Council member Arlyn Bradshaw will resign Wednesday, for a job in Mayor Jenny Wilson’s administration. A new member will likely be elected June 11.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Arlyn Bradshaw, a member of the Salt Lake County Council for 14 years, will resign effective March 14, 2025, the county announced on March 9.
Salt Lake County Council member Arlyn Bradshaw will resign next week to join the administration of Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson.
Bradshaw represents County Council District 1, which includes most of Salt Lake City, most of South Salt Lake and a northeast portion of West Valley City. He was first elected to the seat in 2010, according to the Salt Lake County Council website, and was the first openly-gay councilman to serve Utah’s most populous county.
Bradshaw, a Democrat, will become the county’s associate deputy mayor of finance and administration, according to a Salt Lake County news release issued Friday. He’ll work with Deputy Mayor Darrin Casper on the transition to the county’s new government center, the renovation for the Salt Palace Convention Center and council-mandated compensation reforms.
“While I will miss serving on the council, I am excited to continue to work for the people of Salt Lake County in the administration,” Bradshaw said in a statement. “… I am grateful for the trust Mayor Wilson has placed in me and am excited for my next stage of public service.”
In addition to his 14 years on the County Council, Bradshaw has worked for Utah nonprofit Best Friends Animal Society since 2014. He also serves on the Visit Salt Lake Executive Board, the Utah State Transparency Advisory Board, the Salt Lake City Airport Advisory Board, and is the board chair of the Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake County, according to the county’s news release.
“Arlyn brings deep institutional knowledge, strategic insight and a longstanding commitment to public service,” Wilson said in a statement. “I’m grateful he’s chosen to continue serving the county in this new role.”
The council will maintain its narrow Republican majority. With Bradshaw’s departure, the council will have five Republicans and three Democrats. But the vacancy won’t last long.
Officials from the Salt Lake County Democratic Party will choose who gets to fill the rest of Bradshaw’s term, which ends in January 2027.
Candidates will be able to file for the job in about two weeks, said Nick Glenn, the county party’s executive director. The filing period will stay open another two weeks, Glenn said, to give candidates time to campaign.
Thirty days after Bradshaw’s resignation, which likely will be June 11, members of the county party’s central committee who live in District 1 will vote for Bradshaw’s successor. That’s between 100 and 200 committee members, Glenn said.
If more than two candidates file for the post, committee members will use ranked choice voting to decide the winner, Glenn said.
Bradshaw, Glenn said, has “done an amazing job as a representative. … We’re sad to see him go, and excited to see what he does next as a part of Mayor Wilson’s administration. ”