Will the police chief remain or will he be fired? Will Salt Lake City's westside gateway project proceed as planned or will the city withdraw its aggressive support of new projects in the area? Will the city emphasize the need to attract large businesses in an effort to shore up small businesses through a trickle-down theory of municipal economics, or will the emphasis instead be on small businesses alone?
Perhaps most importantly, whose face will greet the world when it comes to the Olympics in 2 1/2 years?The beauty of a democracy is that important decisions such as these are entrusted to average, everyday people; to anyone who is older than 18 and has the energy to fill out a voter registration card. The American tradition of government places enormous trust in the people, and that gives each eligible voter an enormous responsibility to study the issues and cast a ballot. The next test of this responsibility comes Tuesday.
Much has been made about the contrast between Stuart Reid and Rocky Anderson, the two candidates for mayor of Salt Lake City. Indeed, they are different people with different ideas of how a city should be run. But city voters need to understand as well that the decisions facing the city right now are of enormous importance.
Salt Lake City is on the verge of changing. A new freeway system, the light-rail transit system and vast new tracts of undeveloped land -- made available when the city negotiated a deal to move the Union Pacific railroad tracks to the west -- all are certain to change the way people act and interact in the city. And all of this is coming together just as the Olympics begin focusing national and international attention here.
Decades from now, people are likely to look back on the turn of the century as a pivotal time in the city's history, and they are likely to judge today's generation by the decisions made, and by the number of people who showed up on Election Day to make them.
Most adults along the Wasatch Front won't have a chance to influence the mayor's race. That's because they live in different cities with races and issues of their own.
In Draper, voters will decide an important alcohol initiative which, if passed, would put an end to all class B or C beer licenses in the city and revoke any licenses already granted this year.
In most cities, growth is the main topic of discussion. With people streaming into the state, decisions on how to plan for and handle the influx are more important now than they likely will be at any future time.
These all are weighty matters with implications deserving of much more than a cursory look. This newspaper has gone to great lengths to present the issues and report on what candidates in each race believe. The questions are there. Only informed and educated voters can answer them on Tuesday.