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Park City voters must drop one from strong mayoral field

Roger Armstrong, Andy Beerman, Dana Williams vie for November

by Jay Hamburger
THE PARK RECORD

There is a mayoral primary election on Tuesday in Park City, but voters need not go to their traditional polling places.

But they need to make sure they get to a mailbox. The balloting is occurring through the mail, a system that leaders anticipate will increase turnout. The primary election pits three well-known political figures against each other. Voters will drop one of the candidates from the field for Election Day in November.

Roger Armstrong is a member of the Summit County Council. Andy Beerman is a member of the Park City Council who unsuccessfully sought the mayor’s office in 2013. Dana Williams is a former three-term mayor who left office in early 2014 after not seeking re-election. Each of the candidates has proven they have broad voter support with Beerman and Williams each winning multiple campaigns inside Park City and Armstrong successfully running countywide.

The campaign has touched on numerous topics over the summer, but growth and its various impacts has been at the forefront, as it has been during City Hall campaigns for decades. The candidates have outlined positions on housing, the related issues of traffic and transportation as well as the Latino community. They have also dwelled on the role of the mayor’s office in Park City.

Armstrong has argued a mayor is needed who is more visionary and that City Hall’s goals seem to be aspirational rather than items that have been accomplished. Beerman, as an incumbent City Councilor, has said the desires of the Park City community are aligned with the work of the current slate of elected officials. Williams has spoken about the City Hall successes during his administration and outlined a housing platform involving locating work force or otherwise restricted projects in neighborhoods that already exist.

The mayoral contest will likely become more intriguing once one of the candidates is eliminated on Tuesday and the fall campaign begins. The issues are expected to remain similar to the primary season, but the one-on-one nature of the fall campaign could create a political atmosphere with more tension.

The Park City Council campaign will also start in earnest after the mayoral primary. Four people are seeking one of two seats on the ballot, not enough to have forced a primary. Tim Henney, an incumbent City Councilor, is seeking another term. The others on the ballot are Steve Joyce, Josh Hobson and Mark Blue.

The mail-in ballots must carry a postmark of Aug. 14 or earlier. Summit County Clerk Kent Jones suggests people casting ballots on Monday or Tuesday do so by putting them in a drop box at the Marsac Building. On Tuesday, the day of the primary, anyone who did not receive a ballot in the mail, inadvertently threw out a ballot or registered to vote after the ballots were mailed may go to the Marsac Building for a ballot to be printed. The ballot would then be put in the drop box. The hours are from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.

For more information about the voting process, contact the county clerk at 615-3203 or 615-3204.

There are also primary elections in Coalville, Kamas and Oakley. The East Side primaries are:

  • Coalville mayor, with Tyler Rowser, Trever Johnson and Merlyn Johnson competing for a place on the November ballot.
  • Kamas City Council, with Kaycee Simpson, Kim Steed, Matthew Atkinson, Amy Yost, Allen McNeil and Garry Walker jockeying for a spot in the November election.
  • Oakley City Council, with Christopher Hanson, David Edmunds, Steve Butler, Richard Bliss Jr., Steve Wilmoth, Eric Kendall Woolstenhulme and Stephanie Woolstenhulme seeking a spot on the November ballot.
  • Park City


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