Ogden mayoral race: Mike Caldwell

NAME: Mike Caldwell

AGE: 40

CURRENT JOB: Director of Ogden Ice Sheet, public information officer and RAMP Program Manager for Weber County

1) What is your opinion of the 12-year tenure of Mayor Godfrey?

I think Mayor Godfrey has done some great things for our community and he has not been afraid to tackle controversial issues. I appreciate the passion and commitment he brought to the office and, although I didn't always agree with all the Mayor on some of the projects, I respected and appreciated the hard work and determination.

2) Do you think an Ogden streetcar system is economically feasible?

Having met with the Administration and UTA this still seems like a work in progress. Without significant Federal assistance this project would be very difficult to put together locally. The proposed line in Sandy is fighting hard to keep their Federal funding and that is a much shorter line. I think the streetcar is something we should keep talking about and considering but right now it appears very difficult to responsibly pay for.

3) List three initiatives, or main themes, of your administration if you are elected.

1 -- Economy, we need to support local job growth and our local businesses. We need to provide opportunities for our residents to make livable wages and expand our tax base which will in turn decrease the heavy tax burden on families and individuals.

2 -- Enviornment, Ogden needs to be a safe place for our children to grow up in and for us all to grow old in. Some great strides have been made in the reduction of crime and there are new tools that will help us approach crime in a dynamic and efficent way for dramatic reductions. The Good Landlord program and Home Sweet Ogden programs are also helping support and encourage responsible home ownership and giving many of us the pride in place required to keep our neighborhoods clean and safe.

3 -- Education, For us to ensure we provide a future for our children and to be an attractive community for different businesses, we need to have good schools and well prepared children. I would work closely with the teachers and school board to understand the challenges and to champion our succeses.

4) Do you agree with the Ogden Ethics Project that candidates should not accept campaign contributions from businesses and unions and other business-related groups?

I believe that businesses are a critical part of our community and I value their participation and feedback. I also understand that they do not vote and if the City Council or Legislature wanted to amend the rules to prohibit business contributions I would be happy to comply. I believe they understand the importance of these entities in our community and that is the reason the laws have not been amended to prohibit these contributions.

5) Why should people vote for you instead of the other candidates?

I have been in a unique leadership position with Weber County and have had the opportunity to do a great deal of community building. I've been either the President/CEO or Board Chair of many critical community organizations that have brought very measureable economic impact and energy into our community. I have a track record of proven leadership experience and results.

6) What do you think about security measures in Ogden, including the crime center and upcoming police blimp?

I have had an opportunity to tour the Crime Center and I was very impressed with its potential. The Crime Center, if utilized correctly, has the ability to leverage technology to create much quicker response times and to identify pockets of reccurance officers can proactively police. Many of these technologies are new and will take some fine-tuning but the potential is there to have this change the landscape of law enforcement.

My understanding is the police blimp is still a work in progress and experimental. I would need to know more about finished costs and actual ability before measuring its effectiveness. It can provide some unique opportunities to cheaply look into environments with potential hazards such as chemical spills, etc., which would provide additional security for our fire and law enforcement, but again I would need to know more about the finished costs and ability.