- Salt Lake City Council now has a majority of women members for the first time since body was formed in 1980.
- Erika Carlsen is Salt Lake City's newest council member.
- The council aims to address housing, environmental and other challenges in the city.
SALT LAKE CITY — Erika Carlsen felt honored and eager to get to work as she took the oath of office, becoming the newest member of the Salt Lake City Council Monday afternoon.
She also appreciated the piece of history she was setting in the moment.
Her term in office now gives the City Council a woman-majority membership for the first time since the current leadership model began in 1980, while maintaining the boards of recent milestones of majority-minority and LGBTQ representation. All of those are things she once never dreamed of seeing, much less participating in, when she grew up in Ogden.
"I grew up here in Utah as a young queer Latina ... and I didn't think I had a place, and that I could make it," she told KSL, reflecting on the moment after the city's inauguration ceremony. "To be a part of a council that's majority women, majority Latino and majority LGBTQ, it's beyond what I could have ever imagined for myself."
Carlsen joined members Victoria Petro, Chris Wharton and Sarah Young, the latter of whom won their reelection bids in November during the inauguration ceremony in the lobby of the Salt Lake City Main Library. While they acknowledged the importance of the moment, they quickly turned their attentions to the current and future needs, expressing their vision for the next four years and beyond during a pivotal time for the city.
The state's most populated and fastest-growing city faces many challenges, ranging from air quality to housing and homelessness to transportation gaps, as the city prepares to host the 2034 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.
Shaping the city's future
Wharton teared up as he read off a letter to his young daughter, Ella, outlining the future city he envisions for her, which is the vision that many others in the lobby shared. He outlined a future where the Great Salt Lake returned to a healthy level, the cost of housing wasn't a burden and red air quality days didn't exist — and the city's parks and landscapes are preserved to help form her appreciation of the city.
"I hope your summers are filled with drone shows and parades through downtown. I hope the lights at Temple Square will always make you feel the Christmas spirit. I hope you know these and other traditions are part of what makes Salt Lake City special," he said, as he looked toward her in the crowd.
Preserving what makes the city special while handling issues was a common theme of the afternoon.
Although the focus centered on big events and big issues, Young said the "little things" will make "the bigger difference." She expects smaller resolutions and ordinances will ultimately tip the scales in many cases, as will work by others in the city.
"On any of these challenges, it's easy to think, 'I'm just one person. What difference can I make?' The point is that we try," Carlsen added, tying it to "the Brave Little Parrot," a Buddhist parable of a parrot trying to put out a fire, or the challenges around them.
Getting there requires meeting residents where they're at. Petro, who experienced the narrowest election victory of the three who retained their seats, thanked her election opponent, Stephen Otterstrom, for his commitment and for helping highlight challenges that persist in her west side district and in the city — a commitment that she says she will continue in her second term.
That includes pushing for "substantive" policies for developers and businesses to invest in the city's workforce "in equal measure," and environmental measures to adjust to climate issues.
"I am going to substantively work for the betterment of this city. ... I will substantively show up for this city," she said.
Making a difference
Yet, Monday's history also loomed over the ceremony in many of the remarks.
Carlsen said she'd like to work with youth groups to get children interested in local government and community matters. Reflecting on the lack of representation she saw growing up, she said she also hopes that current and future generations can see themselves through the differences in the council's current members.
"I think seeing the representation is one part of knowing that all of the voices contribute to making our city better," she said. "I think the second part is delivering results and improving our city for everybody who lives here."
