Monday afternoon the eight candidates for Salt Lake City mayor participated in a KSL-TV Channel 5 debate, live from the station’s downtown studios.
Two candidates will emerge from the Aug. 13 primary election to face each other in the November general election.
The race is officially non-partisan, although all of the six possible successful candidates are Democrats.
One-term Mayor Jackie Biskupski is not running for re-election.
Here are some of the highlights:
Former Salt Lake City Councilman Stan Penfold: We need strong leadership. We’ve tried former state legislators, “we need to go back to the neighborhoods” to find a new mayor.
Penfold is a neighborhood activist. Current mayor Biskupski was a former Utah House member. Former Mayor Ralph Becker was a former Utah House member.
Current candidate Jim Dabakis is a former state senator. Current candidate Luz Escamilla is a sitting state senator. So Penfold is saying don’t elect another state legislator, time for new blood not from there.
Dabakis: Said he has a loud mouth, but he listens to people and works with all types of folks to reach a consensus and get things done.
Dabakis was the clear leader in the only poll conducted so far. In the Legislature, he was known for his colorful, sometimes outlandish, statements and stands.
“Yes, I’ve stood up. I bring people together.” He talked about how he worked with the late LDS Church leader L. Tom Perry on passing LGBTQ civil rights legislation and compromises. “We worked our hands to the bone.”
“It would be terrible to lose Luz in the Senate,” he joked, i.e., don’t elect her mayor.
Sen. Luz Escamilla: Said several times she has a proven track record in getting things done, both inside and outside of the Legislature, where she has served more than 10 years.
That is a slight dig at Dabakis, who passed few bills in his six years in the Senate.
“I have passed 50 bills” in the GOP-controlled Legislature, she said. “I know what it takes to work with the governor and the Legislature.”
That speaks to the city having better relationships with the GOP governor and Republican-controlled Legislature.
David Garbett: Said he once worked for the Southern Utah Wilderness Association, the most hated organization of many Republican legislators.
“You can walk into a room” full of Republicans “and know they don’t like you or agree with you.”
“But you still have to work with them.” There may be friction and different politics. Ahead are some big opportunities to work with GOP state leaders, like the Olympics and infrastructure.
“We can patch up our relationships, not walk away.” However, he said he’s proud that Derek Miller, head of the inland port, told one of his neighborhood walkers that Garbett “was the most” against the inland port of all the mayoral candidates.
Garbett and other candidates hinted, or said outright, that the city’s mayor can’t refuse to talk to GOP state leaders, as Biskupski did with Herbert and Republican legislative leaders over the state-created inland port.
All criticized the GOP leaders’ creation of the port in the final days of the 2018 Legislature, and the six main contenders said they would continue Biskupski’s court suit over the inland port.
Erin Mendenhall, a current City Council member who voted not to allow Biskupski to file suit (believing that was the council’s responsibility): said she would continue the lawsuit, but added it was she, as then-council chair, who opened negotiations with the GOP leadership to modify the inland port law to at least get some good compromises for the city.
“Our mayor got angry” and walked away, “leaving the state to make all the (inland port) decisions. I walked us back in. That is my style as a leader, as a Democrat and a woman. I know how to work with the state. . . it’s important that we are at the table.”
David Ibarra, a local businessman and philanthropist: You can’t make an agreement if you insult the other side, as one candidate (Garbett) has today. “We have to stop this” insults, both in the federal and state government. “I’m a problem solver, and I’m prepared to bring something to the table.”
All said the inland port, as now planned, would harm the city’s air quality, transportation, and tax structure.
All condemned the GOP Legislature and governor for creating it.
All said they worry that the state/county/city work on helping the homeless, while important, may not be enough to stop the homeless creating campsites around the city.
Several said it will be the new mayor’s top job to find immediate housing for any homeless who next winter will not fit into the new men and/or women’s homeless shelters.
Ibarra said, “We have to pivot quickly” if the new homeless shelters prove not large enough for the winter-time homeless populations.
Garbett said he was the “fresh face” in city politics, not having been in state government or city government before.
Both he and Ibarra said they are businessmen who have solved problems, built successful firms, made payrolls.
Escamilla, who is Hispanic, said she wants to bring “equality” to neighborhoods, be a voice for all city residents, not just some.
Dabakis said the state, county, city partnership already in place on the homeless issue “must be kept in place,” and he would work hard to do that.
All asked the viewers/listeners visit their web sites for more on their specific plans to revitalize the city and start a new administration come the first of the year.
Two other candidates, Richard Goldberger and Rainer Huck, also participated in the debate. Neither has much support or money.
