I am writing in response to your editorial from March 15, “Don’t fear dissent — or support,” and have two main points.
First, I want to commendTthe Park Record for playing an outstanding role in letting the community voice their opinion about Dakota, Peg/Vail, and Deer Valley Loop projects in your editorial section. While local sentiment is overwhelmingly against these projects, you have also provided full availability for all opinions and voices.
However, I believe there is a major distinction between opinions (last page) and factual reporting (front page). Having listened to the Dakota public comment sessions, I did not witness facts to support local headlines like “downsized crowd,” “downsized proposal” or small but strong pro-Dakota sentiment. In the second meeting only two out of more than 400 people in the room raised their hands as pro-Dakota. The two main individuals that spoke in favor of the project were Glen Wright, who is a former council member and the property manager at Liberty Peak, a property that was built by Boyer. I don’t think those two opinions constitute a growing pro-Dakota sentiment.
However, while some residents spoke about their desire for Summit County to build more workforce/affordable housing, that POV does not directly translate to growing pro-Dakota support. In general, overall affordability (child care, health care, housing) is an important topic in Summit County, and many communities, that will not be solved by this project.
That brings me to my second point, and agreement with your editorial that “There’s no issue, locally, nationally or internationally, on which people are of one mind.” The greatness of this country stems from many aspects but freedom of speech, pursuit of the American Dream, and representative democracy are obvious core elements. Unfortunately, the country appears to be sliding from intellectual debate on complex issues to basic emotional reactions and point scoring. Although potentially great rallying calls, the phrase “Build a Wall” doesn’t solve a complex immigration issue, no more than “Free Healthcare for Everyone” is the panacea for our complex healthcare system.
So, when opponents of Dakota are called “NIMBYs” because there is some affordable housing in the project or politicians claim Silicon Valley Bank failed due to “woke policies,” the opportunity to find intelligent, long-lasting, and effective compromise solutions becomes much harder. Representative democracy can be hard, messier, and raises high emotions when decisions don’t always align with your views. However, I would encourage everyone to take a step back, park some emotions and think about alternative government systems. We should almost all agree on one issue, we get to live in the greatest country in the world!
Let’s not mess it up.
Phil Wright
Park City