I’ve lived in a dozen places and seen well-run and poorly-run towns of all sizes. Newcomers can love their town and offer valuable insight as well as lifelong residents. After four years here, I like every resident I’ve met. Calling candidates “good people” or “longtime residents” doesn’t explain how they’ll perform as elected officials.
Seeing how they have performed better explains how they will perform. We’re at a critical turning point, and past performance is indicative of future success.
Long-time residents bemoan Park City’s transformation, yet they appear to overlook the leadership failures that created this critical juncture: Ignoring community input on annexation, failing to uphold land use regulations and conservation agreements, unsuccessful negotiations, undermining traffic and parking initiatives, losing major events and important revenue streams, decreasing tourist expenditures, damaged relations with UDOT and state officials, and a dysfunctional affordable housing initiative.
I back Jack for mayor due to his innovative approaches to address these leadership failures:
- Protecting open space from rezoning and preventing blanket upzoning.
- Comprehensive planning that considers all major development projects.
- Representation in Olympic planning discussions.
- Functional and mutually beneficial relationships with Summit and Wasatch counties, UDOT and the state.
My main reason for not supporting Ryan for mayor stems from the secretive arrangement he helped negotiate which transferred a portion of Deer Valley Drive to Alterra for $15 million and mandated an additional $15 million in city funds. Ryan, along with Nann and Max, negotiated this agreement without public consultation and it was presented to the council and voted on in eight days (I was at the meeting and asked). This agreement had no community input. The $15 million from Alterra is a pittance compared to its investment in Snow Park.
I like Ryan Dickey. He’s personable and seems to be a good real estate agent and property manager. But we need a full-time leader capable of redirecting our course, not simply a friendly face. So I’m voting for Jack Rubin for mayor. I back Jack!
Charlotte O’Connell
Deer Valley