MIDVALE MAYOR OPTIMISTIC FOR THE CITY’S FUTURE

By Peri Kinder | peri.k@thecityjournals.com

Whether he’s greeting musician Post Malone at Raising Cane’s, skateboarding at Copperview Skatepark or painting a wall during the mural festival, Midvale Mayor Marcus Stevenson brings a youthful energy to the 114-year-old city.

It’s been a little more than a year since Stevenson was sworn-in as the 22nd mayor of Midvale. At 27, he was the youngest mayor the city had ever elected. Stevenson has learned some hard lessons during his first year in office, but he’s also made big strides and he’s excited to move forward.

“I think that as a community we’re in a really interesting place where we have so many exciting things going on,” he said. “There’s so much good happening here but we also have some pretty intense struggles and challenges, like homelessness and poverty.”

Stevenson has promoted open communication since he took over as mayor. He wants residents to be engaged in city issues and values the feedback he’s received. The Engage Midvale platform, launched a year ago, encourages residents to take surveys about things like transpor- tation, Main Street development and planning for the three TRAX stations. It’s a tool to help residents be actively involved in decision making.

As he’s learned the intricacies of government leadership, he feels better prepared for the challenges ahead. One big problem Stevenson faces is how the city will reorganize the police department once the Unified Police Department is dissolved in 2025. The city also deals with high levels of youth violence.

“Midvale has one of the highest rates of youth violence in the county. We have been doing a lot of work to provide more opportunities for the youth in our community,” he said. “We’ve got incredible community partners trying to make sure we’re bringing in more youth programming.”

Good things happening in Midvale include the revitalization of Main Street. The city’s first mural festival was held last year that encouraged businesses along the historic street to allow artists to paint murals on the outside walls. The festival was

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Alta High — Canyons School District Assistant Superintendent Bob Dowdle is scheduled to speak to 522 students who are expected to graduate at 10 a.m., May 25 at the University of Utah’s Huntsman Center. This year’s theme is “We are better together.”

Bingham High — Commencement exercises will be held at 1 p.m., June 1 in the UCCU Arena at Utah Valley University in Orem. The theme is “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”

Brighton High — About 500 seniors are to walk through commencement exercises at 6:30 p.m., May 25 at the Maverik Center with Canyons School District Superintendent Rick Robins speaking. This year’s theme is “Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts,” spoken by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

Canyons Transition Academy — Thirteen students will graduate at 12:30 p.m., May 24 in the Canyons Center. The theme is a quote by Barnum & Bailey Circus founder, nicknamed “The Greatest Showman,” P.T. Barnum; he said: “No one ever made a difference by being like everyone else.”

Corner Canyon High — “Good things end so great things can begin” is the theme for 567 seniors who will graduate at 2 p.m., May 25 at

It’s cap and gown time for hundreds of students