Martin Fox, who ended his campaign for the Park City Council last week, says he did so because he expects his work at a not-for-profit group will keep him too busy to serve on the City Council.
In an e-mail to The Park Record, Fox, the president and CEO of the Center for Global Leadership, says he is spending more time outside of Park City for business.
“While I wish otherwise, I now realize I can’t accelerate the Center’s momentum and serve on the City Council at the same time,” he says in the e-mail. “To do so would be an injustice to both the Park City community and to the populations our center seeks to serve locally and globally.”
He says he filed candidate papers because he worried that there might not be competitive campaigns for the two City Council spots on the ballot. Just two candidates had put in their campaign papers by the final day of the filing window. Four others, including Fox, filed that day.
“Our town is too important to have City Council seats running unopposed — which is why I volunteered to run in the first place,” he says.
The not-for-profit group is pulling together what Fox describes as a “global network of ethical young entrepreneurs to help change the way our world works.”
He is the second City Council candidate to remove himself from the campaign soon after filing, following the July 20 departure of Planning Commissioner Jack Thomas from the contest.
Four people remain in contention for the two spots. A primary in the City Council campaign was canceled after Fox’s decision. A primary would have been needed to reduce the field to four for Election Day.
The remaining candidates are Mark Blue, Alex Butwinski, Cindy Matsumoto and John Stafsholt.
The two incumbents, Roger Harlan and Jim Hier, are retiring.