Meet Salt Lake City Council candidate Taymour Semnani
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Taymour Semnani. Photo: Courtesy of Taymour Semnani
Taymour Semnani is a civil litigation attorney, vying to represent District 6 on the City Council. Current council member Dan Dugan is among his opponents.
- He currently serves on the Salt Lake City Police Foundation board of directors.
Of note: Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
📲 First tap in the morning: "I try to be with my thoughts when I wake up. That means staying away from screens until I've kissed my wife and kids on the way out the door.
- "Occasionally, I may have to check my calendar or respond to emails or texts, but that's only in response to inbound messages."
😄 Hobbies: "Playing basketball, watching college basketball and football, waterskiing, being with my family."
🏠 What neighborhoods have you lived in? "Wasatch Hollow."
🐋 What whale-sized sculpture belongs in your district and where would it go? The candidate left this question blank.
🤔 What's the top issue Salt Lakers face? "Homelessness."
🏠 How would you address affordable housing in Salt Lake City? "Increase rental and family housing density downtown, rigorously defend single-family homes from investor purchasing, so homeowners compete with other homeowners, not funds."
🌊 As the Great Salt Lake dwindles, what policy solutions would you recommend to conserve water? "Increase Utah Water Savers incentives and participation, lobby the state Legislature to fund conservation efforts, explore dual metering for new construction."
🚩 What sets you apart as a candidate: "I am the only candidate who was born and raised in Salt Lake, and the only candidate who lived the majority of my life here."
- "I am also the only candidate who has committed to voting against allowing fourplexes in single-family neighborhoods, thereby preventing investors from keeping with homebuyers and running up single-family home prices.
- "I'm the only candidate who put my particularized policy positions in writing, so you know what your vote gets with me."
☝ First action as a City Council member: "Ask the city's transportation division director Jon Larsen what needs to be done to make our streets more safe for pedestrians and cyclists, so we can encourage people to drive less and enjoy our beautiful streets more."
🏛 Finally, why do you want to be a City Council member? "I got into the race because of pedestrian safety, and I'm fighting to protect single-family homes, promote public school enrollment, support first responders, improve infrastructure maintenance, and improve access to addiction and mental health treatment for the unhoused."