The Multicultural Career Advancement Program hosted Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon at South City Campus as part of their series dedicated to bringing in people who work in jobs that students want to know about.
Corroon has degrees in engineering, real estate finance and law.
“The most important thing for any career is education,” says Corroon. Education teaches people how to think critically.
Corroon suggested that students who were interested in getting into politics volunteer to help with campaigns and get involved with their local governments in such a way as to gain name recognition.
“Politics can be a dirty, dirty game,” says Corroon. “You have to have a tough hide.”
Corroon got involved with government when his wife first got pregnant. They went to five or six child care facilities and paid the fees to get on the waiting lists. When his wife was ready to go back to work, they called the facilities to find out what was available.
“We couldn’t find any childcare,” says Corroon.
He testified at the legislature about the problem and began serving on a committee to address the problem.
He found out through a couple of people that he was running for Salt Lake County Mayor even though he hadn’t been asked to. He decided that he would go ahead and run and was fortunate when his opponent got indicted.
“It’s all about timing,” says Corroon. He was reelected with 65 percent of the vote but will not run for reelection this year.
