When asked what one thing newly-elected District 1 Councilmember Paul Pickett would like the residents of Murray to know about him he quickly responded, “I’m a nice person and I’m approachable. I like to talk to people and to listen to people.” Basic enough, but then he continued, slightest of accents detectable. “I make friends easily because Argentines love to talk and they love people.” 

Roberto Paul Pickett-Acevedo was born in Cordoba, the capital of Argentina. His father is a native Utahn who met his mother on a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints mission, returned to Argentina for his girl, and started a family in the South American country. 

Pickett’s early years were spent in a “magical little world” with extended Argentinian family, but at age 11 his family decided to move to Utah, which at the time seemed a shock to young Paul. “It was almost like I had this secret American heritage and citizenship I didn’t really recognize,” Pickett said. “I still miss the place. Sometimes I wonder if I’m an American who had an Argentine experience, or an Argentine having an American experience.” 

Priorities

His foreign heritage doesn’t mean Pickett isn’t invested in his local community, now even more so, as he has been elected to represent District 1. A longtime Murray resident (nearly a quarter of a century), Pickett decided to run for office because of the unprecedented growth that Murray has experienced in the past few years, and that the former representative was a newer resident of the district. 

“I felt like she didn’t know the heart of the residents,” Pickett said. “My district is comprised of people who are long-term homeowners who are very conservative towards growth, who feel like we ought to pause and act in a wise way. They feel like the city is moving fast without their insight.”

His district includes Murray City Hall and historic Block One, which is currently up for redevelopment. He believes the block should be designed as “a place of attraction where people want to gather and spend time.” 

He would love to have the master plan reopened and look at zoning laws to be sure proposals for development match where Murray wants to go, suggesting that the master plan may have been too vague. “Envision the worst case scenario. What if every lot that was zoned for high density housing was developed? What would that do to our infrastructure?” Pickett asked. “Could we still live the same quality of life or would we overwhelm our resources?”

A couple of other issues Pickett wishes to tackle: in his district there is a need for continual sidewalks leading to the Jordan River Parkway, and also sidewalks leading toward bus stops. “There has not been an accident yet, but people walk these places and they’re not safe on the side of a road,” he said.

Pickett often bikes the Jordan River Parkway and he recognizes there are a few homeless encampments, mostly north of about 4800 South. Other newly-elected councilmember, Adam Hock, has also recognized this as one of the issues he’d like to tackle. Pickett is eager to work with Hock to improve the unhoused situation in Murray. 

Profession

Pickett has worked for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for 32 years, but his first job might have been the most rock-solid. He worked in the Family History vaults buried 700 feet in the granite walls of Little Cottonwood Canyon. 

“The storage qualities of the rock keep the temperature and humidity constant, so the microfilm can stay safe forever,” Pickett said. “It’s why visitors aren’t allowed in the vault, because additional bodies would change the temperature and humidity.” Despite the dramatic location of the vault, inside it “felt very much like a regular warehouse.” 

Back in Pickett’s day, when someone visited a family history library and requested information, the search was done by hand. Pickett (and other employees) would receive the order, pull it, take the document to the film processing area, copy it, and ship it to the history library. This procedure still exists, but the church is in the process of digitizing all microfilm for easier online access. 

Since then, Pickett has taught seminary in four different states, including in Murray from 2004 to 2008. He worked in meeting house facilities (again for the LDS Church), and in 2021 he switched to BYU-Pathway, serving in 12 countries in Latin America. 

Pickett attended the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs where he fell in love with the history and gallantry of the military. “It created in me a sense of discipline, patriotism and pride in America that might not have come after being born in another country,” Pickett said. 

He served an LDS mission to Mexico, where he learned a whole new Hispanic culture, though he said with a laugh, “My Spanish was better than my fellow missionaries, even if the accent and dialect in Mexico are very different to that in Argentina.”

Pickett received his bachelor’s from the University of Utah and his master’s from Washington State University.

Pastimes

One of Pickett’s pastimes has a nice perk. For the past 19 seasons he has worked as an MLS Referee Liaison for Real Salt Lake. “I’m one of the few remaining fixtures from the initial team,”  he said. This means he makes the visit to Utah enjoyable for referees from out of town. He’s a “rabid Real fan” and lucky to be at the stadium field-side for every game. “I try to maintain neutrality during the games, of course, because of the job,” Pickett confided. “But when we score goal, inside I’m very happy.”

Another interesting side-gig: Pickett is an actor. He can be found in numerous commercials and LDS film productions including the recent Book of Mormon series. He has sported more than a couple interesting hairstyles as an actor representing an historic figure. While he loved his time as an actor, he feels like he’s done with acting. “I will be devoting this time to Murray,” he said.  

People and Pizza

Pickett and his wife Jennifer have lived in Murray for 23 years. All five of their children attended schools in the Murray School District. Most of his children have moved from home and are “starting to scatter around Utah and the East Coast,” though all four of his grandchildren are in Utah, and he still has one child living at home. “We are a very connected family, so someone is always stopping in,” Pickett said.

Why do they visit? It might be for the pizza. When Pickett was 15 his family opened a pizza place in Idaho. He spent his high school days tossing pizza. He kept the recipes and the technique and Friday nights at the Pickett house are pizza nights. He makes his own dough, sauce, and tosses the crust. Neighbors (and family) know they are always welcome to walk in, sit down and have a slice. λ