My employees not safe near Pioneer Park

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

I am chief executive officer for PEGUS Research. We are a pharmaceutical research firm located near Pioneer Park. We moved our 150 employee company here 18 months ago. The area presented some concerns but we had assurances it would get better. That has not been the case.

Pioneer Park area has become unsafe. The homeless, drug dealers and others have taken over as the city looks away. I have lived downtown for 12 years. We are selling.

Our employees have been followed by men in a van trying to get them to get in.

The employees have seen more than one fight started by a homeless person, people urinating and defecating on our building and threats, pushing or near fights as they try to get to their vehicles.

We have heard that Police Chief Chris Burbank and Mayor Ralph Becker are addressing the issue. We see no evidence of that.

We also have visitors from the pharmaceutical firms who visit my firm that leave with a negative view of our city.

When are city officials going to fix this problem?

David L. McCammon

Salt Lake City