Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker officially filed for re-election today. Candidates running in municipal races have one week to file.
Becker says over the last eight years, under his leadership, Salt Lake City has hit its stride in terms of sustainability, economic prosperity and quality of life.
“There are a whole series of initiatives that I’ve started that still need to be completed,” Becker says. “There are new initiatives that I’m devising during this campaign year that if I’m elected I’ll be pursuing so that we don’t lose this momentum that we’ve had as a city.”
Becker faces two challengers this November, forcing an August primary. District 4 Councilor Luke Garrott is giving up his seat to challenge the mayor and Jackie Biskupski has also entered the race. She’s an administrative assistant to Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder and a former member of the Utah State House of Representatives who served for 12 years.
Becker’s opponents recently criticized him for not publicly addressing a sexual harassment case against former Deputy Police Chief Rick Findlay. Three female officers plan to sue Salt Lake City, claiming they were dissuaded from complaining about Findlay, and when they did an investigation was delayed until Findlay could collect full retirement benefits. Becker maintains there was no cover up and the city continues to follow up on the issue.
“To the extent there’s still a culture where sexual harassment is permitted, to the extent that we are not protecting our employees in an open and transparent way then we have a lot more work to do,” Becker says.
The last day municipal candidates across the state can file for candidacy is June 8th at 5pm.
