“I thought about it over [Friday night] and called Yocom the next morning and said, 'I violated this statute and do whatever you think you need to do,' ” Anderson said on Monday.

Yocom said he would have investigators look at the matter today. "We'll take a look at it and see what there is."

State law says city employees may not use "municipal equipment while engaged in political activity." But there may be no punishment attached to the law. Yocom and city attorneys could not readily find penalty provisions.

At the end of August, Salt Lake City Council members received copies of six e-mails that were sent from Anderson's campaign headquarters to his city e-mail account, along with one sent by him from City Hall to his campaign. The seven e-mails were part of a larger packet of information produced by a resident regarding the city's proposed taxi-cab ordinance.

In response to an open-records request Friday, the mayor's office said it reviewed the mayor's e-mails sent or received between December 2002 to November 2003. There were a total of 142 campaign-related correspondences.

Anderson called the amount "minimal." His spokeswoman said the mayor receives or initiates several hundred e-mails each month.

The mayor said he may have taken campaign-related calls on his office phones, too, including from reporters. He said no other municipal equipment was used for the campaign.

Before the November 2003 election, city attorneys prepared a 16-page information guide to help incumbents, such as Anderson and three City Council members, know what to do when it comes to political activity on the job. The guide states employees cannot use city-owned telephones, computers or cell phones to campaign, produce campaign literature, schedule a candidate's activities or perform work for a candidate.

Anderson said he had not read it during the campaign and didn't know if he ever received the guide. On Friday, after city attorneys directed him to the state law regarding the use of municipal equipment, the mayor said he believed he had violated it.

During the campaign, Anderson owned a campaign cell phone, and said he was careful not to raise money from City Hall. He recalled stopping a man from talking about the campaign in the mayor's office. The two went outside to the public sidewalk to resume the discussion.

Council Chairwoman Jill Remington Love said Friday that upon learning about the policy, she alerted all council members about it. Some of them use city-owned computers or city-paid Internet service in their homes.

She said the use of e-mail is "fairly new" for campaigns and the city still is sorting out the rules.

"Technically, [Anderson's e-mails] would be against the policy. I am fairly confident that he upheld the spirit of the policy and the law," she said. "It's impossible as elected officials not to take the occasional phone call or e-mail on city equipment."

Anderson agrees and suggests the state law should be changed. He said the standard should be a prohibition against using municipal resources if it costs taxpayers money - such as using city letterhead for campaigns.

hmay@sltrib.com