Phillips, who purchases advertising time for Hinckley Dodge, admits that he sometimes negotiates the buys with media representatives during business hours in his office at the County Government Center. But he says that as an exempt employee his hours are flexible and he is careful to make up the time he spends on private business. He also uses those times to "discuss opportunities for county advertising time."
Phillips says he has a "conflict of interest" declaration with the Salt Lake County Council and "everything is aboveboard."
Rocky road: Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson and son Luke recently returned from a two-week vacation throughout Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Hong Kong and never once did an airline in the developing countries misplace their bags.
After going through customs Tuesday at LAX, Anderson checked his bags with Delta Air Lines in Los Angeles and flew home to Salt Lake International Airport. But his large backpack didn't show up until the next day.
Republicans and Utahns: In Sunday's New York Times Magazine, writer David Brooks reminisced about the 2000 Republican convention in Philadelphia.
Brooks related that The Big Tent party "opened with a Hispanic girl singing the national anthem. Then there was a video of a black Baptist minister preaching from the pulpit of his church, and there was a Mexican dancer with a big sombrero. Chaka Khan sang a rousing finale.
"I remember joking that with all the whites in the audience and all the minority performers on stage, the whole thing looked like a Utah Jazz basketball game."
Taken for a ride: Commuters on UTA bus No. 72 from Ogden to Salt Lake City got a bit of a scare Monday morning when the bus began swaying dramatically on I-15. Several women on the bus yelled for the driver to pull over, but he made it safely into Salt Lake City.
Wednesday afternoon, on the commute back to Ogden, the bus broke down on I-15. About 50 passengers opted to depart the bus and walk about a quarter-mile along the shoulder of I-15 to the Kaysville exit.
Tit for tat: We have reported several telemarketing calls on behalf of the Utah Democratic Party to Republican legislators asking for contributions to defeat Republican legislators.
Not to be outdone, the Republican National Committee recently sent a mailer that begins: "Dear Fellow Republican" and asks for contributions to elect Republicans. One was mailed to state Democratic Chairman Donald Dunn.
Friendly neighbors? A house on the 2500 block of Kenwood Avenue in Salt Lake City displays a large Confederate flag on the front porch and a Bush-Cheney sign in the window. Right next door, the house displays a large gay pride rainbow flag.
In the spirit of moderation, a few doors down is a U. of U. flag.
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Paul Rolly and JoAnn Jacobsen-Wells welcome e-mail at rolly_wells@sltrib.com.
