Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson and challenger Erin Rider are at odds over a proposed $507 million public safety bond.
- Wilson supports the bond, citing the need for new jail facilities and a Justice and Accountability Center to address homelessness and recidivism.
- Rider criticized the bond as a taxpayer burden and excessive spending. She proposed tackling maintenance of older buildings "in smaller chunks."
SALT LAKE CITY — The 2024 Salt Lake County mayoral election could come down to the candidates' diverging priorities for taxes, after Mayor Jenny Wilson and challenger Erin Rider drew stark comparisons on the issue of a proposed $507 million bond during a largely civil debate Thursday evening.
Wilson, a Democrat who was first elected county mayor in 2019 to fill the vacancy left by Ben McAdams, touted the public safety bond proposal — which will be put to voters in the county next month — as a much-needed investment in homelessness prevention and criminal justice reform.
The bond would raise funds for the construction of a new county jail to replace the county's current, aging facilities, and fund a Justice and Accountability Center which would aim to prevent recidivism rates.
"If we don't pay for it now, we will pay for it later," Wilson said, adding that the project will decrease costs to the county in the long term due to improved efficiency. "It is absolutely necessary so we stop the churn of people being booked in jail and quickly released on the street."
Rider, on the other hand, reiterated previous statements in which she called the proposal "Jenny Wilson's latest taxpayer boondoggle," and accused the incumbent of playing fast and loose with taxpayer funds while delaying "deferred maintenance" on county buildings — including Abravanel Hall, which needs renovations that could cost about $200 million.
"There's nothing innovative about just another tax increase," the Republican challenger said. "We cannot keep throwing money after bad solutions and expecting a difference."
"If there's one thing you take away from me tonight I hope it's this: My opponent is an expensive mayor to keep," Rider said in her closing statement.
The bond issue was one of the primary sticking points between the two candidates during their hourlong head-to-head Thursday, which was hosted by PBS Utah at the University of Utah's Eccles Broadcast Center. It also prompted some of the only conflict in what was an otherwise a cordial affair.
Speaking with reporters after the debate, Wilson defended the county's operation of older buildings and fired back that "I don't think my opponent understands her budget."
"I recognize that the county is a complex operation, but she's showing a disregard for the facts," she said.
When asked to clarify if her opposition to the bond is based on the cost, or the underlying proposals, Rider said she still has questions about the efficacy of the proposed Justice and Accountability Center.
"I'm all for creative solutions and new approaches to figuring out how to address some of these problems," she said, but told reporters she's not sold on what the county hopes to accomplish with the facility.
Although the bond has been sent to the voters and is out of the hands of either candidate, Rider proposed dealing with the needed maintenance of county buildings "in smaller chunks," which she believes is more realistic than the $507 million bond.
Rider said voters across the county are "just being buried right now in taxes," thanks to the public safety bond, school district tax increases and a proposed 0.5% sales tax increase in the capital city as part of the Smith Entertainment Group's plans to revamp downtown. She told reporters she was bothered by what she sees as a "rushed" process to approve the downtown revitalization plan.
"I'm not tearing down a building just to give a billionaire a few more developable acres," she said.
Wilson was also asked about the revitalization plan — which she admitted "came together very late" — and whether she felt her hands were tied as the Legislature and Salt Lake City negotiated.
"So, I would say yes and no," Wilson said. "I think it has been a really good collaboration. The devil is in the details when it comes to architects and engineers, and we are very deeply embedded at Salt Lake County of looking at the possibilities right now, and I feel like we're on track."
Wilson is seeking her second full term at the helm of Utah's most populous county. She served on the Salt Lake County Council for two nonconsecutive terms from 2005-2011 and 2014-2019, and ran opposite Mitt Romney in the 2018 campaign for U.S. Senate.
It's not the first time running for Rider, an attorney who challenged former Rep. Chris Stewart in a Republican primary for Utah's 2nd Congressional District in 2022. She now has the endorsement of Stewart, along with U.S. Reps. Blake Moore and Burgess Owens, and three members of the Salt Lake County Council: Laurie Stringham, Sheldon Stewart and Dave Alvord.
