|
Happy Pioneer/Pienbeer Day weekend! Your correspondent wonders if his pioneer ancestors arrived and actually said, “This?!? Is the place?!?” That said, your correspondent is thrilled that we are all here, regardless of whether you arrived in Utah last century or last week, and this is a great place because of people like you!
Despite the short week, we were busy: Land Use Task Force; Commission on Housing Affordability; Love, Listen, Lead Task Force on public safety; & Congress commences consideration anew on COVID-19. We will also remind you about Monday’s Economic Impact of COVID-19 town hall at 3 pm, announce vacancies on our Board of Directors, remind you of our Annual Convention survey, and spotlight our “Why I Love my Community” essay contest winners.
Remember to chime in about the ULCT Annual Convention virtual and in-person options HERE.
Board Vacancies
2020-2021 ULCT Board of Directors Nominations This September, the League membership will elect a new 2nd Vice President and several new members of the Board of Directors. We will have eleven vacancies--one four year term (2nd VP) and ten two year terms. We thank our departing board members for their dedication and service. The 21 member board reflects the diversity of Utah’s municipalities. Per our constitution, we have representation from each geographic region of the state, from cities of the first and second class (65,000+ population), and towns (population of less than 1,000). Any elected official from a city or town in good standing is eligible to be nominated (you can even nominate yourself), and nominations are due by August 14, 2020.
The nominations committee will review the applications and make recommendations for the ULCT membership to ratify in the business session at the Annual Convention in September. We will also request volunteers later this summer to serve on the nominations committee. The strength of the League is our membership! For more information and to nominate yourself or a colleague, click here.
Legislative Advocacy
 |
|
Commission on Housing Authority
In their June meeting, The Commission on Housing Affordability (CHA) broke into two subgroups to do a deep dive into specific policy items. The two subgroups are Land Use Policy and Affordable Production and Preservation. Both groups met this week.
The Affordable Production subgroup met to discuss what objectives should be prioritized in the coming weeks. Among those topics are:
|
- Support for federal legislation to enhance the 4% LIHTC affordable housing tax credit program (see the Senate bill here.
- Examine how the $20 million in state CARES Act funds programmed for housing could be best spent according to the greatest need;
- Mitigate eviction problems caused by the pandemic;
- Review the planning and land use reforms that have already taken place and are currently underway; and
- Examine whether enhancements are possible for transit investment corridors;
The Subgroup’s next meeting date was not set but they plan to address possible housing solutions for specific sub-populations in need. This may include shared housing/single-room occupancy units, rural housing needs, and workforce housing in tourism communities.
The Land Use Subgroup’s first meeting focused on transparency and limitations on local government building fees. The subgroup’s chair Chris Gamvroulas invited local government members from the Land Use Task Force as well as local government CHA representatives to participate in the discussion. The Property Rights Coalition has expressed concerns that development fees (permit fees, impact fees, plan review fees, etc.) may be disproportionately high in some communities. They cited several nation-wide studies claiming fees undermine affordable housing production and place an undue cost on new residents. All three local government representatives on the subgroup (Salt Lake City Council Member Andrew Johnston, Lehi Council Member Chris Condie, and Midvale Asst. City Manager Matt Dahl) agreed that transparency is important, but pushed back on the argument that building fees are disproportionate to the costs of service and questioned whether a reduction in fees would really translate to a decrease in housing costs. Both the PRC and local government representatives agreed on the need for more discussion and research before the subgroup makes a policy recommendation.
Both subgroups will be reporting back to the full CHA on their progress during the next meeting on Tuesday, July 28th. Our friends and colleagues at the Wasatch Front Regional Council will also be presenting on Wasatch Choice 2050. The meeting has not been noticed yet but will be here.
Land Use Task Force
The Land Use Task Force met this week and heard updates from the ongoing working groups. Some groups like mandatory training, gravel pits, and impact fees have held initial meetings while other groups like conditional use permits and standards of review will be meeting in the next few weeks. Annexation continues to be a hot topic after a flurry of bills during the general and special sessions. The annexation working group held its initial meeting and will continue through interim. LUTF also discussed the Commission on Housing Affordability land use subcommittee. Many of the issues on docket for the subcommittee are those discussed in previous years at LUTF and the group discussed whether the subcommittee or LUTF were the appropriate venues for those policy deliberations.
Mark your calendars for the next Legislative Policy Committee (virtual) meeting: August 17th at 3 p.m.
Love, Listen, & Lead
The joint ULCT-Utah Chiefs of Police Association Love, Listen Lead Task Force met this week to work on understanding the problem that we are trying to solve around community trust in police and racial equity. The Task Force, which consists of mayors, council members, police chiefs, city attorneys, and city administrators from Mayfield to Ogden, provided input about our upcoming Y2 Analytics survey about community sentiment, made data requests of ULCT/UCOPA staff, and will next meet with community stakeholders during the Listen phase. Department of Public Safety Commissioner Jess Anderson outlined last week the 19 areas for potential police reform which is the starting point for the discussions. You can read about those 19 areas here:
If you want more information, contact Cameron at cdiehl@ulct.org or John Park at john@johnwpark.com.
Congress and the 4th COVID-19 Bill
Reports show that Senate Republican Senators are currently shaping a 4th stimulus package with negotiations with Democrats to begin. The current draft proposal, as of today and not yet publicly released does not include any additional revenue for local governments but extends the timeframe and provides more flexibility for CARES funds. The ULCT executive board and staff have communicated multiple times the need for additional funding for critical city services, infrastructure, and better clarity on the use and distribution of CARES funding.
If your city or town has not contacted your delegation member about your community needs in the 4th stimulus or changes to CARES distribution or uses, you should immediately do so.ULCT Staff has communicated wit hthe entire delegation about htose issues this month. We will have more information at Monday's town hall. Included below are the delegation state and district directors, NLC's cities' are essential campaign and League communications.
Rob Bishop: Peter.Jenks@mail.house.gov
Chris Stewart: Gary.Webster@mail.house.gov
John Curtis: Lorie.Fowlke@mail.house.gov
Ben McAdams: Tiffany.Clason@mail.house.gov
Mike Lee: Robert_Axson@lee.senate.gov
Mitt Romney: Adam_Gardiner@romney.senate.gov
Cities are Essential: HERE
League Communication: HERE
Spotlight
We’re pleased to congratulate the winners of the 2020 ULCT “Why I Like My Community” essay contest. These six students submitted essays as 4th and 7th graders about the wonderful aspects of their hometown. ULCT’s panel of judges evaluated each essay based on creative thinking, correct grammar, spelling, structure, and essay development. The three top-ranking essays in each grade receive awards both individually and for their respective schools.
And the 2020 awards go to...
4th Grade
1st Place:
Addison Hansen, Taylorsville
School: Calvin Smith Elementary
2nd Place:
Madison Nielson, Spring City
School: Spring City Elementary
3rd Place:
Alana Parry, Provo
School: Provost Elementary
7th Grade
1st Place:
Eve Selway, Stansbury Park
School: Excelsior Academy Middle School
2nd Place:
Nathan Willden, Gunnison
School: Gunnison Valley Middle School
3rd Place:
Mary Lyons, Gunnison
School: Gunnison Valley Middle School
Special thanks go to ULCT’s sponsor of the essay contest, Maverik. Watch for more details about the student essay contest during our Annual Convention in September.
|
ULCT Upcoming Events
 COVID- Economic Impact
3:00- 4:00 pm Monday, July 27
Join our panel of experts for a discussion about the new trends in our state resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. Learn about the differing impact on communities of color and efforts to curb the spread and hear about a statewide new campaign to encourage people to do business in Utah and enjoy the recreational opportunities in our cities and towns.
Panelists include:
- Economic impact and projections for cities: Juliette Tennert, Chief Economist, Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute
- Impact of COVID-19 on communities of color: Nubia Pena, Director of the Utah Division of Multicultural Affairs, Byron Russell, Co-Chair, Utah Multicultural Affairs Commission, and Ze Min Xiao, Director, Mayor's Office for New Americans (Salt Lake County)
- Wayne Bradshaw about the Congressional 4th stimulus and CARES Act
- Pete Codella, Marketing and Communications Director, Governor’s Office of Economic Development explains the https://youtu.be/5-KF--yeVnQ.
 Annual Convention
The ULCT team is finalizing our agenda for September’s 2020 Annual Convention and we’d like to know what you think. Plans are underway for both an in-person event and a virtual convention. We’re working with the Salt Palace Convention Center to incorporate a variety of important health and safety measures including the appropriate social distancing and hand-sanitizing areas. Do you feel comfortable attending in person or would you prefer a virtual experience? Please let us know by taking this brief survey. Then watch for details about the agenda and the opening of registration for the 2020 Annual Convention.
The Newstand
|
|
