Leaders from a roster of mountain-resort communities are scheduled to visit Park City on Thursday and Friday for meetings focused on issues like immigration and the environment, an opportunity for officials to trade ideas and learn about the goings-on within the small fraternity of ski towns.
The Colorado Association of Ski Towns schedules quarterly meetings in Park City like the one this week every six years or so. City Hall is a member of the group, which involves name-brand communities in Colorado and elsewhere in the West.
Michael Kovacs, the assistant city manager in Park City and the City Hall staffer who helped organize the event, said approximately 23 people primarily city managers and city councilors from the other cities — are scheduled to attend. Official functions are set Thursday night and Friday morning. An official from the office of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is expected to travel to Park City to discuss immigration with the group.
The group will attend a cocktail hour and a dinner on Thursday night. Meetings are scheduled from 8 a.m. until noon on Friday. No public events are scheduled.
Mountain resorts across the West face similar issues related to growth, the environment and the economy. Park City has grappled with many of the same issues as the other communities since the 1990s population boom in mountain communities.
Kovacs said he anticipates the officials from the other communities will be interested in City Hall’s environmental work. The municipal government has a wide-ranging environmental program that includes upgrading buildings with Earth-friendly systems and using cleaner-burning fuels in many city vehicles.
“They’re going to want to see what we’ve done and where we’re going with our environmental programs,” Kovacs said.
Diane Foster, who directs City Hall’s environmental programs, is scheduled to address the group, Kovacs said.
City Hall earlier in the year aligned itself with a group of mayors and businesspeople known as the Partnership for a New American Economy. Bloomberg is one of the leaders of the Partnership for a New American Economy. The group advocates immigration reform.
The official from Bloomberg’s office who is traveling to Park City, Robert Feldstein, helps coordinate the Partnership for a New American Economy. He is a senior advisor in Bloomberg’s Office of Policy and Strategic Planning.
Park City Mayor Dana Williams and Summit County Council chairman Chris Robinson are scheduled to briefly address the group on Friday morning. A panel discussion involving the three Park City-area mountain resorts and the Park City Chamber/Bureau is planned as well.
According to Kovacs, the communities that will send people to Park City for the meetings are:
Park City leaders have long tapped the other communities for ideas to make the city more competitive against the other mountain resorts in the West. The annual City Hall-led City Tour over the years has visited many of the communities that are sending officials to Park City this week.