“The particulars of the disagreement, at this stage, are beside the point. After a long election season, Parkites — and certainly the elected officials themselves — are tired of rehashing the circumstances surrounding the murals and soils repository concept, controversies that sucked up much of the oxygen during the campaign.” — Park Record editorial Nov. 10, 2021
It is an inconvenient truth. That sucking of oxygen. Those lies and misdeeds that required a GRAMA request — not filed by any members of the press but by two citizen activists — that revealed the truth of the mess inside Marsac. Those two women who took great personal and professional risk to reveal those Marsac missteps did so because they already knew pieces of what they would find inside. They knew because staff inside City Hall were so disillusioned with the leadership who continued to lie about the facts surrounding the instigation and creation of the murals on Main Street. Those staff members are the heroes, along with those two women — Sarah Berry and Angela Moschetta of the civic engagement initiative Future Park City — who risked personal and professional rebuke for their dogged pursuit of the truth. Businesses on Main Street wanted the truth. Average citizens wanted the truth. And those working year-round inside of city government wanted and deserved truth be told.
This paper chose not to pursue a GRAMA request, even after I sat down with the editor and publisher and implored them to pursue the story and assured them the sources were rock solid. In fairness, they did say they would file a request. But then, they just didn’t “get around to it.” It simply “wasn’t a priority,” I was later told.
So, in the days ahead when there are repairs to be done in leadership with two of five council members, the olive branch must come from those two councilmembers. They chose to attack their fellow councilmember and defend themselves and their actions without taking the time to learn the facts — from their own city staff — of what had transpired in the preparation of those murals, as well as the deceit that took place with regards to design, timing, size, location, content and information intentionally withheld from local law enforcement and Main Street merchants.
Trust is always at least a two-way street. Unless it is a bit of a roundabout…
All of the smoke around the message of the art being the issue is just that — smoke. The truth is the issue. Good people don’t tire of the truth ever, no matter how inconvenient it often may be.
The job the new mayor has ahead is to bring the stiff, proverbial broom to City Hall and sweep out the dark corners where dishonesty was allowed to hide. That will likely mean staff changes. It will require greater oversight, clear communication, humility and a lack of grandstanding. It will need new voices and new vision, while working to retain and inspire dedicated staff who have not been fully supported over the past four years. There are hundreds of good people working in city government who just want to be recognized for their expertise and be enabled to put their skills to smart use. They want humble leadership that doesn’t care about being popular, but rather cares about being ethical and fair to all involved.
As to the conversation around the soils sucking up oxygen, I find the very wording ironic and offensive. I suffered respiratory issues for years after being onsite almost daily when the performing arts center was built by the high school, a place we now know toxic soils live. I lived on extra oxygen for some time. I spent years seeking expert medical advice across multiple states. After spending 18 months with the University of Utah where they could no longer provide answers, they sent me to the number one facility for respiratory care in the nation at the time, the National Jewish Medical Center in Denver. At the end of those 10 days in 1999, I was told my life expectancy was three to five years. The soils are not “beside the point.” They are part of our mining and railroad history and need to be addressed every single time we move dirt in this town.
I would rather we focus on an authentic arts district with a natural flow of people and buildings and light and healthy spaces. What if we reimagined Main Street and Old Town completely? What if the China Bridge parking structure became affordable housing? What if government moved out of the Marsac Building and the arts moved in there? What if the top of the parking structure had another arts building built there? What if the center of town really felt like the beating heart of our community?
We aren’t a big city even though we tax and spend like one. We remain a legal community of less than 10,000 full time residents. And we host — for about a third of the year — a population that sometimes exceeds 100,000 people in a big week. We have world class resorts, events and world class performances and art. We have — with all city budgets combined — a business here that exceeds $370 million. Surely, we can figure out how to utilize the talented residents and staff who work here and want to live here to create a vibrant town that serves its citizens and its guests with equal grace and good sense.
But that will take a government willing to own its mistakes, work to repair the lost trust, build up the good staff and move others along. The work ahead belongs to the full City Council, with three new members coming on board, the new mayor and the city manager. Strong, clear direction is needed to repair the broken branches of government and to restore public trust. Only then can we create a collaborative climate of change to do all the great and creative deeds we are capable of in the days ahead, including Sundays in our Park…
Teri Orr is a former editor of The Park Record. She is the founder of the Park City Institute, which provides programming for the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Center for the Performing Arts. She has been a member of the TED community since 2007 and founded TEDxParkCity in 2009.