Millcreek Mayor Jeff Silvestrini will retire in November due to health reasons, he announced Monday night.
Silvestrini, 71, has served as mayor of the Salt Lake County suburb since Millcreek incorporated in 2016, according to a news release from the city. He recently underwent two surgeries and has been diagnosed with leukemia and a “hopefully benign pancreatic tumor,” he said in the release.
Silvestrini said it’s time for him to spend the time he has left with his wife, Leslie. The Millcreek City Council will select a new mayor after an application period that will extend from Sept. 30 through Oct 14, and Silvestrini’s resignation will be effective Nov. 10, when the new mayor is sworn in.
“After nearly a decade in this position, I realize it is time for me to do what will make Leslie and me the happiest,” Silvestrini said in a statement. “It has been the honor of my life to serve as Millcreek’s first mayor and I have very much enjoyed my time in this office. I am also very proud of what we have been able to accomplish in nine years as a new city.”
Since taking office, Silvestrini has served as president of the Utah League of Cities and Towns, chair of the Wasatch Front Regional Council, and chair of the Unified Police Authority. He currently serves as chair of the Central Wasatch Commission.
Silvestrini also founded the Millcreek Promise program, a community initiative to provide resources and “improve the community in the areas of safety, health, education, and economic well-being,” according to the program’s webpage. In 2021, he was selected Utah’s “Best of State Mayor.”
Recently, Silvestrini has been outspoken on immigration issues in Millcreek. He scolded agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for making “demonstrably false” allegations during a traffic stop in January, and in April urged the community to come together in support of a local family who immigrated from Venezuela but had been told to leave the country by ICE.
Silvestrini’s statements in April came the day after he had undergone abdominal surgery.
“I want all Millcreek residents to also know that we value all of our immigrant and refugee community who are here lawfully in the United States and in Millcreek, and we want them to feel safe here,” he said at the time. “And as mayor of all Millcreek residents, I want you to know that I stand with you, and I will seek to ensure that your rights are respected.”
Silvestrini was sworn in to his third term as mayor last year.