PRESS RELEASE-Mayor Becker Recommends Public Safety Building site

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – Today, Mayor Ralph Becker recommended the City Council place an initiative on the November 2009 ballot authorizing a $125 million bond for the acquisition, construction and equipping of a Public Safety Building and Emergency Operations Center.

“Salt Lake City has a critical and urgent need for an Emergency Operations Center and a new Public Safety Building. As leaders in Salt Lake City, I believe we have a moral obligation to keep our community safe and to be prepared in advance of a catastrophic emergency,” explained Becker.

The City’s existing Public Safety Building is an aging, overcrowded facility with more than 500 employees occupying space intended for 300 employees, and is not rated as functionally survivable should the City experience a major disaster, such as a large earthquake. The City currently does not have an Emergency Operations Center.

The recommendation put forth today reflects a significantly streamlined proposal from the $192 million public safety bond narrowly rejected by voters in 2007. “We have looked for every efficiency we could find and will continue to do so throughout the course of this project,” added Becker who expressed strong support for the possibility of partnering with the State of Utah on the Emergency Operations Center, an idea currently under evaluation.

A report written by renowned local architect David H. Hart, FAIA, Architect of the State Capitol, who reviewed all of the public input and data on 10 different location options, recommended the Council focus on the area known as the Barnes Bank block (Block 35/Plat B) as the preferred location for the facilities. The Mayor upheld Hart’s recommendation in his transmittal to the City Council.

In the report, Hart stated, “After thorough consideration of numerous options for the location of the Public Safety Complex, it is my recommendation the preferred site to be considered is Block 35 Plat B. Among the sites that were reviewed, this location meets the site criteria, provides the best combination of advantages, fewest disadvantages, and continues the development of the Civic Campus. The City will need to complete further work to define which portion of the block best meets the overall needs and desires of Public Safety officials and the community.”

In response to today’s announcement, Former City Council Member Deeda Seed remarked, “Salt Lake City has an urgent need for a new Public Safety Building. We’ve known for years about serious deficiencies in the current building; deficiencies that make us less safe as a community. We truly cannot afford to wait any longer to address this problem, thus I support Mayor Becker’s recommendation to locate the new Public Safety Building complex on the Barnes Bank block. I am confident the Mayor and his planning team will work with the community to ensure the project is carried out in a cost-effective manner, with an emphasis on mixed-use compatibility.”

The City Council will review the proposal over the next two weeks before making a final decision.

Mayor Ralph Becker on the Passing of Larry H Miller

I was saddened to hear the news of Larry Miller’s passing. On behalf of the residents of Salt Lake City , I extend my deepest sympathy to the Miller family during this difficult time. Salt Lake City has lost a dear friend and community leader. I have long admired Larry’s work ethic, charitable deeds and personal philosophy for doing good work in the community. His signature phrase, “Go about doing good until there is too much good in the world,” inspired us all. Larry was born and raised in Salt Lake City and truly helped shape the character of his home town.

This Sunday, Watch An Inconvenient Truth with Mayor Becker

Final List of Candidates for open Legislative seats

Earlier this evening, I spoke to Salt Lake County Democratic Party Secretary Angela Romero, and she provided me with the final list of candidates to fill the two open pots that are open in the Utah Legislature.

Only one candidate filed to run for the seat vacated upon the death of Senator Ed Mayne. That candidate is Karen Mayne, Ed's widow. She will be elected by acclimation on December 12 by delegates from Senate District 5.

The other vacancy occurred with the resignation of Mayor Elect Ralph Becker. Five Candidates have declared their candidacy. They are:

Rebecca Chavez-Houck
Richard Goldberger
Trudy Henderson
David Berg
Mark Swanson

That election will be held at 6:00 PM on Wednesday, December 12.

-Bob Aagard

Becker and Wilson: a Comtrast in Campaign Styles

If you had asked me two weeks ago who would come out of Yesterday's Primary, I would have told you Jenny Wilson and Dave Buhler. Jenny seemed to have the dominating lead in the polls, had a new ad on TV, and wasgoing strong.

Then, last Friday, Becker/Buhler/Wilson were in a three-way tie.

So, how did Becker go on to win by 11 points?

Volunteers.

From Day 1, Becker had built his campaign on doing the small and simple things, getting people out in neighborhoods, Getting himself out in neighborhoods, and utilizing small, simple, inexpensive, and yet effective methods to advertise. He had a strong group of supporters running around on Election Day. Becker's campaign was summed up by Glenden Brown over at One Utah:

I’ve been volunteering with this campaign since June - a lot of folks there last night have been volunteering since June. There were tears and cheers. There’s something about having been there for months, having walked precincts in July when it was 100 + degrees, having stood on street corners waving signs and seeing it pay off. The crowd you may have seen on TV or in the papers was cheering itself hoarse, clapping until everyone’s hands hurt. Once in a while, the right candidate comes along and Ralph Becker has been the right candidate - I have no idea how many people volunteered yesterday to do pollwatching, but everytime I was there I saw group of 15 or 20 people heading out to poll watch. Over the summer, I saw groups head out to walk precincts every time I was there - not just one or two people, but eight and ten people in a single evening or saturday morning.

Annother campaign that did a good job of this was the Buhler campaign. There was hardly an event in Salt Lake City that didn't have the Buhler people out in force with balloons, signs, and large life-sized cutouts of the candidate, and the candidate himself.

The two biggest spenders in the race this year are done campaigning. Christensen's Main Street office and lots of advertising didn't help him one bit. Likewise, Wilson's ad blitz just wasn't enough.

In the end, the grassroots were the real winner last night.

-Bob

[edit 9/13/07 0027: as a commenter mentioned, I wrote wilson when I meant Becker, and things didn't make sense, unless you were smart enough to read what I meant, not what I wrote....]

Tales of a election volunteer on election day

Glenden Brown spent today volunteering on election day. He also spent some time blogging about his experiences over at One Utah:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

SLC Mayor's Race

I am going to maintain my nutrality in the race for Salt Lake City Mayor. It's a luxury I have. Other things in life have taken my attention these past many months, so I'm not as well-versed in the ins and outs of the race as I would hope to be. I probably would have been more so had I actually been able to vote next Tuesday.

That being said, here are some pros and cons for the major candidates from my point of view:

Ralph Becker

Pros: Good listener; outreach to blogging community.
Cons: The Legislature will miss him. Now that everyone knows his secret superhero identity, can he continue to be all that effective?

Jenny Wilson

Pros: Nice Person; Her sister's got an awesome neighbor if I do say so myself; Peter Corroon likes her, Rocky not so much.
Cons: Tries to run as her own person, even if her own person is Ted Wilson's daughter; For someone that hasn't yet completed a single term in office, already feels like a career politico.

Dave Buhler

Pros: Rocky hates him; good marketing team;, name reminds me of one of my favorite movies.
Cons: Reminds me of favorite bit character of that movie; Career part-time politico.

Keith Christensen

Pros: Bicycle Friendly
Cons: Rocky Friendly

-Bob

Bloggers Meeting With Ralph Becker

Last Night, Rep. Ralph Becker, who is running for Mayor of Salt Lake City, held a meeting with some of our local bloggers at his campaign headquarters. His HQ is on 400 East between 100 and 200 South in an old home. It has to be one of the most beautiful campaign HQs I've ever seen.

Anyway, we talked about how the blogging community can help a candidate. We also gave some advice on how he should go about his campaign blog. We also talked about him as a candidate and where he stands on things.

"If I'm going to be mayor, I'm going to be mayor in Salt Lake City."

While I am not endorseing any candidate for Mayor at the moment (and I do not currently have plans to do so), I like the fact that Rep Becker is reaching out to the new media.

-Bob