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Summit County councilor plans to retire, while another undecided about reelection

Glenn Wright will not pursue another term, but Chris Robinson leaning toward running again

Pamela Manson
For The Park Record
The Summit County Council seats held by Chris Robinson, left, and Glenn Wright are up for election this year. Robinson says he has not decided whether he will run for another term, while Wright says he will not seek reelection.
Park Record file photos

Summit County Council member Glenn Wright, whose term ends in a year, has decided not to run for reelection.

Councilor Chris Robinson’s seat also will be on the ballot in the November election. He has not made a definitive decision but said he’s leaning toward running again.

Robinson, who began a one-year stint this week as chair of the council, said he understands the need to decide soon “so I can get out of the way and people can line up to run” if he opts against seeking reelection.



“I hope to have a public announcement fairly soon,” he said, adding that he wants to do the right thing for himself and the community.

“I’m the CEO of a family business that is growing but I also think the county has a lot of important work ahead of it and I feel like I made a positive contribution to that and I’m hesitant to not continue to do so,” Robinson said. “I have a lot of institutional knowledge.”



Robinson, a Democrat, is the CEO and co-owner of The Ensign Group, L.C., that through its affiliates owns and operates more than 230,000 acres of real estate located in Utah, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

He was elected to a two-year term in 2008 after the form of government in Summit County changed from a three-person commission to a five-member council. After that, Robinson won three four-year terms.

Wright, who turns 74 this year, said his age was a factor in his decision.

“I flunked retirement once and I think it’s time to actually try it again,” he said. “I’m going to take some time to travel and visit family.”

Wright worked for the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies for 30 years providing industrial safety and loss prevention services and is a former U.S. Air Force pilot.

He served as chair of the Summit County Democratic Party for eight years and was first elected to the council in 2016 to serve the remaining two years of the term of former Councilor Dave Ure, who had been appointed to the School and Institutional Trust Lands Board of Trustees (SITLA). Wright won a four-year term in 2018.

His plans are to continue with his volunteer activities and focus on environmental issues, which were the reason he ran for the council, Wright said. During his last year on the council, he hopes to get a few projects “at least moving down the road before I leave.”

“The biggest thing I think that we will probably be very close to accomplishing by year end 2022 is being on a path to getting 100% renewable electrical energy in the county,” Wright said. “The hard work is going to be this year on that project.”

Wright is the county’s representative on the Community Renewable Energy Agency (CREA), which is negotiating with Rocky Mountain Power to bring 100% renewable electrical energy into between 15 to 23 communities. Fifteen communities have signed up for it and there are another eight that are eligible to sign on by around May 31.

The goal is to complete the project by 2030, and Wright thinks the council can beat that timeline.

Summit County

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