Community Conversation

In this in-depth virtual discussion, moderator Doug Fabrizio will be joined by SLC Mayor Erin Mendenhall and a panel of experts to explore the question: “Is homelessness a problem we can solve?”

From the organizers:
Homelessness, with its heartaches and complications, has plagued America for decades. Utah’s approach to helping its unsheltered population has ranged from subsidized housing to increasing its amount of homeless resource centers. But with the recent economic recession, a booming housing market, and the continued fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities and the unsheltered are combating additional strains. Please join the Salt Lake City Public Library, moderator Doug Fabrizio, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and a panel of experts as they explore the question: Is homelessness a problem we can solve?

Click here to register for this virtual event.

Public radio veteran Doug Fabrizio started with KUER in 1987, soon becoming the country’s youngest News Director just a few years later. In 2001, he created RadioWest, an hour-long interview show that aired daily on KUER 90.1 until 2019. After a format and schedule change, the show has become more narrative-driven, with a greater emphasis on pulling listeners into the conversations through audio storytelling. Fabrizio is perhaps best-known for his thoughtful, in-depth interview style, interviewing notable figures such as Isabel Allende, the Dalai Lama, Madeleine Albright and Desmond Tutu, to name a few. Both Fabrizio and RadioWest have won numerous local, regional and national reporting awards.

Erin J. Mendenhall is the 36th mayor of Salt Lake City.

Erin came to Salt Lake with her family when she was 7 years old, and after losing her father to cancer at age 13, Erin graduated from Alta High School and enrolled at the University of Utah. It was there that her interest in the intersection of science and public policy took shape, leading to a career focused on improving Utah’s air quality and protecting our environment.

Just weeks after the birth of her first son, Erin learned the air quality in Salt Lake City had become so bad that it could take two years off his life. She decided to stay and fight rather than walk away, becoming an activist and joining Utah Moms for Clean Air in 2008. Determined to bring scientific understanding to air-quality discussions in the state legislature, our schools, and our community, Erin co-founded a new non-profit organization, Breathe Utah, in 2010, and was appointed to Utah’s Air Quality Board in 2014. She has since twice been elected as its chair.

Wanting to advance air-quality policy inside the city government and serve Salt Lake City on a wider range of issues, Erin was elected to represent District 5 on the City Council in 2013. During her six years on the Council, including one year as its chair, Erin worked for equitable progress across the city, driving road repairs and infrastructure maintenance, expanding access to transit and affordable housing, and making the city more equitable for women and girls. She is the first mayor in Salt Lake City history to have been publicly elected from the city council.

As mayor, Erin is working hard to make Salt Lake City more environmentally and economically resilient, and to take advantage of the region’s historic period of economic opportunity. She is determined to ensure every Salt Laker — no matter their neighborhood, economic or housing status, faith, race, or sexual or gender identity — can access all the city has to offer. Erin’s love for the extraordinary people of Salt Lake City drives an unrelenting commitment to bringing people from different walks of life together in pursuit of results for the entire city.

Erin was elected the 36th mayor of Salt Lake City on November 5, 2019 and took the oath of office on the steps of City Hall on January 6, 2020. She earned a bachelor’s degree in gender studies and a master’s degree in science and technology, both from the University of Utah. Erin and her husband, Kyle LaMalfa, are the proud parents of three children, Cash, Everett, and Milå.