Three Park City candidates hire same campaign management consultant in municipal race

Park City Council candidates sit before voters at a forum put on by KPCW and the Park Record at the Jim Santy Auditorium October 16, 2025. Photo: TownLift file

PARK CITY, Utah — Three Park City candidates — mayoral hopeful Ryan Dickey and City Council contenders Diego Zegarra and Tana Toly — have paid the same campaign management consultant, a connection that stands out in the officially nonpartisan municipal election.

Campaign finance disclosures filed this month show all three have paid John Morris for marketing and field organizing. On LinkedIn, Morris lists himself as managing the “Tana Toly for City Council, Diego for Park City, and Ryan Dickey for Park City Mayor” campaigns, overseeing “all aspects of strategy, operations, and outreach for the 2025 municipal elections.”

Morris also lists himself as a current Events Director for the Young Democrats of Utah.

Toly and Zegarra have Morris listed on their disclosures starting in early July, while Dickey’s first disclosure listing for Morris is at the beginning of October.

Campaign professionals often take on several clients, but in Park City’s nonpartisan elections, it’s relatively rare for multiple candidates in the same race to be represented by one consultant.

The shared management consultant comes amid ongoing debate about perceived voting blocs in city politics. During a recent forum, Councilmember Jeremy Rubell addressed accusations from other council members that he and fellow members Bill Ciraco and Ed Parigian form a controlling bloc.

Rubell said that of hundreds of council votes, only 22 were split decisions — with that trio voting together on just six. He then questioned how Toly and Zegarra would avoid forming their own bloc if elected and helping to appoint a replacement for Dickey, who is running for mayor.

“How is this not the undemocratic control that we’ve been falsely accused of?” Rubell asked during a recent candidate forum.

Toly said her concern stems from frustration with current council dynamics. “There’s a lot of meetings that I walk into, and I feel like the vote has already been decided before I get there,” she said at the forum. “I would never want to do that to anyone else.”

According to Leah Murray, professor of political science and director of The Olene S. Walker Institute of Politics & Public Service at Weber State University, the shared campaign management consultant may reflect relationships, not coordination.

“In Utah, our city elections are nonpartisan, but that doesn’t mean people don’t share political values or networks,” Murray said. “These candidates probably came up through the same circles and met the same consultant. In a partisan system, they might have just run together under the same party banner.”

Voters and observers have described the election as divided into loose factions. At a recent forum, one attendee asked, “Are these two on some kind of a team?” during the council candidate portion of the discussion.

Campaign filings show several candidates have donated to one another’s races and appeared jointly at events. “Draw your own picture, right?” Rubell said.

Toly acknowledged contributing to both Zegarra’s and Dickey’s campaigns, while Zegarra has donated to hers, but denied running as a coordinated slate. “I don’t think you’re voting for a team,” she said.

City election officials confirmed that no rule prevents candidates from hiring the same campaign management consultant, provided financial disclosures are accurate and committees remain separate.

Park City’s municipal election is nonpartisan. Election Day is November 4.

Editor’s note: A clarification to this story has been issued. In it’s original version Morris was characterized as a campaign manager. A more accurate title is campaign management consultant. Also, while the financial disclosure lists Apollo for marketing services and Morris list working for Apollo on Linkedin, Morris clarified this work was not associated with Apollo.