April 6th, 2015
Jim Dabakis announces his candidacy for Salt Lake City Mayor
I am running for mayor of Salt Lake City! I believe our Capitol City is on the edge of greatness. I believe, working together with our citizens, I have the management skills, energy, and vision to help get Salt Lake to the top tier of American cities!
I have met a payroll for 30 years. I know business. I know spreadsheets. I know efficiency. I know how to manage and motivate employees. With over a billion dollar budget (including the new airport expansion) the first test of a mayor is how this person will manage the people's money. I am very mindful of the (almost) sacred trust of dealing with the public's money. I will be a watchful, demanding stewart of our taxpayers money.
Second, I believe a great mayor needs a big heart! The mayor is the leader of the City. It is the mayor's job to bring people together. Find common ground. Unite the community! A mayor needs to be out of his office. Out in the community - every day. Checking the pulse. Out in the neighborhoods. At the festivals. At the neighborhood barbecues. Sitting down with the Hispanic Community. Invading the west side with attention, jobs, and clean development. The mayor should be equally comfortable at the Utah Pride Festival or sitting at the LDS Conference! The mayor needs to be an active, uniting force, bringing our communities together! I pledge to do that.
Third, the mayor is the ambassador of the city to the rest of the state and the world. There will be no end of my energy in promoting our dazzling city. I will never rest on getting great jobs to Salt Lake City. My emphasis will be on making trips to Silicon Valley, not to Washington D.C. It all starts with good paying, clean jobs.
I feel it is vital to keep the people of Salt Lake in the process. Not close citizens out. I don't want the prison in Salt Lake City. All candidates agree on that. But, the citizens of Salt Lake have my word that I would never have made a last minute, backroom deal to implement a tax increase for Salt Lake City residents if Salt Lake City gets the unwanted prison. That was nasty. It's hard to believe an idealistic Ralph Becker would have made that deal 8 years ago. Getting the prison AND a tax increase? Why would the city have schemed for that?
