I will ramp up action on the Jordan River: parkway completion, a trail the length of the river in Salt Lake City, and restoration of the river corridor. The valley-wide effort needs our full participation, and we need to think long-term about making the Jordan River watershed a model for ecological restoration and a pleasing amenity for our residents and visitors. Since I've been talking about the Jordan River during the campaign and through the transition to my new position, volunteers have flooded my office, and I'm excited to leverage our City resources with actions by other communities along the Jordan River, our residents, the State of Utah and the federal government. An action plan will be forthcoming to detail our steps to success.

During the transition I spent more time looking at our community development function than any other part of City government. Planning has been an area of particular focus for me, because that part of City government hasn't functioned well for the community. Changes that I have made, coupled with a new direction resulting from a city council audit, our transition reports, and work done by many interested parties, are under way. Within the next six months, we can expect to have a well-functioning community development department within the City that will adhere closely to the land-use policies of the City.

Among other actions, I will hire a director of a combined Community and Economic Development Department and move forward with my "Fix by Six" effort to update existing community general plans within six years. I will work to establish a strong Sustainability Ordinance that removes barriers and provides incentives to make Salt Lake City a model of self-sufficiency.

To address air quality and climate change we will move aggressively forward with rail and transit programs, enhancing our neighborhood service centers and creating a bikeway system that enables commuters, families, and recreationists to move through our City safely and comfortably. In addition, I will be proposing to you a revision of Salt Lake City's building codes to strongly encourage use of LEED — which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design — or LEED-equivalent building standards.

• Equality — We live in a wonderfully diverse community that reflects the future of not only Salt Lake City but our region. Every resident should feel welcome and included in Salt Lake City.

I'll be bringing more proposals forward that I've identified in my 180-day plan including an expansion of our nondiscrimination ordinance and retirement benefits.

• Public Safety — I will work to strengthen police presence and responsiveness throughout all neighborhoods of our City, through the deployment of additional police officers, visible and available to our residents.

I will work to strengthen our mobile and neighborhood-watch citizen efforts and initiate an plan to address crimes that detract from our city, such as graffiti, panhandling, and drug trafficking in parks.