Myths About Rocky Anderson’s activities in last week’s rallies

In The Wasatch Front’s post Questus Furore – Civility and Disagreement, I was disappointed to read:

When Utah did not erupt in spontaneous revulsion, the mayor [Rocky Anderson] took it upon himself to organize protests against the President’s presence. (Unanswered and unexplored is the question of what city resources and employees were used to organize these protests. Seems like a job for some enterprising reporter out there. Too bad the local newspapers – the Salt Lake Tribune, the Deseret News – don’t employ any.)

Here is my response to that statement:

I would like to clarify that Rocky Anderson did not organize any of the rallies in Salt Lake on August 30.

He was invited to be on the program of both the afternoon and the evening programs. A collective group of individuals and activist organizations came together in early July and began the planning process. Rocky had absolutely nothing to do with it, except to accept the speaking invitation and offer input on the program itself. Everything else was handled by volunteers and donations of equipment by local businesses obtained by the efforts of those volunteers. I know all this because I started off on the planning committee and continued to monitor it peripherally (when I had to step back due to other obligations that arose) and actively participated in the rally itself .

To even hint that city resources were used to organize these events is absurd and is a slap in the face to the hundreds of collective volunteer hours that were spent putting together those programs – by folks from one end of the policitcal and religious spectrum to the other who are dissatisfied with the current U.S. Administration.

Please research the facts before making such allegations.