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Guest editorial: Former mayor says Park City’s future is brightest with Beerman at the helm

Brad Olch
Former mayor of Park City

I have lived in Park City for 41+ years. I raised my children here, and they are now raising their children here. This wonderful, creative, outdoorsy, generous and increasingly diverse community is as much home to people who have spent decades here as it is those who more recently relocated to share in and contribute to the ever-evolving magic that is Park City. As a longtime champion for open space, affordable housing and community, I am more inspired than ever by our collective potential and truly excited to endorse Andy Beerman for Mayor as the candidate who will lead us into our greatest years yet.

Serving as Mayor is not without its challenges. It’s not always easy to align the opinions of smart, passionate people with different priorities and visions. The work (including endless reading, countless meetings and constant exploration of issues) can be exhausting. It requires someone energetic who can commit to being present, informed and engaged on every topic in order to effectively question staff. It takes someone capable of supplanting his own ego and agenda to successfully negotiate on the town’s behalf. As Mayor, one needs to be humble and respectful, yet firm and poised.

Andy Beerman is thoughtful and balanced. He listens more than he speaks, all the while doing deep research on matters most affecting Parkites today. He is incapable of the kind of knee-jerk reactions that benefit a single stakeholder group but can have dire and irreversible financial consequences for everyone else in communities as small as ours. Instead, he works tirelessly to find the solution with the greatest benefit for the entire community. He works for all of us.

As a young ski bum, Andy took a chance on a dying hotel with his then girlfriend (now wife), Thea. Together, they built a progressive example of environmental and economic sustainability as Park City’s first green business, the first place with free Wi-Fi and a provider of long-term, year-round jobs for many happy employees. Walk into Treasure Mountain Inn today and ask anyone how valued they felt for working for the Beermans all those years they owned it!

Andy espouses the values we all champion as residents of Park City. He commutes around town by bike. When traveling outside Park City, he drives his electric Chevy Volt. He wakes up early to hike his dog and ski before settling in for full days of community meetings, negotiation sessions with State government, climate seminars and coffees with residents to hear ideas and concerns. He’s an everyman in sneakers and fleece who puts on a tie to greet our Governor and get things done at the Capital. He’s one of us.

More importantly, Andy is a team builder with a consistent and provable track record.  When you compare Park City’s last 4 years with the previous 12, there are huge and documented differences in accomplishments, performance and results. Progress has resumed on increasing affordable housing, open space, trails and access to transit. Andy’s work at the Utah League of Cities & Towns has earned us a respected voice within State government for the first time in history. He is positioned to provide informed and ongoing leadership in Park City’s complex negotiations with state legislature, Rocky Mountain Power, our ski resorts, big developers and others threatening to exert too much control over Park City.

Anyone who thinks our best years are behind us is looking at the wrong candidate. Don’t be fooled! Park City’s (and my grandkids’) future is brightest with Andy Beerman as Mayor.

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