The Park City Council on Thursday directed municipal staff members to move forward with a project design that will add painted buffered bike lanes and an expanded sidewalk to a portion of Little Kate Road.

The staffers also discussed different traffic calming measures that could be considered for the project including curb extensions, median islands, traffic circles, raised crosswalks, raised intersections and speed tables. 

The project — which is part of an effort to provide safe and comfortable walking and bicycling facilities for users of all ages and abilities — stretches approximately three-fourths of a mile from Holiday Ranch Loop to connect with the McPolin Elementary School pathway. Little Kate currently is a two-lane, 20 mph road with conventional bike lanes in both directions and a 5-feet-wide sidewalk on the north side.

The Park City Transportation Department recommended the design after reviewing and refining different options. 

“This recommendation reflects community feedback, provides dedicated separated spaces for pedestrians and bicyclists, and lowers the overall impacts compared to the other alternatives,” a staff report says.

The design will include complementary safety enhancements consistent with the City Council direction, according to the report. Those could include green bicycle lane paint, speed feedback signs, high-visibility crosswalk markings and Safe Routes to School program pavement markings. 

Little Kate Road is part of the program, which helps students walk or bike safely to school. Staff members are working with the Park City School District to enhance the program, transportation planner Anna Maki said.

The Little Kate project has evolved over the past year through rounds of technical evaluation and City Council discussions. Staff members also collected feedback through open houses, community meetings, one-on-one discussions with property owners, emails, mailers, a survey and a project website.

Maki told the councilors there was not unanimous support from residents for the same design but that they largely agree speeding on Little Kate Road is a problem. Park Meadows residents in particular have been engaged in the process, she said.

The residents would like to see safe access to McPolin Elementary School, keep pedestrians and bicyclists separate and maintain that neighborhood character, Maki said.

Once the design is further along, staff members plan to hold an open house in the Park Meadows neighborhood so residents can review the design, as well as any traffic calming elements that are included, she said.

The Little Kate upgrades have been bundled with a plan by Park City Municipal to redesign and enhance 83 bus stops across the community. The city has secured federal, county and local funding that will cover approximately 85% of the costs, and the improvements include filling key gaps in the pedestrian and bicycle network to make it safer.

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Park City Councilor Bill Ciraco in late January was preparing to file a form required of elected officials listing potential conflicts of interest between their official duties and their personal finances.

The annual disclosure typically outlines an elected official’s sources of income. The disclosures are traditionally reasonably vague, noting the person’s employer, their spouse’s employer and any property that they own or in which they hold a stake. They also list investments in stocks and bonds worth at least $5,000, though the requirement does not apply if the monies are managed by another party, such as via mutual funds.

Ciraco, however, provided an unusually detailed look at his investments. The first-term city councilor, as part of the disclosure, included the monthly statement from December of his Oppenheimer & Co. IRA account. He opted to make public the list of investments, the value at the time the statement was generated, the value at the time of purchase and other standard elements of a brokerage statement. The account at the end of December, as Ciraco was drafting the disclosure, was valued at a little less than $763,000.

The Ciraco filing offers insight at a granular level that the other current elected officials either did not disclose or indicated did not apply to them based on either the $5,000 benchmark or a lack of holdings of stocks or bonds. It shows a diversified investment strategy involving some of the most recognizable names in their individual industries. It also spotlights the financial thinking of a onetime Wall Street professional whose career coincided with periods of market upheaval.

“In a public role, transparency is the best practice. I don’t want any surprise,” he said about the decision to list the individual investments, adding that if he had not done so, it would be easy for someone to attempt to cast him as a “Wall Street blah, blah, blah.”

Ciraco was a partner in an investment fund during his Wall Street career and was working in the industry during the 2000s dot-com bust and the 1990s currency crisis in Asia. His time on Wall Street also stretched through the 2008 financial crisis. That background was influential in his personal investment strategy, describing that financial markets are designed to be rational but can become irrational anyway. He said he prefers investing in firms with solid business plans and top-tier management teams. He makes decisions with the idea of holding an investment for 10 years or longer.

The IRA is the only brokerage account of his own. It was opened with funds rolled over from a 401(k) account amassed while working for a former employer. Some of the investments at the time of the filing:

• Nvidia Corporation, accounting for 7.34% of the portfolio’s value
• Cloudflare Inc., accounting for 5.17% of the portfolio’s value
• Tesla Inc., accounting for 4.72% of the portfolio’s value
• Apple Inc., accounting for 4.28% of the portfolio’s value
• Starbucks Corporation, accounting for 2.76% of the portfolio’s value
• Ford Motor Co., accounting for 2.75% of the portfolio’s value
• Abbott Laboratories, accounting for 2.46% of the portfolio’s value
• The Walt Disney Co., accounting for 2.24% of the portfolio’s value
• Pfizer Inc., accounting for 2.29% of the portfolio’s value

“The trick is you’ve got to stay in the game long term,” he said.

Highlights from the filings of the other elected officials:

• Mayor Ryan Dickey did not list any stocks or bonds with a value of $5,000 or more. He described himself as self-employed in the real estate industry.
• City Councilor Tana Toly listed six stocks or bonds with a value of $5,000 or more, including Nvidia Corporation and American Express. Toly listed her co-ownership of Red Banjo Inc.
• City Councilor Ed Parigian did not list any stocks or bonds with a value of $5,000 or more. He indicated he owns a business providing building maintenance to two clients.
• City Councilor Molly Miller not listing any stocks or bonds with a value of $5,000 or more. She outlined a contract-basis freelance writing role with the Park City Education Foundation.
• City Councilor Diego Zegarra did not list any stocks or bonds with a value of $5,000 or more. He noted his employment with the Park City Community Foundation and board of directors posts with three not-for-profit organizations, including the Wasatch Immigration Project.

Editor’s Note: Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince co-owns The Park Record with his wife, Tatiana Prince.

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A member of the Park City Council said she was physically confronted at a municipal open house on Tuesday evening as she was providing information about the development concept for acreage in Bonanza Park.

Molly Miller attended the municipal event hosted at the Park City Library, which covered the wide-ranging work plan. Miller spent time at a station dedicated to the Bonanza Park concept, which involves a large bloc of workforce or otherwise income-restricted housing off the intersection of Bonanza Drive and Kearns Boulevard. She was seen discussing the plan and answering questions from the crowd.

Miller said in an interview with The Park Record that an opponent of the concept hit her during the event. She described the physical contact as a “forceful smack on (her) arm.” The man approached Miller from behind and pulled her back by the shoulder in an effort to interrupt a conversation before the smack, she said.

Miller said she told the man not to touch her. He responded, “I don’t even want to look at you,” and walked away, she said. Miller then returned to her conversation with the people at the station.

She said she knows the person’s identity and said the man has been involved in the public process regarding the acreage.

Miller said she reviewed footage of the confrontation with the Park City Police Department. The city councilor said she plans to file a formal report with an outside agency that would investigate the case, but she does not intend to press charges against the person.

Miller called for lowering tensions regarding the concept and treating people with differing ideas with “dignity and respect.”

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At the annual Park City Leadership Symposium on Friday, Park City Mayor Ryan Dickey set up a conversation with Sen. John Curtis by giving his thoughts about increasingly polarized U.S. politics, which he said was often focused on arguing rather than finding solutions.

“In local government, we don’t have the luxury of leading like that. … Every day we’re here to solve problems and bring people together,” Dickey said. “No one cares if the mayor is a Democrat or a Republican when they want to go to work in the morning and the streets aren’t plowed or, God forbid, if they want to get pickleball time and the tennis players are there. These are real issues. The pickleball party rises above partisan politics.”

When Curtis came onstage, Dickey asked whether the senator had observed an increase in political polarization.

Yes, he agreed, polarization has increased over the past decade, particularly due to social media.

“I could post how much we love puppies on my social media, and somebody would say, ‘See, I told you he was an idiot,’” Curtis joked. “It sadly drives a lot of the narrative in Washington, D.C.”

But he also said that polarized narrative overshadows the bipartisan problem-solving that does occur.

“If I could just literally transport all of you into Washington, D.C., into a day in my life … you would see that most Republicans and Democrats actually like each other, that we get along. We travel together. We eat together. We do things together. … In any given week, I’ll bet I hear four or five times, ‘Let’s find a bill to work on together,’” he said. “We’re kind, and we like each other’s personalities. And that, obviously, is boring, right? And it doesn’t make social media.”

Curtis pointed to the Fiscal Commission Act as an example of bipartisan collaboration. He introduced the legislation with the sponsorship of four other Republicans, four Democrats and an Independent this week. The Fiscal Commission Act would create a bipartisan commission focused on finding legislative solutions to decrease the national debt, which now exceeds $38 trillion, according to Curtis’ website.

Climate change is another way Curtis has pushed bipartisan collaboration. He founded the Conservative Climate Caucus in 2021 to address climate change from a Republican perspective.

“If you can flip climate to be a bipartisan issue, we can flip about anything. And I think that’s one of the things that I’m really proud of, is getting Republicans to actually say the word climate,” he said. “The reality of it is, look, we’re Utahns, and every Utahn, in my opinion, cares deeply about this Earth and leaving it better than we found it. Now, all of a sudden, that’s a basis for a conversation.”

He pointed to artificial intelligence as one way conversations around energy have changed in recent years. 

“Years ago, we were talking about 1, 2% growth in energy,” Curtis said. He believed that made it easy to have conversations about which power sources were best. 

Due to advances in artificial intelligence, “We’re really in a world right now where we need every electron we can get,” he said.

“And this challenges both sides of this debate,” he continued. “We’ve got the current executive branch trying to undermine wind and solar. … And some of my colleagues that have been traditionally against the fossil fuels are realizing themselves, ‘Wow. We’ve got to think about this.’”

He believes changing the narrative to focus on energy growth rather than the sources it comes from will lead the market to naturally “take control” and provide energy that is clean, reliable and affordable.

Water conservation is another issue Curtis believes is an issue that must be addressed at all levels of government and by individuals, particularly after the 2034 Olympics.

“There’s zero question in my mind that we will pull off the best Olympics in the history of the world,” Curtis said.

He said Utah must prepare for growth that may occur as a result of the 2034 Olympics. It’s something he observed after the 2002 Olympics, when people across the globe increasingly realized Colorado wasn’t the only state worth skiing in. He said that growth will create a need to address issues ranging from water conservation to transportation and infrastructure.

Wrapping up the panel, Dickey asked for advice from Curtis, who was Provo mayor from 2010 to 2017, about how to approach his first term as Park City mayor.

Firstly, Curtis recommended adapting the format of town hall meetings. When he was Provo mayor, he allowed public commenters to use their allotted time to meet with him one-on-one instead of speaking in front of a crowd. 

“It totally changed the dynamic of the information I was getting back,” he said.

Secondly, Curtis relayed something he’d heard recently from Brett Hart, the president of United Airlines — a leader is responsible for culture. He said the same is true of a mayor. Whether it’s how police officers treat residents or whether a pesky pothole gets filled, the mayor takes responsibility for everything that happens in their municipality. Similarly, the mayor is responsible for ensuring every resident feels heard.

Finally, Curtis told Dickey to enjoy it. 

“I’m now eight years away from being mayor. Nobody in Provo cares about what the tax rates were when I was mayor. You know what they care about? They will tell stories of the day you showed up at the elementary school in your pajamas to read stories to the kids,” he said. 

Dickey’s final question for Curtis was whether he had any advice about how to address Park City’s parking woes. Dickey said Curtis was spotted on Main Street during Halloween in a past year, dressed as SpongeBob Squarepants, rushing to his car, which was seconds away from being towed. Sadly, Dickey did not provide any photo evidence of Curtis dressed as the cartoon sea sponge. 

Curtis didn’t have any specific advice about parking, but urged Dickey to “figure it out.”

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Recycle Utah has secured a permanent space for a facility in Summit County thanks to a land transfer agreement between the county government and Park City Municipal.

“We’re really excited that we could find a positive outcome for not just Recycle Utah, but for the people of Summit County,” said Summit County Council Chair Canice Harte. “Recycle Utah is a valuable asset to everybody in the community. It’s not just an opportunity for us to recycle, but there’s an educational component as well, so it was really important to find a good solution for them.”

The Park City Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to accept a 4.18-acre parcel east of U.S. 40 from Summit County to be used as the site of Recycle Utah’s future facility. City Councilor Tana Toly said the transfer stemmed from a 2017 agreement between the city and the county, in which the county acquiesced to providing the city with land for a public works facility.

The land transfer this week fulfilled the county’s obligations while also establishing a space for Recycle Utah, which needs to vacate its current location on Woodbine Way by September because of city construction projects and an expiring lease.

“The property was jointly identified by the city, county and Recycle Utah as a viable long-term solution that allows Recycle Utah to continue operating a central drop-off and collections center while remaining a hub for recycling education, outreach and community engagement,” Park City officials said in a press release. “The proposed conveyance is structured as an exchange under existing agreements between the city and county and does not require new funding.”

The nonprofit previously proposed a $25 million, 30,000-square-foot facility to help address waste management across the Wasatch Back. The land transfer between the city and county doesn’t necessarily greenlight a multimillion-dollar development project, but it gives Recycle Utah a tangible piece of property for planning purposes.

City officials said they will enter into negotiations with Recycle Utah soon to iron out the details of the nonprofit’s operations on the land.

Luke Cartin, the environmental sustainability manager for Park City, previously said Summit County only diverts 26% of its residential waste compared to the 32% national average, highlighting the need for the nonprofit’s facilities and education campaigns.

The county quickly expressed an interest in helping Recycle Utah and Park City find a solution last year, with officials citing the importance of diverting recyclable materials from Three Mile Landfill.

The landfill is expected to reach its capacity by 2053 based on current projections, and county staff are currently working on a strategic plan to increase Three Mile Landfill’s lifespan by 10 years. Part of increasing the landfill’s lifespan relies on diverting materials, like recyclables and brown waste from trees, to other facilities to conserve space.

Information on the county’s waste management services is available by visiting summitcountyutah.gov/768/Solid-Waste. Details on Recycle Utah’s services are also available online at recycleutah.org.

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The Park City Council approved a consent agreement on Thursday to resolve a long-running dispute between the municipality and Matthew and Tatiana Prince over a proposal by the couple to build a new home on the hillside overlooking Old Town.

City councilors voted 3-1 in favor of the agreement. Bill Ciraco, Tana Toly and Diego Zegarra cast aye votes, and Ed Parigian was the dissenter. The council members who voted for the consent agreement said it was a hard decision, but it was time to move forward.

The Princes want to replace two houses built at 220 King Road by the previous owner with a home that has 7,500 square feet of living space and a 1,000-square-foot home office next to it. The property at 220 King Road would also have 6,000 square feet of unfinished basement space.

The consent agreement is intended to resolve all three cases against the city, according to attorney Mitchell Stephens, who is representing the municipality in the suits. He anticipates that the agreement would moot much of what is happening in the litigation.

The agreement, which was proposed by Pesky Porcupine LLC, a Prince company, affirms the Park City Planning Commission approvals and reinstates Planning Director Rebecca Ward’s Historic District Design Review approval with 24 conditions imposed by her.

For its part, Pesky Porcupine must do additional landscaping to mitigate visual impact, installed in phases as early as reasonably possible, and make road safety improvements in the area. The improvements include the installation of a new fire hydrant and infrastructure at the Prince property.

In addition, Pesky Porcupine is required to cover the cost of defense for all future legal challenges related to the three cases and the consent agreement and development activity at 233 and 209 Norfolk, which are properties owned by company affiliates.

Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO of cybersecurity company Cloudflare, and his wife, Tatiana, who own The Park Record, bought the property in 2020. 

Pesky Porcupine submitted applications for the necessary permits to build the home, which is in the large-lot Sweeney Master Planning District overlooking the small-lot historic district. 

During the lengthy process to get the project approved, three lawsuits were filed in Third District Court challenging land use decisions.

Eric Hermann and Susan Fredston-Hermann, whose property adjoins the Prince lot, sued the municipality over the Park City Board of Appeals’ decision affirming the Planning Commission approvals of the plat amendment and conditional use permits for the home. 

In the second suit, Pesky Porcupine challenged the Park City Board of Adjustment’s reversal of aspects of Ward’s approval of the Historic District Design Review application. 

The third suit, which was also filed by the Hermanns, argues that the Board of Adjustment decision did not go far enough. They say the design’s size, massing, proposed materials and general ornamentation do not reflect the character of the historic district the home would overlook. This suit has been consolidated with the Pesky Porcupine suit.

Pesky Porcupine is an intervenor in the two Hermann suits and the Hermanns are intervenors in the company’s suit. Intervenors are third parties who join an ongoing lawsuit because they have a vested interest in the outcome of the case.

The dispute over the home has turned bitter. Formal and informal resolution attempts failed, including a two-day mediation last summer with the city, Pesky Porcupine and the Hermanns. 

Before the vote, the Hermanns and several other community members urged the councilors to reject the consent agreement.

“We had the misfortune to have people buy the property next door who have no respect for the eclectic charm of Old Town and the code designed to protect it,” Fredston-Hermann said. “We’ve been offered incentives to settle, but we have met a stone wall regarding the only thing we’ve ever requested: build to code. We believe that the Old Town code should apply to everyone who builds in the Old Town, regardless of wealth and power.”

A few speakers supported the consent decree. And Wade Budge, Pesky Porcupine’s attorney, said six other homes in the Princes’ subdivision are a similar type and size to the couple’s proposed home.

Matthew Prince, who was born and raised in Park City, told the council that city staff members have made sure the plans for the home have followed the code exactly as written.

“No project, no single-family home has ever gotten as much scrutiny as this,” Prince said. “It’s hard to hear that we’re getting special treatment because it doesn’t feel like it’s special unless what is special is literally national news publications writing about my family and my home.” 

He added the site had two large, “very ugly” homes that previously were used as nightly rentals. 

“What we want is to be able to build a home where our family can live,” Prince said. “The reason why tonight is important to me is I want to move past this.”

Some speakers also asked the councilors to delay a vote until after Jan. 29, when a hearing is scheduled on the Hermanns’ claim in their suit against Park City that the approval of the conditional use permits has expired.

Eric Lee, the Hermanns’ attorney, said there was no compelling reason to make a decision on Thursday. Waiting would maintain the status quo and give the Hermanns their day in court, he said.

“This has been going on for three or four years,” Lee said. “My clients are certainly willing to sit down again and try to resolve this. If you sign this consent agreement tonight, though, that just necessarily escalates the dispute. It does nothing to resolve it.” 

Lee also noted that a new member is joining the City Council who could bring a different perspective to the issue. Molly Miller was selected on Thursday to fill the seat of now-Mayor Ryan Dickey and will be sworn in this month.

The council in any case had a three vote majority in the decision.

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Park City is moving ahead with an effort to identify street and sidewalk improvements and design changes that will improve the pedestrian experience on Main Street south of Heber Avenue and Swede Alley.

In addition, sustainability staff members are exploring opportunities to transition the city to highly efficient heating and cooling systems that utilize waste heat and assessing the potential for thermal energy networks in several areas, including the Bonanza Park neighborhood and the Main Street district.

And consultants have been engaged to produce an aerial transit feasibility study that will focus on two potential alignments, from Deer Valley’s Snow Park Village to the China Bridge parking garage area and also from Snow Park to the Richardson Flats parking lot.

The updates on the projects, which are part of the Main Street Area Plan, are outlined in a Park City staff report. The plan to help the commercial core remain competitive with outlying destinations was launched in May 2024. 

Kimley-Horn and Associates, an engineering, planning and design firm, is conducting a feasibility analysis for the redesign of Main Street and Swede Alley. In October, a workshop was held on Main Street traffic and circulation with city staffers, members of the Historic Park City Alliance and other stakeholders to brainstorm ideas and design concepts. 

The group identified core principles and priorities that include flexibility and adaptability, futureproofing, safety, destination appeal, transit priority, parking strategy, pedestrian experience, business activation, winter activation and snow removal, and event readiness. The project team is working to integrate the workshop feedback into potential concept designs, the report says. 

The sustainability staff is negotiating a contract with The GreyEdge Group to advance to the next phase of the project, which includes further development of the Bonanza Park and Main Street districts and evaluation of snowmelt systems for street heating. The firm, which designs and engineers complex thermal energy systems, is working with Vail, Colorado, as it transitions its heated streets from natural gas systems to efficient, carbon-free alternatives, the report says.

The work is expected to begin in early 2026 and last approximately nine months.

Two consultants have been hired to produce the aerial transit feasibility study, Kimley-Horn and SE Group, which provides planning and design services for mountain communities.

Kimley-Horn is evaluating the feasibility of the aerial transit alignments; conducting right-of-way analyses of parcels across potential alignments; assessing landowner impacts and property ownership details for aerial spans and touchdown points; and estimating the probable cost of right-of-way acquisitions.

SE Group’s part includes evaluating the potential alignments for technical feasibility; creating an overall aerial transit concept design plan and detail plans for each aerial transit corridor; creating a station concept design plan for the potential terminal sites; preparing detailed analysis including advantages and disadvantages of the options for aerial transit technology; and providing detailed cost estimates for construction of the aerial transit system options, including costs for ongoing operations and maintenance

Staff members plan to present preliminary findings at a City Council work session in February and will be asking for further direction.

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Park City leaders on Tuesday evening certified the results of the City Hall election, but the possibility of a recount remained.

The Park City Council, acting as the Board of Canvassers, unanimously approved the election results.

The margin in the mayoral contest, though, is close enough that the second-place finisher, Jack Rubin, could request a recount. City Councilor Ryan Dickey finished in first place. The margin was seven votes, within the range that a recount could be sought.

A request for a recount would need to be made by 5 p.m. on Friday.

Rubin, who was in attendance, declined to comment about whether he will seek a recount. 

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Candidates have just a few weeks left to sway voters before Election Day, and those running for office in Park City plan to make their pitches during a political forum next week.

KPCW and The Park Record will host the event, which features the five candidates running for Park City Council and mayor. The forum is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 15, at the Jim Santy Auditorium in the Park City Library. 

The first hour of the event will spotlight City Council candidates Tana Toly and Jeremy Rubell, the incumbents, as well as Diego Zegarra, an Old Town resident and nonprofit leader. Voters will choose which two candidates win the open seats on Tuesday, Nov. 4.

Toly had a commanding lead in the August primary election, followed by Zegarra and Rubell. 

Toly was born and raised in Park City, and her family is well-known as the owners of Red Banjo Pizza on Main Street. Toly is finishing her first term on the City Council, and previously served on the municipal Historic Preservation Board. Her platform is rooted in progress, including completing the senior center, preserving open space and preparing for the 2034 Games.

Zegarra has lived in Park City since 2018 and works as the vice president of impact for the Park City Community Foundation. His platform is focused on housing, transportation and transit as well as sustainability. Zegarra has said his campaign is also about community and making sure locals’ voices are heard.

Rubell is a Thaynes Canyon resident with experience in management consulting and executive leadership. He is seeking a second term so he can continue his work at the municipal level and help lead the community through change. His priorities include fiscal responsibility at the Marsac Building and preserving neighborhoods and open space.

Mayoral candidates Ryan Dickey, who currently serves on the City Council, and Jack Rubin, a Park Meadows resident, will present their platforms during the second hour of the political forum. There was no primary election in the mayoral race with only two candidates. Incumbent Park City Mayor Nann Worel is not seeking reelection.

Next month’s top vote-getters will take the oath of office in January.

Dickey was appointed to the City Council in 2021 to replace Worel as she took over the mayor’s office. He was elected to a full term in 2023, and his public service also includes the Snuderville Basin Planning Commission and the Snyderville Basin Water Reclamation District. Dickey’s campaign prioritizes leadership, housing, transportation, regional collaboration and Park City’s culture. 

Rubin made Park City his permanent home in 2014, though his connection to the community dates back to 1978. His background includes varied business experiences in finance, investment banking and more. Rubin is running for mayor with the goals of putting residents first, keeping the community accessible and affordable, protecting Park City’s heritage and upholding local values.

Questions at the political forum will focus on the top issues in Park City, such as traffic and development, as well as the future of the community related to the 2034 Winter Olympics and the ski industry. 

Community members can ask questions in person and online, too. KPCW will livestream the political forum on YouTube.

Businessman John Kenworthy also advanced to the general election after the primary, but he withdrew his City Council campaign in September. His name will still appear on the ballot, though no votes cast for Kenworthy will be counted.

Ballots will be mailed to voters on Tuesday and will start appearing in mailboxes later next week. 

The Park Record and KPCW also partnered to create a voter guide featuring the ballot items in Summit and Wasatch counties, which will arrive around the same time.

The voter guide includes questions for city council and mayoral candidates in eastern Summit County, as well as Heber City, Midway, Hideout, and Park City. It also provides information about the general obligation bond for voters in the North Summit School District and the potential incorporation of West Hills.

Ballots must be returned to the Summit County Clerk’s Office by 8 p.m. on Election Day — rather than postmarked the day before the election and received later, as in past years, due to a new state law. 

Drop boxes for ballots will be located throughout Summit County: the Summit County Courthouse in Coalville, the Coalville branch of the Summit County Library, the Park City Library, The Market at Park City, Oakley City Hall, Francis City Hall, Henefer Town Hall, the Kamas Valley Branch of the Summit County Library, the Kimball Junction branch of the Summit County Library by the DMV entrance and the Quinn’s Junction location of the Summit County Health Department.

There’s also now a section for voters to opt in to receiving mail-in ballots in the future. Registered voters must indicate their preference to continue receiving ballots by mail because they will no longer be sent automatically after 2029 (also because of changes to state law). 

The deadline to register and receive a vote-by-mail ballot for the general election is 5 p.m. on Oct. 24. People who are not registered to vote by the deadline, but are otherwise eligible, may vote provisionally in person during early voting and on Election Day.

Early voting is available from Oct. 29 to Nov. 1 at the Summit County Clerk’s Office in the County Courthouse from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and until 1 p.m. on Saturday. The Quinn’s branch of the Summit County Health Department will also be open for early voting from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. during the scheduled dates.

In-person Election Day voting will be available from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Coalville City Hall, the Kamas Valley branch of the Summit County Library and the Summit County Health Department in Quinn’s Junction.

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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.

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