After 20 years of work, including the hectic runup to the 2002 Winter Olympics, Park City Public Affairs Director Myles Rademan has decided to cut back on his hours at City Hall. Though he will still be involved with city matters on a contract basis he is hoping to spend more time consulting and traveling.
It is a good thing that he is not leaving all of his duties at once. The position he created over the years would be impossible to fill with one candidate.
From his arrival in 1987, through countless community visioning sessions, Rademan has been dreaming up fresh perspectives for old problems. His inventive solution to the trash-strewn empty lots on Main Street before they became hot properties was a prime example.
Likening the undeveloped weed patches to “missing teeth in the city’s smile,” Rademan proposed a unique public/private partnership. The lots were turned over to the city to maintain as ‘pocket parks’ until they could be sold and developed. The little parks instantly added to the ambiance of Main Street, which in turn boosted the value of the lots. One by one they returned to the private sector except for two that were so popular the city purchased the properties and turned them into permanent public spaces.
As the City’s Planning Director, Rademan constantly urged the city to set its own agendas rather than just react to ones foisted on them. He organized living room sessions throughout town and asked citizens to envision the city’s future. The feedback from those meetings was then used to set the city’s priorities. He also instituted a grassroots leadership program designed to cultivate future civic leaders.
The annual City Tours are another example of Rademan’s ingenuity. Instead of envying the success of other western resorts, Rademan gathered up local government and business leaders and took them on the road to learn how their communities have dealt with some familiar challenges. The groups came back with ideas about trails, public art, skate parks and skating rinks, all of which have since been emulated here.
Rademan also left an indelible stamp on Park City’s Olympic experience. He was instrumental in guiding the pre-Games planning effort and was among the first to suggest turning Main Street into a public space to celebrate. In retrospect, meeting people from around the world and watching the nightly fireworks on Main Street is arguably most Parkites’ favorite memory of the Games.
Rademan’s wheels are still turning up at City Hall, but as he begins to shift his personnel priorities to other projects, his influence, hopefully, will still be felt. Perhaps some of those who benefited from his leadership program will pick up where Rademan is leaving off and Park City will continue to ‘invent the wheel’ for other growing communities in the New West.