This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
In the heady days of the Salt Lake County Commission that he lauded at every opportunity, the late Randy Horiuchi supervised the Public Works Department.
Horiuchi "often referred to public-works employees with a great deal of affection [and] took pride in overseeing that department," County Councilwoman Jenny Wilson said this week in launching an effort to name the county's public-works building in Midvale after her fellow Democrat who died in November at age 61, having never recovered fully from a 2012 stroke.
A five-member committee is being assembled to review the proposal — in accord with the county's naming-rights ordinance — but support was not universal.
It's nothing personal, said County Councilman Richard Snelgrove, but he believes there are worthier candidates than a politician to receive the honor of having a public building named after them.
His preference: Medal of Honor recipient private Jose F. Valdez, a New Mexico native who joined the Army in June 1944 at a recruiting station in Pleasant Grove and died in France eight months later of wounds suffered while displaying valiant behavior that saved the lives of many GIs.
"These are the people who deserve to have buildings named after them," he said. "It's unsettling to me to name public buildings after public figures. For me, it's an honor to serve. … There's nothing particularly special about us [other than] winning an election.
"We're not in the same league — any of us — as these people," Snelgrove added.
His motion to go with a substitute honoree received mixed support from Councilman Steve DeBry, like Snelgrove a Republican, who said he wasn't certain which way to go.
"There's no question [Horiuchi] was extremely committed to Salt Lake County, committed and controversial. Randy was Randy," he said of the exuberant politician known for an outlandish style in calling attention to himself or his issues.
Noting that Horiuchi's name is on many plates attached to county buildings constructed during his lengthy tenure as a commissioner and a councilman, DeBry said, "I'll listen and decide how I'll vote."
But he did not provide a second for Snelgrove's motion to honor Valdez — once Republican Councilman Michael Jensen expressed his support for recognizing his longtime colleague.
"I don't want my no vote to indicate that gentleman [Valdez] isn't deserving," Jensen said, referring to his position on the motion by Snelgrove, who he hoped would come up with a "resolution and name a day after [Valdez] to recognize his service to Salt Lake County."
"But we need to move forward and name the public works building after Randy," Jensen added.
The council concurred and selected a committee that will gather community input and hold public hearings on the proposal to name the building after Horiuchi before making a recommendation to the council.
Committee members are outgoing public works director Russ Wall; Kevyn Smeltzer, director of its operations division; Jensen's senior adviser Ryan Perry; Horiuchi's former aide Heather Mastakas; and Midvale Mayor JoAnn Seghini.