'Things are going right'

George W. Bush's State of the Union speech -- check.

Olene Walker's State of the State speech -- check.

Rocky Anderson's State of the City speech -- check.

And now, Nancy Workman's State of the County speech.

Barring further prolongations (State of the Neighborhood? State of the Block?), the Salt Lake County mayor ended the annual spate of "State of" speeches Tuesday with a theme of successful progress.

"I can stand before you today and declare that Salt Lake County is working and we are in good health," Workman said before an audience of council members and county workers in the County Commission chambers. "Things are going right."

The function of county government is something people often misunderstand, if they think about it at all. That's something Workman said she wants to combat through educating the public.

Much of her speech was a review of the process that led to the current Unified Fire Authority, what used to be the county fire department. The authority, comprising the county and cities that contract with the county for fire service, is an intermediate step toward an independent fire district.

The county is now pushing legislation that would allow the same thing to happen with regard to law enforcement. That would put the county and cities that contract with it for police protection, as well as any other city that wanted to join, into an independent district run by a board with representatives from each jurisdiction.

"The district would preserve the economies of scale of our sheriff's department and would also allow for the direct management of the department's budget by each participating entity," Workman said.

Workman touted the fact that the county has held the line on taxes the past three years and is streamlining government -- "doing more with less." She noted the South Towne Expo Center is ranked second nationally for hosting the most consumer shows, and that a study is now being completed to determine whether the Expo Center and Salt Palace Convention Center should expand, and if so, by how much.

She also discussed online business inspections, township signs, the neighborhood cleanup program, Clark Planetarium and the county's AAA bond rating.

Predictably, the speech received a standing ovation with a few exceptions -- most notably Councilman Joe Hatch, a staunch Democrat to Republican Workman.

"She's supposed to give a State of the County address," he said. "Instead, she gave an election speech."

Workman is up for re-election this year. In her speech, she gave an assist to Council Chairman Steve Harmsen, also up for re- election, saying his proposal to return $75 to every household in the sanitation district "hit a home run."

Hatch said Workman should have addressed the county's fiscal problems and given more credit to idea originators. "She went through a list of things that would not have happened but for the three Democrats on the council," he said.

Republican Councilman Michael Jensen, however, wasn't worried.

"You can't do it by yourself," he said. "Why nit-pick over who came up with what?"

E-mail: aedwards@desnews.com

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