John “Jack” Murphy has done more through actions during his campaign for the residents of Summit County than the entire Council and any of his opponents in the same period of time.
First his former opponent, Byron Ames, the former mayor of my town of Francis, recognized this and dropped out just before the primary. This week, Michael Franchek recognized this and felt compelled to not only withdraw, but endorse Murphy. Canice Harte should do the same.
Harte whined to KPCW that Murphy did not attend the County Council meeting on the tax debacle? Murphy had representatives there, but knew the Council was impotent on the unfair taxation conducted by the assessor, or they would have already addressed the problem.
The Council was well aware of the unfair treatment of the property tax assessments by the good work of the Danoses yet chose to ignore it. Meanwhile, Murphy was busy working with Summit County senators and representatives to move forward the process at the state level with the State Auditor’s Office, State Tax Commission and State Attorney General’s Office. He did because he read the code and made a smart and informed decision.
Harte’s statement demonstrates his unsophisticated perspective and training. Here is what else Murphy has done in the short months since announcing his candidacy:
- GRAMA requested email exchanges between the developer and Summit County on the 1.1 acre tennis court parcel that was initially given a positive recommendation
- Advocated for community representation on drug treatment center replacing senior housing in Highland Estates (Trailside)
- Enlisted our local state representatives, senators and Park City School District to present his findings on the property assessment failure at the Tax Summit in September
- Worked with the State Auditor’s office on Summit County real estate data analyses and conclusions
- Testified in front of the State Tax Commission and recommended corrective action
- Collected unfair assessment data from citizens, through his website
- Visited North and South Summit looking to genuinely listen to citizens more than any other candidate (except maybe Holly McClure, who was with him at every event!)
Meanwhile, Murphy’s Democrat opponent works on Miners’ Day with the Rotary Club, saying we need more density in Kimball Junction? Give me a break or should I say brake? I work as a contractor in Park City and I am sick of sitting in traffic. I can’t imagine what will happen if we don’t do something now to stop the one party system.
We need real leadership, not “groomed for leadership” by doing the bidding of the same old players that got us into this mess.
Taxing and spending are out of control and have zero accountability. Development is out of control and not only has no accountability, but we are about to cede significant local control to the state through the made-up HTRZ in Kimball Junction. HTRZ is for existing rail service along the Wasatch Front, not Back. Resource management is out of control and is going to become a huge problem if we don’t put bright lines around development.
We need a leader to bring this all under control by data-driven, transparent processes that lead to accountability.
Murphy has already applied this to the tax assessment debacle. We need to vote Murphy in to continue this good work for Summit County citizens. The rare opportunity to vote Murphy and McClure in, to counterbalance these policies, will allow Summit County to recapture our quality of life before it is wasted away to developers and politicians. Join in this worthy cause by voting.