By Blake Apgar | Sep. 5, 2023, 6:00 a.m.
From paving the path for more bikes to making street construction a little less painful, the highest-profile candidates for Salt Lake City’s highest office say they have the road map for improving the quality of life in Utah’s capital.
As the faceoff between Mayor Erin Mendenhall and former Mayor Rocky Anderson heats up, we wanted to know from the candidates: How would you make life here better if voters send you back to City Hall as mayor?
We also asked Salt Lake Tribune readers how they thought the quality of life could be improved. Here’s what they told us they wanted:
• More affordable housing — preferably town houses that are for sale, not for rent.
• Additional bike lanes, including protected bike lanes.
• More permanent housing for unsheltered Utahns.
• Better, cleaner roads.
• Less noise and light pollution.
• More frequent and expansive public transportation options.
• A smarter traffic grid with fewer stoplights and more roundabouts.
• An end to growth.
• More small neighborhood parks and cleaner parks.
• More starter housing, such as condominiums, for young families.
• Pressure on owners of vacant properties to either develop their land or sell it.
• Let businesses stay open later.
As the faceoff between Mayor Erin Mendenhall and former Mayor Rocky Anderson heats up, we wanted to know from the candidates: How would you make life here better if voters send you back to City Hall as mayor?
We also asked Salt Lake Tribune readers how they thought the quality of life could be improved. Here’s what they told us they wanted:
• More affordable housing — preferably town houses that are for sale, not for rent.
• Additional bike lanes, including protected bike lanes.
• More permanent housing for unsheltered Utahns.
• Better, cleaner roads.
• Less noise and light pollution.
• More frequent and expansive public transportation options.
• A smarter traffic grid with fewer stoplights and more roundabouts.
• An end to growth.
• More small neighborhood parks and cleaner parks.
• More starter housing, such as condominiums, for young families.
• Pressure on owners of vacant properties to either develop their land or sell it.
• Let businesses stay open later.
ROCKY ANDERSON'S IDEAS
The campaign of the former two-term mayor has focused largely on painting Mendenhall as a failed leader who has not risen to the challenge of confronting crime and the homelessness crisis.
Anderson said quality of life includes the basics, such as being and feeling safe, having shelter and food, and being healthy. It means not having to see others suffer, having confidence that laws will be enforced, and knowing the government is trying to address the root causes of crime instead of focusing only on punishment.
“We all have to feel that we’re able to live in our community and move about without fear,” he said. “When I was mayor, we had a safe community.”
Beyond crime, Anderson said, it means living with a sense of community, having the opportunity to engage in recreation, and fostering the ability to take advantage of the area’s unique resources without conflict.
If voters grant him a third term, Anderson, among other ideas, wants to:
• Return the duties of the city prosecutor to City Hall and revive and expand comprehensive restorative justice programs.
• Improve access to parks and public spaces by cutting down the number of illegal homeless camps through the creation of a legal campground, where unsheltered Utahns can clean up, get something to eat, access services, and begin a path out of homelessness.
• Ramp up permanent supportive housing development.
• Pursue available “legal remedies” against those who have made Utah’s air dangerous. Fight the proposed expansion of Interstate 15, and incentivize no-emission vehicle use.
• Improve the fitness of residents by reviving and expanding the Salt Lake City Gets Fit Together program he started as mayor.
• Improve the foothills trail system by soliciting additional public feedback, do a better job maintaining parks, and relaunch Liberty Park’s Seven Canyons Fountain as a water feature.
• Crack down on noisy parties in neighborhoods by issuing citations.
• Bring back the Salt Lake City International Jazz Festival, pursue community-building music festivals and promote opportunities for artists at community events.
• Install art throughout downtown.
• Ensure road construction projects are well-coordinated and completed as quickly as possible.
• Be accessible and transparent.
Anderson said quality of life includes the basics, such as being and feeling safe, having shelter and food, and being healthy. It means not having to see others suffer, having confidence that laws will be enforced, and knowing the government is trying to address the root causes of crime instead of focusing only on punishment.
“We all have to feel that we’re able to live in our community and move about without fear,” he said. “When I was mayor, we had a safe community.”
Beyond crime, Anderson said, it means living with a sense of community, having the opportunity to engage in recreation, and fostering the ability to take advantage of the area’s unique resources without conflict.
If voters grant him a third term, Anderson, among other ideas, wants to:
• Return the duties of the city prosecutor to City Hall and revive and expand comprehensive restorative justice programs.
• Improve access to parks and public spaces by cutting down the number of illegal homeless camps through the creation of a legal campground, where unsheltered Utahns can clean up, get something to eat, access services, and begin a path out of homelessness.
• Ramp up permanent supportive housing development.
• Pursue available “legal remedies” against those who have made Utah’s air dangerous. Fight the proposed expansion of Interstate 15, and incentivize no-emission vehicle use.
• Improve the fitness of residents by reviving and expanding the Salt Lake City Gets Fit Together program he started as mayor.
• Improve the foothills trail system by soliciting additional public feedback, do a better job maintaining parks, and relaunch Liberty Park’s Seven Canyons Fountain as a water feature.
• Crack down on noisy parties in neighborhoods by issuing citations.
• Bring back the Salt Lake City International Jazz Festival, pursue community-building music festivals and promote opportunities for artists at community events.
• Install art throughout downtown.
• Ensure road construction projects are well-coordinated and completed as quickly as possible.
• Be accessible and transparent.
https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/09/05/how-salt-lake-citys-mayoral/
