Local Lift: City Council candidate John Greenfield

Park City Council candidate John Greenfield (left) with his family.. Photo: John Greenfield for City Council

PARK CITY, Utah — Owner of Black Diamond Grocery Delivery and Park City Gyro Company, John Greenfield moved to town in 2015.

At 42 years old, he has three kids and is married to a pre-school teacher.

On his campaign website, it says he is the “best skier in Park City.”

He purchased an attainable home in Park City Heights in 2019.

Born and raised in Boise, Idaho, Greenfield has both a Master’s degree in Applied Sociology and a J.D. from the Seattle University of Law. He is a licensed attorney in both Utah and Idaho.

What drove him to run for office was the City management of the Gordo waste facility proposal. He felt that local politicians and other candidates weren’t taking issue with the proposal enough.

Different from when he started his campaign, City officials have now said they are fully aware of the public pushback to the waste facility. While no official action has been made, Mayor Andy Beerman recently told Townlift that the proposal is ‘on pause.’

Greenfield’s platform falls under four pillars — environment, transit, housing, and accountable community engagement.

He thinks the City needs to reimagine its wildfire management, specifically with its public relations. While residents may be informed on what to do in an emergency, new visitors in Park City might be out of the loop. “I think the city can go a long way with working with different property management groups and hotels to better educate people coming in.”

Greenfield is a proponent of the focused inclusion of owned affordable housing. He likes the idea of trying to make homeownership dreams realized for long-term residents and essential workers.

He believes the resorts should have a much heavier role to play regarding seasonal rentals, and he wants to explore ideas about smaller local businesses having some ability to house their workers as well.

Greenfield wants to focus on “responsible” development, building that focuses on the long-term health of local residents while still welcoming tourism.

“I think a lot of people are really apprehensive about what’s going on at the arts and culture district and the base developments. And whatever this transit plan is, that we may or may not have? Nobody has a very good sort of finger on what’s actually happening.”

Regarding transit, he supports collaboration among officials from all over the area — including Park City, Salt Lake City, and Summit and Wasatch Counties. He also supports a no-cost parking voucher for people working in Old Town.

You can find his full platform here.