Summit County Council District 5 covers Jeremy Ranch, most of Pinebrook and Summit Park. Park City school board member Meredith Reed is challenging incumbent Canice Harte in this month’s Democratic primary.
Amid a national immigration crackdown, both candidates shared the impact of Immigration and Customs Enforcement on daily life in Summit County.
According to Reed, the school district is seeing fewer applications for free and reduced cost lunch.
“Families are afraid to make the application to get their kids fed,” she said. “We have children who graduated last year that — their parents had been taken away just the week before. We have kids that are scared to come to school.”
She said ICE has not entered Park City schools.
Harte is a deputy and search and rescue operations manager for the Summit County Sheriff’s Office.
“I was just out at a job site in Silver Creek Village — someone whose tools were stolen and there was a dispute — and when I went out to speak with the individuals, and trying to get the information to figure out what had happened, their main concern was that they had ICE meetings coming up,” he said. “So they didn't want to file the report.”
Harte is worried about the harm and “predatory behavior” Latino residents may see if they are fearful of filing police reports.
In the past, ICE has notified Summit County and Park City authorities when it plans to operate in their area. The federal agency does not require their permission. Neither candidate offered specific strategies for how Summit County should work with or respond to ICE enforcement actions.
Their comments came at a candidate forum Monday hosted by KPCW and the Park Record ahead of the June 23 primary election.
Voters in District 4, covering the central Snyderville Basin, are also choosing between two Democrats.
With no Republicans or write-ins in the running, the Democratic primary is likely to decide the election in both districts.
