Editorial: Resign already, Councilmembers Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo
We are not sure how far the recent resignation of the City Council’s new president, Kevin de León, has gone in the mainstream media, but it is interesting to note that he left a number of press conferences and interviews that lasted more than 15 minutes before he returned to where he had been.
To our ears, his comments were quite honest and straightforward, with a few good jokes and a few jokes about his own jokes. He spoke candidly about his personal life, about the future of the city, about his resignation from his council seat and about the need to make decisions for the people of Salt Lake City. He did not attempt to hide the fact that his resignation was due to his family problems, or that he had decided on his life’s path as the people of Salt Lake City have become more aware of.
While Council Members Cedillo, Kim Fahey and Joe Adams, who are all from the same political party, have been much more open with their personal lives and their personal concerns since they arrived on the Council and into city government, they too are struggling and failing to get their point across.
While Cedillo and Fahey are the ones who were the first to jump into this political controversy, they were not the most vocal or the most obvious to make their statements about the issues. Adams and de León have, since their arrivals on the Council, been at the forefront of many of those issues, as Adams has worked hard to reform the city and become more involved in local governance. His comments on the need for a better relationship between the city and the state have been frequent and strong, as has de León’s efforts to reform the political landscape.
However, de León’s resignation was met with more questions and outrage than applause. Many of us think it was a good idea to resign first, so we can get a better idea of the issues and the concerns of the people of Salt Lake City. But, many others think it not only poor decision, but also poor timing, at this point in time.
Now is not the time for any one person to take the reins of power in the city, but it is