The Salt Lake City events staff, under the leadership of the ebullient, indefatigable, resourceful Talitha Day and hard-working, creative Tyler Curtis, launched the first Monster Block Party, a free Halloween event at the Gallivan Center attended by twelve hundred people, which is destined to become a major Salt Lake City tradition. We also started the Monday Night Movies series in seven City parks, bringing fifteen hundred viewers together in a well-received community-building event. Our new Rock �n Ribs Festival was officially sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society, and attracted competitors from across the West. Four thousand people attended this exciting event. And our Twilight Concert Series attracted thousands of people to each of eight concerts of phenomenal music at the Gallivan Center.

Salt Lake City Gets Fit Together, a fitness program for all who live or work in Salt Lake City, returned for its second year with an online exercise tracking system and weekly emails containing nutrition and fitness tips. This year, the program will expand to include a 5K Fun Run, a volleyball tournament, and a fitness day in Liberty Park.

Jerry Floor and I started the Salt Lake City International Jazz Festival in 2001, to bring world-class music, free of charge, to residents and visitors in Salt Lake City. By last year, attendance had skyrocketed to 55,000, with cumulative attendance for the six years of the festival surpassing 180,000. Along with events like Living Traditions, Gay Pride Day, the Salt Lake City

Marathon, and the Utah Arts Festival, the Salt Lake City International Jazz Festival has greatly enlivened downtown Salt Lake City and brought our community together for memorable cultural experiences and enjoyment. We are grateful to the many sponsors, particularly our main sponsor, Devine Racing and the Salt Lake City Marathon, for making it possible to present four days of marvelous music to the many thousands of people who attend the Festival without charge. What a gift to the people of Salt Lake City and all who attend this amazing Festival!

Today is a red air quality alert day, when many of us, including the elderly and the young, are warned to avoid exercise outdoors. We deserve so much better than that. Unless City residents have access to clean air and water, and are protected from potential environmental catastrophes like global warming, our other efforts as a city count for little over the long term. Sustained progress is impossible unless the resources needed to sustain life, such as clean, safe, healthy air and water are available to all people.

Many create a false dichotomy between environmental sustainability and economic growth. The truth is that lasting growth cannot occur within the context of an unsustainable way of life, characterized by poor local air quality�as we experienced today, a red day�dependence on fossil fuels, and resulting public health problems.