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Old Town resident Jody Whitesides files to run for Park City Council

Park City Council candidate Jody Whitesides in his music studio.
Jody Whitesides
Park City Council candidate Jody Whitesides in his music studio.

Old Town resident and musician Jody Whitesides has filed to run for one of the three open seats on the Park City Council.

Whitesides grew up in Park City, and was part of the first graduating class at Treasure Mountain Junior High.

His career in music has spanned from touring as a performer to working in production for television and film. He now hosts a podcast about music production and is in the process of starting a new label.

Whitesides said he’s running for city council because several people have asked him to, including Mayor Nann Worel.

“I think the bigger experience comes from the decades of living here and seeing the massive amount of change,” Whitesides said. “Even though a lot of people associate me with opening my mouth and speaking up, I’m definitely a good listener… I’m not afraid to speak up, I’m not afraid to be in front of the public. And self-managing a music career is a very tedious job, so I’m used to putting in a lot of work to get a good result.”

Whitesides said he'd like to see the city invest more in the arts, specifically music.

He sits on the city’s recreation advisory board, and is a founding member of the Park City Pickleball Club.

He’s a proponent of building a new pickleball facility in Quinn’s Junction, which the council is now evaluating, adding that the city could do more to foster a culture of recreation.

Whitesides also expressed an interest in banning cars from Main Street, excluding the trolley, to make it more pedestrian friendly.

He said he'd also like to see city buses run more frequently.

“The problem with it is, it’s only running every half an hour,” Whitesides said. “That’s, I think, a big reason why a lot of people tend not to ride the buses, because the schedule is so wide. And if it was running every 10 minutes even, I think it would be a lot more effective. Could probably pull a lot more people off the streets for driving.”

Other campaign issues for Whitesides include changing the city’s building code, specifically around limiting the impacts of construction on residents. He also said he’d like to see stronger internet connections in Park City.

Nine people have filed to run for the three open city council seats. A primary election will be held Aug. 15, 2023, to reduce the number of candidates to six.