KPCW hosted Park City mayoral candidates Andy Beerman and Nann Worel for a live candidate forum Friday morning.
Incumbent Mayor Andy Beerman and challenger Nann Worel are two of the most recognizable faces in Park City politics.
Beerman has served in local government for nearly a decade, first as a city councilor in 2012 before assuming the mayor's office in 2018. Before his time in politics, he was also the president of the prominent Historic Park City Alliance business group and owned and operated Main Street’s Treasure Mountain Inn with his wife, Thea Leonard.
Worel first took office as a city councilor in 2016. She also served as a member of the Park City Planning Commission for over five years prior to the council and was also the executive director of the People’s Health Clinic for eight years.
Beerman said one of the main reasons he is seeking a second term is to continue the work that was derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, working on the community priorities identified in the city’s Vision 2020 process like social equity, environmental leadership, and transportation.
“The community came out of that with very clear alignment on areas they want us to take bold action and have urgency, and I was pretty excited about that work, but we’ve spent most of the last two years focused on this pandemic,” said Beerman. “Although we’ve continued to get some things done, I think there’s a lot left to do, and I still have the enthusiasm for it and I’ve built the experience in my six years on council and my four years as mayor. I really think I’m the most qualified person to carry us towards those goals.”
If elected, Worel said she would bring a different leadership style to the mayor’s office.
“I’m known as someone willing to listen, and to look for common ground,” Worel said. “I’m also running because there’s no overarching plan in place for connectivity between the major development projects that are coming our way. We can't wait until they’re built to fissure this out. Finally, I’m running to restore the relationship between the Summit County Council and the mayor’s office. It's currently broken, and we simply don’t have time for that. We have issues that need to be addressed jointly, and true collaboration is built on mutual trust and respect. I can make that happen.”
The full discussion with the candidates can be found here.
Beerman and Worel were the top two mayoral candidates in August’s primary and advanced to November’s municipal election. Worel received almost twice the number of votes Beerman did in the primary -- 1,393 to 738.
Park City’s municipal election takes place on November 2nd and will be conducted exclusively by mail. Ballots will be mailed to registered Park City voters on or before October 12th.