It’s the final stretch in this year’s Salt Lake City mayoral race, and as the hours tick away in the countdown to Election Day, voters still have an opportunity to decide who they want to take the city’s helm.
We asked the three mayoral candidates — Former Mayor Rocky Anderson, incumbent Mayor Erin Mendenhall, and activist Michael Valentine — what kind of leadership they bring to the table, what results of their style of leadership, and why voters should trust them to take the corner office in City Hall. Answers have been edited slightly for length and clarity.
Here’s what they told us:
How would you describe your leadership style?
Anderson: I am a principled, collaborative, accessible, and inspiring leader, focused on achieving the best results for the present and the future. I build exceptional teams, cutting those who don’t perform at a high level. My teams and I have worked hard, with a remarkable comradery. We always enjoyed meaningful successes, contributing to our high office morale. My teammates and I have been driven by a shared passion for excellent results and a high sense of service.
From their endorsements, here’s a sampling of how former team members view my leadership: YF: “He’s pragmatic and intelligent with a heart of gold.” WM: “To his core, [Rocky] is committed to helping people achieve social, environmental, and economic justice.” RR: “Rocky was the best employer I’ve ever had.” WE: “Rocky had assembled some of the most bright and talented people I have ever worked with. The office energy, enthusiasm and comradery were contagious!”
Mendenhall: I try my best to lead with love. We can treat each other with respect; we can listen to each other and give each other grace; and we can speak passionately about our beliefs without insulting those who disagree with us. We can stand up to bullies without becoming bullies ourselves.
Before I first entered public service, I was an air-quality advocate. I started like so many passionate people do: calling for change and marching for progress, but I realized I could do more in the room negotiating than protesting outside it. Good mayors don’t lead angry mobs. They operate strategically with a focus on achieving the desired outcome.
For me, being mayor is about earning results, not chasing headlines. The upside to that approach is obvious, but the downside is that residents can sometimes confuse not taking credit with not taking action. It’s a risk I’m willing to take.
Valentine: Very differently than what we typically see from elected leaders. I’m a working-class person, a candidate of the people. There is a massive difference between being in office and being a leader. Leadership is about doing what is right, not what is easy. About doing what is best for others, not what is best for yourself. I lead from the bottom up, not the top down. My leadership style is entirely one of public service, of being the champion of the people and amplifying the voices of our community. My role is to lift others up above myself, to give and not take. I have no interest in a political career, my own ego, or money. My motivation is to end homelessness, poverty, to better the lives of our community. True leaders care about the collective, about the community, they don’t lead for themselves. That’s not leadership.
What role should Salt Lake City and its mayor play in Utah’s broader political landscape?
Anderson: No response.
Mendenhall: As the state’s capital and biggest city, Salt Lake City is Utah’s economic and cultural center. We are also a blue island in a sea of red, and when the city’s elected leaders forget that, we do a disservice to the people we represent. Islands need bridges, and ‘insult first, ask questions later’ is a terrible and ineffective approach to governing. It may make people feel better for a moment, but it’s the absolute worst way to build bridges that might make change possible.
There are certainly times when I have spoken out on statewide issues — like standing up for trans kids and abortion rights — but Salt Lake City mayors should not allow themselves to overshadow the people affected by the policy being considered. In this job, it’s not enough to be on the team — you have to be a team player, and you have to put the city first.
Valentine: A central one. Throughout this campaign, I have been told repeatedly that my platform is not one a mayor can accomplish on their own. But everything in my platform is already being done by other mayors in other cities across America, so we have to ask ourselves why Salt Lake can’t help our people here too.
As the mayor of a capital city, there is more responsibility for all of Utah to lead by example and to champion all other cities in our state. To build coalitions, to put forth new ideas, new plans of action, to accomplish things here that can’t first be done anywhere else, and to push back against the state when they overstep their bounds. Salt Lake City must lead all of America into the future.
Why should voters trust your leadership over your opponents’?
Anderson: Our current mayor routinely breaks promises. Four years ago, she promised to negotiate for 100% renewable energy by 2023, then recently stated it “was never a reality.” She promised childcare for city employees and to restore the curbside clean-up program; neither happened.
She promised homes at The Other Side Village would be occupied by winter 2021. Three winters later, not one home built. Over a year ago, she promised 300 new housing units for unsheltered people would be occupied by last April; that didn’t happen. Tragically, 197 of the units won’t be built, contrary to the mayor’s recent false representation they were “still under construction.”
I take my promises seriously. I promised an afterschool and summer program; we implemented YouthCity. I promised greater inclusivity and equal rights action; I exceeded expectations. I promised extraordinary climate protection action; we won the Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Protection Award. My word is my bond.
Mendenhall: First, because in the last 15 years, our city hasn’t just grown — it’s grown up. It may be satisfying when Salt Lake City’s mayor picks partisan fights with the Legislature, but we’ve learned that it only ends up hurting the city. I would rather be in the meeting negotiating for our interests than chasing headlines with inflammatory rhetoric.
Second, because I am crisis-tested. The pandemic, earthquakes, the inland hurricane, flooding, and the nationwide surges in homelessness and crime — Salt Lake City’s police officers and firefighters have endorsed me because they trust me to do the hard work of leading this city.
And third, because my former staff don’t write letters to the editor accusing me of being a “cruel” and “abusive” boss. They don’t accuse me of “berating” and “degrading” them, and no one has accused me of creating “a hostile environment” at City Hall. That approach isn’t leading — it’s bullying.
Valentine: Because I am not a politician. I am honest, forthcoming and say what I mean. I am authentic and a real person. Because I care more about Salt Lake City, our people, our community than I care about myself. I’m not running for this office as a stepping stone to another election. I’m not doing this for a future career and there is no amount of money in the world that would get me to sell my soul against the interests of the public. I am not special, but I am not like anyone who has ever ran to be mayor before as my motivations are entirely on others, not myself. I’m your neighbor, a regular person, running to house everyone off the streets, save the Great Salt Lake, bring restorative and economic justice to our community, and better the lives of you and your family in every way.
What results has your leadership style delivered when working alongside those with whom you disagree?
Anderson: Some members of the City Council often opposed me when I was mayor (which can be healthy), yet our achievements were extraordinary. We were world-class hosts of the 2002 Olympics. Together, we provided a 450-bed overflow homeless shelter. We annually set aside more than 9% of the general fund budget for infrastructure needs.
After the council rejected the university light rail line, I worked effectively with light rail opponents, council members, and others to revive the light rail line.
On matters of important principle, I don’t go along just to get along. That’s what real leadership requires. I joined in a successful challenge to the state’s initial Legacy Highway plan, which violated laws intended to protect the environment and public health. I successfully fought against the Legislature’s English-only law. I successfully defended against a challenge to my executive order requiring equal city employee benefits, regardless of sexual orientation.
Mendenhall: My leadership style is why Salt Lake City schools had the lowest COVID case rates in the county and why Outdoor Retailer has come home. My commitment to partnership is largely why the state is finally shouldering more of the responsibility in the homelessness crisis, and why the city is finally receiving state funds for public safety around the homeless resource centers. It’s why work is underway on a state-run/city-supported legal campsite with climate-controlled pods, and why a tiny-home village is being built. It’s how we’ve taken more than 300 “apex” criminals off our streets. It’s why the city is getting tax revenue back from the state’s Inland Port, why 25,000 students, their teachers, and a parent have been given free Utah Transit Authority passes, and why — after Rocky Mountain Power tried to delay delivery of net-100% renewable electricity until 2050 — a partnership I’ve negotiated will instead get that electricity here by 2030.
Valentine: Always successful results. I’m an independent, serve no political parties, and am blessed to have the most diverse support out of the candidates combined. I have socialists, communists, anarchists, Democrats, Republicans, and everyone in between supporting me and my campaign because I’m authentic and truly care about them as individuals and people. I have supporters who send me messages telling me they don’t agree with me on everything, but they respect me and will vote for me anyway because I’m running to serve them and their families, that I’m working hard to better their lives and their futures. I am running to unite the people and serve the working class of our city across every background and demographic. It’s OK to disagree with people as long as it’s not a disagreement about fundamental human rights. I love and respect everyone in our city and state and believe in our collective future together.
How would you approach working with the City Council to deliver results for residents?
Anderson: I can work with anyone toward achieving common goals, even if we have different viewpoints or disagree on other matters. I worked closely with Mitt Romney on the extraordinary 2002 Winter Olympics. Jon Huntsman Sr. and I co-convened the Alliance for Unity, comprised of diverse community leaders who worked constructively to bridge divisions. When I was mayor, the City Council and I achieved many good things, leading to Salt Lake City being recognized as one of the most livable cities in the nation, while keeping spending down and never raising property taxes.
City Council members seek to improve the quality of life for everyone in our community, as do I. We will work together well in promoting our shared goals. It’s not healthy for people to feel they have to agree on everything. A healthy, respectful disagreement can lead to better results for everyone.
Mendenhall: All seven members of the City Council endorsed me for reelection not because we agree all the time, but because they trust my values and respect the results I have delivered for their neighborhoods.
The council is not a monolith — it’s seven individuals with different priorities, experiences, and styles. It’s up to the mayor to build seven different relationships. Finding common ground is the heart of my approach; building personal relationships and understanding their motivations so that even when we disagree, we have enough of a foundation that we can return to the conversation earnestly.
I don’t call them names in the media. I don’t badmouth them behind their backs. I don’t tell them my way is the only way and demand they fall in line. Perhaps not coincidentally, five of the nine living members of the council who served during Mr. Anderson’s administration have also endorsed me for reelection.
Valentine: I would urge them to adopt my platform to better the public and urge them to listen to the community with me on what is best for our shared collective future. I personally know all of the council members and they know me. Several of them I helped get elected. We’re not going to agree on everything, but we are going to work together to serve the public and have tough, respectful conversations together based on reason, research, science, and public perspective. I would be the mayor who does the most for the council, as Salt Lake City has a strong-mayor government, and I would work to balance the scales returning more power to the council for the proper checks and balance we need between the legislative and executive branches. I’m excited to work with the council on every issue and look forward to accomplishing so much for our people.
How would you approach working with the Legislature and other state leaders to deliver results for Salt Lake City?
Anderson: I’ve worked with many legislators for decades on matters as varied as joint custody reform, banning lobbyist gifts to legislators, restorative justice, sentencing policies, workplace privacy, illegal surveillance, jail and prison reform, and justice for victims of child sex abuse.
Recently, I’ve met with state senators from both parties with whom I have amicable relationships. I’ve been told by a legislative leader that he knows I’m the person who can best lead Salt Lake City out of the homelessness and lawlessness crises we’re now facing.
After I’m elected, I’ll meet with legislators and the governor to form a consensus regarding a shared plan and a collaborative, effective approach to dealing with Salt Lake City’s homelessness, crime, and affordability crises, with an immediate emphasis on eliminating homeless encampments, providing a humane alternative place for unsheltered people to go, enforcing the laws, and providing adequate supportive permanent housing.
Mendenhall: I made a lot of tough decisions based on data and the advice of epidemiologists during the pandemic, knowing that the Legislature was likely to disagree. To diffuse the risk, I frequently called the legislative leadership to give them a heads up. Sometimes we agreed to disagree, sometimes they helped me make it better, but every time, the heads-up prevented us from litigating the situation clumsily in the news media or with expensive and unproductive lawsuits.
Governors Cox and Herbert have endorsed me because they’ve seen me put results over politics. As a Salt Laker, there have been so many times when I have felt angry, hurt, or disillusioned at things that have happened in the Legislature, but I’ve also seen how the combative engagement of the city’s mayor has undermined our goals.
Valentine: Same way I would work with the council or anyone I need to work with to build a coalition to support and help the public. It’s my job as mayor to be the megaphone of the people, to go into every room bringing the voices, concerns, and perspectives of our community, especially our most vulnerable communities who often get left out of the conversations. I always lead with kindness and honey first. I would urge the Legislature to adopt as much of my platform and plans as possible and work very hard to make that case every day in office as it is what is best for our community and the future of our city and state. I’m an independent, not part of any political party, and am an extrovert. I can talk to anyone, anywhere, while finding common ground. I can’t wait to work with the state of Utah.
Is it more important to stand firm on issues that matter to you or compromise if that is what it takes to get at least some of what you want?
Anderson: If, for instance, the state is about to engage in an illegal act that impacts fundamental freedoms or poses significant risks of harm to the environment or public well-being, the city’s leader should stand firm and challenge it.
If there is simply a disagreement over policies that don’t impact fundamental rights or interests, it would usually be best to determine what compromises can be worked out.
Mendenhall: It’s not about what matters to ME, it’s about what matters to the city’s residents. The job of Salt Lake City’s mayor isn’t to be outspoken on progressive issues — it’s to deliver results for the people of this city. Results are always my priority.
Valentine: It depends on what it is. I won’t compromise on issues of human rights: restorative justice, police brutality, ending homelessness, ending poverty, reproductive rights, queer and trans rights. Also important to mention these issues matter to all of Utah and aren’t just my issues. I serve the public always.
