LAYTON -- Gubernatorial candidate and Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon literally made a whistle-stop in Layton, arriving by FrontRunner.
Corroon, candidate for the Democratic nomination, spent about 20 minutes with Layton leaders in a Thursday work meeting, explaining his position on various political issues, one of those being improving the air quality along the Wasatch Front.
Having cleaner air both addresses a public health issue and enhances the state's economic viability, he said.
Corroon told the mayor and city council that it is going to be "a tough sale" during the winter -- when the air quality is poor -- to demonstrate the state's quality of life to visiting business leaders interested in locating here.
"I'm running for governor because Utah is ready to take the next step," he said.
Other issues of high priority to Corroon are more jobs through energy creation and protecting the state's public and higher education funds.
Councilman Scott Freitag said he is concerned his children will not have as many opportunities for an in-state education because of budget cuts state leaders may direct at higher education.
"Higher education is very important for us," he said. "We have seen how higher education can partner with private industry."
Corroon said education is important when it comes to attracting jobs and the state needs an investment plan for how it will handle public education in the future.
The demographics of the state are changing, Corroon said, and the traditional education system needs to be addressed.
"We still have great education in the state of Utah," he said, "but the high school graduation rate is falling."
Other concerns city leaders posed to Corroon included the number of Davis residents commuting elsewhere for work and whether Davis cities should be receiving state incentive dollars in developing their own industrial parks.
Councilman Michael Bouwhuis said the ability of Davis County cities to create jobs would alleviate some of the transportation problems and air pollution along the Wasatch Front.
Using the Daybreak development -- which consists of a mix of homes, shops and offices in South Jordan -- as an example, Corroon said he would encourage more mixed-use zoning to create communities that put jobs where people live.
Corroon said Hill Air Force Base could provide such a "business nucleus" in Davis and Weber counties.
After visiting with Layton city leaders, Corroon went to Syracuse to introduce himself to city leaders there.
Corroon also campaigned Saturday afternoon in Ogden.
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