The case was brought forth by the Summit County Attorney’s Office, and stems from a feud at the White Pine Nordic Center on Dec. 28, 2022.
Marcel Vifian, a White Pine Nordic ski instructor, was taking a family of three out for a lesson.
Park City Councilmember Jeremy Rubell, who lives at a home in Thaynes that borders the cross country ski area, was outside blowing snow off his deck.
There are conflicting accounts about what happened next between the two parties.
Prosecutors allege Rubell yelled profanities and threatened to shut down White Pine’s Nordic Center. During witness testimony, the ski instructor recalled Rubell starting the incident by flipping him off.
“He said, ‘You f——— do this all the time,’ and then he said so many things so quickly, but it was just this profanity-laden tirade,” Vifian said. “He just couldn’t stop himself. F-bomb after F-bomb after F-bomb… he said among other things, that my superpower was being an a———. And then he said, ‘Don’t worry, we’re gonna shut you f——— down.’”
Rubell denied that account of events. He claimed the ski instructor started the bickering by showing him the bird and yelling at him.
“I responded to him and told him I’m just going about my business blowing the snow. I had my 7-year-old at the time daughter very close by, just inside,” Rubell said. “I mean conversationally, could I have responded with the F-word after he flipped me off and called me an a———? Yeah, in direct response to that I could have, but there was no tirade. There was no yelling. There was nothing like that.”
The three family members accompanying the ski instructor during the incident testified. Each said they initially thought the conversation between Rubell and the instructor was friendly banter, but they later realized it was something more serious as voices raised and vulgarity increased.
Dana Volmer, who was on the cross country ski lesson that day, recalled the incident during witness testimony.
“It was something that you’d see at a bar, if two friends showed up and they started giving each other a hard time,” Volmer said. “I just thought it was odd when the cursing happened and we were in a public forum. So that’s when I was asking our instructor like, ‘Are you guys joking around?’ And he said no. And so cursing came from both parties, according to my recollection.”
Dana and her husband Brian, who are both Park City area residents, could not recall who started the incident. Their daughter Siena, who also testified Wednesday, said the ski instructor started the verbal fight.
The charge last winter came amid tensions between Rubell and White Pine Touring. Rubell has been critical of unsafe conditions for neighbors along Thaynes Canyon Drive (which doesn’t have a sidewalk) due to Nordic Center’s use of street parking. It was also brought up during Wednesday’s trial that Rubell had reached an informal agreement with White Pine to relocate cross country skiers farther away from his home, which directly abuts some of the ski trails.
Rubell’s defense attorney Mark Moffat said weeks before the incident occurred, Vifian, the ski instructor violated that agreement. Moffat also claimed that White Pine management attempted to get Rubell to recuse himself from city council discussions involving their operations.
White Pine operates on Park City Municipal’s golf course during the winter under a concessionaire agreement that is approved by the council.
Summit County Justice Court Judge Shauna Kerr didn’t allow the defense to include past events and additional context during arguments, saying it was irrelevant to the case.
“I understand there may be bigger issues, but I am a court of limited jurisdiction, and accordingly I have one issue before me today - whether to find Mr. Rubell guilty or not guilty," Kerr said. "That is the only issue before me. I’m not here to broker a city councilman’s issues with regards to operation of public lands, the golf course, cross country skiing. I understand your frustration.”
The judge denied the defense’s argument that Rubell’s speech was protected by the First Amendment and found the city councilman guilty of causing public harm.
The disorderly conduct infraction calls for a $160 fine to be paid within 30 days. Rubell can appeal the case to district court, which his attorney said they will consider.
