OGDEN — Ogden officials have picked from within to fill the vacant economic development director’s post, the administrator who helps lead efforts to redevelop the city and lure new businesses here.

Brandon Cooper, who had served as deputy director of the Community and Economic Development Department, has been elevated to take over the director’s spot. He had been serving as interim director and takes over from Tom Christopulous, who retired in early March.

“He’s got an amazing track record here,” Mayor Mike Caldwell said at Tuesday’s Ogden City Council meeting, when the body voted 6-1 to elevate Cooper to the director’s position. Cooper has served 10 years as deputy director and has worked for the city for more than 14 years in all, since 2007.

The economic development department has had an instrumental role over the years in bolstering and revitalizing the city. Currently, the department is involved in efforts to revamp the Wonder block off the northwestern corner of 26th Street and Grant Avenue in the city center and the old Rite Aid site on the south side of 24th Street between Monroe Boulevard and Quincy Avenue, among other locations.

Like Caldwell, other city leaders and business community members came forward to praise Cooper, one of 23 applicants for the job. Some of them spoke during the public comment section of Tuesday’s meeting, before city officials voted to hire Cooper.

Nate Harbertson, a local real estate agent and businessman, noted the growth in the city in the last 10 years, thanks to efforts of the economic development department and other city leaders and boosters.

Cooper is “trained for the job. He’s ready for the job,” Harbertson said. “It would be a waste of city resources and community resources not to appoint him to this position and move forward with the phenomenal economic development that’s happened in our city.”

Kym Buttschardt, another local business operator, noted the training Cooper received under Christopulos. “He knows what he’s doing, he mentored under the best,” she said.

A panel with reps from Weber State University, the Ogden School District, the Ogden Downtown Alliance and other organizations reviewed the applications and helped in the selection process.

However, some expressed hesitation.

Ben Nadolski, the sole City Council member who voted no to Cooper’s pick, lauded Cooper’s expertise and said he should remain with the city. At the same time, though, he expressed concerns with Cooper’s employment contract with the city.

“I just have real concerns with the circumstances that led to tonight, with why a contract of this nature is needed. I don’t like the precedent it sets for the other (city) directors,” said Nadolski, without delving into specifics. Nadolski alluded to “management challenges above Brandon” that he thinks may have spurred Cooper to demand the contract terms he ended up receiving, again without elaborating.

Ogden resident Heath Satow spoke during the public comment section of Tuesday’s meeting, expressing opposition to Cooper’s pick. He cited the economic development official’s handling of a 2019 deal with a developer over sale by the city of the Brown’s Ice Cream Building at 2557 Grant Ave. That’s in the Wonder block area in downtown Ogden that’s a key focus of redevelopment efforts.

As Satow understands it, there were several inconsistencies in the information Cooper provided city officials as they weighed sale of the building. Satow maintains that other developers would have been willing to pay more than the $100,000 the city actually received for the structure, but they apparently weren’t aware it was up for sale.

Caldwell, for his part, said when reached Friday that the city has been “open and transparent” on all of its development projects. “I would say I completely disagree with Heath on that and I don’t think he has all the information,” Caldwell said.

Cooper and Nadolski, meantime, didn’t immediately return phone calls Friday seeking additional comment.

Per terms of Cooper’s contract with the city, he is to receive an annual salary of $141,750. The contract contains a provision assuring he’ll get a year’s pay plus the cash value of six months benefits, payable in a lump sum, if he’s fired.

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