Listen now (8 mins) | #plugintodevin Show - Devin Thorpe for Congress Guest: Jeff Silvestrini Office Held: Mayor of Millcreek Issue: Growth and redevelopment Bio: I am the best mayor Millcreek, Utah, has ever had—and also its worst! As the first and only mayor of this city of 63,000, settled in 1848 but not incorporated until 2017, I have had the rare opportunity to create a city government from scratch. Millcreek is an “inner-ring” suburb south of and adjacent to Salt Lake City. It is part of a metropolis home to over two million Utahns. Millcreek is namesake of the mountain stream which flows through our town. Our boundary extends from the alluvial fan of Mt. Olympus in the Wasatch Range on the east to the Jordan River bisecting the Valley of the Great Salt Lake on the west. Our residents include wealthy, educated east siders and a substantial immigrant and refugee population who are far less affluent, living predominantly our west side. We have some of the best performing schools in our state. We also have elementary schools in which 27 languages are spoken. In Millcreek’s first years, I led our effort to form a lean, transparent and collaborative city government. I was re-elected by a 75% majority in 2019, to a new four year term. Since incorporation, we have launched comprehensive urban-planning efforts using innovative strategies to engage our entire community in envisioning its future. We are planning new town and neighborhood centers to address a housing shortage and to accommodate a population expected to double state-wide in 40 years. Consistent with the Wasatch Choice 2050 Plan, we are creating nodes of population density, which we hope will support rail or bus transit, reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality. We have incorporated active transportation plans for everyone in our city, embracing “disruptive technologies” like Bird and Lime bikes and scooters. We are encouraging renewable energy: solar, wind and geothermal with incentives to builders and by keeping our new city green from inception. We have launched an ambitious effort called “Millcreek Promise," a data driven, collective-impact program which sponsors and coordinates after-school programs, job skills trainings and public health initiatives designed to improve our residents’ lives and to solve social problems of underachievement, intergenerational poverty, crime and addiction. Our goal is for every child in Millcreek to have the opportunity to attend college or trade school. We are doing this on a balanced budget, without raising taxes and looking for grants like crazy. We have achieved a high degree of “customer satisfaction” with Millcreek residents, which has catalyzed volunteerism and activism toward achieving our common goals of bridging divides, building community and lifting all boats. Particularly given the dysfunction of government at the national level, local government is where differences can still be made by individuals. About: I am at the epicenter of planning and approvals in my city. I also serve on the Central Wasatch Commission, a key to preserving our watershed and natural heritage. We need to properly plan to handle growth and keep Utah the sustainable place we have come to enjoy. I was born in Battle Creek, MI and grew up there and in Tiffin, OH. I attended the University of Michigan from 1972-1976. I moved to Salt Lake City to attend the University of Utah College of Law, graduating in 1979. I applied here on a whim to live in the mountains- never thought I would stay long- but ended up loving Utah, getting a law job and making it a career, marrying a Utah woman, raising two amazing daughters and finally deciding to run for mayor of my then yet-to-be formed new city. Experience: - Mayor of Millcreek, a Utah municipal corporation, Jan. 2017-present; - Board Member, Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake, Jan. 2017-present; - Board Member, Unified Fire Service Area, Jan. 2017-present; - Board Member, Unified Fire Authority of Greater Salt Lake, 2017-present; - Member (current Vice Chair), Wasatch Front Regional Council, 2018-present; - Member, Utah Federal Funds Commission 2018-present; - Salt Lake County Council of Governments, 2017-present; - Commissioner, Central Wasatch Commission; - Former chair, Millcreek Township Council; - Vice President, Cohne Kinghorn, P.C. 2015-2017; - President, Cohne, Rappaport & Segal, P.C. 1997-2015; - Member, Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on the Foothills and Canyons Overlay Zone, Salt Lake County, 2012-13; Education: A.B. with distinction, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 1976; J.D. University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, Salt Lake City, UT, 1979; Professional Memberships: Member, Utah State Bar, 1979-present; Member, American Health Lawyers Association; Facebook: jeff4millcreek: https://www.facebook.com/jeff4millcreek/?ref=bookmarks Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-silvestrini-56889111/ #plugintodevin #UtahValues #BoldSolutions #UTpol