November 2012, delaying the ballot issue until a general election year — with the prospect of heavier turnout at the polls — and giving county leaders time to refine the project list.
Specifically, council members want to reallocate $10 million originally pegged for Salt Lake City's hotly disputed soccer complex.
"My big issue with this is the timing," said Republican Steve DeBry, who made the motion to postpone the bond for a year. If the county is going to have a bond vote, he said, it should be in a general, not an off-year, election.
GOP colleague Richard Snelgrove feared a 2011 vote would give Salt Lake City residents — who will be electing a mayor this year — undue influence over unincorporated residents who face no municipal elections.
"Is it fair when Salt Lake City has 17 percent of the [county's] population to have 60 percent of the vote?" Snelgrove asked. "It's not fair that they decide for 100 percent of the taxpayers."
After the meeting, Snelgrove said he plans to introduce an ordinance in the next few weeks that would limit bond proposals to general-election ballots.
Democratic Councilwoman Jani Iwamoto said meetings with her east-side community councils showed strong support for a bond election this year. She said even one of her conservative constituents was looking forward to the ballot, so he could vote no.
Corroon, disappointed by the delay, said voters who feel passionately about the proposal would go to the polls — even in an off-year election. And, with interest rates low and new companies moving in, he said it was the perfect time to press forward with the bond.
The proposed bond would pay for the creation of new parks, the improvement of existing ones and the extension of the Jordan River Parkway.
Iwamoto joined Democratic council members Arlyn Bradshaw and Randy Horiuchi in voting against the delay. While fellow Democrat Jim Bradley united with Republicans DeBry, Snelgrove, Max Burdick and David Wilde in approving the postponement.
(Councilman Michael Jensen, a Republican, was not present for the vote.)
Bradley sees the wait as a boost for the bond. There were not enough Republican votes to put it on the ballot this year, he noted, but GOP members have indicated their intent to put it before the voters in 2012.
Another person happy to see the delay: Jeff Salt. The Jordan River advocate and his colleagues have been fighting — in court and City Hall — the planned sports complex in northwest Salt Lake City.
Salt also applauded the council's plan to steer the bond money away from the fields and toward other projects, including more centered around the Jordan River.
But Corroon vowed the county would live up to its pledge to assist the city with funding the sports complex.
Twitter: @donaldwmeyers