Is South Salt Lake a better place to live under the current City Administration? You decide. Mayor Cherie Wood started her term with a salary of $78,348 four years ago. Today that salary is $118,497. That is a $40,149 raise in four years. She is the 7th highest paid mayor in the entire state. By comparison, the Mayor of Salt Lake City, Ralph Becker, makes $131,723 to govern a city that has more than seven times the population of South Salt Lake. If re-elected, how high will Mayor Wood’s salary be in four more years? What justifies this excessive salary? Remember, this is your property tax money. References: utahsright/salaries.php?city=south_salt_lake&query= southsaltlakejournal/full_story/6900/Mayor-moves-up-the-scale-in-pay,-profile/ South Salt Lake has the highest paid Police Chief ($185,295) and Fire Captain ($159,928) in the state of Utah. Our City Attorney is the 4th highest paid attorney in the sate ($180,798) and only makes $ 18,280 less than the District Attorney Sim Gill. In fact, most of the top employees in South Salt Lake make more than their counterparts in other cities in Utah. According to the 2010 U.S. Census South Salt Lake has a population of 23,617 people and ranks only as the 31st largest city. What justifies these excessively high salaries in our small city? References: utahsright/salaries.php?city=south_salt_lake&query= The current city administration authorized the sale a property that was owned by current City Council member, Casey Fitts and his family. Why did the city need to acquire this property? Most people would see this as a conflict of interest so why did the City Council and Mayor allow this to happen? The sale price came out to be around $400,000 – of your tax money. The current city administration conducts a large portion of city business behind closed doors. Why? These people are our representatives so why are they conducting city business in secret? What do they have to hide? One current City Council member stated in a city council meeting that conducting city business was much easier to do when the public was not involved. Is this proper representation? The current administration used $92,000 in tax money to promote the Granite High School bond. That was illegal. Tax money cannot be used to promote a politician or political issue such as a bond. References: sltrib/sltrib/politics/52842228-90/lake-salt-south-bond.html.csp - disqus_thread After the bond was voted down the city continued to lease Granite High School for another $500,000. The city’s lease of Granite High expired in March of 2013 and the ownership was returned to the Granite School District – which means that the city lost $500,000. Is that being fiscally responsible? References: deseretnews/article/705397923/South-Salt-Lake-still-hoping-to-buy-Granite-High-property.html?pg=all southsaltlakejournal/full_story/9183/Granite-High-$25-million-tax-obligation-bond-fails-after-recount/ sltrib/sltrib/news/56006028-78/granite-redman-woodbury-lake.html.csp According to these articles Mayor Cherie Wood knew that the 25 million dollar bond was not enough to buy and renovate Granite High and that a second tax increase would be necessary to complete the job. The public was intentionally misled into believing that the 25 million would be enough to finish the project. And even after the Granite bond was defeated our city administration was still planning on buying the property. They did not care that the citizens had just voted against a tax increase (the bond), they were going to do it anyway. Is this proper representation? Mayor Cherie Wood and the current City Council have tried desperately to significantly increase your property taxes. Is this what you want? The citizens of South Salt Lake need new leadership. We now have the opportunity to choose a new Mayor and fill three City Council seats with new people that will listen to the public. We need people who will be responsible with our tax dollars, be open and honest, and be true representatives of the citizens of South Salt Lake. It is important that in the upcoming election that everyone votes. The 25 million dollar bond was defeated by only 5 votes - your vote matters. Remember, the Primary Election is August 13th. Kevin Rapp
Posted on: Thu, 20 Jun 2013 02:50:31 +0000
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