Midvale City 2021
Mayor and City Council Elections

We wanted the people in Midvale City to get to know Mayor Hale better and so we asked him some questions. Below are the questions and his responses.

Mayor Hale,

As the elections get closer, we know it’s hard to reach out to everyone in Midvale and to discuss everything that’s on their minds. To help the residents of Midvale get to know you better we would like to ask you some questions about things that have been on the residents minds and we’ll be posting the answers on several Facebook pages that the residents use and on the LivingInMidvale.com website. Many candidates like to give the “canned” responses with quick and general answers, but we would like to hear how you really feel about the issues and how you plan to approach them.

Over the years there have been a lot of high density housing built.  What is your feeling about this construction?
The history of our city from pioneer days with farms and sparce housing reveals that every “generation” has viewed the new developments, be they duplexes, apartment houses, or even subdivisions, perhaps as an undesirable change to the lifestyles of the previous residents. Yet, Midvale is a very desirable location in the Salt Lake Valley. People like its location giving residents no more than a 30-minute commute to virtually any location in this grand valley. We can learn to accommodate change and to welcome new neighbors – just like the previous generations did to welcome the first owners of the homes we live in now.

What plans do you have to help create green spaces in Midvale to offset all the high density housing and large business buildings that are currently being built?
The Jordan Bluffs business and residential development, as it is being built out will have more and more greenspace and playgrounds created of varying sizes and uses. Every planned-unit residential development is required to have a sizeable greenspace that can accommodate residents needs for children and gatherings. More park space will be developed as funds become available in other parts of Midvale. The City, County and Canyons School District are planning to have a future recreational center in the County’s Union Park on 700 East near Hillcrest High School. It will be available for all residents.

With all the development in Midvale, a lot of the buildings and places in the city that reminded us of our history have started to disappear. What can be done to help preserve the rich history of Midvale?
If we don’t preserve history, we are bound to repeat mistakes made by previously by our predecessors.
The Daughters of Utah Pioneers need assistance in the preservation effort of the log cabin located northwest of the intersection of Center and Holden Streets on Founders Point Lane. The Sons of Utah Pioneers need assistance in preservation efforts of the Cox home located currently in the middle of the Shops at Fort Union. Volunteer hours would be very helpful in the Midvale City Museum located in the Community Center at the west end of Park Street inside Midvale City Park.

The Midvale Museum has a new home, what are your plans to help promote the museum and give it the funding it needs to be a place where people can go to learn about our heritage and take pride in our city.
Midvale City under my administration has provided annual funding to the museum for personnel costs, relocation of the entire museum to the Community Center, and regular interviews with the museum director to assure sufficient funding. The Midvale Museum contains many relics of our Midvale residents, homes, commerce, and government. There is a recurring need by the curators for volunteer docents and assistants to preserve, display and clean its deep reserves of historical items and articles.

How have you already been involved in serving Midvale and its residents, if so, what have you done?
Before Union was annexed into Midvale in 1999, I was a member and chairman of the Union Community Council. I helped lead the movement to obtain signatures for the annexation. I have served two terms on the Planning and Zoning Commission of Midvale; two terms on the City Council, and am finishing my first term as Mayor of Midvale City. Because I am retired, I also serve Midvale as a concerned citizen on various boards and committees: Utah State Homelessness Council, Utah League of Cities and Towns, Utah Transit Authority Local Advisory Board, Wasatch Front Regional Council, Promise Partnership Regional Council, Chairman of the Council of Mayors in Salt Lake County, Unified Police Department Board of Directors, Unified Fire Authority Board of Directors, Unified Fire Service Area Board of Directors; also I am a nominated member of the Utah Community Action Board of Trustees, Canyons School District Education Fund Board, and Utah Local Governments Trust Board of Advisors.

What do you have planned to help give Midvale a better image?
Inside the front yard of every homeowner in Midvale lies an important element to improve the image of Midvale City. Cleaning up our front yards, side yards and back yards is our primary method of bringing more pride to this city. As more people live here, and work here, we can all notice and promote the best of Midvale, attend Midvale Arts Council programs, attend PTA, City Council, volunteer, meet our neighbors, perform service to help the elderly, encourage obedience to civil laws including traffic laws. etc. Our image must be improved from within in order to be improved from the outside.

Many people in Midvale would like to see events come back to the city like blocking off Main Street for activities like festivals, dances, social events, etc.  What ideas do you have that can help bring back the old “small town” feel that Midvale once had?
WE have seen the fun times that can happen on Old Main Street twice this summer with the Car Show and the Music Festival. These were well attended and will recur. More ideas could be brought up to business owners, land owners and the Arts Council. Our city can bring back really fun times to Main Street.

What can we do to make Midvale more of a destination location?
Top Golf certainly has become a destination in Midvale. Anyone who has tried to smack a golf ball out into the “wild blue yonder” from those balconies knows how fun that is to all participants. It is a great party site. There will be more. Our Jordan River Trail is a destination for bike riders and joggers and walkers. More trails will become available in the next few years along the canal banks that run southwest to northeast through the city.

If you had a friend or relative visiting, what would be your favorite place to take them to in Midvale and why?
KTR children’s recreation center in Shops at Fort Union, view the 1947 centennial pioneer marker also in Shops, Midvale Museum, new Hillcrest High School, Midvale Middle School, Top Golf, Main Street, favorite retail stores in Shops and Main Street, Ganesh Indian restaurant on E 7200 South, Performing Arts Center, City Hall, City Park, Disk Golf, new growth on the Jordan Bluffs, lunch at west area fast food servers, dinner at some east side sit down restaurants, like Bohemian and Longhorn, new apartment communities since the last time my friend/relative was here. This city has become very dynamic, and it is a wonder to all who come here infrequently.

What ideas do you have to help bring art to Midvale’s Main Street and surrounding areas?
When people come, commerce follows, which in turn brings people. Live arts and static arts will be a natural result of the performing arts, street activities, cultural programming as enterprises take hold along Main Street.

What “out of the box” ideas do you have for Midvale that can help make it a unique place for people to come and help boost our economy and not just be another city in Utah?
Perhaps there are enough talents that Midvale could develop a Shakespearean Festival to include various sites in the city parks and indoor venues. It would need seed monies but could become self-sustaining within a few years.

Describe, with specific examples, how you would expand and diversify Midvale’s economy.
Midvale has a very diverse economy already. Manufacturing, warehousing, world-wide marketing, shipping, retail, foodstuffs, and services are flourishing already in our city. As the drone delivery industry becomes more prominent and profitable, again, our city’s location makes it ideal for a drone-port. Along the same lines, but on a bigger scale, a heliport could be built here to transport individuals and freight from the airports to surface transportation.

How important are parks and trails to the city of Midvale?
Parks and trails offer relief from everyday tensions of life. They have the same value as a garden. Four-legged pets also enjoy the leash and owner with a baggie following behind. These park and trail amenities are as valuable as diamonds and should be cared for just the same.

What can we do to improve the city’s environment and parks?
Sidewalks that need repair should be reported to Public Works. As funds become available from recycling gas taxes, the city evaluates the worst-first sidewalks and hires a contractor to take out broken walkways, remove any tree roots, place down a firm base and pour new concrete. The city’s parks are constantly being evaluated and improved. If you haven’t brought your discs to the disc course in the city park, you need to do that. It is a blast! Summertime in the park is a great relief to stay-at-home parents needing to take the kids out to play on a slide, swing, climbing apparatus, etc. Day and nighttime protection from abuse and damage keeps the park facilities useful. Help protect the investment that has been made there.

Is the city too involved in what people can do with their homes/property?  Why or why not?
Property owners have much flexibility in the upkeep and maintenance of their property. They also have the responsibility to keep their property well kempt and free from nuisance weeds, and to keep trees and bushes trimmed so as to not inhibit those who use sidewalks. Safety is of prime concern of the city. Safe environs make for good neighbors and good neighborhoods.

Recently Midvale’s code enforcement has been a hot topic because they won’t respond to the resident’s emails and calls and when they do, the residents are treated rudely and many of the residents have been issued violations for items that aren’t violations or that code enforcement won’t help them understand what the actual violation is.  What do you have planned to help the residents in Midvale feel like they are listened to and not being attacked by code enforcement?
Communication in person is the best antidote to unsolved issues. I will expect that sufficient time will be invested by code enforcement officers with residents to develop mutual understanding of expectations found in the city code.

How can the city help strengthen neighborhoods and build the community?
Every August, the city welcomes block parties in connection with Harvest Days. More such block parties in that time of year in more neighborhoods would guarantee friendlier neighborhoods and strengthen the sense of community throughout the city. And if one more party would benefit a neighborhood, two would be twice as beneficial. There is only a sprinkling of Neighborhood Watches organized in our residential areas. These are very beneficial in keeping tabs on the comings and goings in neighborhoods and keep crime to a minimum, if not eliminated completely.

What can be done to create more opportunities for our youth to serve in Midvale?
The youth of our city do need more service opportunities. COVID and the virtual worlds have really divided our children up into tiny worlds. Churches, Boys and Girls Clubs, Rotary Clubs, School sports teams and clubs, can all bring children back into being more “other person” oriented. That makes for better long-term relationships in our world.

How do you plan to get better feedback from the residents in Midvale City?
As city administrators and city council, we are always wondering how well we are meeting the needs of our residents, businesses and passers-through. Every means available today is open for feedback from these diverse groups: email, voice mail, US Postal Service, phone calls, city website, Twitter, Fax, Public Meetings, personal visits, requests for attendance – all of these are available to the people we serve in Midvale.

Do you feel that community gardens are good for Midvale? Explain why we should or shouldn’t have them.
Absolutely YES, I think – no, I know – that a garden experience is salving for the soul. Gardening is a community activity, no matter how small or large or advanced or simple it may be. One grows vegetables to share at least in part. We are conscious of the welfare of others as a result of gardening. Flower gardens are such beautiful explosions of color and aroma. Vegetable gardens produce the warmest feeling from July through November, and if the produce is preserved in bottles or frozen, it brings smiles all the way through winter and spring to the next harvest.

If you don’t win the election, what do you plan on doing to help improve Midvale?
There are numerous service organizations in our city and in neighboring cities that are always in need of more service hours and skills. It will not be hard to fill my time according to the available health and energy.

What would you do to make Midvale a safer place to live?
I continue to encourage the homeless to get into an organized assistance shelter where they can be directed toward healthy lifestyles, housing, employment training and opportunities, and can be able to in turn provide service to others. Personal safety and good health would be an emphasis I would spread among my associates and friends. We all need to report on hazardous sidewalks, streets, driving, etc. We must all continue to obey the speed limits in our city and on the highways. I would discourage unhealthy and unsafe behaviors by example and precept. I will continue to worship our Creator and provide assistance from my abundance to help wherever needed.