Jack Thomas, the mayor of Park City from early 2014 until early 2018, was one of the important figures in the community as City Hall attempted to establish a relationship with Vail Resorts as the largest ski resort company in the world entered the Utah ski market with a long-term agreement to operate Canyons Resort and then the acquisition of Park City Mountain from Powdr Corp.He was in office during the tense period of litigation between Powdr Corp., based in the Park City area, and the Vail Resorts side that ended with the sale of Park City Mountain to the Colorado-based firm. His term continued into the time afterward, as Vail Resorts established itself in the community and merged Park City Mountain and what was then Canyons Resort into a single property.In an interview on Wednesday, Thomas spoke about his efforts to represent the citizenry of Park City at a time of uncertainty at Park City Mountain. He provided the comments shortly after one of his successors in the mayor’s office, Nann Worel, issued a statement about the dispute between Vail Resorts and the union that represents the ski patrol at Park City Mountain. The sides reached an agreement, announced Tuesday night, to end the labor action. Although Worel’s statement on behalf of the City Council played little role in the sides striking a deal, her decision to provide a comment about the situation was notable with City Hall not having a direct role in the dispute.Thomas said Powdr Corp. when it owned Park City Mountain was a willing partner alongside the municipal government with regard to the variety of issues that involved the resort and City Hall. He cited the discussions between Powdr Corp. and City Hall about the potential development of an action-sports camp at the Park City Mountain base, a concept that was ultimately pursued in the Snyderville Basin after lawsuit and sale of the resort. Vail Resorts, though, took a different tact when it had business before the municipal government, he said.“You couldn’t even get them to come to the table,” Thomas said regarding transportation issues and large-scale planning.He said Vail Resorts, as an example, provided City Hall little prior notice of what became a hotly contested bid by the firm to secure a trademark for the name “Park City” as it applies to a mountain resort.“It was always a surprise,” he said. “It wasn’t a working relationship.”Thomas said it was difficult to negotiate with Vail Resorts and recalled City Hall as having only limited impact on the Park City Mountain litigation.“They operate like a large machine without any regard to the … personalities or the people of the community,” he said.The former mayor, though, acknowledged Vail Resorts’ often generous funding support for Park City-area not-for-profit organizations.Thomas now lives in Bentonville, Arkansas, a community best known as the headquarters of Walmart. He has occasionally taken public stands on municipal issues in the years since he left office, including comments in 2021 praising the early concepts for a major development at the Snow Park base of Deer Valley Resort.The post Ex-Park City mayor: Vail Resorts operates ‘like a large machine’ appeared first on Park Record.