BIO
Name: J. Michael Clara
Age: 40
Occupation: Transit planner

Previous political experience: (Civic service) Glendale Middle School PTA president, Boy Scouts of America unit commissioner, Poplar Grove Community Council secretary, Utah Hispanic Legislative Task Force chairman, Glendale Middle School Community Council chairman, Poplar Grove Community Council board of directors, Multi-Ethnic Advisory Committee/SLC District 2 chairman, Utah State Office of Education's MESA Review Committee, Search Committee for Salt Lake City Municipal Court Judges, CMAC (advisory committee to the State Board of Education) chairman, search committee for new principal for Glendale Middle School, search committee for director of equity for Granite School District, Community Development Advisory Committee to Mayor Anderson, Gov. Huntsman's Working Group on Student Achievement, Utah State Office of Education's Teacher ESL Endorsement Standards Committee.

QUESTIONS

• Why do you want to represent District 2 on the Salt Lake City Council?

I am a candidate for City Council because I want to stop the slum formation of the west side.

• What do you see as the largest issue for District 2 and how do you propose to tackle it?

The largest issue facing District 2 is the inequity in which City Hall dispenses city services and resources on the west side. I intend to help the administration and fellow council members understand that the west side is an integral part of the city and not an appendage to it; the health of the west side will impact the well-being of the entire city.

• What can be done to encourage retail development within the district?

Continue to improve our west-side schools and give the police department more resources to address the growing gang activity and violence in our community.

• Salt Lake City voters will decide whether to approve bonding for up to $192 million to pay for new public safety facilities. Do you support this bond, and why or why not?

I do support the bond because our police and fire department will not be able to operate without having these new facilities. I do, however, feel that the citizens of Salt Lake are having to bail out the police and fire department because current city elected officials did not address this growing problem over the last eight years.