Opinion: I’m no fan of Erin Mendenhall, but Salt Lake City’s mayor should be paid more (2024)

If we want experience in the mayor’s office, we must be willing to pay for it.

In my assessment, the mayor’s salary has always been too low, which eliminates top-tier leaders in the middle of their careers who have the leadership expertise to serve but cannot settle for the low compensation for the position. Instead, these qualified individuals who could bring their business acumen to the public sector stay within the security of the private sector.

If we want experience in the mayor’s office, we must be willing to pay for it.

Salt Lake City has a history of electing first-time mayors who spend nearly their entire first term learning how to run a complex capital city with over 3,500 employees and a nearly $2 billion budget. A constituency, budget and staff that large sets Salt Lake City apart in the state and requires managerial expertise. These first-term mayors, in my opinion, often lack the skills, talent or wisdom to lead effectively from the start. Many past mayors have been elected to a second term, where their on-the-job training begins to show results. In almost every case, their performance in the second term is vastly improved over their first four years.

Wouldn’t it be wise for Salt Lake City to elect mayors who have the leadership experience of managing teams of people right from the beginning? Inexperienced first-term mayors can cause millions of dollars in lost opportunities due to poor decisions or no decisions being made at all. Failing infrastructure, safety concerns and homelessness issues handled by inexperienced leadership have already driven businesses and young families out of our capital city. Without a vibrant business community, we will lose millions of dollars in tax revenues. Salt Lake City needs experienced leaders, and proper compensation will help achieve that, as outlined in this 2008 study that found “increases in salaries not only attracts more candidates, but more educated ones.”

Any private sector company with 3,500 employees and a $2 billion budget would certainly pay its top executive more than $168,000 salary. Even at the mayor’s requested increase of 26%, it would still be very low. We should strongly consider the old adage that you get what you pay for. Without proper compensation, Salt Lake City will not attract the talent our city deserves.

I have not been a big proponent, as many know, of Mayor Erin Mendenhall. But I am a big proponent of Salt Lake City, and it deserves the best leadership. Having a proper compensation plan will go a long way to achieving that. This mayor is entering her second term, and I don’t believe for a minute that she hasn’t learned a lot and gained valuable experience that should help her in her second term. I know the negative thinkers — and there are a lot of them — will say no one merits a 26% increase. But again, you get what you pay for, and our city deserves and needs experienced leadership from day one. I believe we should approve this increase for the mayor’s office and all future mayors.

David Ibarra is a leadership consultant, entrepreneur, speaker and author with a background in the hospitality, automotive and talent development industries. He lives and works in downtown Salt Lake City, and he ran for mayor in 2019.

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