Park City councilmembers appointed Molly Miller to the council at their meeting Thursday in a split vote. She was one of nine candidates vying for the position after a 10th withdrew from consideration.
Miller will take over the seat vacated by Ryan Dickey when he was sworn in as mayor earlier this month.
Councilmembers Tana Toly and Diego Zegarra voted for Miller in each of the two rounds of voting. Councilmembers Bill Ciraco and Ed Parigian voted for former mayoral candidate Jack Rubin.
Dickey broke the tie.
Miller will be sworn in Jan. 20 and serve until January 2028.
Toly said she picked Miller because she lives in a currently underrepresented neighborhood on the council: Prospector. She also liked that Miller is action-oriented. Zegarra agreed and said he liked that Miller has shown up for council meetings and community events previously.
Ciraco said he believed the community had weighed in on the decision during the election. Rubin ran against Dickey in the mayoral race and lost by just seven votes.
Miller, on the other hand, was one of eight candidates who ran for council during the 2025 primary election, where she finished seventh.
Parigian felt similarly to Ciraco. He also brought up another “elephant” in the room: there’s only one woman on the council. However, Parigian said “the right” woman for the council spot was not among the candidates.
He expressed frustration with the result of the vote.
“We've all known this was going to be the result,” Parigian said. “This is a continuation of the last four years, and it's the same thing. And we're going to start off right where we left off with a dysfunctional group.”
During public comment, multiple community members advocated for Rubin to be appointed to the vacant seat. After the vote, one shouted “shame on you” at the council.
Rubin left the meeting Thursday after the first round of voting and KPCW’s effort to reach him by phone was unsuccessful.
Miller said she understood why the council and community were divided.
“I absolutely understand where the community was coming from with their support of Jack Rubin, and I can empathize with exactly what they're going after,” she said. “I would really like to first welcome them to connect with me.”
Despite the controversy, Miller said she’s looking forward to starting in the role.
“I'm so honored, and I cannot wait to get to work,” Miller said. “I'm very excited to finish up the plan for the Bonanza five-acre site and the main street revitalization plan as well.”
A Park City resident since 2011, Miller ran her own communications firm, Miller Media & Communications, serving clients including local and women-led businesses and organizations, including KPCW.
She is currently the vice-chair of the city’s Nonprofit Services Advisory Committee. It makes recommendations to the council on funding public service contracts and emerging committee community needs grants.
Park City Municipal is a financial supporter of KPCW. For a full list of financial supporters, click here.
