LOGAN – The façade of genteel, business-as-usual came off the Logan mayoral campaign this weekend when allies of candidate Alanna Nafziger launched a negative mailer aimed at rival Mark Anderson.
With just one week to go prior to the Nov. 4 balloting in the municipal election, the pro-Nafziger mailer to local voters called Anderson “murky,” claiming that he supports pollution rather than progress.
At issue is Mark Anderson’s championing, in his capacity as a member of the Logan Municipal Council, of a 30-year contract to purchase 15 megawatts of electricity from a natural gas fired power plant in Power County, Idaho earlier this year.
Although natural gas is cleaner than the coal-fire plants in southern Utah that the contract is intended to replace, the step in that direction failed to satisfy a vocal group of environmental idealists led by Utah State University professor Patrick Belmont who are loudly opposed any additional city investments in fossil fuels.
The disgruntled Belmont quit the city’s Renewable Energy & Sustainability Advisory Board (RESAB) in a huff and recently endorsed mayoral hopeful Nafziger in an open letter to Cache Valley Daily.
The anti-Anderson mailer, funded by the Fresh Air Political Action Committee, proclaims that Nafziger “stands with the people who live here, not those profiting off pollution.”
It promises that the dark horse candidate will provide “clean energy, clean leadership and a clear choice” in the upcoming municipal election.
The Fresh Air PAC is an arm of O2 Utah, a group that describes itself as a social welfare and social action organization that advocates for clean air policies and environmental protection.
The PAC uses donations to support candidates who prioritize clean air and oppose those who support policies that contribute to air pollution in local and state races. For example, it recently endorsed several candidates in the West Jordan municipal elections.
The pro-Nafziger mailer comes at an inconvenient time for Mark Anderson, who is out-of-town on business.
Reached via E-Mail for comment, he responded: “if elected, I will work to initiate a clean energy goal for Logan City of 100 percent clean energy by 2045, which mirrors that of the state of California.
“That is achievable, but it will take a great deal of effort from city staff and our residents to make it happen.”
Council member Amy Z. Anderson also rose to the missing candidate’s defense on Oct. 27.
“Mark Anderson is not for bad air,” she wrote in a lengthy Facebook post. “Nor are any other current members (of the Logan Municipal Council). We do not ignore experts, but work hard to question and balance perspectives.
“Finding the balance of affordable and consistent power today cannot rest solely on renewables,” Amy Z. Anderson emphasizes. “It is easy to be a critic when you have never had to make a decision, never listened to case managers lament the volume of citizens they struggle to serve, never thought through the impact on businesses if they cannot use their registers or production lines, never approved a budget.”
Both Mark Anderson and Amy Z. Anderson also expressed disappointment that PAC dollars from outside Logan have invaded the local, nonpartisan election.
Nafziger is already being criticized in some circles for accepting sizable donations from outside political action committees.
According to recent financial disclosure statement filed with Logan, Nafziger has collected two donations totally $10,000 from the Way Back PAC since she began campaigning for the mayoral post.
The Way Back PAC is a political action committee that raises money to support candidates in the western United States who promote “representative and focused governing,” according to its website.
According to the campaign finance data organization OpenSecrets, the Way Back PAC is associated with Democratic, liberal causes and is registered in Wyoming.
The Nafziger campaign will also be required to make another campaign disclosure on Oct. 28.