He's awake. He's alive. And he is tweaked.
These may be the dog days of summer, but not for Rocky Anderson. Standing in 92-degree heat last week, Salt Lake's Mayor for Life seemed positively energized. He was clear. He was focused. He was steadfast for freedom. He even had his own version of Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses - a seven-page news release demanding a reformation by the state Legislature. All he needed was the Wittenberg Door on which to nail the proclamation.
Anderson's "Call for Action," as he labeled it, was headlined "Freedom from unreasonable public policies restricting personal choices and harming public health." The mayor summarized each of seven policies he believes are "restrictive and ill conceived," or "overly permissive to the point of harming public safety and security."
He wants people to be free from gun violence. He wants to free Salt Lake from a state mandate preventing the payment of a "living wage" of $9.06 an hour to workers under contract to the city. Unmarried couples - including gays and lesbians - should be free to adopt children.
Schools and family planning agencies should be free to discuss contraception and provide practical advice for preventing sexually transmitted diseases. People should be free to dance - yes, dance - in bars and clubs beyond puritanical curfews.
We should have freedom to breathe clean air (read: Anderson will still take on all comers in his fight against Legacy Highway). And, not to be overlooked, those nagging liquor laws. They popped up in the mayor's manifesto, as in strike those arcane club membership requirements.
He might have more success pounding his head against the limestone brick of the City and County Building, but was it ever refreshing to renew the acquaintance of the real Rocky. True, he has been turning up the volume with digs at free-spending Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman and shots at President Bush. But mostly, he seemed to be snoozing this summer, like my octogenarian black lab who dozes all day in the shade of the patio.
In this case, the highly anticipated visit of the National Conference of State Legislators last week in Salt Lake certainly helped jog him into action. Though Anderson vowed at his news conference he never intended to embarrass Utah's delegation with his timing.
Was there pressure from some tough core of liberal constituents, concerned that Anderson had been wimpy on the trademark issues he typically uses to burrow under the skin of the predominantly LDS, Republican legislative majority? Efforts to prove that thesis failed.
Karrie Galloway, executive director of Planned Parenthood of Utah, said she has been "embarrassed" by the amount of time state lawmakers spend on abortion at the expense of serious discussions about preventing unintended pregnancies. She said she appreciates Anderson using his pulpit to "do what is right."
And to do what is classic Rocky. This latest move has already rankled the City Council. Chairman Dave Buhler - who often leads an anti-Anderson majority on most hot-button issues - has threatened to cut $50,000 for a city lobbyist's salary at the 2005 Legislature. Why bother, said Buhler. The mayor has alienated everyone who matters on the Hill. Better to flush the money down the commode.
Anderson cares not. This is what Salt Lake expects, indeed, even values - the guy who speaks out and rides straight on against "Utah Nice." He will never win a statewide election, which pretty much cements his role as Mayor for Life. And turns out, he is no sleeping dog.
hmullen@sltrib.com
