West-siders want city to continue to manage Sorenson center

If Salt Lake City cedes control of the Sorenson Multicultural Center to Salt Lake County, a Girl Scout troop would be without its meeting place, single mothers will struggle to pay the increased fees and their children will be left home alone.

Those were the fears of the roughly 20 west-side residents who spoke to the Salt Lake City Council on Tuesday, warning that the $260,000 in savings the city would see would have far-reaching impacts in Glendale and Poplar Grove.

"How many of you know what it's like to come home at the end of the day to an empty house and wait two or three hours for your parents to come home?" asked Mark Harling, who volunteers at the center. "It's been 30 years, but I can still remember how long those hours were waiting for my mom to come home."

A handful of children walked to the pulpit and pulled down the microphone to make the case for keeping Salt Lake County — and its higher fee structure — out of the center's operations.

"If the county takes over, my parents will have a hard time paying," a young Noellia Leon said.

Parents, meanwhile, said the center has proven its worth in the community.

"I, as a single mother, was not below the poverty line — just barely above it," said Gina Hiatt, a 19-year Glendale resident whose daughter is now a senior at the University of Utah. "We could barely afford the fees, but I paid those fees. … It's a good thing, and it needs to be there for the community. It's a proven fact that it works. These children need a place to go."

If the city does not transfer control to the county, Salt Lake leaders, already faced with a multimillion-dollar shortfall, could be saddled with the $400,000 bill to run the Steiner West Swimming Pool, currently operated by the county.

Councilman Luke Garrott questioned if the savings were worth the costs.

"We're talking about saving $200,000," Garrott said. "I think we may be focusing on something very closely and missing the big picture."

Chairman Carlton Christensen, however, said subsidizing fees at one city center in the city, while the county manages all others, might not be fair.

"Why would one child in our city pay any more or less than another child?" Christensen asked. "To subsidize one over the other, I'm not sure (that's) a good long-term strategy."

Salt Lake County, which manages three recreation centers in the capital, is better equipped to run the Sorenson center, said public services director Rick Graham.

And even if the city retains control of the Sorenson center, fees are likely to increase, Graham said.