Salt Lake City residents decry west side conditions at City Council meeting. 

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• Josi Hinds
• Members of the Salt Lake City Council hold a meeting in the west side Glendale neighborhood on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024.

GLENDALE—On Tuesday, the Salt Lake City Council met at the Sorenson Unity Center on the west side to conduct their second council meeting of the month. Before the meeting, attendees were offered dinner and materials from the Salt Lake City Corporation.

“I want to thank everyone for being here today and for showing up as a community to this community center to tell us about your concerns and hopes,” Councilmember Alejandro Puy said at the start of the meeting.

The Council heard several comments about the hardships that west side residents face. They were also briefed on the Public Safety Bond, which Salt Lake County residents will get to vote on in November. The Council also approved a partial budget amendment and a ceremonial resolution for the Great Salt Lake.

West Side Experience
Several commenters spoke on the disparities and crime they witness in their neighborhoods.

“I love living on the west side, but sometimes it can be very discouraging because some good things [and] some bad things happen,” said Micheal Fife.

Fife described how he used to walk along the Jordan River Parkway trail before it became overrun by drug use.

“The number of people taking drugs was just too sad and the number of people selling drugs was too scary for this guy to walk down the trail,” Fife said.

He said he started walking along 300 West instead, but expressed disappointment at the number of dead trees now lining the street.

What Fife described as a “tree massacre” occurred earlier this summer. Salt Lake City’s Parks Division accidentally used a lethal weed killer to spray hundreds of trees in the Fairpark and North Temple area, killing hundreds of them.

David Troester, who lives near 1000 West and 1300 South, described the amount of crime he’s witnessed in his area.

“These lawbreakers have lived in our neighborhood for more than six years,” Troester said. “They deal illegal drugs, steal and strip bicycles, denude and destroy public property and parks and commit other illegal activities, like burning down houses and firing guns.”

Last year, Troester said a house in his neighborhood was burned down after “vagrants” lit it on fire. Though Troester didn’t specify when the incident occurred, two abandoned homes caught fire along 1000 West last spring. Troester asked the Council to deploy more law enforcement officers to the area to curb crime.

Sheri McDaniel, who lives near North Temple and 800 West, offered a similarly dire description of conditions in her area.

"I have many concerns about my neighborhood and what I want to impress upon you is we are in a literal pit of hell,” McDaniel said. “The criminal element is immense. We have people walking around, hundreds of people, loitering, camping, lighting fires, vandalizing, littering, using drugs out in the open. I've seen it every day."

McDaniel, who has five kids, said families and neighbors don’t walk or play in their yards because of criminal activity in the neighborhood. McDaniel said she even avoids getting gas in her neighborhood.

Other commenters expressed their support for the Rio Grande Plan and asked the Council to do the same. Fife argued it would help connect the east and west sides of Salt Lake.

Rigoberto Ramirez, lead representative for the Carpenter’s Union of Utah, discussed how infrequently local carpenters are asked to work on local construction projects. He said carpenters have to travel as far as Provo just to find work.

“We wanted to get involved in the community and support, because it's all about support,” Ramirez said. He hoped the City would support local carpenters in return.

Public Safety Bond
Arlyn Bradshaw, County Council member, and Katherine Fife, associate deputy mayor for Salt Lake County, also attended the meeting to brief the Council and the audience on a proposed Public Safety Bond.

“We really want to make sure that all of our constituents, all of our residents in our community, are educated and can get the information they need to know how they'd like to vote this year,” Katherine Fife said.

The bond would cost taxpayers about $58.94 a year, according to Salt Lake County, and would continue for 25 years. In total, the bond would amount to $507 million and it would be used to fund projects to address public safety. This includes the construction of a Justice and Accountability Center.

This Center would combine two county jails and include spaces for mental health and substance abuse services, connections to housing opportunities and job training and employment resources. It would also fund a “revamp” of the county jail system.

This bond is a part of Salt Lake County’s Human Services, Homelessness and Criminal Justice Action Plan. More information on this plan can be found at slco.to/plan. The County also has a website for the Public Safety Bond, which can be accessed at slco.to/bond.

Budget Amendment
Additionally, the Council adopted several line items in Budget Amendment No. 1 for fiscal year 2025. During their meeting on Sept. 6, the Council adopted six items from the amendment. For this go-round, the Council adopted an additional 17 items.

These items include a $400 million short-term credit line for the Salt Lake City International Airport, which will be used to support its terminal redevelopment project. The Council also appropriated more than $500,000 to replace trees and landscaping on North Temple, as well as $700,000 to re-scope vacant and leased city properties and fund demolition and redevelopment of the Fleet Block on 300 West, between 800 South and 900 South.

The budget amendment is still open, and the Council will hold another public hearing for the remaining budget items on Oct. 1.

Great Salt Lake Resolution
The Council also adopted a joint ceremonial resolution with Mayor Erin Mendenhall recognizing the need to support the Great Salt Lake’s health.

"The Salt Lake City Council and Mayor of Salt Lake City reaffirms their commitment to the preservation and restoration of the Great Salt Lake," Councilmember Eva Lopez Chaves read, "by supporting policies and initiatives that promote sustainable water management, reduce water diversions, and address the impacts of climate change on the lake's water levels."

Chandler Rosenburg of Stewardship Utah, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the Great Salt Lake through policy and democracy, accepted the resolution.

“I want to thank, again, Councilmember Lopez Chavez for all the work she's done on this historic resolution, and to the entire Council for passing this here tonight,” Rosenburg said. “This is truly an all-hands-on-deck moment and issue for our state. Restoring Great Salt Lake is going to require coordination and effort that we have not at a scale that we've not seen before here in Utah, and we need to commit for the long haul.”