Two young, progressive candidates are vying for the Salt Lake City Council seat for District 4, which runs from the University of Utah to Interstate 15 and encompasses downtown.
Derek Kitchen, who took on Utah's same-sex-marriage ban and won, is seeking the seat being vacated by Council Chairman Luke Garrott, who ran an unsuccessful bid for mayor. Kitchen has never held political office.
Originally from South Jordan, Kitchen, 26, is a 10-year resident of Salt Lake City and the owner and operator of a small business called Laziz Foods.
"I will be a voice for small business and social justice," Kitchen said. "A voice for small business at the council level is critical."
Going up against Kitchen is Nate Salazar, 28, a community school director attached to South Kearns Elementary. He works with school-age children and their families and is employed through United Way. His duties include ensuring children have proper diets, health care and other necessities.
If elected, he would be only the second Latino to serve on the City Council since it was created to replace the former commission form of government in the late 1970s, although the last Census found 22 percent of the city's population was Latino. Lee Martinez was appointed to serve out a vacated seat in 1997. He served less than a year on the council.
"I have always wanted to be in local politics," Salazar said. "I feel I have the skills and knowledge to bring people together."
Salazar also is chairman of the Salt Lake County Hispanic Democratic Caucus that boasts more than 200 members.
Salazar emphasizes education as a key element to a successful city. He also said the partnerships between public-sector agencies and private-sector entities are essential for city government to meet residents' needs.
"I'm really running to get back to basics," he said. "We've put money into a lot of things that aren't needed," including the performing arts theater now under construction on Main Street.
He added, however, that parks, open space and maintenance of the city's fleet should be priorities.
While Kitchen, too, endorses those things, he would emphasize "growing the tax base" as the means to a prosperous city.
"Economic development is not something Salt Lake City has talked about seriously in a long time," Kitchen said. "Salt Lake City has to be more sophisticated on economic development."
Both candidates say they are concerned about deferred maintenance throughout the city, whether parks, golf, or streets and sidewalks.
And both say that more police officers are needed on the streets. They differ slightly, however, on the forced resignation in June of former police Chief Chris Burbank.
Kitchen said he is concerned with the culture at the police department that led to reports of sexual harassment that were confirmed in January 2014. Neither Burbank nor Mayor Ralph Becker handled the situation well, Kitchen said.
Salazar also saw the fallout surrounding Burbank's departure as less than appropriate, saying that Becker should have acted a year earlier.
Kitchen and Salazar differ on whether Glendale Golf Course — located in District 2 — should get a makeover.
"I like the idea of turning Glendale into a regional park," Kitchen said. "It's a huge opportunity and would be a huge investment for the west side."
But Salazar said he "would struggle" with closing any golf course. He added, however, that he does favor multiple uses for golf courses.
The Road Home shelter and Pioneer Park are within District 2, and homelessness is on the minds of many Salt Lake City residents.
Salazar favors dispersing the homeless population so the area around Rio Grande Street is not so crowded. Nonetheless, he said, The Road Home should not be moved. He favors more emphasis on treatment for the homeless and wants partnerships with Salt Lake County and the state.
"It's a regional problem," he said. "But Salt Lake City is bearing the burden."
Kitchen holds similar views and said homeless women and children should be separated from the male population as soon as possible. He, too, favors dispersement of the homeless population and, like Salazar, would like the state to play a bigger role.
But, he noted, the city must make more effort to foster affordable housing and keep people in the neighborhoods where they have lived.
csmart@sltrib.com
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