This is one in a series of profile interviews with the nine candidates vying for the Park City Council primary election.

Bill Ciraco grew up in Westhampton Beach, Long Island, New York, a small summer resort village, and found the same sense of community that he had growing up when he retired and moved to Park City three years ago.

“I was brought up with the rhythm of life in a resort town,” said Ciraco, who moved to New York City after graduating from college and worked in the finance industry. “I know what the small-town community feels like. I know how important that is. But I also understand the importance of that tourist economy that really helps our small community pay for many other things.”

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Since moving to Park City three years ago, he has been engaging in local issues and attending City Council and Planning Commission meetings, an experience that motivated him to seek election to the City Council.

The plan would include constructing a new, wider Rail Trail and using electric-powered trains that have zero emissions and could carry 300 passengers, Ciraco said. Much of the cost of the project, which could top $100 million, could be covered by state and federal grants, he said.

Ciraco is among the nine candidates running for one of the three open seats.

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“What I really resolve to do is not just complain about things but try to help push forward some solutions,” he said. “As Gandhi once said, ‘be the change you want to see’ — and that’s really my motivation.” 

Ciraco, 53, who lives in Aspen Springs, serves as the president of the homeowners association there and on the Park City High School Community Council. He earned a degree in business economics from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and worked for more than 20 years in finance, including in a partner-level position in an investment fund.

When it comes to identifying where he falls on the political spectrum, Ciraco said he doesn’t like labels.

“From Day 1, before I signed up to run, I said nothing about city politics should be partisan,” he said. “I do not look at it through a partisan lens. I look at it in terms of what’s good policy and good policy is policy that serves everyone that lives here and has a stake in Park City. I don’t seek to collaborate around identities. I seek to collaborate around ideas.”

Transportation is the top priority for Ciraco. He envisions having a rail line that loops around the Snyderville Basin from Kimball Junction into Park City that would remove traffic along both the S.R. 224 and S.R. 248 corridors. Eventually, he would like the line to connect Park City and Salt Lake City.

The plan would include constructing a new, wider Rail Trail and using electric-powered trains that have zero emissions and could carry 300 passengers, Ciraco said. Much of the cost of the project, which could top $100 million, could be covered by state and federal grants, he said.

Reducing the number of cars on the roads by having a rail line would bring the quality of life in Park City to a more peaceful level, Ciraco said.

“We need to look 20, 30 years in the future, but we need to make the investments today for that future,” he said.

To deal with the workforce housing shortage, the city needs to look for strategic opportunities to address the problem and the surrounding area needs to be part of the solution, Ciraco said. If the city enters into public-private partnerships, it needs to disclose as much as possible about the cost, he said.

“If we don’t do that, we’ll lose the public trust and we’ll lose our ability to pursue things like that in the future,” he said.

Ciraco said he would seek support for a moratorium on development of city-owned land in the Bonanza Park area while a feasibility study on the future use of the property is conducted. He wants to preserve the status quo at the site so other property owners do not file an application to do something different while the study is ongoing.

The land was purchased originally with the intent to develop an arts and culture district anchored by the Kimball Art Center and the Utah offices of the Sundance Institute.

On the child care issue, Ciraco said if providing that benefit to essential workers — including police officers, firefighters and teachers, among others — will shorten the time to recruit employees and reduce turnover, “I’m 100% for that.”

Private businesses should be largely responsible for the needs that they create, he said.

Ciraco said he supports having residents vote on a proposed general obligation bond that would fund recreation improvements including pickleball courts and an outdoor ice sheet rather than have the five-member City Council decide the issue.

“That’s a major investment and I really feel like the community needs to have the ability to have direct input on that,” he said.

He added, “Recreation can seem like a nice-to-have, not a need-to-have, but I would counter given what Park City is, that’s a very important part of our infrastructure.”

Ciraco said the cultural offerings, including Kimball Art Center and the Sundance Film Festival, also are important to Park City.

“We need to figure out how to support those organizations, to help them thrive,” he said. “That doesn’t mean a blank check. That means a strategic partnership and strategic investment.”

Ciraco said he would like to see the Olympics come back to Salt Lake City and Park City be a venue host city. Having the Olympic identity differentiates the town from Telluride, Aspen, Vail and other destinations, he said.

“On a policy level, my opinion is that the decision on whether the Olympics are coming to Utah is not ours,” he said. “I believe they are coming, so the most important factor is how can we leverage our role into things that will provide long term benefits for our community like a robust and effective transportation system anchored by a rail network.”

Another goal of Ciraco’s is to prevent wildlife-vehicle collisions that occur along Interstate 80 when moose, deer, elk and other animals cross the highway in front of fast-moving traffic. As a member of the nonprofit Save People Save Wildlife Board of Trustees, he advocates for safety measures such as the installation of cattle guards at entrance and exit ramps, fencing along the highway and overpass bridges.

Part of what makes Park City special is looking out to the back yard and seeing a moose and young calves or a deer or an elk, Ciraco said.

“We’re beginning to lose that with the number of animals that get killed and the amount of development that’s happening,” he said.

The other candidates running for a council seat are incumbent Ryan Dickey, David Dobkin, John Greenfield, Matthew Nagie, Ed Parigian, Bob Sertner, Betsy Wallace and Jody Whitesides. Incumbents Max Doilney and Becca Gerber are not seeking reelection.

A Sept. 5 primary will narrow the field of nine council hopefuls to the six top vote-getters, who will advance to a Nov. 21 general election. The three candidates who get the most votes in that election will take office in January and serve a four-year term.

Voters will get to vote for three candidates in both the primary and the general election because there are three open seats. State law requires that a primary be held if more than twice the number of candidates file to run than are to be elected. The election is nonpartisan.