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It's the straight talker with temperament issues versus the lobbyist with conflict-of-interestquestions.
The Salt Lake City Council District 6 contest, pitting incumbent J.T. Martin against challenger Charlie Luke, turned personal months ago, by the candidates' own tongues.
That enmity continues in mailers, anonymous letters, endorsements and debates. Martin's father-in-law, a prominent developer, has been pulled into the scrum, and a former Utah governor took a subtle swipe on Luke's behalf.
This is no milquetoast municipal race.
Sprinting to a commanding primary election win, Luke pivoted to verbal sparring with Martin. He alleges Martin's temper and volatility are unfit for public office and that the former Emigration Market owner is on the dole from his wealthy father-in-law, Kem Gardner.
Martin counters that longtime lobbyist Luke "lies" and is a walking conflict of interest. And he says the planning commissioner's fixation on an east-side police precinct plays the politics of fear.
The boiling east-bench battleground already is scarred by the historic-district debate gripping Yalecrest. Now, residents on Tuesday must separate rhetoric from reality to select their City Council voice for the next four years.
Conflicts or past clients?
Luke has boasted three dozen clients during the past decade as a lobbyist and the list is broad. He has represented cities, county offices, ski resorts, utilities and water districts as well as prominent Utah waste companies, Utah Transit Authority, Reagan Outdoor Advertising and American Public Policy Alliance, which has pushed state legislatures to outlaw Shariah, or Islamic, law in state courts.
That is all in the past, says Luke, who proclaims that as former clients they pose no conflict of interest.
"I'm not the big, bad lobbyist — I represent people who have disabilities," says Luke, who is now executive director of the Utah Association of Community Services, which provides services to the disabled. His only other active lobbying work is in Wyoming, where Luke represents the Waterford Institute.
Martin argues Luke is in the race to enrich himself and future clients. "He's a lobbyist now, and there's every indication that he will continue his career as a lobbyist in the future," Martin says. "That's what he does."
Luke says the issue is overblown at best and that Martin is trying to deflect attention from his emotional outbursts. Luke notes he severed ties with most organizations years ago and recently returned a check from Reagan Outdoor Advertising since the electronic billboard issue is unresolved. And his American Public Policy Alliance work came in 2010 to push a libel law and for financial disclosures from state universities, not the controversial Shariah-law craze.
"They're grasping at straws," Luke says of the Martin camp. "They're kind of playing the six degrees of Kevin Bacon with this deal. It's just silly."
Still, political observers say such a well-connected lobbyist would be something new for the council. City Attorney Ed Rutan declined to speculate whether a Councilman Luke would face frequent recusals. "We just don't get into hypotheticals like that," Rutan said. "Whether there is a conflict of interest or not is very fact specific."
Temper or a tempest in a teapot?
Martin loves to say he isn't a politician and doesn't talk like one. Few dispute it.
From the dais, he has berated a utility boss, dog owners, an environmental group suing the city and former Gov. Mike Leavitt for getting involved in the Yalecrest debate. He also made a scene screaming at a dog-group lobbyist in a City Hall hallway.
Martin downplays the flare-ups, saying he is a passionate guy who takes on bullies for the benefit of the silent majority. It is often deadpan humor, he insists, misunderstood as anger.
Still, Martin's temperament has dominated the debate. Councilman Soren Simonsen, a frequent Martin target, has endorsed Luke. So has Leavitt, who says on the challenger's website that he supports Luke "because he understands the appropriate role of government and works well with people who have differing views and opinions."
"It's not just me that's bringing this stuff up," Luke says. "Many residents in the district have had experiences. If it was just one example of confrontation, we could overlook it. The problem is there's a pattern. It stifles public process."
The issue took an ugly turn with an anonymous letter dropped on doorsteps that challenges residents with Martin lawn signs to reconsider the "irrational" incumbent who "lacks the capacity to fulfill the duties of our elected official."
It links to columns and news items chronicling Martin's "verbal abuse" and apologizes for being anonymous, calling it "a protective measure."
Luke maintains his camp had nothing to do with it "nor do I condone that sort of thing."
Martin doesn't buy it, saying the temperament question has taken on a life of its own, "propagated by Mr. Luke and his supporters."
He also points to leadership seats held during his first four years, including vice chairman of the Redevelopment Agency Board and council, a council chairmanship and chairmanship of Utah's Quality Growth Commission.
"You don't get those by not being effective."
Delivering for District 6
Martin says he has done just that. He points to 18 new acres of open space, an update to the East Bench Master Plan, and funding for the Foothill Drive-Parleys Way Gateway Plan.
He boasts the district has snatched more money for sewers, streets and parks since 2008 than any other four-year period. And, if re-elected, Martin wants to extend the University of Utah shuttle system into the area to connect faculty, staff and students to campus along the "lost UTA routes."
"This," he says, "has possibilities."
Luke pledges a still-more intense focus on services and infrastructure. He would develop a plan to let residents see when their roads, sewer lines, water lines and streetlights are set for upgrades.
Luke concedes fixing potholes is not as sexy as planning a Broadway-class theater or a convention hotel, but is critical just the same. "As a city, we've kind of forgotten what our role really is," he says. "I don't like projects like that[the theater and hotel] coming at the expense of what the core responsibilities of the city are."
Luke is endorsed by the police association as well as primary opponent Tracey Harty and Ben Winchester, rivals in the Yalecrest fight. He says that illustrates his appeal.
Martin, who has spent nearly $20,000 of his own money in the stretch run, is circulating a flier with endorsements from Mayors Ralph Becker and Peter Corroon, Lt. Gov. Greg Bell, Congressman Jim Matheson, County Councilman Richard Snelgrove and former Mayor Rocky Anderson.
Prominent figures to be sure, but a second Martin term rests with regular residents.
The candidates
Charlie Luke
Age • 38. Family • Married with two children.
Education • Bachelor's degree in political science, University of Utah.
Professional • Owner of Luke Strategies Inc., a government-relations firm.
Priorities • Redirecting funds toward rebuilding infrastructure; public safety.
Interesting fact • Avid reader and history buff. "The author whose works I read the most and collect is Wallace Stegner."
J.T. Martin (i)
Age • 51. Family • Married with four children.
Education • Bachelor's degree in political science and communications, University of Utah.
Professional • Project manager for Integrated Water Management, which cleans groundwater from oil and gas wells in eastern Utah. Former owner of Emigration Market.
Priorities • Planning Foothill corridor; restoring Miller Park with Chevron oil spill funds.
Interesting fact • Teased whenever he takes on a project for his intensity. "Just take my Halloween and Christmas decorations: tacky, obnoxious."
On the issues
What is the most pressing need you can deliver for District 6?
Luke • My ability to work with different groups of people who typically don't get along. The perfect example is the people in Yalecrest.
Martin • The proven ability to work with my colleagues and the administration to acquire the investment and attention to the uniqueness of District 6.
Is public safety in jeopardy without a new east-side police precinct?
Martin • Absolutely not. The question is, would we rather have more police officers patrolling District 6 or would we rather invest that money in brick and mortar? Let's not forget that the public safety building headquarters is on the east side.
Luke • Our crime rates are lower but even the chief agrees that we ought to have an east-side police precinct.
If elected, how would you handle the historic-district question in Yalecrest?
Luke • The way that I'm handling it now, which is actually working with both groups and trying to facilitate a workable solution that's neighborhood specific where both groups realize they'll have to give something up.
Martin • I have always said from the beginning that it is best addressed in small areas and consensus found in the living rooms of the proposed area. But it is a local issue.