Poll: Slight majority disapprove of Salt Lake Mayor Jackie Biskupski’s job performance

Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — As the end of Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski’s first and only term draws closer to an end, a new poll shows a slight majority of Salt Lake City voters don’t approve of her job performance.

The UtahPolicy.com and Y2Analytics poll released Thursday shows 53% of likely Salt Lake City voters either “strongly” or “somewhat” disapprove of Biskupski’s job as mayor over the last four years. That includes 32% that said they “somewhat” disapproved while 21% said they “strongly disapprove.”

On the other hand, 47% said they “strongly” or “somewhat” approve of Biskupski’s performance. That includes 41% that said they “somewhat” approve and 6% said they “strongly” approve.

The poll comes months after Biskupski bowed out of the Salt Lake City mayoral race citing a “complex” and private family situation. Now, Sen. Luz Escamilla and Salt Lake City Councilwoman Erin Mendenhall are competing for her seat. Voters will choose who will be the next mayor of Utah’s capital after polls close on Tuesday.

The new poll was of 745 likely Salt Lake City voters conducted between Oct. 16 and Oct. 22. Its margin of error is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

Biskupski declined to comment on the poll through her spokesman, Matthew Rojas, on Thursday.

Campaign finance reports show Biskupski spent thousands on consulting and research ahead of this year’s election before she announced her withdrawal in March.

The poll comes as Biskupski spends her last two months as Salt Lake City mayor.

Her time in office began with national headlines after she won election in 2015, becoming Salt Lake City’s first openly gay mayor. She ran on a platform of change and as a champion for social justice.

When she announced she wouldn’t be seeking reelection, Biskupski told reporters she hopes she’s remembered for creating “big shifts so there was more equity for opportunity,” pointing to the still ongoing changes to the city and county’s homeless system and efforts to expand the city’s stock of affordable housing.

But Biskupski has also been embroiled in several controversies — at times clashing with Salt Lake City Council members and other county and state leaders.

Those included the controversial siting of the homeless resource centers at the end of her first year in office; standoffs with state leaders, including former House Speaker Greg Hughes, over shutting down Rio Grande Street to clean up the area around the downtown homeless shelter; and an ongoing battle with Gov. Gary Herbert and other state leaders over the creation of the controversial Utah Inland Port Authority.

It’s a fight that has also divided the mayor and the City Council, particularly splitting a rift between her and Mendenhall, who was chairwoman of the council at the time. Biskupski has since endorsed Escamilla.

But there were also times when the City Council partnered on heavy lifts. The council, for the most part, has adopted Biskupski’s proposed budgets. The council also supported the mayor’s proposal to enact a sales tax hike to pay for streets, transit, public safety and affordable housing.

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