SALT LAKE CITY – Today Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall marked her 100th day in office noting the completion of some of her short term goals for the city, as well as reflecting on the incredible circumstances the city has faced during her time as Mayor.

“As I look back over my first 100 days in office, many things make me proud of Salt Lake City. The entire city team was ready to get to work starting day 1 and we’ve accomplished some great things together, even as we faced the unprecedented challenges of the last five weeks,” Mayor Mendenhall said. “I’m incredibly proud of the ingenuity and professionalism of our city team, strong collaboration with the City Council, and I am looking forward to fully realizing much of my ambitious agenda for this year.”

Mayor Mendenhall identified three themes in her 2020 Plan and outlined both her short and longer-term goals for Salt Lake City. As of Day 100, a great deal has been accomplished.

Our Communities: Inclusive opportunities for all

• Addressed the need for low-barrier overflow shelter during this winter by opening the Sugarhouse Temporary Shelter on January 23. 
• Continued work with service providers, stakeholders, and consultants to plan for overflow shelter in coming years. 
• Transmitted to City Council the shared housing ordinance and changes to the RM-30 zone to increase the types and densities of housing available to more residents.
• Worked with private and philanthropic entities on ways to partner to provide more affordable housing and convenient access to necessities like grocery stores, child care centers, and transportation.
• Began work with the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute to complete an environmental scan of potential equity indicators that could be used in a city-wide equity plan.
• Secured funding for a third-party consultant to complete a city-wide Equity Plan and began working with the Human Rights Coalition on how to shape an request for information for potential consultants.
• Launched the first phase of Customer Relations Management (CRM) software to improve access, transparency, and interaction between residents and the City.
• Secured grant funding to expand youth and adult programming in the Northwest region of the City.

Our Growth: Harnessing growth for the good of every resident

• Reviewed current City contracts with translation services to ensure that business development is supported for Spanish speakers.
• Completed tech entrepreneurship prospectus and received approval from the City Council to hire a Technology and Innovation Strategic Industry Advisor. 
• Convened roundtables with industry leaders and set forth shared principles and next steps for our vision of Tech Lake City.
• Held an initial in-house meeting to plan for resurrecting our regular roundtables with developers. 
• Began meeting with the Processes & Permits work group to develop a strategy to streamline processes and break down silos in development processes. 
• Began a financial risk assessment and received approval from the City Council to allocate funds toward a robust third-party finance review. 
• Quickly developed and implemented an Emergency Loan Program for small businesses that are suffering from the effects of the COVID-19 economic downturn. 

Our Environment: Promoting Resilience and Stewardship

• Updated a City policy that every operational decision is viewed through the lens of sustainability and requested department directors to submit memos with new ideas for making their operations better for the environment.
• Began discussions with our energy utility companies on how to transition faster to cleaner energy sources. 
• Initiated a “Tickets for Transit” pilot program with Utah Transit Authority and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for Spring General Conference, which was ultimately held virtually due to the COVID-19. 
• Developed a plan to launch an urban wood re-utilization program to divert some of the 2.5 million pounds of wood that ends up in the landfill each year. 
• Worked with the Utah Inland Port Authority and other stakeholders to improve the Inland Port statute during the 2020 Legislative Session, eliminate the land-use loophole environmental threat, and to ensure that development will include environmental protections. 
• Began work on an updated Sustainability Plan that includes sustainability goals for each department. 
• Supported funding for a feasibility study for a year-round public market to increase the amount and diversity of food available to residents and provide a sustainable and stable venue for farmers to sell products. 
• Secured private funding to plant 1000 additional trees in West Side neighborhoods in 2020. 

“These achievements are thanks to the work of talented and dedicated City staff and our community partners,” Mayor Mendenhall said. “Even in the thick of the COVID-19 crisis, we haven’t stopped working toward building the City of our dreams.”