Transmittal - 4/4/2023ERIN MENDENHALL
Mayor
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
P.O. BOX 145474
451 SOUTH STATE STREET, ROOM 306 WWW.SLCMAYOR.COM
CITY COUNCIL TRANSMITTAL
______________________________ Date Received: 4/4/2023
Rachel Otto, Chief of Staff
Date Sent to Council: 4/4/2023
TO: Salt Lake City Council DATE: 4/4/2023
Darin Mano, Chair
FROM: Rachel Otto, Chief of Staff
Office of the Mayor
SUBJECT: Naming the Salt Lake International Airport Greeting Room the Senator Garn Greeting
Room
STAFF CONTACT: Rachel Otto, Chief of Staff
Bill Wyatt, Department of Airports Director
DOCUMENT TYPE: Informational item
RECOMMENDATION: Notify Council of the proposed room naming per City Code Chapter
3.65
BUDGET IMPACT: New signage is estimated to be approximately $500.00. The Department of Airports
proposes to cover this expense through current budget allocations.
BACKGROUND:
Mayor Mendenhall proposes naming the Salt Lake International Airport Greeting Room the
“Senator Garn Greeting Room” after former Salt Lake City Mayor and Utah Senator Jake Garn.
Naming city assets is addressed in City Code Chapter 3.65. Section 3.65.020 states that the naming
of major assets requires City Council approval, while the naming of minor assets requires only the
Mayor’s approval. A major asset includes a structure or facility, including a portion of structure or
facility. Under City Code, the Salt Lake International Greeting Room is a major asset. The Council may
choose to approve the name change through legislative process or defer the approval to th e Mayor’s Office.
Chapter 3.65 allows the Council 15 business days after receipt of this notice to determine whether
it wishes to use a legislative process for the naming of the Salt Lake City Airport Greeting Room.
If, at the conclusion of those 15 business days, the Council has not responded to this notice, the
SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84114-5474 TEL 801-535-7704
naming decision and process reverts to the Mayor’s Office to use the minor asset approval
process.
Jake Garn was elected Salt Lake City Commissioner in 1967 and Mayor in 1971. He went on the serve three
terms as a United States Senator from 1974 -1992. Some highlights of Sen. Garn’s accomplishments for Salt
Lake City , the state of Utah, and the country include:
•Serving as a pilot for U.S. Navy and the Utah Air National Guard, retiring as a Colonel in
1979;
•Becoming Utah’s first astronaut and the first sitting member of Congress to travel to
space when he flew in the space shuttle Discovery ;
•Authoring Utah’s first Wilderness Area, Lone Peak Wilderness, in 1978, which protects 30,632 acres
of National Forest Land and Salt Lake City watershed ;
•Working with Salt Lake City Mayor Ted Wilson to complete the Trust for Public Lands
Exchange. This land exchange prevented housing encroachment at the mouth of Little Cottonwood
Canyon. The Exchange also facilitated the Snow Basin development of a downhill racing run in time
for the 2002 Winter Olympics.
•Working with the Bureau of Reclamation to site the Jordanelle Dam and Reservoir northeast of
Heber City in Wasatch and Summit Counties and obtain ing all the appropriations over 10 years for
the construction of the reservoir and relocation of the highways ;
•Authoring the 1992 Central Utah Project Completion Act , which finished Utah’s acquisition of its 23
percent of the Upper Colorado River Basin allotment as granted under the1922 Colorado River
Accords; and
•Placing TRAX funding in the 1992 Transportation Appropriations bill to begin construction of the
TRAX Wasatch Front High Speed Rail Project.