Will SLC mutiny cripple City Council?

A mini-mutiny on the Salt Lake City Council failed to turn Tuesday's Sugar House election as designed. And now that liberal Councilman Soren Simonsen has survived -- pending the canvass and potential recount -- the personal and political distancing by three of his colleagues threatens to fracture the once-cohesive group.

The fissure likely will lead to more split votes. But it also could forge two philosophical camps, meaning policy in Utah's progressive capital may often be held hostage by a new coalition of more conservative voices.

Based on the fact that this typically genteel council is naming names and tossing bombs, this could get ugly, fast.

Despite pledging to remain neutral throughout the contest, council members Jill Remington Love and J.T. Martin lent their public support to challenger Lisa Ramsey Adams over the final weekend. Love, who also told The Tribune last month she would not endorse, was the first name splashed across a large Adams ad in Sunday's newspaper. Martin popped up on Adams' Web page and in her last-minute blitz of automated calls.

"It certainly saddened me," Simonsen said moments after the election-night results tilted his way. "I'm very puzzled about Councilman Martin, although he's not been very communicative with me. The one that really disappointed me was Jill -- I consider her an ally. She told me a week ago she would be neutral, so it's a bit of a surprise."

Matthew Burbank, a

political scientist at the University of Utah, describes the operating principle in city races this way: "You stay out of my election and I'll stay out of yours."

"It is rather unusual," Burbank added. "If Simonsen's election is indeed upheld ... there's some real likelihood of there being some tension."

Martin didn't pull punches the morning before the election. Simonsen is nearly impossible to work with, he said, "very free at spending other people's money," and "he likes to pick the colors and the doors."

"If he's going to come and redesign and replan everything, then why do we have a Planning Commission."

Martin also said he was "shocked" Simonsen attacked Adams during a campaign debate, and he accused Simonsen of sacrificing his district to fund the so-called Grand Boulevard on North Temple. "He left his folks out in the cold."

For his part, Carlton Christensen wasted little time endorsing Adams. After all, he said, it was a quid pro quo. "I did what I had to do to protect myself," Christensen explained. "Soren recruited my opponent to run against me."

Former Councilman Dave Buhler, an early Adams backer, said Simonsen also tried to scare up an opponent for Love, who ran unopposed.

"It goes both ways," Buhler said. "People have to draw their own conclusions about why they're supporting someone new. There must be a reason."

Buhler, who some suggest mobilized the anti-Simonsen vote, acknowledges encouraging Adams to run. "But I haven't really been involved in her campaign."

Love initially told both candidates she would stay neutral. But after witnessing Adams' grasp of the issues, Love says she was "blown away."

"I'm just not the kind of person to stand on the sidelines," she said. "I wanted another woman on the City Council and I felt she would be a strong, effective legislator.

"I don't think Soren was surprised," she added, saying she feels "sad" about Tuesday's outcome. "I just so much wanted a chance to work with Lisa."

Sophomore Councilman Luke Garrott, a Simonsen supporter, offered a piercing critique of the "inevitably personal" council turmoil.

"This is a go-along-to-get-along council, especially under Jill's tutelage," he said. "She seeks consensus and if she doesn't get consensus she takes it personal. Jill has been unwilling to see or unwilling to admit ideological and philosophical differences."

Simonsen, Garrott says, is a rationalist who can be dogmatic, scientific and focused on right or wrong. "He really sticks to that calculus and I have seen that really annoy other council members. His insistence on logic is a big asset to the council."

Garrott predicts the outward tone will be civil, even courteous -- but he expects a lot more split votes. As such, he hopes Mayor Ralph Becker, a Simonsen supporter, will assert himself more to push his initiatives. "Alcohol reform, anti-discrimination, planning the Northwest Quadrant, the demolition ordinance," Garrott lists. "These are issues that have potential to divide us."

Simonsen, Garrott and newly elected Stan Penfold figure to sit in the progressive camp. But will anyone join them for that critical fourth and deciding vote?

Undeterred, Simonsen says his job is to raise issues and operate on principle.

"It's a tough thing," he said before pausing. "Is my purpose to get along with other council members, or to stand up for my district?"

djensen@sltrib.com