What did he say?

John “JK” Kenworthy allegedly made public comments to Park City Council member Tana Toly who is running for reelection, which prompted dueling letters — one strongly condemning the alleged comments and the other condemning the first letter as “misinformation.” 

So what did Kenworthy say?

I spoke to Beth Armstrong (my spouse), Danny Glasser, and Toly, who were all at the meeting. Each recalls Kenworthy saying essentially he would be Toly’s big brother on the council and would guide her decisions, that Beth and Tana reacted with surprise at the statements, and that Tana accused Kenworthy of mansplaining and being disrespectful. 

Fritz Edelstein (the second letter co-author) said he “relied on the transcript” to write the letter. I asked what he heard, and he emphasized he just relied on the transcript. It’s a small room with 10 people around a table. Recollection of a dispute seems easier than relying on a transcript unless you want to include specific language in the letter.

I believe the transcript is inaccurate and appears altered or edited. Blocks of text are sequentially time-stamped, but in the section where the remarks are alleged, the time-stamps are off. Here is that section (Kenworthy is “Speaker 1” and “Speaker 2”): 

00:50:00.000 –> 00:50:07.000

Speaker 2: Give me Gordo. I want Gordo this winter. I want to see her fight.

Hannah’s [sic] great. I love her, I love her.

00:50:07.000 –> 00:50:11.000

Speaker 1: She’s going to be a great mayor someday, but the facts are the facts.

00:50:11.000 –> 00:50:18.000

Speaker 2: She’s got a the older. But the other, but the other. But the but the

bigger brother needs to teach her how to fight.

00:50:19.000 –> 00:50:22.000

Speaker 1: The bigger brother needs to teach her how to.

00:50:31.000 –> 00:50:53.000

Speaker 2: 3, rd cities. Employee has gone from a 557. 507, which you support, 0

based budget. 

The text time-stamp at 00:50:19.000 –> 00:50:22.000 shows an incomplete sentence: “The bigger brother needs to teach her how to.” Text is missing — teach her how to what? 

The next should start at 00:50:22 but starts at 00:50:31 instead. Nine seconds of text are missing where Kenworthy allegedly said as Tana’s big brother he would help guide her decisions. 

The next starts at 00:50:31 for a 15-word sort of sentence should be 4-5 seconds, but instead the time stamp shows 22 seconds passed. Enough to support Tana’s “mansplaining” and “disrespectful” comments? 

Out of 19 pages and 129 time stamps, those are the only ones with missing text and inconsistent timing. 

Fritz and moderator Pat O’Connell, both at the table in the meeting, wrote their letter excoriating the elected women’s letter as “misinformation wrapped in outrage” and I think should have known the transcript was altered or incomplete. 

That Fritz/Pat letter unleashed a series of letters to The Park Record, some decrying the original letter and others viciously assaulting Mayor Worel’s character for signing the original letter.

If the transcript was changed or corrupted, LSDM should have disclosed it and should have been more specific.

Mayoral candidate Jack Rubin was there. He emphasizes the importance of honesty, integrity and transparency, yet he has remained silent as Mayor Worel has been viciously attacked.  

Kenworthy: He was there. He said he ran “because the truth needs a friend in this election.” He also said: “I watched coordinated disinformation campaigns smear honest civic servants. … A false attack on my character hit The Park Record. Two days later, it was publicly disproven.” The transcript.

I believe he knows what he said to Toly and knows the transcript is inaccurate or incomplete, yet he leveraged it to support a campaign to “smear honest civic servants” upset with his alleged comments. Tell us what you said.

A hard part of public service is standing up and taking responsibility when criticized. This is not about whether the statements were offensive. It’s about truth: Witnesses with consistent recollections and what looks like an altered or incomplete transcript. 

Kenworthy is right. The truth really does need a friend.

Roger Armstrong

Park City