Ogden mayoral hopefuls sound off on dinosaur park, 25th Street and more
-
- The seven Ogden mayoral hopefuls met at a forum on Wednesday, July 19, 2023. They are, from left, Bart Blair, Chris Barragan, Angel Castillo, Jon Greiner, Taylor Knuth, Oscar Mata and Ben Nadolski.
-
- The seven Ogden mayoral hopefuls met at a forum on Wednesday, July 19, 2023.
-
- The seven Ogden mayoral hopefuls met at a forum on Wednesday, July 19, 2023. They are, from left, Bart Blair, Chris Barragan, Angel Castillo, Jon Greiner, Taylor Knuth, Oscar Mata and Ben Nadolski.
-
- The seven Ogden mayoral hopefuls met at a forum on Wednesday, July 19, 2023. They are, from left, Bart Blair, Chris Barragan, Angel Castillo, Jon Greiner, Taylor Knuth, Oscar Mata and Ben Nadolski.
OGDEN — The seven Ogden mayoral hopefuls are honing in on their messages and pitches as the race heats up ahead of the Sept. 5 primary.
They met Wednesday at a candidate forum in Ogden, addressing everything from relations between the mayoral administration and Ogden City Council to the flap over expansion plans at the George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park to development in the city center. Vying for the seat now held by Mayor Mike Caldwell, who’s not seeking reelection, are Chris Barragan, Bart Blair, Angel Castillo, Jon Greiner, Taylor Knuth, Oscar Mata and Ben Nadolski.
The dinosaur park issue has been a flashpoint for some, and most of the hopefuls indicated the situation could have been better handled. In March, the Caldwell administration advised reps from the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah, or WRCNU, that they’d have to vacate the structure they’ve used on dinosaur park grounds since 2011. The city has authority to force the WRCNU out, but the move caught the nonprofit organization that rehabilitates injured birds and other animals by surprise and prompted backlash from some of its supporters.
At the forum, the hopefuls were asked about the issue, specifically whether a “viability study” should be completed before the dinosaur park proceeds with expansion. The dinosaur park is operated by a nonprofit foundation but the city owns the buildings housing it, the land where it sits and the land where the expansion would occur.
Nadolski, a sitting member of the Ogden City Council, called for “community outreach,” whatever the dinosaur park plans are. He also expressed support for both organizations and said WRCNU reps should have been contacted earlier in the process if dinosaur park expansion moves were already underway, allowing them more leeway to raise funds in preparation of departing.
His approach, Nadolski said, would have involved a “high level of engagement with the community so that when we’re done, everybody succeeds. When everyone succeeds, we as Ogden succeed.”
Mata, dean of students at Da Vinci Academy, an Ogden charter school, said a study is merited. He also said the turn of events to him underscores the lack of transparency and goodwill the city has had with nonprofit organizations and businesses.
“I think this is a shining example of what we should not be doing,” he said. “The city knew what was happening and we need to step up and we need to be the one initiating those conversations. That’s what a good partner does.”
As the dinosaur park wants to expand on city-owned land, a “public process” and viability study is merited, said Knuth, deputy director in the Salt Lake City Department of Economic Development. He backs the WRCNU but also defended the dinosaur park, which has come under fire from some over the turn of events.
“It’s a place to build community. It’s a place to create connections with our neighbors and our family and friends. Is not just a concrete dinosaur, it is a community space,” Knuth said. At any rate, he promised a “robust community engagement process to ensure your voice is heard” on land transfer issues and more if he’s elected mayor.
Greiner, a former Ogden police chief, Utah state senator and Ogden-Hinckley Airport administrator, said the process followed was “a little bit disappointing.” At the same time, he suspects WRCNU officials knew the day would likely come that they’d have to leave, per a 2010 agreement with the city.
“It’s unfortunate we’ve got to this situation, but at the end of the day I think that this administration will resolve it and they’ll do the best they can to support them,” he said.
Castillo, a marketing consultant, said a viability study is merited, but that the core issue at the root of the controversy runs deeper — that the mayor has authority under city code to sell certain Ogden city properties, authority she thinks should be clawed back.
“That’s why this is happening. That’s why our (City) Council was robbed of their voice to weigh in. There is a gaping hole in the code,” she said.
More broadly, Castillo argued the mayoral post is too powerful, a theme she touched on several times, and that its authority needs to be scaled back to give the City Council more power. “We need to shift the power back to having checks and balances with the City Council,” she said.
Barragan, who runs a 25th Street bakery, said a viability study is merited and offered up a defense of the dinosaur park. “Dinosaur Park is fantastic, and it’s fantastic because it engages the community and engages the youth and it does that over and over again,” he said.
More generally, Barragan touted his support for nonprofit groups that help youth.
Blair, a member of the Ogden City Council, said there will undoubtedly be a review of dinosaur park plans as the land it would expand on is owned by the city. He also offered up a defense of city handling of the matter with WRCNU.
“I believe the city has been very generous, very kind and very gracious to the Wildlife Rehabiltation Center. We have allowed them to not only maintain business, but to thrive and stay in business for the last 12 years when they had nowhere to go,” he said.
He also said the city has to be mindful about how it treats all nonprofit organizations in the community. “All of our nonprofits would love to have the same deal and the same circumstances that we allowed the Wildlife Rehabilitation (Center) to have,” he said. “It’s hard to do for one if we can’t do it for another or even all of our nonprofits.”
OGDEN PD POINT SYSTEM
The candidates were asked for a yes-or-no response on whether they support the Ogden Police Department point system used in officer evaluations. Greiner said he supported it, the other six hopefuls said they don’t, though none delved deeper into the issue.
The system has been the focus of debate of late stemming from a provision in it that factors the number of traffic citations an officer writes in their periodic job reviews. Some have suggested it seems to approximate an illegal quota system. Police officials have rejected the suggestion, noting in part that traffic enforcement is just one of several factors used in personnel reviews.
DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT
Overseeing and managing development and growth are key mayoral functions, and the hopefuls were asked their thoughts on the health of the downtown area.
Blair said the downtown area “is very healthy, very successful” and that he supports the MakeOgden initiative that calls for major redevelopment in the city center. Among other things, MakeOgden contemplates redevelopment of the WonderBlock area south of 25th Street between Lincoln and Grant avenues and the upgrade of Union Station and the land around it.
“There are few times in a city when they can totally go after economic development of this magnitude and I believe this is a game changer for our city. The Union Station is absolutely without a doubt the icon of our city,” he said.
Barragan, as operator of a downtown bakery, noted how tough it can be for businesses and the key role of the private sector in development.
“Unfortunately, we are hanging on by a thread every day to keep that business alive. We have killed for you. We have killed to make 25th Street as beautiful as it is,” he said.
He pointed an accusing finger at the city and mayoral administration, noting the business was denied a grant to help cover the cost of a neon sign at the business.
“I have looked across from 25th Street to City Hall to that ninth floor and have never had a mayor come into my shop to buy a cookie,” he said. The downtown area is beautiful, he went on, “but it comes at the expense of private business owners that give their lives and their crippling debt to make it happen.”
Castillo said the downtown area of a city, like Historic 25th Street, is something “that speaks to your soul” and expressed support for nurturing its development.
She said she favors creating “a special zone” around 25th Street that would give business operators who have been in the area for three or more years power to determine what sort of development is allowed in its confines. “When government uses limited regulation, it should be for the benefit of the community, and we have to protect 25th Street. We have to keep it cool and weird and quirky and local,” she said.
Greiner noted efforts dating to the 1990s to revamp, clean and overhaul 25th Street, which used to have a reputation as a dangerous, seedy place.
“We’ve changed 25th Street,” he said. “Emphasis has been put there. They’ve done things to make the street very viable.”
Knuth said 25th Street and the many restaurants and other businesses along it distinguishes Ogden from other Wasatch Front locales.
“I believe firmly in supporting 25th Street and preserving the character that is 25th Street,” he said. The key thing, he went on, is that the mayor be comfortable discussing development issues with everyone as debate about things like paid downtown parking and building height unfold.
Mata stressed the import of supporting small businesses and 25th Street operations. “Small business is the backbone of this community, it always has been here in Ogden, and we need to make sure we are promoting that,” he said.
However, efforts shouldn’t just be focused in the city center, he added, but should include other areas of Ogden. Historic 25th Street is iconic, Mata said, “but we are more than just one street.”
Nadolski said 25th Street is healthy but that there’s room for improvement and that a way to help in the efforts is to bring more visitors to the city center.
“I can’t think of a better way to get more people in our downtown than by restoring the vibrancy of our Union Station,” he said. “That’s where Ogden began in the first place. Everything that is here today we owe to that building.”
He also stressed the importance of making sure businesses know they have support from the city and access to leaders. “Their success is our success,” he said.
The Sept. 5 primary will serve to narrow the list of seven mayoral hopefuls to two, who will face off in the Nov. 21 general election.
Wednesday’s forum was held at the offices of Youth Impact Ogden. It was hosted by the Weber County League of Women Voters, the Ogden Branch of the NAACP and Latinos United Promoting Education and Civic Engagement, or LUPEC.