Rose Park and other neighborhoods in northwest Salt Lake City now have a new representative.
The City Council on Tuesday night appointed Victoria Petro-Eschler to serve as the District 1 council member, replacing James Rogers, who resigned to spend more time with his family.
This move allowed Petro-Eschler to get a jump-start on her new position. She won the election this month to represent the west-side district, beating Blake Perez and Richard D.M. Barnes. She’ll serve as an appointed member for the rest of 2021 and then be sworn in for a full four-year term Jan. 3.
Petro-Eschler is the first Hispanic person to win in this diverse area of the city and is part of a historic shift in the representation of the council, which is now majority people of color and, in January, will become majority LGBTQ.
“I’m eager to get to work,” Petro-Eschler said Tuesday. “I’m eager to join an amazing team already doing good things.”
Petro-Eschler is the executive director of the Salty Cricket Composers Collective, a nonprofit that introduces new audiences to modern classical music. She served on the city’s Historic Landmark Commission.
As a candidate, Petro-Eschler called for a three-year crisis plan to address homelessness. She also wanted to work on creating a business and entertainment district on the west side near North Temple, where people could go out for dinner and a drink.
She would like to see a community group created to monitor and respond to potential environmental concerns associated with the inland port, which is still in its infancy. She sees that port, a place where cargo would be shipped throughout the West, as a potential source of good-paying jobs for the neighborhood.