Park City Councilman-elect Andy Beerman on Thursday is expected to raise his right hand and take the oath of office, ascending to the City Council after a successful campaign last fall followed by two months of lessons about the mechanics of City Hall.
Beerman was the second-place finisher on Election Day, when incumbent City Councilor Liza Simpson won another term and Dick Peek won his first full term. Simpson and Peek will also take their oaths of office on Thursday.
Beerman is the newcomer of the three, though, having never served in an official capacity at City Hall. He came to political prominence only recently, as the president of a business group centered on Main Street known as the Historic Park City Alliance. His resignation as the president of the group was effective Dec. 31. Beerman and his wife hold a substantial interest in the Treasure Mountain Inn on Main Street and co-owns with his wife the lodging firm that operates the inn.
“I’ve been doing my best to get prepared,” Beerman, who is 42 years old and lives in Old Town, said about the time since Election Day.
Beerman said he has spent considerable time receiving briefings from City Hall staffers in the eight weeks since he captured a City Council seat. He has met several times with City Hall attorneys to learn about the municipal legal issues and he has spoken with the Water Department about infrastructure. He has also received information about environmental issues, including ideas for a place to store contaminated soils, known as a repository. Beerman since the fall has spoken to Mayor Dana Williams, each of the sitting City Councilors and some former members of the City Council.
He said his first year in office will likely involve progress on at least three high-profile discussions that perplexed City Hall Treasure, the Bonanza Park district redevelopment and the idea to build a Raleigh Studios complex. Beerman said he anticipates a course will be defined for each of them during his first year.
The Treasure discussions will be of particular note in the coming months as City Hall and the Treasure partnership attempt to negotiate a development agreement in the time after the breakdown of talks about a conservation deal for the land. There is expected to be numerous rounds of talks through at least mid-March.
“The city’s currently in negotiations. I’m going to see where things come back,” Beerman said.
He predicted a shift of some of the partnership’s longstanding development rights to a spot uphill from the Park City Mountain Resort base area could be involved in an agreement.
Beerman, meanwhile, is critical of the Raleigh Studio idea, which would place the complex along the S.R. 248 entryway. He said the developers are seeking to build a large project under the guise of the studio.
“I think it’s a Trojan horse,” he said. “It would be growth for the sake of growth.”
He sees the prospects in the Bonanza Park district, centered along Bonanza Drive, differently. He said he supports, in theory, ideas to redevelop the district. A key landowner in Bonanza Park has ambitious plans to remake his holdings into a residential and commercial project.
“I think it’s an opportunity for us to develop an underutilized area,” Beerman said.
Beerman’s campaign stressed issues like the local economy, and he sees his business background as a being one of his important political attributes. He also touts his record as a steward of the environment.