Salt Lake City Council lowers quorum requirements for Commissions; approves plan for affordable senior housing. 

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Salt Lake City Council members received a handful of scathing comments from city residents on Tuesday surrounding Mayor Erin Mendenhall’s self-recommended salary increase of $44,000. The Council also adopted an ordinance amending the minimum number of commissioners needed to hold meetings for the Historic Landmark and Planning Commissions and approved a study for an affordable senior housing development.

Budget Hearing
The Council held its second public hearing on the 2024/25 fiscal year budget. During the public hearing, several speakers spoke in opposition to a 26% salary increase that Mendenhall proposed for herself in her recommended budget.

“I'm completely opposed to this because in the real world that we all live in, we get pay increases according to our performance and her poor performance has been abysmal at best,” Julia McGonigle said during the hearing.

If adopted, Mendenhall’s recommendation would increase her annual salary from roughly $168,000 to $212,000, a difference of $44,000. The proposal would also increase Council Members’ salary from $42,000 to $53,000.

“The Mayor's salary is adjusted based on a review of the City Mayor’s salary compared to other city mayors and city managers—depending on the form of government—in Utah as well as Department Directors,” Salt Lake City budget analysts explained via email.

As reported by The Salt Lake Tribune, Mendenhall’s base pay ranks 27th for local officials in Utah. This information was pulled from Transparent Utah’s most recent data from 2022.

Also in her recommended budget, Mendenhall proposed allocating $100,000 to a citywide park restroom planning study and Fairmont Park restroom conceptual design. The study would update planning for the city’s parks and while using a restroom at Fairmont Park to test the viability of guidelines developed under the study. Several speakers spoke on the need to fund resources for Salt Lake City’s homeless population.

“I know you guys have been discussing bathrooms for our unsheltered population and for the whole general public, I just wanted to say that I'm strongly in support of this initiative,” said Wendy Garvin, a longtime advocate for the unsheltered. “It will bring dignity back to both the people who are living on the street and just those who enjoy our public parks.”

Mendenhall also recommended $1 million in funding to help the Volunteers of America build a detox facility on Redwood Road and to allocate funds for a new Community Outreach Case Manager in the Justice Court. This role would “investigate, organize, and assist with the needs of the homeless population,” according to the budget’s website.

The City Council is required to adopt a budget by the end of the month.

Quorum Requirements
The Council held a public hearing on an ordinance to adjust the minimum number of required members for the Historic Landmark and Planning Commissions to five. After the public hearing ended, the Council voted unanimously to adopt the change.

"The proposed amendments were intended to eliminate the minimum required number of commissioners for both [commissions] … so that if there is a sudden exit of commissioners, both land use authorities would be able to conduct city business,” read a city transmittal for the proposal.

Previously, the Historic Landmark Commission required a minimum of seven members while the Planning Commission required nine members be present to conduct business.

This change follows a series of resignations from the Planning Commission made in late 2023. The departures of University of Utah Professor Andra Ghent and Glendale Community Council Chair Turner Bitton briefly left the commission unable to conduct city business with only eight members.

Cindy Cromer was the only constituent to speak at the public hearing. She was critical of the commissions’ functioning.

"I see a self-imposed hardship when the city fails to screen applicants for the commission relative to the demands of the appointments,” Cromer said.

In her letter of resignation, Ghent cited her fellow commissioner’s lack of knowledge of urban economics and real estate as a point of contention, saying it often wasted meeting time and led to poor decisions.

The ordinance also removes language limiting the amount of time an Appeals Hearing Officer can serve. Previously, an Appeals Hearing Officer could not serve more than two consecutive five-year terms.

“If the Mayor and City Council find that an Appeals Hearing Officer is familiar with city statutes and making sound decisions, there should be an avenue to keep them appointed," the staff materials noted.

Affordable Senior Housing
The Council voted unanimously to accept the conclusions of an informal public benefit analysis for a proposed development called the Fairmont Heights Project. This development would provide more than 100 units of affordable housing for seniors. According to a staff report on the project, roughly half of the units will be affordable to those making 50% or less of the city’s area median income.

The project would be located at 2257 S. 1100 East. To help fund this project, the administration plans to use $5.6 million in dormant funds from the Community Development Block Grant program.

According to the project’s staff report, the administration concluded that “the numerous community benefits provided by the Project justify the use of the City’s resources.” These benefits include the use of federal funds for rental assistance for seniors, the promotion of healthy aging through affordable housing and the geographic distribution of housing close to public amenities.

Following the Council’s adoption of the analysis findings, the administration can now move forward with negotiating a ground lease agreement for the project.