Before she was fired Friday, Seed says, she and the mayor argued about circumstances surrounding the release of e-mails to reporters regarding his role in last week's anti-war protests during President Bush's visit to Salt Lake City.

She calls the confrontation her "last straw." She decided to look for another job and informed Anderson's chief of staff. The mayor then fired her.

Anderson said Monday that his decision to oust Seed came much earlier and that he had been interviewing replacements for "several weeks."

"There's no connection at all," the mayor said, between the e-mail dispute and Seed's departure.

The issue surfaced after The Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret Morning News requested the e-mails and, according to Seed, Anderson suggested releasing them early (the process sometimes takes days) in exchange for specific stories.

Seed told The Tribune Anderson would release them that day if the newspaper agreed to write a story about how the mayor could not extend bereavement benefits to gay employees' partners without City Council approval.

The Tribune refused the deal but got the e-mails early anyway after questioning the propriety of Anderson's offer inasmuch as the e-mails are public information.

Seed says the mayor was upset with her because she told The Tribune the mayor had struck a deal with the News for two other stories.

"He was really upset I told you guys the whole [story]. He didn't want me to divulge he'd been bartering with the Deseret Morning News.

"The bartering thing was just the last straw," Seed said. "He'd been blowing up at me for the last five days."

Anderson concedes offers were made to both dailies - "They were asking us for a favor. I was asking them in return for a favor," he said - but he insists the deals were appropriate.

Brady Snyder, Salt Lake City government beat reporter for the News, says he suggested to Seed that if the paper got the e-mails early, the editors could "package" the story with a protest follow-up on Sen. Orrin Hatch calling protesters "nut cakes."

The mayor, according to Snyder, made a counterproposal to release the public records that day if Snyder wrote a story about a city initiative to curb drug overdoses.

"I was going to write a story [on that] anyway," Snyder said. "I decided to do it."

Anderson notes such e-mails normally are vetted by the city attorney before release but that he would make the "extraordinary effort" to cough up the public correspondence because of the importance of the overdose story.

"I didn't care when they wrote the story," he said. "The sooner the better because another life might be lost. . . . This had nothing to do with me or trying to spin a story. It had everything to do with trying to save lives."

Seed said after Anderson made an arrangement with the News, "He said, 'What can we get out of [The Tribune ]?' ”

The mayor says the issue never was about whether the city would give up the e-mails. It was about when they would be released. The law says the city can take up to five days.

"They are public records and they are absolutely entitled to them," Anderson said. "This is a question of when they are getting them."

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Tribune reporter Heather May contributed to this story.