Where Sandy City’s Primary Election Candidates Stand on the LCC Gondola

As Sandy City approaches the 2025 primary election, voters seek clarity on where candidates for mayor and city council stand on the controversial Little Cottonwood Canyon (LCC) gondola project. Friends of Little Cottonwood Canyon surveyed primary election candidates to try and capture their views on the gondola, its funding, and their commitment to constituents’ preferences. This article compiles their responses, offering Sandy voters a look at each candidate’s position.*

We are grateful to all candidates that responded for their thoughtfulness and transparency, including four out of five mayoral candidates** and all city council district 3 candidates. As this questionnaire was done to inform the primary election, we did not ask candidates for other city council seats (with just two candidates) to submit answers at this time. 

Please note that we do not contribute to political campaigns nor do any political candidates or campaigns endorse or affiliate with our work.

*Errors and omissions excepted (E&OE)

**R. Downward did not respond

Survey Questions

The survey posed five questions and also offered candidates the opportunity to freely comment:

1. Do you support building the proposed 8-mile long gondola in LCC (yes, no, maybe)? Why or why not?
2. Utah taxpayers, via sales taxes across the state, are paying into a fund that would fund UDOT’s gondola in LCC. At an estimated funding cost of $1.4 Bn this amounts to roughly $1200 per household. Do you think the gondola should be fully or partially paid for with Utah taxpayer funds, or not at all? Why do you feel this way?
3. Sandy City Council has consistently attempted to be good stewards with city taxes. Sandy residents overwhelmingly oppose the gondola and use of their tax money to fund it.  If elected, will you represent your constituents’ preferences for better bus services in LCC and actively petition state legislators to quit allocating tax dollars to fund the gondola? (yes/no/maybe)
4. If elected, will you actively oppose state or county-imposed infrastructure projects that increase the tax burden on Sandy City residents and will you support City Council resolutions that defend residents from such overreach? (yes/no/maybe)
5. If you would like to add your own comments, questions or feedback for clarification or conciseness, please do so.

Candidates’ Responses at a Glance*

Survey responses were received from:

• Mayor: Justin Hilgendorff, Cyndi Sharkey, Monica Zoltanski, Alison Stroud
• City Council District 3: Iva Williams, Parry Harrison, Matthew Ostrander, Kris Nicholl

 

Candidate  (M = mayor, C = City Council District 3)	Supports a Gondola	Supports Use of Utah Taxpayer Funds for Gondola	Will Petition State Reps Against Funding the Gondola?	Will Oppose State and County-imposed Infrastructure Projects that increase tax burden?
Parry Harrison (C)	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Justin Hilgendorff (M)	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Kris Nicholl (C)	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Yes	? Other/Maybe
Matthew Ostrander (C)	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Yes	?Other/Maybe
Cyndi Sharkey (M)	? Other/Maybe	? Other/Maybe	? Other/Maybe	? Other/Maybe
Alison Stroud (M)	❌ No	? Other/Maybe	✅ Yes	? Other/Maybe
Iva Williams (C)	❌ No	❌ No	? Other/Maybe	?Other/Maybe
Monica Zoltanski (M)	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Yes	✅ Yes

*Direct yes/no response from candidate depicted as ✅ = Yes | ❌ = No | Other responses depicted as ? Other/Maybe; see candidate comments in our website article.

Key Takeaways

These insights highlight a mostly voter-aligned resistance to the gondola and use of taxes (Utah and Sandy resident taxes) to fund it, tempered by hesitance by some candidates on broader policy commitments. Candidate responses revealed a few trends (full candidate responses follow in next section):

• Widespread Outright Gondola Opposition: Seven of eight candidates (except Sharkey) oppose the gondola with an explicit “No/Against” answer to the question “Do you support building the proposed 8-mile gondola in LCC?”. Reasons cited included environmental risks (Zoltanski, Hilgendorff), inefficacy (Williams, Ostrander), or preference for phased alternatives and no gondola (Stroud, Nicholl). 
• Utah Taxpayer Funding Resistance: Most candidates outright reject state taxpayer funding of the gondola (Harrison, Hilgendorff, Nicholl, Williams, Zoltanski), with several emphasizing private benefit over public good. Some (Ostrander, Stroud, Sharkey) expressed openness to limited use of Utah taxpayer funds in certain cases.
• Bus Service Support: Six candidates (Harrison, Hilgendorff, Nicholl, Ostrander, Stroud, Zoltanski) pledge to prioritize constituents’ preference for more buses in LCC. 
• Sandy Resident Tax Burden Opposition: Only three candidates (Harrison, Hilgendorff, Zoltanski) firmly oppose state-imposed tax obligations on Sandy residents for large infrastructure projects, with the others favoring a case-by-case approach, indicating varied willingness to confront higher authorities.
• Influence on Bus and Gondola Funding as a Sandy Elected Official: Most candidates (Harrison, Hilgendorff, Nicholl, Ostrander, Stroud, Williams, Zoltanski) said “yes”, they would advocate with decision makers to defund the gondola in favor of more bus funding, with one candidate (Sharkey) citing that canyon transportation and funding decisions are in the hands of state legislators.

Question-by-Question Candidate Responses

Below are each candidate’s comments on questions posed, presented in alphabetical order by candidate last name.

Question 1: Do you support building the proposed 8-mile long gondola in LCC (e.g., yes, no, maybe)? Why or why not?

• Parry Harrison:  “I am against the gondola project and support the alternative traffic congestion measures that have been studied and proven successful in other locales.”
• Justin Hilgendorff:  “No! As a naturalist and conservationist I will support well founded alternatives to a gondola. The environmental impact to the watershed and overall ecosystem would be substantial.”
• Kris Nicholl: “No, I do not. I prefer the phase approach laid out in phase one. More specifically, the common-sense solutions like increased bus service, tolling and heavy parking restrictions.
• Matthew Ostrander: “No. The gondola fails to address the need for a year-round solution. It also fails to serve public trailheads which are overcrowded with cars. Traffic in BCC needs to be addressed as well and it should be treated as one problem (when LCC is closed a lot of traffic goes to BCC). No one will be happy if we spend $1+ billion only to be faced with another expensive solution immediately after.”
• Cyndi Sharkey: Thank you Friends of Little Cottonwood Canyon for giving candidates the opportunity to answer important questions about LCC transportation. This is a decision that will be made by the state. The Sandy mayor has no authority or responsibility in the decision. This is a question to be directed to Sandy’s state legislators with whom the decisions for state transportation projects and funding lie. I feel that the legislature needs to take action to do SOMETHING. Doing nothing is not an option. As a council member of 6 years, a planning commissioner of 3, and a Sandy resident of 27 years, I am in favor of finding solutions to resolve canyon transportation and safety challenges while taking care to protect the environment. Every canyon closure day, and every snow day, Sandy City sends our resources to the mouth of the canyon to manage urgent traffic and snow removal tasks. The miles-long traffic backups in two directions are huge problems for Sandy and Cottonwood Heights. I speak to many Sandy residents who are fed up and drive to Ogden to ski instead. I speak to homeowners on the east bench who are angry and frustrated. I am in favor of the phased approach. I hope that new behaviors to use public transit can come about through more measured means than an expensive infrastructure project. Most of us live in Sandy because of the proximity to the outdoors. The canyons are precious to us all and deserve to be protected and preserved. As the population along the Wasatch Front grows, so will the traffic. I hope people will choose to get out of their cars and into public transit so we don’t ever need a gondola, train, tunnel, or blasted and widened canyon roads. But we can’t do nothing, and we’re stuck at nothing right now due to lawsuits. I want to see Phase 1 implemented so we can study outcomes and make good decisions going forward.”
• Alison Stroud:  “No. As a member of the Wasatch Front Regional Council Regional Growth Committee, a recommending body, I voted for a phased approach.”
• Iva Williams: “No, I don’t think the local skiers will use it (I ski frequently and can’t see myself riding it) and I don’t believe it will curb traffic.”
• Monica Zoltanski:  “No. Risk of harm to Sandy’s primary drinking water source – Little Cottonwood Creek watershed. Unwarranted preference of public tax dollars to benefit private enterprise. Lack of concern for canyon capacity and unsustainable environmental impact. High, harmful impact due to traffic and emissions in the most environmentally sensitive area of the city. Better solutions exist, particularly with rapid reliable busing.

Question 2: Do you think the gondola should be fully or partially paid for with taxpayer funds, or not at all? Why do you feel this way?

• Parry Harrison: “Not at all. I don’t believe public funds should be used to fund private operations (with no definitive public benefit).”
• Justin Hilgendorff:  “Taxpayers should not bear the burden of higher taxes so a few UDOT developers and a couple of ski resorts can profit from a gondola.” 
• Kris Nicholl: “No taxpayer funding for the gondola. Taxpayers should help foot the bill for expanded bus service and tolling.”
• Matthew Ostrander: “In the instance of the gondola, no. As proposed, the gondola benefits too many private parties. I’d be okay with public funding if it serves public trailheads and is operated in the public interest. UTA is an okay example, though I feel they could do better at serving the public needs.”
• Cyndi Sharkey:  “I’m very sensitive to the plight of taxpayers. That’s why I’m the only candidate endorsed by the Utah Taxpayers Association in the Sandy race. Whatever the legislature decides the canyon transportation solution should be, every effort should be made to avoid placing any further burdens on our families and homeowners. Sandy homeowners have already experienced the highest property tax increases in modern history over the past 3 years under the current mayor. My record of voting against all the mayor’s property tax increases, as well as the sales tax increase she championed, demonstrate that I fight for the taxpayer. I agree with Sandy residents who say that we shouldn’t shoulder the cost – not for a gondola, buses, a portable corral, a glossy full-color newsletter, or cowboy hat giveaways at taxpayer expense. Private and federal funding resources should be pursued. New taxes shouldn’t be placed on Sandy homeowners. If tax revenue does need to be used as a funding source, the legislature should draw from sources that tax tourists and visitors. I’m the only mayoral candidate with a consistent track record of protecting Sandy taxpayers and I can be counted upon to deliver on that longstanding commitment.”
• Alison Stroud:  “Little Cottonwood Canyon is a public road providing access to recreation areas. I believe a small fractional amount (single digit percentage) COULD be warranted if all other measures in the phased approach fail. I would need to see the numbers on the quantity of individuals using the recreational services at private resorts vs those accessing and enjoying public lands AND the numbers of those that are residents vs tourists. I would also need to better evaluate the impact on Sandy residents and if the gondola would solve a traffic problem for them.”

• Iva Williams:  “No. I don’t believe people who will never see any benefit should pay.”
• Monica Zoltanski:  “Not at all. There are higher public transit needs to move people east-west across the valley. Public dollars should not enrich private resort businesses.”

Question 3:  If elected, will you represent your constituents’ preferences for better bus services in LCC and actively petition State legislators to quit allocating tax dollars to fund the gondola?

• Parry Harrison: “Yes”
• Justin Hilgendorff: “Yes”
• Kris Nicholl: “Yes” (See Additional Comments)
• Matthew Ostrander:  “Yes”
• Cyndi Sharkey: No response, (See Additional Comments)
• Alison Stroud: “Yes”
• Iva Williams: “Other/Maybe/Unsure” (See Additional Comments)
• Monica Zoltanski: “Yes”
  
  

Question 4: If elected, will you actively oppose State or County-imposed infrastructure projects that increase the tax burden on Sandy City residents and will you support City Council resolutions that defend residents from such overreach?

• Parry Harrison: “Yes”
• Justin Hilgendorff: “Yes”
• Kris Nicholl:  “Other/Maybe/Unsure” (See Additional Comments)
• Alison Stroud: “Other/Maybe/Unsure” (See Additional Comments)
• Matthew Ostrander: “Other/Maybe/Unsure”  (See Additional Comments)
• Cyndi Sharkey: No response, (See Additional Comments)
• Iva Williams: “Other/Maybe/Unsure”  (See Additional Comments)
• Monica Zoltanski: “Yes”

Question 5: Additional Comments

Note: Candidates provided explanations for their responses and additional information.

• Parry Harrison: “I’m also opposed to the bridge over the gully. I’m for moderated growth and strategic commercial and residential development.”
• Justin Hilgendorff:  “The proposed additional parking at the mouth of the canyon is estimated at 2500, adding recreational impact to an already crowded mountain. Wait until you’re waiting in a lift line for a half hour or more.”
• Kris Nicholl: (For question 3) “I will represent my constituents’ preferences for better/expanded bus service. I feel phase ones focus on better/expanded bus service is of the utmost importance.” 
• Kris Nicholl: (For question 4) This is not an easy question to answer. The money in the Transportation Investment fund is where some of the funding could come from. I do not know how the money is structured in that fund. If allowed and without risking funding for phase one I would work with Sandy’s State Representatives to see how the money could be used to strategically fund phase one. Since this question is not specific to the Canyon Transportation project I would be inclined to say no. Only because Sandy has infrastructure needs that are nowhere near the Cottonwood Canyons.”
• Matthew Ostrander: “1. I don’t believe buses alone can solve the problem. A long-term scalable solution is needed. 2: I can’t commit to opposing all infrastructure projects. Each project would need to be weighed on its individual merits.”
• Cyndi Sharkey: “In answer to the Yes/No/Maybe questions above, we are asked multiple questions with only one possible answer for them all.* If elected Mayor, I will always advocate for Sandy, as I have for 6 years as a council member. And I will continue my history and track record of voting against unnecessary tax increases. Sandy is unaffordable to many without adding new taxes to homeowner burdens. I will also communicate to the legislators the concerns and needs of Sandy residents. Having been endorsed by Sandy’s legislators Okerlund, Eliason, Cullimore, and Miller, my trusted relationships with our state representatives are clear, and are greater than any other candidate in the field. All decisions about Little Cottonwood Canyon transportation and funding rest with the legislature. It should also be understood that nothing is likely to happen during the term of the next mayor, or the one after that, due to delays caused by lawsuits. I fully support Sandy’s history of refusing to pass Resolutions on issues over which we have no legislative authority or control. Any Sandy City candidate making a campaign promise relative to this issue is making a campaign promise they have no ability to keep. They are being dishonest, and that’s very wrong in my book. That’s part of the reason I created Sandy’s Pledge of Fair Campaign Practices which asks candidates to pledge to be honest with voters and follow the law. It’s disappointing that it’s too much to ask of those candidates who refused to sign it. Thank you once again for the opportunity to answer these questions.”

*Candidates were given three direct response multiple choice answers (yes/no/maybe) for questions 3 and 4 and the opportunity at the end of the questionnaire to add any comments/explanations.

• Alison Stroud : “I need to qualify my response to question #4. I did vote for the ‘Tenth of a Tenth’ sales tax increase, equating to a one cent on the dollar. This will provide $50 Million dollars to build a pedestrian bridge in Sandy, collected from sales tax throughout the entire county. A pedestrian bridge is a form of infrastructure and it did increase the tax burden on residents. If you need me to clarify in more detail, please let me know. I was unsure if you were asking a general question or specific to the gondola. Either way, I wanted to be transparent and provide Friends of LCC an honest, forthright answer.”
• Iva Williams:  “When I began my run I didn’t really have a strong opinion about the gondola. As I learned how much it will cost every household in Utah and how strongly the residents of Sandy feel I can say that I am opposed to it. I selected ‘maybe/unsure’ on the final two questions because I don’t feel I could say I would definitely oppose state infrastructure projects without knowing first what they were and the details of the projects.”
• Monica Zoltanski:  “Mayor Zoltanski is the only candidate running with a track record of standing up for Sandy residents who oppose the gondola, pressing for common sense solutions. Mayor Z joined Salt Lake City and Metro Water to file suit to protect the watershed and stop the gondola. She also secured a unanimous statement of intent in the WFRC regional transportation plan that sets the expectation of data analysis, study and evaluation before progressing from phase 1 (enhanced busing) to phase 2 (snow sheds) and phase 3 (gondola).”

Learn More & Get Ready to Vote

Sandy City’s Primary Election Day is August 12, 2025. Ballots are out. 

This survey hopefully offers Sandy voters a more clear window into candidates’ positions on the LCC gondola project. With strong opposition to the gondola and taxpayer funding, alongside varied commitments to bus service and tax defense, voters can weigh these stances against their priorities.  We encourage Sandy voters to check out each of these candidate’s websites to learn more about their stance on the gondola.