The race for three open seats on the Park City Council has been set in motion, with seven candidates headed to a primary election in August. One of them is Chadwick Fairbanks III, a former congressional candidate.
Fairbanks moved to Park City about two summers ago, and in 2018, he ran against Utah Congressman Rob Bishop to be on the Republican ticket for the state’s First Congressional District. Fairbanks lost in convention but has remained engaged in state-level politics, running for chair of the Utah GOP and serving as chair of the Utah Republican Veterans Caucus. But as a candidate for Park City Council, Fairbanks says he wants to reinject the fundamentals of government back into local politics—that is, that the founders intended local government to be more powerful than the state and federal levels.
“The state of Utah didn't come into existence until 1896, but Park City was a city in 1888, so who is a creature of who, really?" Fairbanks said. "Salt Lake City—founded 1847, and so I'd like to get back to this notion that all power belongs to the people, and the lowest common denominator of that is the city is the local government.”
Fairbanks says he’s seen the growth that’s occurring in Utah and contends that, despite its best efforts to remain a small town, Park City will expand. Fairbanks says the City government should plan for that change and usher it in in a way that can serve as a model for cities around the nation.
“Coming to the Council, my perspective, my experience on how the City can basically adapt what they can't change, which is the growth and the people coming, and how to build a city that's sustainable," Fairbanks said. "It's going to get bigger. It's going to grow, you know, and how to deal with those growing pains, so to speak.”
In total, seven Park City residents, including Fairbanks, have filed declarations of candidacy: current City Councilmembers Nann Worel and Becca Gerber; Max Doilney; Daniel Lewis; Deanna Rhodes; and Ed Parigian.
Because there are seven candidates for only three open seats, a primary election will take place on August 13 to remove one candidate from the running, sending six to the November 5 general election.
