"A lot of them were college-educated; they have families," Kravitz says of the folks who wanted the pet technician jobs, which pay $7 an hour. "Part of it is, there's a lot of people who want jobs."

Peter Corroon is one of those. He wants to be Salt Lake County's next mayor, and he says that Republican incumbent Nancy Workman does not do enough to promote job growth and help small businesses, such as Kravitz's Little Dogs Resort and Salon.

He chose the salon on Wednesday to outline his economic-development plan, which he says will do a better job of improving the area's economic options.

"While parts of the economy seem to be turning around, Salt Lake County cannot continue to remain behind the rest of Utah," said Corroon, a Democrat and head of the Salt Lake Vest Pocket Business Coalition, a small-business association.

"Because of its talent pool, natural resources and strong economic base, the county should be a [job-creation] leader."

His plan includes coordinating economic-development efforts, changing the retail-tax structure and increasing a small-business loan fund by $1 million.

Chris Bleak, Workman's campaign manager, says the proposals sound familiar.

"We love Peter Corroon's plan because it is our plan," Bleak said. "But we have far more significant rec- ommendations and initiatives that we already are currently implementing."

In March, Workman announced several initiatives to increase economic development, and in 2001, the mayor created the first Salt Lake County-run economic-development office.

Bleak also disputes Corroon's assertion about how bad the county's economy is doing. "We are seeing positive economic growth," he said.

That part is true, agrees Mark Knold, a senior economist with the state's Department of Workforce Services. But it's not because of anything local government leaders have done.

"These two can blow as much smoke as they want to and neither one can do a thing about it [the economy]," Knold said. "It's posturing; it's not reality."

Knold says the county has lost jobs since 2001, but so has the rest of the nation. And the county's economy is on an upswing, same as it is nationwide. "It's just the market and what happens with it."

Even so, Bleak points out that Corroon is not being "unequivocal" in his stand against taxes.

Workman has vowed to not raise taxes; Corroon says that would be a last resort, but he is not "one of those foolhardy politicians" who promises to not raise taxes.

"I would commit to cutting expenses before ever raising taxes," Corroon said.

Corroon and Workman are not the only candidates with a plan.

Former U.S. Congressman Merrill Cook, who is running unaffiliated for county mayor, said he wants to set an example from the top by cutting the mayor's budget by more than half.

"If people know we're down to business in county government and we don't have a culture of privilege, that's the best message to send to business people," Cook said. He plans to announce more proposals later.

Green Party candidate Diana Lee Hirschi is also seeking the mayor's post, and has promised to work for a "living wage" and ensure that county contractors pay workers at least $8 to $9 per hour.

tburr@sltrib.com

l Committed to "across the board" fiscal responsibility

l Wants to coordinate countywide economic-development efforts

l Supports changing retail-tax structure

l Will seek to create incentive zones for blighted communities

l Increase funding to a small-business loan fund by $1 million

l Focus on convention and tourism industries as sources for growth

Nancy Workman:

l Started the first county economic-development office in 2001

l Created quarterly business summits earlier this year

l Designed plan to help businesses identify existing incentives

l Studied perceptions and ideas of nearly 60 government and business leaders

l Wants to identify businesses with expiring leases, and then work to keep them here

Merrill Cook:

l Plans to set an example of fiscal responsibility by slashing county budgets

l Proposes asking department heads to resign if they don't cut budgets by 10 percent

l Wants to establish a "tax freeze" on property valuations

l Will seek to consolidate the valley's various economic-development efforts

Source: Candidates' campaigns