Instead, Ellis Ivory introduced himself Wednesday night as the GOP's choice to "replace" Workman in the Nov. 2 election at a "meet the candidates" event at Midvale Fire Station 22.
"We invited the mayor, and at this point we expect her to be here, but things have been changing so fast, we don't know if she'll come," said Robert Hale, a Union Community Council member who helped organize the forum. More than 50 people attended.
That the seat behind Workman's placard remained empty throughout the evening was only appropriate for some of the crowd's Republicans.
"She should have dropped out of the race," said Bob Fowler, 63. "I feel sorry for her, but under the circumstances, I feel it's pretty important that she withdraw."
Fowler added that Workman's decision not to drop off the ballot has destroyed his and fellow Republicans' ability to choose from a balanced slate of candidates.
Workman is on paid leave while she faces two felony charges of misusing taxpayer money.
Mayoral candidates Democrat Peter Corroon and independent Merrill Cook used words such as "tragic" and "unfortunate" to describe how they say the Workman scandals have overwhelmed the real issues of the election.
Corroon said his administration would focus on smart growth, bringing jobs to Salt Lake County and eliminating mayoral perks that led to Workman's current woes.
Cook argued that the position of mayor should be nonpartisan - as all other mayoral offices are in the state.
He also stated his desire to reduce and freeze property taxes countywide, and cut the mayoral budget by more than 50 percent, from $2.2 million to $1 million.
Ivory jump-started his write-in campaign by promising he would run "purely out of an act of public service."
"I won't use a county car, a credit card or accept any campaign contributions," he said.
The only heat generated by the forum - which also included candidates for Salt Lake County auditor, Salt Lake County Council and state Legislature - occurred during an impromptu mini-debate between Sean Thomas, now serving as interim county auditor, and Norman Le Fevre, campaign manager for Peter Stevens, 68, who could not attend Wednesday's event and is running for the auditor seat.
"Experience and qualifications tell it all," Le Fevre told the crowd. "Stevens has 40 years as a practicing certified public accountant and 20 years as an internal auditor. His opponent has no experience in accounting."
Thomas, 32, acknowledged that he is not a certified public accountant, but that his years as an investment banker and managing a company with "$100 million in assets" demonstrate he is qualified to fulfill the position's responsibilities.
"That's leadership," he said.
mcronin@sltrib.com
