1. What do you think are the top issues facing District 2 and how would you approach each of them? Housing affordability tops my list of issues for Salt Lake City and is acutely felt in District Two. One of the attractive features of District Two in general and Fairpark in particular was the ability to live close to downtown without paying downtown prices. The population increase coupled with lower amounts of housing stock has raised prices to the extent there’s no price benefit to purchasing in District Two any more. Rents have also gone up dramatically. While historically low interest rates have kept mortgage payments at a reasonable level, despite the huge increase in prices, renters haven’t received the same benefit. In District Two, there are 14 homes for sale as of this writing. The average price for 84116 is $315,850 and 84104 is $329,366. In multiple offer situations, which nearly all homes undergo right now, the winning bid can be $30,000 plus over list. The drastic shortage of homes and high prices is keeping sellers out of the market because they’re afraid they won’t be able to find their next home. This logjam on the property ladder has created an unhealthy market that’s expensive and frustrating. There are a number of possible solutions to this issue and a number of policy stances that could be taken. Cities typically wield a policy stance with a “carrot or stick” approach. I prefer the carrot. When it comes to transit oriented development, we need to incentivize the development of ownership housing products like condominiums and townhouses. One of the lasting repercussions of the Great Recession is a massive disincentive to build condos across the country. Young people and first time homebuyers have driven demand for this product type, yet few new build options exist. Building a high percentage of apartments in District Two is laying the foundation for a transient resident base and decreased funding for public schools. In a free market, naturally occurring affordable housing isn’t going to happen. As the zoning authority and regulator for any new construction, the City must require affordable housing to be part of every new housing project. I believe the number should be 10% at a minimum and could look like units in multi-family projects, ADUs in single family homes or a 10% premium fee in high cost neighborhoods where neither units or ADUs are feasible. This fee should go directly to schools and housing assistance programs to the City. Salt Lake City led Utah in establishing an accessory dwelling unit ordinance in 2018, yet the number of those units actually built has been insufficient. Only six ADUs have been built since the ordinance passed. While more applications are in the pipeline, ADUs alone won’t address the housing issue. There are a number of barriers including a conditional use application process which requires lengthy Planning Commission approval and high fees. ADU permitting fees are similar to building an entire house. The passage of HB82 in this last legislative session provides financial assistance in constructing ADUs for lower income home owners or for those intending to rent their ADU to lower income residents. Salt Lake City could implement an ADU financing program through Housing and Neighborhood Development, lower its permitting fees and develop an ADU information campaign to make residents aware of how our ADU process works. Finally, we have to look at zoning and incremental, “makes sense” density opportunities for all new construction in the City. If there’s room on a lot for two units instead of one, shouldn’t we take that opportunity? In light of changing retail and office trends, are there instances where converting or redeveloping underused commercial space into housing would be the better choice? Won’t more mixed use development with vertical growth be more cost effective, sustainable and benefit our communities than relying on the standard single family home? These are just a few of the things we need to think about as Salt Lake addresses this issue. Continuing on the theme of affordable housing, I also think development is a critical issue for District Two. This is a concern reaching much more than just housing. Development covers the issues of the new prison, the Inland Port, transit oriented development zones and housing. The North Temple corridor is the only TOD zone in District Two and it’s just barely starting to develop in a meaningful way. I’m concerned about the clustering of rental products and small, micro units. The City needs to create ways to get ownership products and family size units. In today’s high cost environment for building materials and labor, the way to get that will be through incentives. The City can use the tool of deed restriction to maintain those incentive investments for perpetuity. Priority needs to be placed on City projects like the Folsom Trail which has been in development for nearly 20 years without a single shovel turning dirt. The blight in that corridor has contributed to delays in realizing the full potential of the North Temple RDA project area. Crime is on the rise in Salt Lake City. Anecdotally I see it on Nextdoor and Facebook community pages every day. Package theft, car break ins, car theft and other property crimes are the most mentioned. I see it on North Temple with the number of businesses with broken windows and the businesses that have left. I’ve spoken to the business owners and managers on North Temple and heard about the product theft and violent attacks on staff in the stores. They’ve told me about drug overdose deaths in their store bathrooms and parking lots. Many of those crimes are completely under-reported. The reported crime confirms this narrative. In 2020, c rime city wide was up over 20% for both violent crimes and property crimes. District Two saw a 29.5% increase for both categories with a staggering 92.5% increase in vehicle larceny, the most of any district in the City. Personally, I’ve had items go missing from my yard, found used needles on the other side of my back fence and caught someone using my backyard as their personal store. There are a number of factors affecting this increase in crime including the pandemic which affected jail holding policy. Another factor was bail reform legislation that drastically reduced bail amounts for felony charges. Strained police resources brought on by quarantine guidelines, Covid cases among staff and large scale civil unrest last Spring and Summer also contributed. Criminals were emboldened by the perception of light consequences for their behavior. Large camps developed around the City with criminals exploiting drug addicts, the mentally ill and the unsheltered. It’s a counter social system that creates a sense of community for those in it that’s difficult to leave. This is a complex problem requiring a united front from the City, County, State and residents. As a resident and community leader in Fairpark, I was part of a series of weekly meetings with various community stakeholders trying to address this issue. As we quarantined in our homes, the lawless took over the streets. Councilmember Johnston started street corner meetings on North Temple. We met with police, councilmembers, County and State officials to come up with solutions to the problems. They included implementing no loitering signs on 800 West grassy medians, bringing business trespassing signs into police registry for enforcement and garbage cleanups. One of the things police officials and recovering drug addicts often mention is it’s the criminal justice system that gets them into treatment. Our current policy of “catch and release” policing isn’t benefiting the community. Solutions to the crime issue have to include a stop to “catch and release” jailing. I propose opening an outdoor detainment facility at the Oxbow jail on a temporary basis so the jail has Covid safe holding facilities and criminals face consequences and have opportunities for drug treatment. Bail reform saw some adjustment in this year’s legislative session and I will closely watch how that plays out in real time. We need to better educate residents on how to protect their property. When I had items stolen from my yard, it motivated me to better clean and organize my property. I placed all tools in my locked garage and cleaned up so I could quickly identify if I had things missing. (Retail stores use the same tactic to reduce shoplifting.) I also installed motion lights and LED bulbs for all my outdoor lighting. I’m conscious about items I leave in my car and make sure to hide any valuables I can’t secure inside my house. I never leave my car running unattended. Solving the homeless issue will continue to be expensive and require coordination and resources from the State and County. The creation of affordable housing I touched on earlier will incrementally address it, but it won’t be fast enough. I support the idea of a tiny home community operated by the Other Side Academy for the purpose of housing and treating drug addicts. I support the idea of single room occupancy housing with onsite case management for the purpose of helping the disabled and mentally ill. I support the idea of incentivizing landlords to accept homeless individuals with housing vouchers. I support the idea of the City establishing alternate ways to establish consumer credit tradelines like a registry of on-time rent payers or utility payments. I support the idea of reimagining incentives for homeless service providers to shift from the number of people helped towards the number of people who stay housed, employed or substance free after going through the provider’s program.