First, I want to thank KCPW and the Park Record for hosting the primary candidate’s forum last night at the Jim Santy auditorium. I attended in person and was very glad to have the opportunity to see and hear the candidates in person. It clarified and galvanized my responsibility to not only vote in this primary but to make sure my vote is informed.
I heard lots of plaudits from the candidates last night regarding transparency, accountability and kindness. I think most would agree with me that preservation of these values (long-standing Park City community values) is a shared commitment.
I was glad to hear these, but then I ran across something in The Park Record that made me wonder if these are truly “shared values.”
The full-page color ad without attribution that ran in the July 12 issue disparaging “The Elders” was cruel, unkind and entirely unnecessary. I am appalled that such a personal mocking of a group of local citizens was allowed without accountability for the content.
I am admittedly a contemporary of these individuals. I have lived in the same home in Park Meadows for 37 years. I know most of them not personally, but through their community work. I know enough about them individually and as a group to know that whether I agree with them or not (and I don’t always), they have no hidden agenda.
Unlike the person who paid for this ad, they have all been forthright in their positions, use of their names, offering the community full accountability and in my estimation, valuable insights honed after years of community commitment.
The fact that someone or ones could openly mock and disparage them for stepping forward without the power of position or influence other than their long-standing engagement with Park City sickens me.
Is this what we have become? I made an error in that foregoing sentence because they didn’t “openly” do anything. They did not reveal themselves in their cruelty. They hid behind a façade of a movie poster mock-up. It’s not funny, it’s not fair and it is deeply unkind.
One of the values that wasn’t mentioned in the candidate forum in the context of accountability is the value of forgiveness. We can all make mistakes and the first step toward forgiveness requires accountability. I ask the Park Record to seek amends with the community by revealing the name of the individual or group who hid behind this cruel and ugly ad with the goal to cause discontent and harm.
Any advertising policy that allows this sort of nefarious sneakiness should be examined and exposed. In the interest of transparency, I urge The Park Record publisher, editor and advertising manager to provide an explanation regarding the advertising policies. Please, Park Record editor, don’t allow this misstep to define your journalistic legacy in our community.
Jan Jones-Schenk
Park City