Thomas Cooke has been active in the Park City area since moving to the community in 1993, and he has no plans of slowing down.
The Silver Summit resident is currently the longest-serving member of the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission but before his tenure is up in 2026, Cooke hopes his experience will help him secure a seat on the Summit County Council.
Later this month, voters must choose whether to select Cooke or housing advocate Megan McKenna for the Democratic nomination to Seat C on June 25. A primary election is being held because neither Cooke nor McKenna was able to secure 60% of the delegate vote at the Summit County Democratic Party nominating convention in March.
It’s expected to be a close contest between the candidates after McKenna earned 50.41% of the delegate vote compared to Cooke’s 49.59%.
Now, the planning commissioner hopes his public service record and stance on key issues will differentiate himself from his opponent — potentially helping Cooke advance to the November election. He described his campaign as experienced, hard-working and prepared to lead.
“I’m going on my eighth year and you term out at nine. I think that time spent working boots on the ground with land use issues, you know when we look at eight chapters of the General Plan, every single one of them has some connection to land use policy. I’ve heard whispers that the Planning Commission is not really that important, but I think it kind of is. It has a broad connection to problem-solving,” Cooke explained.
The Snyderville Basin Planning Commission helps prepare the General Plan, review and make recommendations to the County Council regarding changes to zoning or the development code as well as hear, review and vote on applications for conditional uses, long term temporary uses or subdivisions.
Cooke has spent a lot of time diving into county regulations, state law and other planning documents to ensure he has an adequate understanding of the issues before providing a recommendation. It’s not uncommon for officials to call him with a question about the code.
He’s been involved in the review of the Canyons Specially Planned Area, the Kimball Junction Neighborhood Plan, the Silver Creek Village development agreement and the state-mandated moderate-income housing plan. Cooke also spent over a year working on the Dakota Pacific Real Estate application for the Park City Tech Center before the Planning Commission issued a negative recommendation to the County Council.
Cooke’s professional career includes working in brand development, marketing and communications. He was involved in the launch of Utah’s “Life Elevated” slogan, which promoted the state as a top tourism destination.
While Cooke is proud of the branding effort because of its positive impacts, he also recognized the consequences of the campaign. If elected to the County Council, Cooke said he is determined to help mitigate the impacts of inevitable changes in the Snyderville Basin and eastern Summit County.
The candidate listed managing growth as one of his top priorities. He said it’s important to define what the term “responsible growth” means as a county and to residents. Utah is one of the fastest-growing states, but Cooke noted Summit County isn’t increasing as fast as other counties. It was actually one of seven communities that lost population in 2023. Nearby Wasatch County, meanwhile, is among the fastest growers.
Cooke supports smart, sustainable, people-oriented planning rather than reusing the same car-centric patterns.
“If we keep doing the same type of development, we’re going to get the same result,” he said.
Cooke said community feedback from the Our Summit Community Vision and Strategic Plan, which he worked on as a planning commissioner, should be incorporated into county plans. The project provided data about what residents value in their communities. He was recently chosen to be a liaison to an advisory committee tasked with facilitating comprehensive updates to General Plan documents, allowing him to stay involved with the key issues.
“Countywide, we value the character of the communities where we live. So, in Kamas that means something slightly different than it does in Hoytsville than it does in Coalville,” Cooke said. “But in general, people really like where they live and we want to protect that.”
Reducing the spillover effect of tourism would be a main focus, too. Housing affordability is a nationwide problem, particularly for Gateway & Natural Amenity Region communities like the Park City area, but Cooke said there isn’t one solution to the problem. Instead, officials can learn from policies in similar places such as Aspen, Jackson or Sedona.
The County Council candidate also advocated for conservation and preserving open space. Cooke acknowledged the importance of the 910 Cattle Ranch property acquisition, which he said has unique value to Summit County and the overall west. He said he wants a baseline study to be completed to understand what the property needs to sustain it before recreational amenities such as trails are possibly built.
Primary election ballots were mailed by the Summit County Clerk on Tuesday. Envelopes were expected to arrive later in the week. Registered Democrats will automatically receive a ballot by mail. Other voters will need to request a ballot.
Ballots can be submitted until 8 p.m. on June 25.
Drop boxes are at the Summit County Courthouse in Coalville, Marsac Building, The Market at Park City, Quinn’s Health Department, Jeremy Ranch park-and-ride, Oakley City Hall, Henefer Town Hall and Francis City Hall as well as the Coalville, Kamas and Kimball Junction branches of the Summit County Library.
Call 435-336-3040 or email [email protected] for additional information or go to summitcounty.org/elections.