Ryan Dickey and Jack Rubin addressed voters in back-to-back speeches at a Monday forum hosted by the League of Women Voters and the Pro-Active Alliance at the Park City Library. It was the first time the men discussed their candidacies at the same public event.
Both spoke for about five minutes following speeches from the eight candidates running for Park City Council.
As mayor, Jack Rubin said he wants to represent residents.
“It’s the voice of the people that’s missing here,” Rubin said. “We’ve got a lot of very well organized groups in town, whether it’s historic Main Street, the resorts, developers… What’s missing, I think, is our voice. It’s time that somebody comes to the council and represents those who are not organized — the residents, the taxpayers.”
Rubin, who had a career in finance, said he has an advantage as an outsider who hasn’t held elected office in Park City.
The Park Meadows resident said issues like the Sundance Film Festival leaving town and finding a new headquarters for Recycle Utah could have been different if the city had been more proactive.
Rubin said many voters have discussed traffic as a top concern. He questioned the city’s process to create new code that would allow for more density in the Bonanza Park neighborhood.
“If we can’t get around town now, why would we want to encourage development to further add to the load of traffic here, until we have a plan to address traffic and circulation,” Rubin said. “Frankly, I think it’s being done backwards. We’ve got to figure out how to get people around town first before we worry about pumping more traffic in through the two arteries or figuring out how to keep them out.”
Rubin said he wants to lead City Hall with a focus on efficiency and transparency.
“I don’t have a magic bullet,” he said. “I’d love to tell you that I do. What I do have and I’ve done this throughout my career, is lead meetings where open discussions are held, where all facts are presented. I’ve attended city council meetings where I’ve listened to public comment, followed by the debate of the council, then followed by a vote, and like ‘oh my goodness,’ how did that vote come out of that discussion? Clearly, all the facts are not being presented.”
The other mayoral candidate, Ryan Dickey, referenced some of his campaign talking points from his city council race two years ago. Those included affordability, maintaining historic character, and protecting the environment.
As the owner of a local HOA management firm with two children, Dickey also said he’s focused on the challenges facing Park City’s workforce and declining enrollment at local schools.
Dickey said there are “issues elections” and “leadership elections.” He said this year’s race is a leadership election for two reasons.
“One is when it comes to leadership, there’s the where — where are we going, where are we trying to lead the community? And that’s an important question to answer,” Dickey said. “That’s all these things you heard about tonight, all these opportunities before the council. We don’t have to go boil the ocean to find them. They’re here before us now, waiting for the council to make decisions. So that’s part of leadership in leading this next council to have political courage, to make affirmative decisions to move Park City forward.”
Dickey, who also lives in Park Meadows, said the other tenet of leadership is understanding how to manage City Hall.
“The second piece of that leadership is the how,” he said. “How do we lead? How do we lead this organization that works for all of us as a city, to create a culture in the city that’s positive, that incentivizes innovation and risk taking and staff that aren’t paralyzed in their roles by criticism and a lack of direction, but that will stick their neck out for us, our people. We want them to take risks and bring us opportunities and say ‘there’s another way to do it.’”
Dickey echoed some of the comments made by other candidates, saying that a culture change is needed in city council chambers.
“Create that culture at the city that we can be proud of,” he said. “We heard it tonight from the candidates, and I’ve heard it from the community, it doesn’t feel like Park City in there. So when you come into our chambers, you should say, ‘this feels like Park City. This culture in here is us and that I see things moving forward.’”
With only two candidates, a primary election isn’t necessary for the mayoral race. Rubin and Dickey have both been invited to share their views at a forum hosted by KPCW and The Park Record Oct. 15.
