OGDEN — Another longtime fixture of the Ogden City Council is trying his luck at the open seat for mayor in November.

Now serving in his fourth term on the council, Bart Blair confirmed to the Standard-Examiner that he is running for mayor this year, joining colleague Ben Nadolski and five more — Chris Barragan, Angel Castillo, Jon Greiner, Taylor Knuth and Oscar Mata — in seeking the city’s highest office.

Blair said the reason for his run for mayor comes down to one word — momentum.

“I believe that momentum is a funny thing,” he said. “Right now, Ogden City has so much more momentum than we did when I very first got on the City Council. I think it’s it’s our job to (capture) that momentum and to use that momentum to continue to benefit everyone. We’re doing more projects now than we’ve done in the past. We have more development going on. We have more developers coming to Ogden interested in doing business here in Ogden. We have more people moving into our city. We have more people looking to start businesses in our city.”

He said that, for all the momentum, the city still has work to do in some areas.

“We have significant infrastructure needs,” he said. “Anyone that’s driven on our roads and some side roads have seen the potholes and damage that this winter created. … We addressed a water line down the canyon, which was great, and we still have some other water projects we need to get done because those projects were passed on, and passed on and passed on for so long.”

Blair said the city is also in a great position to work with its community partners.

“We have a great relationship with Weber State, the Ogden Weber Technical College, the county, Hill Air Force Base and with the Ogden City School District,” he said. “Because of that synergy we have with those partners, now is a great time to continue to push some things forward and to get some things done. It’s much easier to get those things done when we’re all working together and we’re all trying to accomplish the same goal.”

If elected, Blair said he’d especially love to tackle the issue of law enforcement retention in addition to continuing to address infrastructure needs.

“I think Ogden City has weathered the public safety storm better than most communities, but that doesn’t mean that we’re in the clear,” he said. “We still need to address our public safety officers and find a way to make sure that those officers are compensated fairly and that they’re in an environment where they can stay and be successful for a long time.”

Blair said he’d ultimately like to create an Ogden for everyone.

“The more that we can all work together and the more that we can continue to address those things that the government should be in charge of — keeping our parks clean and vibrant, keeping our roads well-maintained, keeping our water at a high standard, making sure we’re not wasting water — when we can do those things, it makes a better environment for everyone and that’s really what I want to do,” he said, “to create an Ogden where everyone can live, work, play and succeed.”

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