How lucky are we that we get to live in a ski town?
Park City is a magical place. Not perfect, not simple, and definitely not cheap — but magical. It is the kind of place people spend their lives trying to visit, and we get to call it home. That makes the level of division I am seeing right now, especially around Bonanza Park, feel especially disappointing.
Bonanza Park has been debated for years. Arts and culture district. Park space. Mixed-use community. Housing. Parking. Traffic. Pick your issue, and someone in town has a strong opinion about it. That is not necessarily a bad thing.
During our Leadership Park City Class 32 tour, we visited Vail and Breckenridge. In both places, people spoke about their big community projects as if everyone had been aligned from day one and the whole town simply marched forward together. It sounded almost too perfect. We fact checked. It was. Any mountain town full of passionate, successful, opinionated people is going to have disagreement. That is normal. That is healthy.
What matters is whether disagreement turns into progress or personal destruction.
Watching the tone directed at Molly Miller, and seeing her handle it with grace, made me want to write this. We can debate the future of Bonanza Park without tearing down the people willing to serve.
The more I have gotten to know our local elected leaders, the more I believe they are doing a very difficult job with the hand they have been dealt. Tana is a force — a small business owner and Park City lifer. Bill brings a serious fiscal discipline that this town needs. Diego shows up everywhere, for everyone. Ed has been pushing for Bonanza Park longer than anyone. Mayor Ryan Dickey is thoughtful, sharp and full of great stories. And Molly has enough positive energy to power a data center.
Yes, they gave themselves a raise. Good. Let them prove to the community that they deserve it. Let’s judge them by what they accomplish.
Can they turn a concrete boneyard into something people will one day love the way people love Newpark? Can they help create enough attainable housing to bring the average age of Park City to under 60? Can they build productive relationships with the state so Park City keeps its own voice and does not get Dakota Pacific’d again?
Those are the questions worth asking.
We do not need to agree on every detail. But we should be rooting for the people trying to move this town forward. Park City deserves passionate debate, not personal destruction.
Will Seggos
Park City