S1,E30: Councilwoman Eva Lopez Chavez

When we think of Salt Lake City, we envision a vibrant community at the crossroads of tradition and innovation. Join us for our milestone 30th episode as Councilwoman Eva Lopez Chavez, the first Gen Z leader in the area, guides us through the city's journey toward a brighter future. Her insights shed light on the immense transformation Salt Lake City has undergone since its last Olympics, painting a picture of the infrastructure developments, environmental challenges, and the intimate interplay of growth and community character preservation.

As pioneers in our own right, we walk alongside Councilwoman Chavez discussing the critical role of local governance in building community impact and resilience. Together, we uncover the significance of grassroots change and celebrate the rich cultural tapestry that weaves through our city's history. From the Olympic legacy to the urgency of innovative urban planning, our chat reveals the essence of creative disruption—where being a 'guerrilla bureaucrat' might just be the key to keeping pace with our evolving needs.

Finally, we anchor our thoughts in the role of each resident in shaping the future of our city. Environmental stewardship isn't just a policy issue; it's a personal commitment to our unique ecosystem, as we confront the declining levels of the Great Salt Lake and the scourge of air pollution. Councilwoman Chavez's call to action is clear: engage, participate, and let your voice be heard. As we close, we invite you to join us in this collaborative endeavor to chart a course for a sustainable and thriving Salt Lake City, honoring its Olympic aspirations and its heart.

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Episode Transcript

Erik Nilsson (00:02):
What is up everybody and welcome back to
the Small Lake City Podcast.
I'm your host, eric Nilsson,excited to bring to you episode
number 30, the Big Three Zero.
I can't believe it's almostbeen six months since launching
the podcast and we've done 30episodes.
It's crazy to see how mucheverything has kept going and
growing and so grateful foreverybody for following along,

(00:22):
listening along and sharing allof these episodes with your
friends and family.
So so much gratitude for all ofyou.
I'm excited to keep bringingyou more podcasts as we move
forward, Starting with this onewhere we're going to jump back
into politics.
So we've had a number ofpolitical guests, ranging from
the federal level all the waydown to the local level and
nonprofits, but really want totalk about the core of Salt Lake

(00:44):
City itself.
So our guest this week isbetter known as Councilwoman Ava
Lopez Chavez, the councilwomanthat covers the heart of Utah,
the heart of Salt Lake, thedowntown area, and now there's a
lot of changes going on, a lotof sports teams wanting to move
in, a lot of investment goinginto the area, looking forward
to the Olympics and what that'sgoing to do, especially
comparing to what happened whenthe Olympics came to Salt Lake

(01:06):
the last time and how much thatchanged.
I mean that's when we gotthings like Gateway, the
Spaghetti Bowl or like the I-215, i-80, i-15 connecting in the
middle there downtown.
We got the Kearns Olympic Oval,we got all the Olympic stuff up
in Park City in the ski jumps.
So it's fun to see how muchthat's changed.
But really focusing on what wecan do in this next phase of the

(01:29):
Olympics to help get moreinfrastructure and support to
keep growing this amazing city.
So talk to Ava about a lot ofthese issues, a lot of what
she's focusing on and as well assome of the hot topics that I
know that a lot of Utahns care alot about about the environment
, the Great Salt Lake levels, aswell as how many people are
moving here and how do wesupport that.
So excited to share thisconversation with you.

(01:52):
She's amazing.
I'm so excited to see how she'sgoing to further blossom and
grow in politics and in thelocal area, because she's just
so eager to help and make theworld a better place and just
such a different taste ofrepresentation that we've had
before.
Very young she's only 27 yearsold and serving on city council
the first real Gen Z leader thatwe've had.
So excited to continue to watchher career, but excited to

(02:14):
introduce you all to her.
So let's hear from our KambaEnjoy.

Eva Lopez Chavez (02:22):
Oh yeah, we will go from there.
Ava Lopez, we will go.

Erik Nilsson (02:23):
That's great From there.
Ava Lopez Chavez.
Yes, so many consonants.

Eva Lopez Chavez (02:32):
It's even longer than that.
Actually, that's just theshortened version.

Erik Nilsson (02:37):
Cool.
No, I'm excited.
I know that we this is kind ofso.
I would like to start with,like how we ended up, like
sitting down together, becausethis one was a funny one for me,
because I mean, you probablyremember it just as well, I was
only a couple weeks ago.
But I'm sitting at Edisonworking and I am very much
compartmentalized.
If I'm working, my brain isjust blinders up, focused, ready
to go, and all of a sudden youcome up to me.

(02:58):
You're like hey, I didn'trecognize who you were, I who
you were.
I've seen you here, but Ididn't recognize until I saw the
stickers on your computer.

Eva Lopez Chavez (03:04):
Yeah, I was going to say it was the sticker
on the back and in my head.

Erik Nilsson (03:06):
I was like what stickers do I have in my
computer?
Because I have like I've justalways had them on my computer,
so at work I always know whichone's mine.
And then I was like oh, smallLake City.
I was like, oh wait, sheprobably recognized a good one.
And I was like what justhappened?

(03:26):
But it did.

Eva Lopez Chavez (03:27):
You're like wait.

Erik Nilsson (03:29):
Yeah, it was You're like did a small lake
city miracle just occur in frontof me?
Well, and it's like I alwaysjoke about it, but they always
just like randomly happen allthe time now, Like they always
do if you're from here and yourun into people you know Totally
, I was gonna say but once youstart chasing that energy, it
just compounds on itself.

Eva Lopez Chavez (03:46):
It's done well , yeah.

Erik Nilsson (03:47):
But it's always been super fun.

Eva Lopez Chavez (03:48):
Hey the compounding interest of being a
Salt Laker is that you're goingto diversify your portfolio of
friends and end up in everyindustry and next thing you know
, you're on a podcast.

Erik Nilsson (03:57):
There you go.
That's the end goal, right?
Just make sure everything comestogether in that way, oh man.
But yeah, I mean I'm superexcited because, like, obviously
, I met you and then did myhomework on kind of you, where
you cover, and it's such like Imean you cover downtown,
downtown, that is your All theactions happening in the state.
Yeah, exactly, and I meanthere's been so many different
topics that have come uprecently, from sports to green

(04:19):
belts, I mean investing in allsorts of different ways into our
economy.
So I'm excited to sit down andhear more about the whys and
whats of what are going on.
But before I want to kind ofset the tone of kind of how you
got to be where you're at.

Eva Lopez Chavez (04:32):
Yeah, I mean I tell people all the time.
I'm like if I can do it, youcan do it too.
I'm just another dreamer in theworld that had a big dream and
pursued it right.
I woke up.
I it right.
I woke up, I remember it wasfebruary 18th called my mom and
dad, and it's this stark moment.
I'm looking in the mirror andI'm going oh my gosh, after five

(04:53):
years of working with mayormendenhall, I think I have
something different to offerthis city.
Um, and I can even go furtherback.
No, let's go to the beginningyeah I mean like the real
beginning of my origin story, ifyou will, and and I like to
think of it as like thisanti-hero story, like I have my
character arc.
Yes, and this character arc, Istart out really angry.
As a child, my family wasundocumented and, in short, I

(05:14):
saw what terrible policy can doto separate families.
So I kind of it was like fromage eight till now I've been on
this rampage, just this war path, to help advocate for families
and for people that want tobridge into opportunities, want
to break through right, want topursue their dreams and goals
and foundations.
So fast forward into you know,I was born here but I was raised

(05:36):
in Southern Idaho, got to moveback at the end of 2014.
And then in 2015, I startedschool and I just kind of was
like what do I do?
What do I study?
Like I'm the first in my familyto go to college and I was like
I guess I'll study politicalscience, got involved with the
Democratic Party, got involvedwith some nonprofits and, before

(05:57):
you know it, 10 years later,I'm elected right, and it really
is.
It's like it sounds so simpleto say it.
You know, if I had a Negroni inmy hand, maybe I'd be a little
more emotional about it thereyou go.
But seriously, it really hasbeen this like lifelong dream of
mine to be an elected person,to learn urban planning and to
justify right like righteouspolicies, if you will that

(06:19):
invest and further bridge thesegaps that I see in communities,
and in many ways we'll talkabout them through different
segments, like Japantown.
Today we have the ability inSalt Lake City, between 100
South, 200 South, 200 West and300 West, this little sliver by
the Buddhist temple on thebackside of the Salt Lake
Convention Center, adjacent fromthe Delta Center, thanks to

(06:41):
National Hockey League moving in, and rumor has it it's not
confirmed, but uh, arizonacoyotes might become the utah
something we'll see if they keeptheir name.
Um, but uh, thanks to thisproject and thanks to ryan
smith's innovation in thedowntown right, somebody
actually seeing a future fordowntown besides the people that

(07:02):
live here we get to reimagine,bringing back this community
that was completely eliminatedby the city and the county in
the 1970s and 80s.
So these are some of the reallycool projects where I get to
live out that dream and I feellike I was just an artist handed
, you know, the ability to put astroke on a canvas and rewrite

(07:23):
the history of Salt Lake Cityall over again.
So for me it means a lotbecause it's full circle I'm 27,
.
Right, it's almost full 30 yearsof having this journey, having
this story where my family canadd its layer of sediment to
Salt Lake City's history, and toreally change it and to make it
a path that justifies thefuture right, one that everybody

(07:44):
can leave a legacy behind.
I talk about leaving thisfootprint behind, but, like
physically, literally every daywe walk these streets and the
way we walk, it is planned, it'smade out, it's justified by the
city right.
The way we invest incommunities is the exact ability
that we're building today, andso we have to plan for a future,
and it's gotta be a future thatincludes all of us.

(08:04):
Yeah.

Erik Nilsson (08:05):
Yeah, and I mean I love that.
Everything started with yougrowing up in this community, in
the society, that kind ofyou're an afterthought, you're
out of this terrible policy thatyou saw the impacts of, and
really it's like, I don't wantto say like chip on your
shoulder, so to speak, but likeit kind of it.

Eva Lopez Chavez (08:19):
did you know what it toughened me?
I was like this kid havingthese legal conversations with
adults.
Being like you know, I thinkthe world could be better and
this is what I would do about it.
What about you, chuck?

Erik Nilsson (08:29):
And then you get to spend the time with Aaron
Mendenhall.
I mean, in the time when youwere working with Aaron, did you
know that your next step wasgoing to try to be in local
politics, or is there somethingthat you learned or something
that made that moment?

Eva Lopez Chavez (08:51):
And there were other advisors, like I think of
Rebecca Chavez-Hawk when shewas serving at the House of Reps
.
I just absolutely adored her.
There's a lot of othercolleagues, but what clicked for
me at the municipal level wasthis, and it was.
You know, there's obviouslylots of great idols and advisors
and you know people that Iwould consider mentors to this
day.
That influenced me.

(09:11):
But really it's amazing whatyou can see.
It's an actual dollar goes along way into a neighborhood and
repairing a sidewalk andhelping get a kid to school, you
know, and paying a crosswalkguard, helping a senior center,
for example, or to build apharmacy or grocery store.
I mean these have so justcompelling compounding

(09:34):
investments right that bringdividends into community and you
just can't replace it.
You can't replace that impact.
So I never had this dream ofthe federal level, but I think
in some ways I was like you know, maybe I do need to go to the,
to DC, to go make change.
Or what really opened my mindcompletely was or you could do
it in your backyard.
Do it in your own backyardtoday Totally, and it will have
this great impact on your stateand maybe that impact from your

(09:55):
state will have an impact at thefederal level.
So instead of top down approach, I've really adopted this
community ground level frameworkof you know, organic resiliency
can really build longitude allthe way from the bottom up.

Erik Nilsson (10:08):
Yeah, and I think that's such an interesting way
to think about it too, because Iwant to go back to your example
of like Japantown, which if youwere to look at downtown Salt
Lake City and you were to saywhich streets do I feel like
I've never spent any time on, Inever hear anybody going about.
It is literally that stripbetween second and third west on

(10:29):
uh.

Eva Lopez Chavez (10:29):
Second no, yeah, first between uh-huh yeah
yeah, second one.

Erik Nilsson (10:31):
And then you like I remember the first time I
think it was in like early 20s Igot walking home or like
walking to my parking spot fromthe jazz was like wait, why have
I?
Like, what is this?
Yeah, it was so different andso I do love that.
That gets to play, uh, a bigpart in I mean the coming here.
Because I mean, for people whodon't know, utah has a pretty
rich Asian-American history,both good and bad, absolutely.
And it's so funny because Ilived in Seattle for a time,

(10:53):
which has a huge Asian culture,a huge Chinatown market, so much
good Asian food it was myfavorite cuisine of all time.
And then you go back and you'relike, wait, there literally was
like so much history here, from, I mean, building the railroad
and having this be the endingspot of it all and the Asian
population playing such a bigrole into there.

Eva Lopez Chavez (11:27):
And I love that we are championing that
more because again it and tojustify it and also bring back
that culture, that diversityright and implement it in our
city long term so that allgenerations of Salt Lakers can
learn about it, enjoy it and toreally appreciate and celebrate
it as a part of Salt Lake City'srich history too.
It's exciting to me and I thinkwhat's brilliant is there's
Japanese descendants.
That post-World War II is howthey ended up.

(11:47):
They have this lineage, butthey're so proud to be part of
Salt Lake's history.
Yeah, so the message that wewant and also to you know, to
Ryan Smith, to the investors,different developers that have
stakeholder, have a stakeholderin our downtown is that all of
us want to celebrate thedowntown and celebrate its
diverse aspects.
That's what you can't replicate, that anywhere else in Utah.
It's so niche and specific toSalt Lake City.

(12:08):
It makes me really proud torepresent it as somebody that's
from a diverse community too.

Erik Nilsson (12:12):
Yeah, and it's been interesting to see if
there's been, I mean, otherforces kind of trying to pull it
away where I mean going back tolike Ryan Smith and talking
about bringing the jazz, likepointing them out in the
Miller's, wanting to move thebees all the way out to daybreak
.
But if, like mlb team happens,then it's like, oh, like, we see
the checkers and chess thatyou're playing.
But I mean, how do you feel?
Well, let's not go there quiteyet.
Um, uh, but yeah, I mean, Iguess, going back to like the

(12:37):
election itself.
So you go and you run foroffice, which again is like an
amazing step to do, and like Imean the first step of
everything.
But when you they announcedthat you won and you knew that
this was going to be your newposition, I mean, what was that
felt like?
Was there a mantle on your backor how did that feel?

Eva Lopez Chavez (12:52):
Yeah, I mean, I would say I was so depleted at
that point that I was there tocelebrate my team.
I was like you guys did it andthey're like, no, you did it.
I want to go to bed.
I haven't seen my family inmonths, you know, and it really
started to hit.
I think I understood theresponsibility.
I was excited, you know.
I would tell people I'm like Ijust want to get to work.
And there's this moment andperiod of rest that you take

(13:15):
after the election, and I reallydid.
I gave it my all.
I was like, if I'm going to dothis, I love winning, I'm super
competitive.
This is why I play sports and Ihave to win.
Like in my mind, it was never adoubt that I would lose because
I had the science, I had thebacking.
But also, there's somethingabout being authentic in today's
political arena that is hard toreplicate and it's not

(13:36):
something you're taught.
I think it's the humility oflife experiences and being able
to say I know what I know and Iknow what I don't know, and I
know where to seek and listen tothose that know more than I and
to constructively advocate andbuild arguments and build policy
around that.
So, you know, I do thank myexperience that I had at the
mayor's office to help me bridgethose gaps.

(13:57):
And now it's been, you know,about three, three and a half
months in office and alreadyI've seen how much power and
authority words have to changecommunity to bring investment.
It feels like gaps in my own,you know, in my own knowledge
base.
We're just filled.
So now I am not blind.
I feel like this veil wasuncovered.

(14:17):
My job now and I tell myconstituents, my neighbors, my
job is to remove that veil sothat you don't carry that fog
and you can see from myperspective too.
I'm not always going to get itright, but to know that you have
access to another human thatexperiences salt lake the way
you do, it's so important.
Yeah right, I'm not a developer, I'm a renter.
Yeah, I'm someone that's, uh,the first of the gen z

(14:38):
generation to kind of step intopower and authority.
And I think for me that compelsme further to find my voice as
an elected official and toadvocate for the salt lake that
we want and the salt lake thatwe deserve.
We absolutely deserve a diverse, a dense, a walkable city, one
with clean air, one withaffordable rents and a pathway
to home ownership.
I want people to be invested insalt lake city long term.

(15:00):
So when we're all old ladies,old gentlemen, old people right
in the city, we can look backand say we shake our fists and
go, we did that we built thecity.

Erik Nilsson (15:09):
you know cue the song we built this city.
I'll start working on the remixfor the election campaign.
I love it, but I mean I thinkthat's exactly it.
I mean I think there's a lot ofpeople who get so frustrated
when we see I mean there's kindof two schools of thought right,
there's a people who are like,oh my gosh, it's changed.
I want it back the way it was.
I don't want anything.

Eva Lopez Chavez (15:27):
I miss the small lake city.
Why does it feel so big?
I get whiplash.
Every day there's a newskyscraper popping up.
I can't afford these rents.
There's so much traffic.
What's going on to small lake?
What's happening?

Erik Nilsson (15:38):
Exactly.
And then there's this othergroup that it's almost like hey,
I know change is happening, butI want to to be ours because at
the end of the day, it's ourcity and we want it to be the
way that we want to.
And I like the things I mean,like you'd highlighted that, I
mean comparing what I'veexperienced in other bigger
cities compared to salt lake arethings that we like don't have.
I mean one I love having awalkable city and being able to

(16:00):
walk around.
Experience it, experiencepeople, like even such a small
detail of like walking past thesame people almost every day, or
like experiencing the streetthat you would always have with
your windows up if you weredriving around.
Like it's those little detailsthat start to really make a
community feel that way.
And then it helps us allexperience all of those things
better, especially as we see.
I mean all of these new.

(16:20):
I mean the ones that look good,the new good buildings.
But also I feel like there's alot of people who see this
change and kind of feelfrustrated that it's in this
direction and they don't reallyfeel like they have any sort of
control and they just watch it.
All kind of change in the waythat they want to.
And then there's these negativerepercussions of rent costs
skyrocketing, housesskyrocketing, and it's hard

(16:41):
because I mean comparing toSeattle.
I saw how high house prices canget, and then it's just like
Seattle.
It's not as extreme, but thereis geographic limits to the Salt
Lake area and how many housesand everything else that we can
build, and so it's nice to knowthat there are solutions, but at
the same time, it can getpretty bad and especially, it's

(17:01):
interesting.

Eva Lopez Chavez (17:02):
You know my approach to this all is.
It's called being a guerrillabureaucrat and basically that
means you know the rules, youknow the system, but you're
gonna, you're gonna break them,we're gonna break them, we're
gonna change them.
It's not just through policy,it's finding creative solutions
to help tamper or change the waywe're approaching things as a
city so that we're not so denseabout it.
Right to be malleable.
Today there's more remoteworkers.

(17:26):
I just learned 23% of our officespace is vacant.
To me that poses the questionwe need housing.
There's office space available.
What could we do to approachthis in terms of housing?
Or what does that mean aboutthe square footage price?
Right, we see all over Americatoday cities, capital cities in
particular, where the commercialreal estate is starting to fall
down.
In Ohio I saw I believe it wasCleveland, you know this
commercial building sold for 98%under value.

(17:48):
That's unheard of in today'shousing market, you know, and
those were apartments.
But again, we're starting tosee these ebbs and flows.
For me, I physically feel it.
I mean there's the anxiety ofwhen am I going to become a
homeowner?
I'm saving.
I'm doing all the things right.
You know mom and dad said to dothis.
And owner, I'm saving.

(18:09):
I'm doing all the things right.
You know mom and dad said to dothis and it's still not working
.
Why not?
We just live in these direcircumstances, but they require
leadership that acts in a waythat approaches it from the
sensitivity of the economics butalso the actual people facing
these realities.
When wages are on the rise,cities are the first line of
defense to help people.
We're the safety net that'sencapsulating all of it.
So, every symptom that we seetoday, every social ill that
people see and say, why doesSalt Lake City face that?

(18:31):
Well, we're trying toconstantly build that wider net,
build that tent so that peopledon't fall through these cracks.
At the end of the day, that'show I'm approaching it, with the
values of every dollar has tobuild back our community,
because I know that's the SaltLake City I fell in love with
and that's the Salt Lake CityI'd like to help build and
promote for each and every oneof us.
That's what I care about.

(18:52):
I mean we can get so specificabout it, but at the end of the
day, you know, urban planning isabout building human centric
design and investing in theplaces where people feel that
they belong and they feel aresponsibility and stewardship
towards, whether that's theGreat Salt Lake, whether it's
your downtown or it's just yourlittle neck of the woods, right,
I mean sincerely.
Every neighborhood in this citymatters and there are neighbors

(19:15):
and communities that arefighting to keep it, that are
fighting to invest in it.
So I'm listening.
If there's any takeaway from anylisteners that I'm actively
listening and I hope that peopleask more questions of us.
That's called accountabilityand that's important for
government too.
We function, we get ourauthority from the people that
elect us, and that means that weare equals in this.

(19:36):
It's not because I carry atitle that I have to promote my
values.
No, it's that we need to movein tandem both the community
members and the electedofficials that represent them.
That's how we're going to makeand shift our city towards a
more equitable place ofbelonging for everyone.

Erik Nilsson (19:51):
For sure, and I think that's such an important I
mean, that's what everybodywants, right?
We all do want to have thatsense of community, we want to
have some sense of ownership.
When there's a sense ofownership, there's a higher
sense of stewardship andaccountability.
And I think it's so important,like you said, because, again,
like you are elected by thepeople to be represented about
the people.
They don't elect you becauseshe's got the best ideas.

(20:12):
She does this like go do it,we'll be over here, and I think
that's an important thing toremind ourselves of is this is
our city and we put the peoplein the place.
But today we're the ones thatthat do need to take that action
.
But it does take action from usand it does take some sort of,
um, uh, reliance and trust atall.
And if there's trust that needsto be built back, then there's
a way to do that.
But I, I mean, I think there'sa lot of people that can, um,

(20:35):
align with your approach and wayof thinking, especially, I mean
, in the heart and center andcore of I mean not only just
Salt Lake, but Utah.
And I'm curious, like when youwere thinking about running for
office, I mean, is there anyparticular reason you chose the
area that you did, or was thatjust?

Eva Lopez Chavez (20:52):
I mean, I had been living here 10 years.
So I wouldn't say I chose itright.
I would say more so this is thecommunity that chose me right.
Like this is the community thatinvited me from the very
beginning.
I remember I was so scared tomove to salt lake I mean,
seriously, I'm this idaho smalltown girl moving into the big
city and I remember I'd visitedtwice on vacation.
Uh, once I remember watchingthis must have been 2012,

(21:13):
because oven and the chipmunkscame out- I went to watch it at
the gateway there we go, thefirst thing I do, you know, I
move into my apartment at thelanding.
I go to the gateway and I'mgoing.
Why is it empty?
I remember having memories as akid being like it was packed.

Erik Nilsson (21:24):
This is like what happened.

Eva Lopez Chavez (21:26):
And to ask, like a staff attendant, and they
were like no, you need to go toCity Creek.
I'm like what the heck is CityCreek?
Now we know.
And then my other memory wasHogle Zoo, and it was so iconic
this moment because it was 08and President Obama was running
for the first time.
And I remember going there andseeing all these signs of people
, you know, calling for thispresident and me, again, being

(21:48):
from Idaho, being like, oh mygosh, like could he be elected,
you know, could the firstAfrican-American president be
elected in the United States?
And these are just two verydistinct memories of Salt Lake
City that I think were sodifferent and catalyzing.
And to come back full circleand go, wow, this is a very
downtown, the district thatbrought me those memories and it
is completely different fromwhat I remember as a kid.

(22:09):
But now I have this story totell with it.
So, you know, I, in many ways,like, I'm so glad that I do
represent the downtown, though,because it is the crossroads of
not just our state in the West,you know, I say Salt Lake City,
all paths lead to Rome, allroads lead to road, all roads
lead to Salt Lake City, and allyou know, all of the

(22:30):
intersections of the RockyMountain West is here in Utah,
it's in Salt Lake City.
It's why we have so much growthtoday.
And it's why we have the hottesthousing market still around the
country, which is causing someof these symptoms we face as a
city.

Erik Nilsson (22:42):
Yeah, lots of growing pains.
And I mean I think it's sointeresting to see how much Salt
Lake has grown and it's becauseof, like, its core tenants and
what we know it to be.
I mean I've sat down withenough people now to know, like
general themes of why peoplelive here.
I mean there's amazing accessto the outdoors.
Cost of living it's not asvalid as it once was, but still,
ooh, 10 years ago was perfect,oh, the greatest.

(23:04):
And then, like the one thatalways comes up, is like oh,
there's an international airportvery close by that I can get
anywhere I want to.
And then I mean, obviously wehave, I mean, central in the
country for so much logistical.
I mean that's kind of where,like, the Northwest Corridor has
been so helpful for us.
Is that a lot of thislogistical needs that not only
we need but the country needsand to be a part of that.
And so I guess, as you thinkabout, I mean, your role and

(23:24):
like what's coming I know youalluded to it before, but what
are some of the key pillars thatyou are focusing on and want to
make the biggest differencewith?

Eva Lopez Chavez (23:31):
Oh yeah, I mean the biggest one, that, and
I measure these values from theperspective of bringing families
into downtown.
Regardless of what you callfamily, all of us belong to
community, to families that webuild ourselves, and to do that
it requires an approach to carefor our environment.
It means looking at our parks,investment in green space, right

(23:52):
, investment in our air qualityand our Great Salt Lake.
It also means looking ataffordable housing.
When we say that we talk aboutrents, I'm talking about a
pathway to true homeownership.
I just got back from aconference where we looked at,
you know, what does it take forcities to incur liability so
that developers can take risk onhigh rise condos?
You know, these are the type ofapproaches that we need to look

(24:12):
at as a city and then to lookat public safety not just from
the lens of policing, but alsoto look at it from a place of
economic diversity right, whenpeople feel safe coming into
your downtown, having thesetransactions, investing, whether
that's as a business owner oras a future homeowner, making
sure that people feel that placeof belonging.
And so I talk about it in termsof public safety, but really

(24:34):
it's a place of belonging forpeople.
And these are my three pillarsfor the next 12 months.
What I see long-term for thedistrict is to build a future
that holds the potential tobring people and communities
full-time into downtown toreally become that 18-hour city
that we're meant to be, so thatpeople are mobile, are actively
walking, enjoying the place thatthey belong in.
I mean, I just imagine thisplace and I think this is what

(24:56):
investors like Ryan Smith see.
They see a city where peoplelive, walk, approach,
entertainment right, they takerisk on their dreams in our
downtown.
That's such a hugeresponsibility and to me it's
such a beautiful part of SaltLake City is that dreamers come
into our city because theybelieve they can make it happen
here.

Erik Nilsson (25:15):
Totally.
And it's interesting to seebecause when you look at the
history of Utah, and especiallywith the things that have drawn
the biggest economic impact, itusually is dovetailed.
Really, we had a lot of notonly like from our own
population demographic of havingthose roles bringing those

(25:42):
sales like customer success.
Customer support and then hasbecome so much more robust as
there's been so much success butthere's been policy paired with
that to give that economicincentive to be here.
And the silly example is likemovies and entertainment that's
been filmed here Because I meanI went to East high school or
east I mean high school musicalwas filmed.
All of like our disney channelmovies were filmed here because

(26:03):
we had the best, like I meanincentives for people to go film
movies here.
And so I think there is anopportunity, like you said to,
for the role of the city, therole of the district, to be able
to say, hey, listen, if we dowant to have affordable housing,
we have to create, um, enougheconomic tailwinds to make this
happen.
And like one easy thing that Ihear a lot from developers is
like I mean the risk that theyhave to assume in the difference

(26:26):
between building a building ofcondos and a building of
apartments.
Essentially it's the same build.
I mean, right, god bedifferences.
But the builder's like oh, if Ibuild condos now, I'm liable
for the next one, five, 10 years.
Compared to this I sell.

Eva Lopez Chavez (26:40):
Right, single sale.
They're done yeah.

Erik Nilsson (26:42):
And so I think there are some things that we
can do, because, I mean, it's so.
It's hard to hear people whereit's like, oh cool, I was trying
to save up, like no-transcript,I like what you said.

(27:09):
Where it's like, where this Ican't remember the exact
verbiage you had, but it's likepeople should be able to have a
way to be where they want to beand feel the most accepted and
seen.
And so I mean, when I was goingthrough my home buying process,
everyone's like well, why don'tyou just go to Lehigh?
Why don't you go to Saratoga?
Why don't you go to EagleMerrill?
Why don't you go up to likeFarmington?
I'm like, and I might get madefun of for this, but I want to

(27:36):
be, I do like being in the NMTand I don't I wouldn't settle
and be like well, I want to goto Saratoga Springs because it's
like cheaper, I'd probably go,I'll just rent here Like I'd
rather, I'd rather be in SaltLake.

Eva Lopez Chavez (27:46):
There's so much pride in being a Salt Laker
and I think this is what I feel.
I just got back from aconference in New York city and
everyone's going gosh, don'thave access to outdoors.
I'm like you know the lifestyleI have over there I wake up, I
go to the gym, I run a trail, Igo back home, I prepare for the
workday.
Right, I can take all thesemeetings, I can go to events, I

(28:07):
can go paddleboard.
At the end of all of it, I comeback, I dress down, you know,
or dress up for the night.
I mean, there's just so muchyou can compartmentalize and
compact into one day here whereyour 24 hours are.
They're just so fulfilling inSalt Lake City, all filled with
community, all filled with theoutdoors and nature and all the
pleasuries of the city, and I'mgoing.
No, I miss my city.

(28:27):
I want to be there.
This is my home.
I want to be an old lady inSalt Lake City.
I deserve to age in place here.

Erik Nilsson (28:34):
Yeah, yeah, and like that's what I always talk
to people about, cause I'll talkto people and be like, oh yeah,
you saw, like so boring,there's nothing going on.
I'm like, yeah, maybe to you,but also the nice thing is like
this is an easy place to liveand like everything's very
accessible, a very high qualityof life, a very so I mean it's
like, yeah, cool, you want to goto New York, go to New York for

(29:03):
the weekend.
Like cause I, there's a lot ofplaces that are beautiful.

Eva Lopez Chavez (29:07):
I have an international airport that will
take me there in no time, yeah,and then I get to go back to my
beautiful I mean a lot of thosecosts, because that was one
example.

Erik Nilsson (29:18):
You said that the city can come help and find ways
and creative solutions to getthere.
I mean, as you think abouttackling those issues, I mean
what are some of like the moretactical things that you think
about to get the job done?

Eva Lopez Chavez (29:29):
It's all in our budgeting process and also
our redevelopment agency.
And you know, without gettingtoo far into the weeds, the
point is that your city sets thepriorities for how we invest
these dollars into the weeds.
The point is that your citysets the priorities for how we
invest these dollars.
There's actually nothing thatprevents us from investing in
these type of housing models.
That would diversify ourportfolio.
If the market's not meeting uswhere we need it to be, we have
to be the ones that come up andliterally play ball to build

(29:51):
that supply out for people.
Otherwise, if we don't do it,housing takes generations I mean
literally decades to build outto have long lasting impact.
This is important to us.
I think I read an article thatsaid Daybreak is over halfway
done, being built, but theoriginal plan calls for much
more housing.
You know the point is anotherhousing development that they're

(30:11):
breaking ground on.
There's so many more that thestate's looking at.
But Salt Lake City also has theability to build and we see
that our skyline changing, butit's not reflecting the housing
needs that we need.
It starts with housing.
People need to be housed.

Erik Nilsson (30:23):
Their basic needs right masdell's hierarchy
basically need to be met so thatpeople can be happy, be
fulfilled and be innovative andbe creative and build the
community that we deserve andthe one that we love and see
yeah, yeah, no, I love that andand kind of going back to one of
those next pillars you had, is,I mean, the environment itself,
and I mean obviously Utah isespecially Salt Lake, is faced

(30:44):
with a lot of interestingenvironmental issues.

Eva Lopez Chavez (30:47):
that are very unique Catastrophic conundrum
yes, unique to Utah.

Erik Nilsson (30:50):
Yeah, exactly, I mean like the two that everyone
talks about.
I mean it's, I mean air qualityand the great Salt Lake Cause,
like there's people's like, oh,like, even if I could afford to
buy a house, do I want to buy ahouse if this place?

Eva Lopez Chavez (31:00):
is right.
It's like the climate clockcountdown.
It's like wait five years.
Five years till what?
Yeah?

Erik Nilsson (31:04):
is that real, yeah , exactly and so I mean and it's
always been and I've had otherpeople on the podcast who have
said um similar things aboutlike, oh, there's nothing we can
do, it is what it is and gofrom there.
But I mean like, as far as faras the nonprofits and people
that you work with, I mean, whatare some of the ideas we're
floating and what do you thinkthat we could do?

Eva Lopez Chavez (31:22):
I mean, I would rebuke that and say, no,
there's absolutely.
We are empowered to act.
And what's important is, youknow, the state did something
really critical that peopleforget about, which is the Great
Salt Lake is half its currentsize.
We cut it in half so that wewouldn't further erode it, so

(31:45):
that we could contain the waterlevels and at least help that.
Salt lake city corporation isone of the largest water
shareholders and we have abrilliant uh director that
oversees this, named laurabriefer, and she's amazing,
laura, if you're listening, I'mso proud of you because you have
the foresight of saving andcontaining millions of gallon
cubic uh feet of water to bepushed literally through our
sewage system, through our waterlines, into the Great Salt Lake
in a way that's sustainable,that's eco-friendly and that's

(32:06):
helping perpetuate thisenvironment, so that we can have
this amazing snow that we have.
You know, you may have heard ofit but no wonder it's bringing
us the Olympics, guys, we shoulddo everything we can to
preserve it.
But also, uh truly, our wholeecosystem relies on this saline
body of water.
I mean, it's like our dead sea.
It's actually a place that Ilove because I learned how to
sail on it.

(32:27):
Oh, I go row.
Yeah, it's got some of some ofthe best sailing you'll find on
the planet randomly in thisecosystem.
Um, it's just so amazing.
I mean, it just goes to showthe world is so complex and
beautiful.
We're the stewards that weregiven this land.
We need to take care of it.
I think for us, what I'velearned is we work in systems
that we need to measure andperpetuate good science behind

(32:48):
it and data collection.
So part of this is setting atarget height for the lake.
We need to know its depth andits height and when it falls
below, we need to act in a waythat perpetuates water
conservation so that we canaccess that flow to water more
easily and directly impact theGreat Salt Lake's flow.
We saw that a few years ago.
I mean, we're still in thesustaining drought and, in short

(33:08):
, everybody has theresponsibility to play.
It's harder to maybe measurewater consumption, but really,
truly like, using less water hasa direct impact on the Great
Salt Lake.
But the other ways that we needto target it is, you know,
coming up with creative policieswhere our water rights and this
is more of a state issue, butour water rights are complex
where farmers feel the need touse them, because if you don't

(33:29):
use them, you lose them.
That's that's the whole pointin utah.
Luckily, governor cox steppedin and said okay, we're going to
allow you to lease or sell yourwater rights without you having
to lose them permanently,because that's valuable too.
So you know, there's lots ofways to consolidate water rights
.
Luckily, other attorneys dothis work for me, so I guess
I'll just regurgitate what we'redoing, but setting that target

(33:50):
date will help us greatly, Ithink.
Also, just acknowledging we livein a desert.
We need to adapt to it, right?
So lake city is looking at, youknow, vegetation.
We just changed our landscapingordinance so people could have
more of the ability to do zeroscaping without further burning
the city.
With climate change, that meansthe core heat of our city needs

(34:10):
to be lowered a bit.
We are seeing extreme uhchanges also in temperature.
Uh, you know, vegas is crazy.
Salt lake city gets really hot.
We're starting to have those110 degree days every.
I think I experienced it twicelast year where I wouldn't even
step outside unless I was inEcho Reservoir or in somebody's
school Exactly.
No, I need to be in water.

(34:30):
It's too hot.
But these are some of thechanges, and I think something
that really makes me think moreabout just ecological systems is
we're going to see more andmore climate refugees in our
city, and this is a huge debatehappening on the national scale.
But really even here we sawpeople during the pandemic come
to Salt Lake City, move here,americans moving in because they

(34:52):
wanted access to the outdoors.
We're going to see that, on topof you know, this ongoing
drought, we don't have enoughwater for the people that want
to move here.
So it's up to cities like us tothink smarter about how we use
our water, and I'm really proudto say that actually we consume
less water today and moreefficiently than we did in the
80s.
That's amazing.
So it just goes.

(35:12):
Human innovation goes a longway, and your city's definitely
looking at innovative ways tospread every water droplet
throughout the valley.

Erik Nilsson (35:21):
Yeah, I mean it's.

Eva Lopez Chavez (35:22):
There's so much science behind this.
Oh, I can't even imagine.

Erik Nilsson (35:25):
Especially, it's amazing Thinking about all the
ins and outs and where it allgoes, and I mean especially,
like you said.
I mean so much of this has todo with, I mean vegetation and
people, I mean their ownlivelihoods and their farms.
And again it's like oh, if Ihave this water right, if I
don't use it I'm going to loseit.
So why wouldn't I use it?
And let you tell me what I cando and being able to take a
little bit of that back to yourpoint.

(35:46):
Like Salt Lake is growing inpopulation.
That trend isn't changing.
If not, it's accelerating, andwe have to be able to a point
where it's like a dune stillsuit, where it just collects all of
our bodies, evaporation andsweat and just recirculate that
every day.

Eva Lopez Chavez (36:02):
We definitely don't want to live out dune.

Erik Nilsson (36:04):
Yeah, no, thank you.

Eva Lopez Chavez (36:05):
Beautiful cinematography.
We want to leave it in fiction,not in reality.

Erik Nilsson (36:08):
True Leave.

Eva Lopez Chavez (36:10):
Zendaya and Timothy.

Erik Nilsson (36:11):
Chow.
But yeah, I also kind of wantto talk about air quality.
I mean because one of my goodfriends, david Garbett, o2, utah
.
He's been someone who's veryadamant about what we can do to
have air quality.
I know he passed somelegislation last year that
helped a lot with the toxicpollution, a lot of the heavy

(36:37):
chemicals, especially heavymetals, out of the air From
getting to where we need to be,knowing that there's more people
coming.
I mean, what do you think ispart of that playbook to get our
air quality a little better?

Eva Lopez Chavez (36:50):
Yeah, I mean.
The reality is there ispollutant matter today that's
really bad and affecting usdisproportionately, where if you
live on the West side, you'remore likely to incur and to have
asthma over time that's inducedby poor air quality exposure.
Right, Just point blank.
This is coming from the verytires that we use every day.
Release this terrible pollutantmatter to the Great Salt Lake

(37:11):
eroding, drying up.
These are intersecting issuesthat feed into each other.
The misfortune of a drying lakeis that you reveal all these
toxic minerals and asbestos andarsenic that's just trapped in
the water that otherwisewouldn't affect us.
Now it's prematurely meltingthe snow and it's air that we
breathe consistently, and so Ithink we need to be one, we need

(37:33):
all of us.
Every salt laker needs to thinkvery specifically about the air
we breathe.
Right, this is a matter that isserious.
Uh, it does scare me personallywhen I saw I saw an npr report
today saying what, what's utahdoing?

Erik Nilsson (37:46):
about it.

Eva Lopez Chavez (37:47):
It's kind of like you know what are we not
doing we're growing our inlandport, guys, we need to look,
look how many jobs we'rebuilding.
And uh, again, I'm approachingthis from indoor air.
I like to be a pragmatic, Ilike to think of myself that way
, at least, and I'm going okay,this seems like a very big issue
.
That's a statewide issue thatwe can try to caress and to

(38:08):
deploy with our statelegislators and our leaders, but
if they don't want to listen,you know ultimately what's the
impact we can have.
And again, as a city councilmember, I'm thinking indoor air
quality, making sure that thispollutant matter doesn't
permeate our brains, because itdoes.
I learned that from physiciansfor better, healthier
environments.
They had a whole, you know datapresentation on this and it was

(38:32):
just amazing.
I was like, wow, this permeatesdirectly from your nostrils
into your brain memory.
I mean, it's just a directpoison to your brain.
That's really scary, that'sterrible.
That's like worse than bloodtalks.

Erik Nilsson (38:42):
Yeah, just go out for a nice run out and see if
you hide in the middle of theinversion.

Eva Lopez Chavez (38:45):
Yeah, and you know so I'm going.
Okay.
We spend the majority of ourlives indoors.
This is a fact.
This is disproportionatelyhurting our elderly population
and our youngest minds, meaningyouth K through 12 or younger.
And how do we protect them?
You know how do we actuallyprotect it so that the most
vulnerable class of people canactually be protected, and it's

(39:06):
through air quality.
Through HEPA filters, we haveways of filtering our air and
doing this.
So, while we're trying to savethe Great Salt Lake, while we're
trying to regulate the type ofdust particles and construction,
and, you know, energy that'sreally hurting us, because it's
also energy use that's providingall this carbon pollution, you
know how do we protect thesepeople?

(39:27):
And that's the approach I'mtrying to take is to say, hey,
yes, there's some real terrible,you know happenings in the
world that I don't have thesolution for quite yet, and
scientists are warning us, butnone of us seem to come together
as policymakers.
So in the meantime, how do weprotect the people that want to
just enjoy life and maybe livein bliss a little bit?
I look at my little sister, whoI tell people.

(39:50):
This is my role model.
This little 10-year-old isgoing to change the world one
day and just tells me what to doand I'm going.
They deserve a high quality oflife.
You know they deserve toinherit a world that's a little
bit better and functions alittle bit better too.
How do we protect them?
And a simple solution like anindoor air filter can really go
a long way, you know.
So, providing that type of gapand you know, for us it's
education, it's also cost of theair quality and then making

(40:13):
sure we distribute them.
That's going to have long-termoutstanding effects and prevent
future asthma or health.

Erik Nilsson (40:18):
Uh, dilution, you know this, this erosion in our
actual lungs yeah, and it'salways like one thing I was
talking about some friends theother week it's.
It's like kind of frustratingin today's world because, like a
lot of people will look atpolicymakers, public officials,
be like, well, fix it, fixeverything.

Eva Lopez Chavez (40:34):
They're like you.
You are the one to blame.
You obviously are the one thatholds the magic wand.

Erik Nilsson (40:39):
And then it's like I mean I have friends that
drive like these huge dieseltrucks.
I'm like I hate the air quality.
I'm like, well, you know, maybedon't you know, make it worse
or drive alone everywhere orwater your lawn 50 times a day,
like I lived my last place.
I lived, I lived across thestreet from this guy and he was
probably out there six hours aday just watering his lawn with

(41:01):
a hose in hand and likeeverybody in the neighborhood's
like is he okay?
Like what's going on?
Like he's just watering hislawn and we're like, hey man,
like maybe don't.

Eva Lopez Chavez (41:08):
like you'll be fine, the world's on fire.
You don't have to do thatExactly.
Yeah, I mean, the point isthere's creative solutions to
everything.
If you really go digging intoissues, there's actually ways
that people can advocate totheir you know city council
members, their legislators,their federal Congress people
for some actual tangiblesolutions.
That's the approach I like totake, you know, and something

(41:29):
I'd like to mention is remindpeople you have access to a high
pass, you have access to UTA,right to transit.
I mean, there's lots of ways todo it.
The more we use these solutions,these products and services
that we're trying to provide,the more we it's almost like the
proof of burden that we need tofurther invest in these
operations that make a healthier, livable society.
That's all we're trying to do.

(41:50):
So, you know, if you haven'tridden the bus, I would
challenge everyone to take itonce a year.
Take transit, you'll get tomeet new people.
I mean, it's really a greatexperience, I think for many of
us we grew up in suburbialearning like, hey, I'm going to
be able to drive one day.
That's freedom to me.
You know, what's really freeingis living in a place that you

(42:11):
feel safe, that you know theenvironment's not going to cost
you years of your life that youknow you can appreciate and
value.

Erik Nilsson (42:23):
And that's what we're trying to build.
You know, that's real freedomand wealth.
Yeah, and, like I, I do thinkthat is somewhere where salt
lake is lacking and it's hardbecause, again, we have so much
history and culture of being.
Like I have a car, I'm going togo everywhere via my car.
Yeah, and to your point, like,yeah, there's like that that
freeing aspect of it, especiallywhen we think about, like,
accessing the outdoors and andpart of the draw that brings
everybody here.
But it's like, on the same partof it, it's like um, uh, I

(42:44):
remember when I was living in uhhardware back a couple years
ago and it was nice because like, oh, like front runners,
literally across the street, I'mgonna buy an electric scooter
and I'm gonna go hop on, andlike I was very practical about
it because like, okay, if I geton front runner, I can have
internet there, which meansthere's only eight minutes of
downtime from the station to theoffice compared to 30 minutes
door to door.
Right, and I was like, cool,let's do it.

(43:06):
And it was great.
I mean, I had a really goodtime.

Eva Lopez Chavez (43:09):
It was fun, like every morning, like working
on the train, and I'd look overand I'd see like, yeah, it's
beautiful, air condition, wi-fi,lots of people packed in it,
and that's what we need is toteach people hey, you can access
this and still have a highquality of life.
You know, it's not a burden toactually be transit friendly.
It's a great thing and you'regoing to be able to see the
world from a different lens andperspective that otherwise you

(43:31):
wouldn't advocate for.
You know, if we're justadvocating for car centric
spaces, you're never going tobuild up these beautiful niche
neighborhoods that everybodycraves and wants.
But the hindrance is actuallycar centricity.

Erik Nilsson (43:41):
That's the hindrance yeah, yeah, it's all a
reliance on the crutch of ourown.
Yeah, um, I also want to goback to kind of your the way
that you were proposingcommunity and I like like how
you were talking about a lot ofI mean, the green initiatives,
making sure they're using parks,because I mean, I think there
has been a culture change overthe past 10 years, especially as
, like, more people move to saltlake.
They appreciate a lot of thesethings we used to take for

(44:03):
granted.
Yeah, where I remember when Iwas like starting to run more,
like 10 years ago, I'd go go ona lap around Sugarhouse Park and
there'd be maybe like five ofus, and then now, if it's a nice
day, you are popping andweaving through people, and so I
know that that's not true fornecessarily all of, like, the
bigger parks around the SaltLake area, but I mean, how do
you think about making surethose spaces are utilized more

(44:25):
than some of the initiativesthat you're working on to make
sure that we get those you?

Eva Lopez Chavez (44:28):
know, and parks are a secret way for
cities to conserve land thatotherwise would be developed.
And it's a really great way tobe a great steward for future
generations is to have a park,you know, in your neighborhood,
from a pocket park to a regionalpark.
Sugar House Park is a regionalpark.
You know Pioneer Park, regionalpark, but then we have all
these nooks and crannies, likeDinwoody Park is actually a park
in the downtown but it's leasedcurrently to the restaurant Ivy

(44:51):
and Varley, but it's a downtownpark.
Right, we have Gilgal Gardens,beautiful sculptures to be found
there, little pocket park also,and it's city owned assets.
And you know, the way I see itis that we need to, you know,
increase their and promote theiruse by investing in them.
It's not just for safety butalso for beautification, for the

(45:12):
ability to rest.
I mean, I have this great dreamof turning our Liberty Park and
Sugar House Park, for example,and even Pioneer Park.
These are the gems, these arethe prized jewels of our city,
our crown jewels that should beshown off to the world.
And soon, when we have theOlympic stage, I hope that these
are places of congregating sothat everybody can see how

(45:34):
beautiful we and what pride wetake in our parks and our public
spaces, and they just reflectthe beautiful mountainous
wildlands all around us, fromthe Great Salt Lake to our
beautiful Wasatch Mountains.
I think this is what we have toshow off to the world is that
this city is so unique to anyother landscape you'll find, and

(45:56):
that Utah itself is sobeautiful that we might as well
be this terrestrial planet.
That's why so many people comehere to film and shoot as if it
were Mars.
I mean, we're just so diversein our nature and our different
terrain and again, I look atthese parks and go.
They should be a reflection ofthat and also they should be a
place where people feel thatthey can come and congregate and

(46:16):
have fun, read a book, taketheir kid on a walk, or come
bring the dog, or challengethemselves and play some sports.
So you know, we're having lotsof conversations this budget
season.
I'd love to hear from peoplethat want that.
Hopefully, they believe in inthat too.
But if you'd like to see achange, come talk to me.
You know, come talk to yourcouncil members and let them
know.
Hey, I want to see somethingdifferent, or I think there's
something missing in this parklike pickleball courts.

(46:38):
We see, we see an uprise inthem and that's great.
It's a great.
Uh, I hope it's not a trend.
I'm a pickleball enthusiasticmyself and, uh, I I'd love to
see more people appreciate thatand go out.

Erik Nilsson (46:48):
Yeah, I mean kind of going to the overall theme.
It's like it's our spaces, ourplaces, and so if there's a way
that we want to, I mean engagewith it and experience it, and
we have ideas and odds are ifyou're thinking that you're not
the only one so being able tobring those to the table and say
this is what we want and here'show we're going to do it.
I mean even like use an example, saying, well, I want to see

(47:09):
something better, so I'm goingto go and do it, and so I'm
going to go run for city council, I'm going to do it and I'm
going to start working on thesethings, which I mean obviously
like very formal, very I've donea pointed thing to do.
And I mean also going back tolike our own personal
accountability.
Like nothing's going to change,unless something you alluded to

(47:29):
of the olympics, because it'sbeen interesting the more that
I've seen, I mean headline afterheadline.
I actually ran into my friend'sdad, so I live by like kind of
handlebar oh yeah, yeah,absolutely.
I stopped by.
He's like, oh, you guys go sitand have a beer.
And one of my friend's dads wasthere, who I mean?
Real estate developer, uh,pretty well known in the area

(47:49):
and we just like sat there andtalked for like 30 minutes, like
I literally just took a picture, like is this your dad?
He's like, yeah, why is he here?
I don't know, let me find out.
And then we sat there andtalked about it.
But I mean, anybody who's beenhere for since I mean 2002 or
before then you realize howpivotal that moment and all of
those dollars went, because wehad things like the Kearns

(48:10):
Olympic Oval, we had the wholeski jumps and long jumps up in
Park City, we have Gateway, wehad the Spaghetti Bowl that was
built, we had tracks and so muchof these things that we take
for granted but are such a hugepiece of the way that we
experienced the city and thearea.
Now, as you look forwardtowards 2034, what are some of

(48:31):
these similar projects that youthink we could do to have that
same sort of impact for us, notonly just to have a great face
to show for the world, but thenalso have a lasting legacy that
we can use to continue ourgrowth.

Eva Lopez Chavez (48:42):
Oh, I love this because I think it starts
with the Community BenefitAgreement, which was one of my
projects as a college student.
I was working with UtahCoalition of La Raza, which is a
Latino rights organization, andthe idea was we come up as a
community, we come together.
City Council is the one thatapproves the Olympics, so I'm
excited to be on that.
We're crossing our fingers thateverybody approves of this and

(49:05):
from today's news it looks likethe International Olympic
Committee is fully on board andno longer teasing us.

Erik Nilsson (49:15):
I mean it's pretty much set in sediment and uh
like that point in arelationship when you can both
agree that you like each otherand you know we're dtr more
games.

Eva Lopez Chavez (49:20):
Yeah, yeah, we're defining the relationship.
We're committed to each otherexactly.
And, uh, we're about to say Ilove you it's just a beautiful
part.
Yeah, I was gonna say oof you,that's a beautiful part.
Yeah, I was gonna say it's areally great time.
It's it's called beingvulnerable.
What about vulnerabilities, tolook at the community and go,
hey, this isn't just symbolic,actually.

(49:44):
Could we agree to someboundaries?
Could we agree, in thisrelationship that we have with
the Olympic Committee, thatwe're going to promote housing
in a way that actually helpsbuild that pathway that I'm
talking about?
By the way, air quality isactually a huge component to why
we're going to have snow in thefuture or not.
If we allow the further erosionof our Great Salt Lake and
other pollutant matters to enterour air and atmosphere, it
hurts and undermines our abilityto keep snow on those caps.

Erik Nilsson (50:08):
Lake effect isn't just a bar everybody goes to on
Second Stop.

Eva Lopez Chavez (50:13):
Yes, it's not Although that's a great bar and
if you love jazz, that's theplace to go no, it's actual
science occurring.
I mean, again, the world's bestsnow on Earth, right On the
planet, is here because we havesaline, this high salinity lake,
that evapor, you know,evaporates, condenses over
mountains and the perspirationthat comes out of it is snowfall

(50:36):
that's fluffy and light andmakes the best gnar on the
planet.
So, uh, to protect that, wehave to actually protect our
great salt lake.
So I'm hopeful that, uh,climate scientists across the
world can kind of come andintervene and provide us data.
But you know, in many ways Iunderstand the frustration that
constituents feel.
I'm really.
I get upset and angered attimes when I'm going how much

(51:01):
more data do we need?
Because time is of the essenceand time is this limited
component that we just don'thave enough of anymore.
So great that we're getting theOlympics.
But I'm more interested rightnow in the contractual agreement
that we're going to have withour community and say, and long
term, how do I look atconstituents and my neighbors
and my friends and say, hey, wemade the best decision that's
going to benefit all of us.
It's not just going to be agiant party for the world, but

(51:22):
it's going to be a party thatcelebrates you, salt Lake.
It's going to be a time thatwe're going to look at each
restaurant, each business owner,each neighborhood and celebrate
you and your differentidentities, and we're going to
uplift your voices and we'regoing to make sure that the
world knows that Salt Lake caresabout its environment, salt
Lake cares about bringing andinviting people in, and that
this is a place where dreamersmake things happen and we do

(51:45):
good here.
Right that we care aboutfamilies, we care about our
unsheltered neighbors and wecare about uplifting each other.
That's the Salt Lake city, Iknow, yeah, yeah.

Erik Nilsson (51:53):
Yeah, I mean I brought it up multiple times
before, but I mean it all comesback to me of the I mean the
phrase in terms of like Deseret,that everybody I mean if you're
from here, you know it,especially if you're any sort of
LDS, then you also know it.
But I find it the more I talkto people, especially like in
diverse backgrounds and diverseI mean industries and places.
I mean I mean when I'm talkingwith Blake Motosinski and he's

(52:15):
like, oh, the tech communityhere is so close knit and like
people will help each other andrely on each other to create
this community.
And then the art world.
I've learned from so manypeople that it's such a
collaborative place and thing todo and they can even in the
restaurant industry and hearingof like the founders of Baby's
Bagels and the founder of Arloletting them use their kitchen
so they can refine their recipe,and so I think it's such an

(52:36):
interesting dynamic that I thinka lot of us are forgetting just
over all the strenuous thingsthat have gone on in the past
like five years, but to realizethat, hey, we are this workhorse

(52:59):
that works better together whenwe're all you know, and working
together towards a common goaland I do think that the Olympics
is a great common goal that wecan all rally behind Because,
like when I was, when you'retalking about how can we get the
contractual benefits ofinvesting in our communities,
investing in our homes, ourbackyards, and you think I mean
it doesn't happen anymore, butlike all of the old Olympics,
they used to throw where.
It's like ruins now, becausethey just said, oh, we're going
to do it in this cool place.
Everybody shows up, they buildit great, and it's gone and well

(53:22):
, a, that should have neverhappened, but we learned from
our mistakes, thankfully, andthe more that we can be like hey
, like we understand there'slike a responsibility on us to
create this environment, thisatmosphere, these venues, but at
the same time, like how do wedo this?
The, the people who live herecan continue to use it and abuse
it and do whatever we need withit in the future, like even
something like this dominoeffect of, I mean, like the

(53:42):
kern's olympic oval.
Uh-huh, like I'm not a speed.
Actually I've met someone here.
She actually remember he's aspeed skater.
Her name's sir, anyway, Idigress, that's amazing, um, but
like I grew up playing likeindoor lacrosse there, because
they have look under lacrosse inthe in the winters when I was
growing up, and so it's like,while it, no one could look at
that be like, well, I don't playhockey or like speed skating,
like yeah, but there's also somany other things that it
benefits the community.

(54:02):
That isn't just like a mall ora freeway, and so I think the
more that we can be vigilantespecially have people who are
in those conversations beingvigilant of how can we make sure
that these dollars go a longway, because, like you almost
started with being able to seehow much impact a single dollar
can have, or all this moneyinvested in a single place, like
we can use that.

Eva Lopez Chavez (54:22):
I want people to imagine this.
Salt Lake City is small, butit's follow ground that could we
could sow seeds of investmentthat actually bring back these
fruitful trees to everybody.
That's an abundance whereeverybody can take part in right
.
And for me, I envision I talkabout this as that at some point
Athens was this greatinnovative place where thought
leaders, innovators, came, andSalt Lake City is my version of

(54:44):
Athens.
To me, and hopefully toeverybody that's listening, is
that they can see themselves,imagine themselves in a future
of Salt Lake where they'reinvested, they're tied to this
land, whether it's throughhousing, a business again, right
, a community, some sort ofplace that brings them that
sense of belonging.
That's what we're dealing withtoday and I think when we talk
about you alluded to thisearlier trust right, it's an

(55:07):
actual, non-tangible asset thatgovernment needs, that this
institution I work with andneeds to actually build progress
in a way that is comforting tothose that literally pay into
this system.
And so, at least for me, Ithink it's a very delicate
fabric.
If I erode it then shame on me,because it's so hard to build

(55:27):
and it's too easy to undermine.
So for me, that's why I talkabout an actual community
benefit agreement with theOlympics is a contractual
agreement that holds yourgovernment officials accountable
to these actual tenants.
Right, we're in thisrelationship together.
We're saying we're setting theboundaries because, babe, I love
you and I want to respect you.

Erik Nilsson (55:46):
Yeah, we're going to have a healthy relationship.

Eva Lopez Chavez (55:48):
Yes, we're going to have a healthy
relationship?
Yes, we're going to have asecure attachment.

Erik Nilsson (55:52):
This is going to be the healthiest relationship
no codependencies, no toxicbehavior, no gaslighting.
That's right.
Only the good stuff.
That's right.
Yeah, what else do you want totalk?
What else is on your mind asfar as being the Councilwoman,
eva Lopez Chavez, outside ofOlympics?
Air quality, environment,affordable housing.
I think that's a lot of things,but yeah, anything else you
want to cover?

Eva Lopez Chavez (56:12):
Gosh.
I mean, we talked a lot aboutthird spaces and I think the
whole point goes is thatdowntown's building back and
it's building back better baby.
And this isn't Joe Biden'spitch.
This is my pitch to Salt LakeCity and it's a baseball pitch.
It's also what do they call itwhen you strike a hockey puck?
Oh, a slap shot, Slap, yes, Isit a slap shot?
Okay, this is my slap shot ofSalt Lake also, you know, is

(56:34):
that we shouldn't be afraid.
Let's dig a little deeper,please, please, please, get to
know your council members, getto know your elected officials.
We're better off as a communitywhen we can each have and hold
each other accountable but alsofeel the responsibility of
sharing common humanity witheach other.
That's really important.
But disagree with us, you know,and I'm not going to be up here

(56:55):
saying disagree.
Better, disagree with mebecause I am listening.
You know, I think there's lotsof hard decisions we make, but
part of leadership is to guideus forward as a community, and
so I hope that whoever canlisten can sense, or get a
little bit of sense of how I'mvaluing decision-making.
Every day I'm bombarded withthe most, you know, zaniest and
zealous questions I've everexperienced in my life.

(57:16):
But it's those values ofcommunity first and family
values that guide me andhopefully to me, with my diverse
background, with my experiences, that's able to guide us to a
fulfilling, a safe, acommunity-led community for salt
lake city that's built by usand for us yeah, and I think I
mean, obviously, age in politicsis a very hot topic, uh,

(57:38):
recently.

Erik Nilsson (57:39):
but I mean, if you look at all the pictures of
everybody who's currently underI mean all of our local
government it's nice to havesome fresh blood, fresh faces,
fresh perspectives, especiallywhen you kind of hear more of
the stories of what I mean notgeneralizing too much, but your
peers up there, um, you do bringa press, fresh perspective.
You do have a very differentbackground than a lot of them

(58:00):
and it didn't not just byappearance, making it the
easiest differentiation, but, um, having these values and being
wanting to improve them, wantingto transparent, wanting to have
that trust and wanting toreally be a tool and a resource
for your own constituentsBecause if you win, they win, we
all win Then why wouldn't wework together on this?
The least divisive we can be,the better outcomes we're going

(58:21):
to have.

Eva Lopez Chavez (58:22):
Absolutely.
That's right and, like I saidfrom the beginning, if I can do
this, you can do this too.
I hope this inspires somebodyto think about running in the
future.
I really think we'd be betteroff as a society if every one of
us took the chance and became acandidate.
It would change your wholeworld perspective and open your
eyes, because these institutionswe uphold them.
Just remember all the power andauthority that comes to us.

(58:43):
We're just the funnels.
I tell people.
We're the pass-through, we'rethe middle manager and really
it's the constituents that getto determine the direction of
the city yeah, or else you don'thave a job anymore.

Erik Nilsson (58:52):
They just vote someone else does it.
Um, but cool.
I want to wrap up with twoquestions.
I always end with uh, numberone if you could have someone on
the small lake city podcast andhear their story, what they're
up to, who would you want tohear from?

Eva Lopez Chavez (59:04):
oh, that's a good one, that's a really good
one.
Oh, that's interesting.
Let's see there's.
There's some really greatpeople I've heard stories from.
Hmm, hold on that one, I'mgonna think on.
What's your second?
Second question I feel like Iknow too many people I mean it's
like the blessing and the curseright I was like, oh gosh,

(59:25):
there's so many people, who hasthe best story?

Erik Nilsson (59:27):
it's either like an in and out menu or a
cheesecake factory menu, andfiltering through both are very
two different tasks, um.
And then secondly, if you couldsorry, if you want to find out
more about you, um, a lot ofyour topics and things you're
passionate about.
What's the best place to findyou and more information?

Eva Lopez Chavez (59:41):
okay, perfect, I have the answer for both, so
I'll start with the firstquestion, you should have david
abara on this podcast.
Okay, yeah, he he's, I think,think, most famously known,
recently at least, for beingsomeone that was a mayoral
candidate, but he's actually aride or die for Salt Lake City
just a champion of the city.
That, I think, is misunderstood,as am I right, as are all of us

(01:00:03):
, and I think he'd be fabulousto have on here, just like
longtime Salt Lake perspective.
He's the guy to do it.
I really that, I really Ireally think people given yeah,
I think people should hear fromhim.
The second one is you can findme really easily on Instagram.
I'm really not on Facebook, I'mreally not on Twitter X anymore
, but or you can, you know,email me.

(01:00:24):
I would put my number out there, but you know we'll save that
for another day, but find me onInstagram.
But you know we'll save thatfor another day, but find me on
instagram it's eva for council,so aba f-o-r council.

Erik Nilsson (01:00:33):
That's it.
There we go, yeah.
So make sure to follow her,show up, go to city council
meetings, meet her every tuesday.
It's our city.
We gotta fight for the one thatwe want.
But it was so nice to sit downwith you and hear a little bit
more about what we're working onand working towards, and
excited to see I mean, all thestuff that you're accomplishing
and very excited to see whatelse happens in your