"We demand that you step it up..."

Here's more on today's packed city council meeting, where over 100 local residents came to demand SLC avoid any voluntary cooperation with ICE.

The city says SLC PD doesn't and won't collaborate with ICE on immigration operations:

www.ksl.com/article/5143...

When I said packed, I mean it. Here's a look at the main chamber, overflow and hallway — and this doesn't include people calling into the meeting.

(And yes, someone is here dressed up as the whale)

Meeting has turned to the public comment period, after SLC officials provided a statement about police partnerships with ICE.

We're entering a 5-min break though so the city can roll out a TV for extra audiences to watch in the hallway, in case their name is called to speak

Puy: "That's the problem. That's the balance we want to strike, because we don't want to hurt our neighbors by trying to signal our values."

Adds the city will call out problems as they arise in the community, like Millcreek did last year with a refuted incident

I spoke with Council Chair Puy just before the meeting. He tells me the city will continue to be “watchful and caring” for residents, but also said he doesn't anticipate a resolution or anything like that, citing fears of how that might put residents at future risks

SLC is also expecting to have more conversations over flags, like from HB77 last year. The city bypassed that law with 3 new flags.

HB196 is obviously a big topic as well. Over 5,000 signatures have now been collected opposing the bill that would rename Harvey Milk Blvd, per the city

City is expecting public safety and homeless campus plans to cover most of the session. Water topics are expected, including the GSL

SLC is also expecting something similar to SB195 could arise again this year, though perhaps not as severe after the work with UDOT since SB195

Second vote of the day: Councilmember Alejandro Puy (D2) will chair the SLC Council this year. Councilmember Erika Carlsen (D5) — the council's newest member — will serve as the vice chair

I'll just say this now. I spent way too much time trying to figure out the effort to drop "Great" from the name, which happened in 1868.

All I ended up with was more questions ... but I also found when D-News adopted the name change in coverage 🤷‍♂️

Logan Cooley is here. Says he's "super excited" for the opportunity

Bit of history here too. Bettman says this game will mean that every NHL franchise will have played in a Winter Classic since it started

SLC Mendenhall on today's announcement:

"This game will celebrate Salt Lake City’s love of both sports and shared experiences, and we’re excited to show more fans what makes this city such a special place.”

The 2024 SEG/SLC agreement included a provision to allow for this

Bettman says the local response has been "incredible," and he's thrilled to have the WC here

Ryan Smith says he thinks the RES layout will make it a great place to view a game. Said he toured the stadium early in the sale process with the idea of holding a game here one day

One of the bigger findings in this year's report is a deeper understanding of M&I water consumption, which accounts for the majority of Jordan River depletion

Ag still accounts for 65% of lake's depletion, but M&I is now up to 27%