LAYTON -- A recent speech by Republican Gov. Gary R. Herbert before the Davis Chamber of Commerce is drawing criticism from the Democratic Party, more for what the speech didn't contain than what it did.
In the remarks Herbert made Thursday in Layton at the Davis Conference Center, the governor spoke of the good things happening in the state, said Donald Dunn, campaign manager for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon.
But some things Herbert failed to mention are that the state ranks last in education in the nation, has its highest jobless rate in 26 years with an unemployment rate of 7.3 percent, and is a leader in the nation when it comes to the number of home foreclosures, Dunn said.
Dunn said his criticism of Herbert's address is in reaction to the information the governor didn't share with Davis business leaders regarding the economy, education and energy.
Other information not discussed by the governor, Dunn said, included Utah's being the only Western state in the country, over the past four years, that is losing clean energy jobs, while the state's gas prices remain high, Dunn said.
"We have the highest gasoline prices in the country," he said, adding that doesn't sound like good news to him.
Herbert, in his speech to chamber members, also spoke of Utah businesses that were expanding in these down economic times and how the state's economy was the envy of other states.
But at a KUED news conference held the same day the governor spoke in Layton, Herbert spoke of a $150 million shortfall state officials had recently discovered for this fiscal year.
"The incumbent governor says it's normal. I say it's a path to a fiscal train wreck," Corroon said in a news release issued Monday.
In addressing such concerns, Corroon said he plans to reform the budget process by ending gimmicks, demanding results and cutting waste, and by recommending a top-to-bottom review of all state programs.
Dunn said Herbert is wearing rose-colored glasses and is "taking us down a dead-end road."
One way the Corroon camp is trying to get its message out, without having to react to Herbert, is to continue to talk about job creation and a cleaner environment, Dunn said.
"During the summer, we will be rolling out (Corroon's) different plans," he said.
Those plans include a new video presentation taking Herbert to task on select issues and a Monday news release outlining Corroon's plan to bring fiscal discipline to state government.
The Corroon campaign is encouraged by the latest poll by Dan Jones & Associates showing the race between Herbert and Corroon in Weber County as a dead heat, Dunn said.
"Weber County is really important to the Mayor Corroon campaign," he said.
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