It feels like a bit of a homecoming for Ray deWolfe, who has returned as a member of the South Salt Lake City Council. He was appointed in January to fill the remainder of the term of Natalie Pinkney, who was elected a member of the Salt Lake County Council in last November's election.

deWolfe is serving as an at-large member of the council, as he did during his previous term. He was elected to the council in 2017 and served for four years, but did not seek re-election. When Pinkney won her county seat, he submitted his name along with 16 other hopefuls to fill the rest of her term in office, which ends later this year. They were each interviewed at a council meeting, and deWolfe was selected.

“I served on the planning commission for about a year in South Salt Lake, and started pretty close to around the time when my wife and I bought a house in the city,” he said. “We were looking for ways to get more involved in the community. We were excited about getting to know our city and our neighbors and so that was sort of my first introduction in city government.”

He works in the Human Resources Department for Mountain America Credit Union, where he’s been on staff for 10 years. He is also a coach for the Hillcrest High School Little League football team, which helps prep young players for future competitions.

deWolfe said he’s seen a lot of growth in South Salt Lake in recent years, along with the challenges the city is ready to take on.

“One of the questions we were asked during our application process was, you know, what are your priorities for being on the city council?” he said. “I think my answer is that I originally ran on my same priorities of home ownership and affordability within our city, focusing on neighborhoods and community. I think when it comes to growth in general, we have to look at how we grow smart and be the city which we envision as being with transportation options, recreational opportunities and housing affordability.”

He was originally opposed to the plan to locate a family shelter in South Salt Lake because he saw the city as being “a landing spot for lots of county facilities. We have a lot of tax-exempt properties because really, when the county is looking for some place to put something, it falls upon our city in a lot of ways. That was sort of a frustration of mine when that location was chosen.”

Since then, he said the city has done a great job helping the shelter population mesh into the community, and he’s always been supportive of the programs that assist those in need. 

“You know, we have dedicated homeless resource officers that do nothing but kind of manage that facility and the population around it. They know who these people are, and we've advocated for funds to be allocated to our city to help manage it. And I think by and large, we are pretty successful now.”

He also views the maintaining and improving of the city’s infrastructure as a priority, saying “when you talk about streets and water lines and all that, it’s not very sexy to talk about, but it sure gets noticed if things don't work properly. You have to budget and allocate resources appropriately to do that stuff. And so those are the things I'm going to be paying close attention to.”

deWolfe also knows perceptions of South Salt Lake are often negative and inaccurate. 

“I believe the city’s done a really good job of marketing itself,” he said. “This is a working town. It’s really blue collar, and that represents the spirit of community in a lot of ways, because we are pretty much a Welcoming City. We welcome a lot of refugees, we have very diverse backgrounds, and we happen to be located inside a larger metro where we triple in size during the day and shrink back down during the night for our actual residents. That fluctuation comes with challenges, but also opportunities. The events we sponsor are part of an effort to educate others about who we are, what we are and what we want in the future. I think image takes time to not only build, but to maintain, and that's where the work will go in trying to maintain the positive image that we're building.”λ