Candidates: Monica Zoltanski and Cyndi Sharkey
The proposed Little Cottonwood Canyon gondola has emerged as a key issue in Sandy’s 2025 mayoral race. Both candidates, incumbent Monica Zoltanski and challenger Cyndi Sharkey, were invited to share their positions through the Friends of Little Cottonwood Canyon survey. Their responses reveal two very different approaches to how Sandy should engage on this billion-dollar infrastructure project.
Mayor Zoltanski makes her opposition clear, citing risks to Sandy’s drinking water, taxpayer priorities, and environmental sustainability. Councilmember Sharkey, while not directly opposing the gondola, emphasizes that the decision rests with state legislators rather than the mayor. She advocates for a phased approach, starting with improved transit, while stressing her record of protecting taxpayers from new burdens. Together, their responses highlight a critical choice for voters about how Sandy’s next mayor should represent the city on one of Utah’s most high-profile transportation debates.
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Question 1: Do you support building the proposed 8-mile long gondola in LCC (e.g., yes, no, depends)? Why or why not?
- 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 most environmentally sensitive area of the city. Better solutions exist, particularly with rapid reliable busing.”
- Cyndi Sharkey: “Full answers to all sections of this questionnaire can be found at VoteSharkey.com under the section titled “Cyndi’s Position on the Gondola”. 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.”
Question 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
- 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.”
- 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, busses, 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.”
Question 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 service?
- Monica Zoltanski: “Yes”
- Cyndi Sharkey: No response.
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 resolution that defend residents from such overreach?
- Monica Zoltanski: “Yes”
- Cyndi Sharkey: No response.
Question 5: If you would like to add your own comments, questions or feedback for clarification or conciseness please do so.
- 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).”
- 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.
