The Park City Council candidates on Monday evening participated in a forum that was marked by brief moments of tension after mild-mannered politics prevailed for weeks, providing a potential preview of a more robust fall campaign once the field is whittled down in the upcoming primary election.
There are eight candidates seeking one of the two seats on the ballot in November. Four of the candidates will advance out of the primary election on Tuesday. The candidates bring diverse professional backgrounds to the campaign and live in disparate neighborhoods.
The two incumbent members of the City Council whose seats are on the ballot — Tana Toly and Jeremy Rubell — are seeking reelection. The other candidates are: Ian Hartley, Danny Glasser, John Kenworthy, Molly Miller, Beth Armstrong and Diego Zegarra.
The event on Monday, organized by the Wasatch Back chapter of the League of Women Voters and a Park City organization called the Pro-Active Alliance, filled the community room at the Park City Library. It was held as Parkites continue making their selections in the vote-by-mail election. Ballots have been arriving in mailboxes.
Armstrong and Rubell engaged in one of the notable exchanges, prompted by comments from the challenger. Armstrong mentioned the Sundance Film Festival’s decision to move the event after decades in Park City, as well as the Kimball Art Center’s announcement that it would relocate from Park City to the Kimball Junction area.
Armstrong identified Rubell as the City Council liaison to the two, prompting Rubell to tell the crowd that statement was false. He told Armstrong she could not lie.
Rubell, in an interview at the event, explained he was not the liaison to the Sundance discussions. He said he was a liaison to the talks about the future of City Hall land off the intersection of Bonanza Drive and Kearns Boulevard, where the Kimball Art Center previously intended to develop a permanent building. He was not the liaison to the Kimball Art Center itself, though, according to Rubell.
Armstrong apologized afterward, acknowledging she had misspoken about the liaison roles of Rubell.
There was also uneasiness between Toly and Kenworthy, though not as direct as the exchange between Armstrong and Rubell. In a Park Record letter to the editor last weekend, a list of current and former women leaders in the Park City area criticized what they considered to be patronizing and misogynistic statements by Kenworthy.
The group that hosted the discussion with Kenworthy that is in question in a subsequent Park Record letter to the editor refuted the one written by the current and former women leaders, saying the transcript did not include what they attributed to him saying beyond “she’s got an older brother. … But the bigger brother needs to teach her how to fight,” according to a copy of the transcript.
Toly at the event said women at City Hall have been amazing employees. She said she could not believe a woman’s decision-making ability is being questioned nowadays. Kenworthy, shortly after Toly’s statements, though, countered with comments that he was the target of what he called an organized hit and said that truths would be revealed.
The involvement of the four candidates was of consequence on Monday since they are seen as some of the top contenders in the primary election, with Toly and Rubell having name recognition as incumbents and Armstrong and Kenworthy having held visible roles in the community for years. Armstrong has been a not-for-profit executive and Kenworthy is a Main Street business owner and former member of the Park City Planning Commission.
Some of the other highlights of the event included:
- Zegarra highlighting his background as an immigrant from Peru who later became a U.S. citizen. He spoke about his background in the nonprofit sector and his role in bringing differing segments of the community together to address challenges like pandemic relief and sustainability. He said he wants to address workforce housing, transit and sustainability.
- Rubell describing his background as a consultant in the utility industry and talking about his work at the Marsac Building to date. Rubell described the park-and-ride efforts at Richardson Flat and spoke about work toward preventing wildfires. Rubell said he spends taxpayer monies like they are his own funds, meaning he sees himself as careful with the monies.
- Miller recalling what she considered poor treatment of a municipal committee she served on. She said the list of partners willing to work with the municipal government has been reduced in recent years. Miller also said action has stalled at the Marsac Building and progress has vanished.
- Toly saying the community must finish the work it has started. She identified a senior citizens center, the future of the municipal acreage off the intersection of Bonanza Drive and Kearns Boulevard and a park-and-ride lot as important.
- Hartley wanting the community to make progress on what he sees as common-ground issues. He noted open space, affordable housing and infrastructure as being among those issues. He told the crowd he promises progress but not perfection.
- Kenworthy outlining his experience at City Hall and on Main Street. He spoke about the difficulties of seasonal housing and described his own efforts to house employees in Wasatch County. He mentioned the importance of fiscal responsibility.
- Glasser discussing a role overseeing a National Ability Center construction project and claiming there has been a lack of progress that he sees as tangible within the municipal government. He wants City Hall to make timely, data-driven decisions. Glasser mentioned the 2034 Winter Olympics and the future of Bonanza Park as important municipal issues.
- Armstrong talking about her background with the People’s Health Clinic and Reef Capital Partners. She briefly spoke about her husband, Summit County Councilor Roger Armstrong, saying the relationship would not be a conflict of interest and instead would be a bridge between City Hall and the County Courthouse. Armstrong said the loss of Sundance will impact Main Street and described the importance of senior-citizen issues.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to reflect that the organizers of the meeting submitted a letter to the editor for Wednesday’s edition declaring that a transcript from the meeting did not show Kenworthy saying in direct quotes that Toly needed him to “supervise and help” her.