Three Utah senators criticized Salt Lake City and its lobbyists Friday over a controversial bill that the city denounced. One of the lawmakers went so far as to say the lobbyists should be fired.
It also spawned anger in the mayor’s office, which denounced the final version of the bill. Mayor Jackie Biskupski on Thursday wrote that the bill usurped the city’s taxing and zoning authority and “compromised environmental protections.” On Friday, she reiterated her opposition to the bill, saying it “undercuts local control and gives an unelected, unaccountable board authority.”
“We believe much could have been done by a serious, concentrated, and inclusive team approach, rather than the uncommunicative, closed strategy used by the city,” the senators wrote in a letter, which was drafted March 8 and intended for Biskupski and the City Council.