OGDEN — Ogden City’s newly minted community engagement director, Luis Lopez, is looking forward to this year.

Lopez said that the city is looking to spend 2026 getting ahead of concerns before they become become a bigger issue.

“The strategy we’re working on is opening doors and providing opportunities,” he said. “We are launching a grassroots (initiative) to connect with the community. What that means, simply, is we’re going to be proactive in contacting people, in connecting with people, to find out what their concerns are and take care of those concerns before they become a problem.”

He said that this effort will take many forms going forward.

“The bulk of it is going to be the mayor’s office reaching out to community members and community groups to have conversations with them about issues,” he said. “This idea comes from the notion that sometimes government is not proactive in staying in touch with the community until it’s too late.”

Lopez said this approach is colored by his experience as a two-term Ogden City Council member.

“As council members, we used to always hear people coming in and complaining or voicing concerns,” he said. “But it was a little too late. We would always talk about, ‘What do we do so that we can catch these things before they become a problem. There’s got to be a way. There’s got to be a way to have better communication, better outreach, better interactions with the community.'”

One of the ways that this will be accomplished will be a series of town halls set for later this year labeled “Let’s Talk the Ogden Way.” These events are set for March 23 at Shadow Valley Elementary School, April 27 at Heritage Elementary School and June 15 at Odyssey Elementary School. All are set for 6 p.m. on their respective nights.

However, Lopez said outreach from the mayor’s office has already begun in his first six months working on the administrative side of the city.

“We’ve met with a few groups already,” he said. “We’ve invited a few groups to meet at the mayor’s office and we met with a few groups out in the community already.”

He said this has included talking with local business owners and nonprofit leaders.

“The meeting was very satisfying and it was very productive because people really appreciate and celebrate and are inspired by a mayor and an administration reaching out and saying, ‘We want to invite you and we want to have a conversation with you,'” he said. “It’s hard for people to believe. It’s not the norm that that happens because government officials sometimes become a little too comfortable.”

Lopez said the city is currently trying to compile a database to track concerns that citizens may be having and give back solutions but didn’t have any immediate details about its rollout.

He noted these community engagement efforts are for the entirety of Ogden’s citizenry.

“It’s for all of the citizens and all of the community,” he said. “We happen to have a unique opportunity to help our underprivileged and underserved community members because of my background, but we’re engaged with all of our community in any area that needs attention.”