First lady Jill Biden seemed right at home Wednesday interacting with students and praising teachers at a middle school on the west side of Salt Lake City.
Deseret News
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall unveils budget proposal for 2021-2022
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Steve Griffin, Deseret News
As Utah turns a corner on the COVID-19 pandemic, now the fastest growing state in the nation, the capital city faces a “new frontier, a historic and critical” turning point, with the chance to invest millions into needs including racial equity, affordable housing and homelessness.
That’s what Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall told the Salt Lake City Council on Tuesday night as she unveiled her second budget proposal, which includes nearly $350 million in general fund revenue for the city’s 2021-2022 fiscal year. In total, including the airport and other enterprise and capital improvement funds, Mendenhall’s recommended budget expenditures exceed $1.7 billion, an increase of $512.4 million from last year, or a 28.6% increase.
Here are snapshots of first lady Jill Biden’s three hours in Salt Lake City on Wednesday:
1:39 p.m. Arrival
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) From left, Gov. Spencer Cox and Utah first lady Abby Cox welcome U.S. first lady Jill Biden at Salt Lake City International Airport, Wednesday, May 5, 2021.
As Biden reached the tarmac, she was greeted by Gov. Spencer Cox and first lady Abby Cox. They exchanged pleasantries before Abby Cox handed her a small paper bag containing a gift. White House staffers opened it near reporters, and it appeared to be a gold bracelet with small beehives on it. Beehives are Utah’s state emblem.
Kip Yost: We have met the homeless, and they are (increasingly) us
Tax cuts, high costs and criminalizing poverty conspire to push people into homelessness.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Local architect Jeff White, stands on an underused site on the west side of Salt Lake City, as he holds a model showing what his tiny home community might look like, on Wednesday, March 31, 2021.
By Kip Yost | Special to The Tribune
| May 6, 2021, 4:00 p.m.
It was encouraging to hear Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall admit that another permanent shelter for the homeless is necessary. Although anybody paying attention knew that was true back in 2019. The tiny-home village plan is also an idea that has done well elsewhere and affords dignity and safety where camping is chaos.