Candidate questionnaire — Derek Dyer

Question 1: Mayor Rocky Anderson has said the city needs to increase it's police force by 90 officers by 2010. In order to do that he will need the City Council to allocate the funding needed for these new officers. Adding that many more officers will be wildly expensive for the city and may require tax increases. As a council member will you support adding so many more officers to the force? Would you support tax increases for more police officers?

Answer: One of the most important services that the city provides to the residents is the Salt Lake City Police Department, charged with the great task of keeping us safe and helping us when we need it the most. Salt Lake has many great hard working police that we all appreciate. I support increasing the police force. I would like to see the research to justify the 90 officers in four years number, but as our population increases we will require more officers to meet the needs of the people. If we need more officers I will work to find a way to pay for this with our existing tax base and without increasing taxes.

Question 2: Downtown remains a concern for many residents. Do you feel the city is doing the right things to help revitalize downtown? What would you do as a council member to help downtown?

Answer: Downtown is in decline and not enough is being done to stop the diminishing life and vibrancy downtown.