About 20 people showed up to Coffee with Council Tuesday, giving Park City community members an opportunity to have a conversation in a more casual setting with Park City councilmembers about issues they care about.
Affordable housing, transportation, the end of the ski season—it’s nothing the Park City Council hasn’t heard before, but Councilmember Steve Joyce says it’s good to hear it directly from the source.
“This is about the closest thing we get to a replacement of when we're out running for election and you go knocking on doors," Joyce said. "You really get to hear individuals—what's getting them interested and excited or concerned—and this is about as close as we get to a replacement for that, so I love doing these.”
Joyce says the city is actively trying to address all the issues people mentioned, but some—like affordable housing and traffic congestion—have solutions that are years down the road.
“I feel comfortable that we're not getting a lot of things people are bringing up that I go, oh, geez, we're not working on that or we're not working hard on that," Joyce said. "It seems to be we're headed in the right direction for what most people are worried about, but it's going to take awhile. These are big, long, scary issues.”
Most of the participants who attended the event were older, white members of the community. With the city’s social equity priority in mind, Joyce pointed out that some voices were missing from the conversation.
“I'd love to look out in the room and see 30% of the people in the room be Hispanic, and we just have never gotten anywhere close to that," Joyce said. "I would love to see more involvement from that community, and I know it's hard with all the work challenges and kid challenges, and all that kind of thing, but we still have to find a way to make that happen. We've got to have that part of our community get more involved."
The city will continue to host community gatherings throughout the year as part of its Love Where You Live campaign.
