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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Mayor Rocky Anderson has signed a new policy loosening a city ordinance that prohibited putting any alcohol on the city business tab.
Anderson came under fire this week when it was reported the city picked up a the tab at a hotel bar and the bill at a brewpub for food and drinks while Anderson was entertaining during the city's jazz festival.
Anderson signed a new policy Thursday that eliminates any reference to alcoholic beverages. He said he has purchased alcohol on city business before -- and not in the sense of running a tab for a night of drinking.
"I can assure you there have been dinners where somebody has a glass of wine," Anderson said. "Maybe it didn't show up as alcoholic beverages on the receipts."
Salt Lake City's alcohol ban was established in 1989. Anderson said he wasn't aware of the policy, although he did sign off on it when he approved an amendment to an unrelated city policy two years ago. Anderson said he didn't notice the alcohol provision when he signed the page.
"There are policies that are brought to me all the time to change certain provisions and my interest will be directed to those," Anderson said.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
