Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall rode TRAX on Tuesday during Free Fare February. Mendenhall announced Thursday her 2022 Work Plan, outlining 75 goals she hopes she will achieve by the end December. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
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SALT LAAKE CITY As the city experiences record growth, the mayor of Utah’s biggest city is once again focusing on equity issues and environment in 2022.
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall released Thursday her 2022 Work Plan. It details ways to address specific issues she raised during her State of the City speech last Wednesday. She hopes to reach 75 of the goals in her 2022 work plan by December.
“From advocating the health and longevity the Great Salt Lake to beginning preliminary design of light rail connections in Southwest Downtown neighborhoods and the Granary, we have a full agenda and I’m ready for work,” she stated in a statement.
This year’s plan lists four major themes: community, city employees and environment and growth. Most of the goals fall within the environment and community themes.
Community goals
The work plan for this year includes many goals that are tied directly to equity. Mayor said that she hopes her office can implement new equity-inclusion processes as part of its capital improvement program. This could be achieved through better outreach and better application evaluation processes.
There are plans to improve access to education programs for youth on the west side of the city, restructure the city justice courts practices, and hold roundtables to discuss issues with Indigenous residents and government officials.
There are also goals to move forward on an early childhood education initiative and a plan to work together with the city’s police department and school district to create the “most productive, beneficial relationship between schools resource officers and schools.”
Mendenhall hopes that the recommendations of the second phase the city’s Racial Equity in Policing Commission be reviewed, approved, and implemented in 2022.
There are many goals associated with homelessness.
- So that city residents are not entrusted with the burden of this statewide humanitarian crisis, they can continue to receive funding from the state for homeless mitigation.
- Submit a new Land-Use Ordinance to the City Council. It will distinguish between temporary and permanent emergency shelters and regulate their placement within the city.
- To identify new shelter locations, work with the Salt Lake Valley Coalition to End Homeless (Salt Lake County)
- Through the completion of a Harvard Bloomberg City Initiative project, you will discover ways to “more effectively link unsheltered residents with stable housing and other resources.”
The continuation or return to previous programs are some of the other goals set out in 2022. Mendenhall stated, for example, that she would like to relaunch the city’s “Livable Streets” initiative, which aims at improving the safety and appeal city streets. The city was founded in Collecting feedback from residentsThis issue was published last year.
It also includes the start of a citywide park ranger program, which was announced by the mayor last year. The city obtained the money through the American Rescue Plan to fund the program.
Environment goals
Mayor’s environmental goals emphasize clean energy, including the signing of a new clean energies cooperation statement and the development of a new five-year clean power implementation program. This is in addition to the ongoing goals to reach 100 percent renewable energy by 2030, and to create policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 80% within the next 18-years.
The goal is to finish a Harrison Avenue community garden about a block south of Liberty Park this year. Fundraising is also being sought to plant another Rose Park community garden that will open in 2023.
Similar to the above, the workplan also sets a goal to design a “green-loop” trail and park system which would surround the city’s central area.
The mayor’s office stated that the project would improve the physical, psychological, and social health of urban residents, increase transportation options for residents and visitors, and spur sustainable growth.
The Great Salt Lake’s longevity and health is something that the city cannot control. However, the document states that the city will continue to advocate for ways to protect it through state legislation and city policy.
After the City Council approved a new light pollution ordinance last January, the mayor’s office plans to add “safety and environmental” components to the citywide street lighting master plan.
The mayor was also able to celebrate one her environmental goals earlier in the week when she launched a Free Fare February initiative by Utah Transit Authority on Tuesday.
Mendenhall stated that the month’s goal is to celebrate the 20th anniversary TRAX’s light rail system and gather data for future free-of-charge initiatives. According to the work plan, the city is also working with UTA in order to expand transit program opportunities downtown for small businesses.
Other goals
The plan to “phase-in (the) permanent conversion Main Street into a pedestrian promenade” is one of the goals of this year’s working plan. Due to the pandemic, the city tried out “Open Streets” along Main Street in 2020. It proved popular so the city brought it back last summer.
In addition to updating the Ballpark neighborhood design, the mayor plans to submit a Ballpark Station Area Plan in 2022 to the City Council. She also hopes that the neighborhood will be home to a new library.
Through an assessment of the benefits program, the mayor is also looking to offer “competitive” benefits to city employees that “demonstrate care for our employees’ quality-of-life”. The city plans to release an app that will allow employees’ families to inquire about their safety during/after an emergency situation or disaster.
Since taking office in 2020, Mendenhall has published a set of goals each year. After the city had met about two-thirds, Mendenhall announced that she would give her office an “A” grade for 2021.
The website contains all of the goals for 2022 set by the mayor. Website of the city.
