Over those 35 years, Rick has also been long known for his razor sharp and delightful sense of humor – and when the proclamation was unanimously approved Wednesday, he jokingly asked if Rick Brough Day entitled him to a discount at Denise’s Hot Plate – a popular Coalville restaurant located across the street from the Summit County courthouse.
Rick reminded the council that the big controversy in the mid-1980s was when Summit County vacated the county hospital - which has since become the Coalville library.
And while Rick was the one being honored, he took the time to present the council with a box of chocolates, saying that both Mountain Regional and Basin Recreation were hoping the council enjoyed a sugar buzz while they were reviewing the two service districts' budgets later in the meeting.
Rick also recognized the two county staff members he has worked with for the longest – the first, Public Works Director Derick Radke
“Who deals with the six most dreaded words for him in the English language of, ‘let’s have Derick explain that for us,” Brough said.
And the other - Deputy County Attorney Dave Thomas.
“I cannot count the number of times that I've asked Dave about a lawsuit or development controversy or a water dispute, or whatever foul words some plaintiff's attorney had say about him, and Dave would smile patiently and say ‘no comment.” Rick quickly elaborated, “That’s not true - that's fake news. When he could, he [Dave Thomas] was cogent and thorough and informative and did his job and helped us do our job.”
Rick has also been described as a pop culture savant and he used that obscure knowledge in his final words to the council when he recounted a television show dating back to the late 1970s, SCTV.
“John Candy played the character who was a TV reporter. And his ultimate dream was that when he was doing these little rinky-dink reports out on the sidewalk, he dreamed they would put a camera high on a crane and shoot down on him. That was his dream. He never got it, of course. The station manager, like county council has to say, we don’t have the budget for that. And I just want to say, today, sincerely, I feel like I have gotten my crane shot. And I sincerely hope all of you will get your crane shot in the years to come – so thank you.
Council members expressed their appreciation for Rick’s coverage. Roger Armstrong complimented Rick for what he called one of Rick’s most obvious parts of his genius – his iconic sign off, saying it will remain a Park City legend. Armstrong recalled that he had listened to Rick before they first met when he was elected to county council.
“I watched you for the first couple of years just sit in your seat and listen,” Armstrong said. “And somehow you would turn what was completely incomprehensible to me on the council into an elegant story and pieces of stories that would run throughout the week. And you always seem to catch the important parts of what we talked about, and more important, you were always respectful. For example, last week when I threatened to throw Doug Clyde out a window you didn't include that on air, which I thought was really wonderful. And when Doug Clyde said, I'd like to see you try, you didn't include that either.”
Council member Chris Robinson said he’s always appreciated Rick’s witty insights...
“I always loved your statement when we would have public comment,” Robinson said, “and there would be no one in the audience, so we would say, ‘well, Broughie, do you have anything?’ and you'd say, ‘the media is always neutral.’ And then just today is a prime example of how witty and articulate you are of the comments you made harkening back to 1986 and the then controversies and then you know even little things about our lengthy closed sessions and the whole thing is just typical and priceless. You're going to be greatly missed and I hope that you'll stay in touch.”
County Attorney Margaret Olson said Rick is the standard by which all journalists should be judged.
“I think that you are everything a real journalist should be,” Olson said. “And you're probably the standard to which I would hold up any journalist I ever meet in the future. I've enjoyed our acquaintance and hope that it continues. Thank you.”
Council members presented Rick with a framed copy of the proclamation and a jacket embroidered with the Summit County logo and they celebrated with cake.
Rick Brough Day will be celebrated Friday, November 12th. You can phone in your well-wishes to Rick during the Local View with Randy Barton that day between 3 and 4 pm.