Park City Mayor Nann Worel will lose her seat on the Organizing Committee for the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games when she retires in early January.Worel in late March announced she will not seek reelection in November to a second term as the mayor, after also having previously served as a member of the […]
Park City Mayor Nann Worel will lose her seat on the Organizing Committee for the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games when she retires in early January.Worel in late March announced she will not seek reelection in November to a second term as the mayor, after also having previously served as a member of the Park City Council and the Park City Planning Commission. Worel as part of her mayoral duties was essentially the municipal government’s point person in the Winter Olympic work.The next mayoral term runs from early 2026 until early 2030. There is expected to be significant progress at City Hall toward the Games during that four-year stretch. It is likely concepts will have been crafted by early 2030 for the competition venues and transportation systems even if the operational details would still need to be finalized.Worel during the State of the City address, when she announced her plans to retire, indicated she wants to seat a committee that will consider early steps in the municipal government’s preparations for the Games.The Games have been part of the municipal work plan throughout Worel’s three-plus years in office, as the bid committee finalized its vision for the event in 2034 and worked closely with the International Olympic Committee as the concepts were completed. Worel traveled with a delegation from Utah to Paris last year to be in attendance when the Games were awarded on the eve of the Summer Olympics in the French capital. She remained in France for part of the Games for fact-finding purposes.
The appointment was seen as an important assignment for Worel since it put an official from the Park City government in a key post in the early stages of planning for the Games. Others from the Park City area are involved in the organizing committee, as well, but the presence of Worel was notable with the mayor’s status as the political and ceremonial leader of the community.The organizing committee in February named people to a steering committee that is expected to have broad influence within the overall structure. Worel was appointed to the steering committee and was tapped as the vice chair of the Host Communities Committee. Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall was selected as the chair.The concept for the Games includes competition venues at Park City Mountain and Deer Valley Resort, as well as at the Utah Olympic Park just outside the Park City limits. Park City is also expected to be critical to the transportation, celebration and security planning. Both City Hall and the organizing committee will be heavily involved in the efforts.But her successor will step into the role when they are sworn into office.The organizing committee, after the mayor’s announcement, outlined that the seat Worel now occupies is “specific to the mayor of Park City.” That means the next mayor will take that spot once they are in office rather than the seat remaining with Worel after she retires.
