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City Pays Tribute to Outgoing Council Members

Salt Lake City employees and elected officials said goodbye last night to three members of the Salt Lake City Council. Carlton Christensen, Jill Remington Love and Soren Simonson have served on the council for a combined 36 years. 

District 7 Councilman Soren Simonson was elected to the Salt Lake City council in 2005. A city planner by trade, colleagues and constituents praised his creative vision and accessibility. Sugar House resident Scott Workman thanked Simonson for ensuring the neighborhood’s annual fireworks show would go on back in 2010, when funding fell short.

“He personally spent I don’t know how many hours of time and he actually was able to come up with a major sponsor that year,” Workman said. “And so he saved the fireworks that year.”

Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams praised three-term District 5 councilwoman Jill Remington Love for being a steward for Salt Lake City taxpayers, while embracing progress, specifically when planning for the North Temple Viaduct.

“Jill had tough questions,” McAdams said. “She supported the project but had tough questions. Jill you caused countless hours of work and late nights and the process was better because of you.”

McAdams also spoke fondly of four-term District 1 councilman Carlton Christensen whom he selected to fill a newly created county position of regional development director.  

“There is no better person to work to bring people together to find common ground and move us forward for the greater good,” McAdams said.

District 4 Councilman Luke Garrott will now be the longest-serving member of the council. He said in a pre-recorded tribute video, the three departures are a big deal.

“The transition on the council is going to be a tough one,” Garrott said. “We’re all going to have to buck up and stand a little taller. Take a little more responsibility.” 

Council members-elect Erin Mendenhall in District 5, James Rogers in District 1 and Lisa Ramsey Adams in District 7 will be sworn in next month. 

Whittney Evans grew up southern Ohio and has worked in public radio since 2005. She has a communications degree from Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky, where she learned the ropes of reporting, producing and hosting. Whittney moved to Utah in 2009 where she became a reporter, producer and morning host at KCPW. Her reporting ranges from the hyper-local issues affecting Salt Lake City residents, to state-wide issues of national interest. Outside of work, she enjoys playing the guitar and getting to know the breathtaking landscape of the Mountain West.
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