Mayor of Salt Lake City
Appears in 17 stories
Opposed the facility; co-plaintiff in lawsuit
The federal government is selling the Salt Lake City warehouse it bought in March to house immigration detainees. Six other warehouse properties acquired this year for a fast-track immigration detention expansion by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are also on the market. Commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield lists the seven sites, totaling 5.3 million square feet, as its 'Federal Warehouse Portfolio.'
Updated 1 hour ago
In office; overseeing the Leonardo office conversion
Salt Lake City has filed a building permit to turn the former Leonardo museum into city offices. Demolition of two aircraft inside the building has already begun, and the city expects construction to start in November.
Updated 4 days ago
In office
Salt Lake City's Community Reinvestment Agency approved $7,030,501 in loans to six housing and retail projects Tuesday, backing nearly $54 million in planned development. The slate includes a 122-unit apartment building in Ballpark, a food pantry and thrift store project in Poplar Grove, and five townhomes in Liberty Wells.
Implemented 12.5% property tax increase for FY2027
Salt Lake City spent more than $850 million on a new sewage treatment plant, funded in part by over $600 million in debt. A September audit by the Utah Legislative Auditor General found the city cannot cover its annual debt service, now over $60 million, from current revenue, and recommended a new property tax or a dedicated water district.
Updated Oct 10
Defends the pool cut as a feasibility decision
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall stood at her January 2024 State of the City address and promised an outdoor pool at the new Glendale Regional Park. Two years later, the pool is out of the plans.
Updated Oct 8
In office; champion of the parks bond
Salt Lake City has completed its revitalization of Donner Trail Park, a 14.27-acre green space at the base of the Wasatch foothills in the East Bench neighborhood. The project adds new playgrounds for a wider range of ages, water-wise landscaping, a connected walking pathway, public art, and the city's first Memorial Tree Grove where residents can dedicate a tree to a loved one. The improvements ran on $870,000 from the voter-approved Parks, Trails, and Open Space General Obligation Bond, with an additional $434,000 for the tree grove through the city's capital improvement program.
Updated Oct 3
Oversees the city-owned airport authority that controls the land proposed for sale
Salt Lake City owns nearly 1,000 acres of wetland beside its international airport, land that filters water flowing toward the shrinking Great Salt Lake. The city wants to sell it to the state, which would manage it as protected habitat. The sale would lock in conservation for land the airport authority has long controlled.
Updated Oct 1
Leading city investment in west-side development
The Salt Lake City Planning Commission unanimously approved the design review for La Esquina, a mixed-use project along 1000 North in Rose Park. The vote clears the way for the developer to seek building permits—the last major city hurdle before construction.
Leading a city weighing housing needs against open land
Cross E Ranch, the seasonal farm where Salt Lake City families pick pumpkins and buy cider doughnuts each fall, may shrink to make room for new homes. The owners have asked city officials to allow residential development on part of the property as what they call a 'last effort' to keep the ranch open.
Updated Sep 29
Announced the appointment alongside the Arts Council
Salt Lake City has its first poet laureate. Joel Long, an award-winning poet and creative writing teacher, will serve a three-year term through June 2029.
Updated Sep 24
Selected Stiles from five candidates forwarded by the Judicial Nominating Commission
Salt Lake City's Justice Court is getting its first new judge in more than two decades. Mayor Erin Mendenhall named Nick Stiles to a newly created sixth judgeship, and the City Council approved the pick on September 23.
Updated Sep 23
In office since 2020
LiveSwitch opened a downtown Salt Lake City office on Sept. 22. The video communications firm is now offering local small businesses free lifetime access to its software if they register by Oct. 23.
Updated Sep 22
Has pushed for emergency declarations and interagency coordination
A month after a broken 20-inch water main sent floodwater through basements in Salt Lake City's Poplar Grove neighborhood, about 15 families still can't go home. Four homes are unlivable. One resident's basement filled with six feet of water.
Updated Sep 17
Backs the permanent cap; opposed ICE detention center over water use
Salt Lake City's council voted Tuesday to make permanent a rule capping daily water use for new nonresidential buildings at 200,000 gallons. The limit, an emergency measure in place since March, was set to expire Sunday.
Updated Sep 15
In office; attended Camden Court groundbreaking
Salt Lake City's Community Reinvestment Agency confirmed Sept. 8 that construction is underway on Camden Court, a seven-story, 96-unit income-restricted complex in Ballpark. Rents for households earning up to 60% of area median income will run $600 to $1,800 a month, keeping housing costs under 30% of income. The building will include 36 one-bedroom apartments.
Updated Sep 8
Mayor; launched the historical markers pilot in January 2025
Utah's legislature twice voted against memorializing Thomas Coleman, a former slave lynched on Capitol Hill in 1866. Salt Lake City installed the marker anyway, on its own land a block from the state Capitol.
Supporting the relocation
LDS Hospital has anchored Salt Lake City's Avenues neighborhood since 1905, when it opened to treat patients away from the valley's coal-burning smog. After 121 years, Intermountain Health plans to move it to a new downtown campus.
Updated Sep 5
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