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Guest editorial: Campaigning vs. governing, popularity vs. courage

We hope you’ll join us in supporting Andy for Mayor. His list of achievements demonstrates a willingness to dig in and push toward desired outcomes. The range and diversity of those who endorse him demonstrate his commitment to relationships that cross not only jurisdictional boundaries, but ideological ones, too. His style is casual, but courageous and he counters cynicism with strategic optimism.

Checks and balances are essential to government. Its pace and processes are grinding and require endurance, conviction and good wayfinding skills. Campaigns, on the other hand, are simple, just sprints. Campaigns can also be tricky in a small town — wagons get circled, lines get drawn, fiction replaces fact, personal grudges get elevated to issues through innuendo and indignation, none of which are terribly useful to those who get governed— the people.

For us, this campaign is personal only insofar as just one person can be Mayor at a time, so we have a choice to make. We choose Andy for his stand-up, heads-up position on climate, when it was still fashionable to deny. We choose him for doggedly pursuing more Open Space, even when those more seasoned saw no more to be had — Bonanza Flat, Treasure Hill/Armstrong Pastures, Stoneridge, Clark Ranch, Richardson Flat. We choose him for his prescience and persistence when pushing to electrify the City bus fleet. We choose him for tirelessly pushing to improve walkability — trails, bike lanes, tunnels, slower speed limits. We choose him for championing preservation — he has, personally and through policy, generated funding sources to rehabilitate historic mining structures. We choose Andy for fearlessly promoting diversity, equity and inclusion amid a clamor of opposition. We choose him for the leadership and collaboration he has embodied during the triple crisis (health, economic, social) that COVID19 represented — he supported the County Health Department, unflinchingly; he and the City Manager moved purposefully and without delay to implement the Recession Plan that the City keeps in place; he lobbied for and secured $3M additional dollars from the State, accurately pointing out that our shuttered travel economy had taken a far bigger hit than other communities; he championed efforts to relax restrictions on businesses to give them the best chance of weathering the collapse of tourism; City resources were re-deployed to protect our most vulnerable neighbors; City funds were leveraged to support the non-profits operating on the front lines.



Ultimately, we choose Andy because he is that good-natured, reliable, steady next-door neighbor who cherishes this place because of its quirks, not in spite of them; who appreciates the abundance of this community he’s lucky enough to call home, and who keeps stepping up, again and again, for the tough-minded, tempestuous, forward-leaning, fun-loving, gritty, generous, good people of Park City. If you’re a Parkite, Andy’s the mayor for you.

Primary ballots start to arrive in mailboxes on July 20. Please join us in re-electing Andy.



Bob Richer, Snyderville Basin; Katie Wright, Prospector; Alison Child, Park Meadows; Greg Schirf, Park Meadows; Paul Kirwin, Park Meadows; Thea Leonard, Old Town; Jennifer Franklin, Deer Valley; Becca Gerber, Park City councilor; Charlie Sturgis, Park Meadows

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