Ogden mayoral hopeful Nadolski touts leadership skills, puts focus on countering mistrust
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- Ogden mayoral candidate Ben Nadolski speaks during an interview at the Standard-Examiner offices in Ogden on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023.
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- Ogden mayoral candidate Ben Nadolski poses outside the Standard-Examiner offices in Ogden on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023.
Editor’s note: The Standard-Examiner recently sat down with both Ogden mayoral contenders. This article offers some highlights of Nadolski’s message and campaign. Here’s an article on the Knuth campaign.
OGDEN — Mayoral hopeful Ben Nadolski senses mistrust between some in the city with the current city administration.
“People are dying for a better partner at the city,” he said, charging that the mistrust approaches “toxic” levels in some circumstances.
If elected, he would address those frayed edges by fostering better communication and bringing more people to the table. Among those with tough words for the leadership of Mayor Mike Caldwell’s administration have been hangar operators at Ogden-Hinckley Airport, some of the defenders of the museums at Union Station and critics of the city’s approach in recruiting developers.
Addressing long-range plans to upgrade Union Station and develop the land around it by way of example, Nadolski outlined his approach, underscoring that focus on communication. He likes the vision put forward so far under the Caldwell administration, focused on generating input from the public before coming up with a specific plan. The rub comes with how that process is handled, the outreach to those most passionate about Union Station.
“We have a lot of work to do there to mend fences with a lot of stakeholders,” Nadolski said, alluding to some Union Station museum defenders skeptical their viewpoints will be taken into account. “And that gets to how we do the work. We have to do it more collaboratively or we’re always going to be stuck in this point of contention.”
Nadolski and Taylor Knuth are facing off in the race to lead Ogden, with voting culminating on Nov. 21. After three terms, Caldwell isn’t seeking reelection.
Beyond efforts to mend what he believes to be some tattered relationships, a key component of Nadolski’s message centers on his leadership skills. Nadolski is finishing his second term on the Ogden City Council and serves as regional supervisor for Northern Utah with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, where he’s worked for 21 years.
In his work with the DWR, he leads an operation with a $70 million annual budget and 70 employees, he said. In that role, he’s developed the ability to work with people to solve complicated problems, he said, adding that’s what sets him apart from Knuth, a community advocate in Ogden who serves as deputy director of the Salt Lake City Arts Council, a division of the city’s Department of Economic Development.
“We can’t really afford to have a mayor that’s learning those lessons in real time,” Nadolski said. “They’ve got to have some experience in how to build a team, how to manage the team, how to inspire people to perform. That’s the work that I’ve been doing my whole life and it’s the work that I look forward to doing for Ogden city.”
Back on the issue of communication, Nadolski said he’d do more to connect with surrounding mayors, school district officials and other leaders around Weber County, which he maintains is sorely needed. Caldwell, he said, has “just completely leaned out of a lot of those partnerships.”
He’d reach out to the varied players focused on the future of Ogden-Hinckley Airport to more directly involve them in moves to redevelop the city-owned operation. Hangar owners and operators, who have filed suit against the city over its moves to demolish the structures as part of the city’s airport development vision, have been particularly critical of the Caldwell administration.
“It’s a mess,” Nadolski said, citing “a toxic culture of mistrust” between the city and airport stakeholders. “We need to collaborate with stakeholders that are affected by our choices there.”
He says he’d adjust the approach to selecting developers, particularly when development of city-owned land is at play, and push for a more proactive approach in getting word out to developers to keep the process as competitive as possible. Some critics say that has been lacking at times under Caldwell.
“We need to make sure that we’re getting the best deal for the people,” Nadolski said. “And we need to make sure people know that they’re getting the best deal because we did it in a fair, competitive, open and transparent way.”
More broadly, he said he’d take the time to get input about major city proposals before presenting them for public consideration. “Quit making decisions and just popping them out. The first time the public learns of a proposal shouldn’t be in a public hearing where we’re on the precipice of a final consideration on something,” he said.
HOMELESSNESS, DEVELOPMENT, GROWTH
Here are Nadolski’s thoughts on other issues:
Homelessness: He says there’s insufficient “deeply affordable housing” in Ogden and the rest of Weber County to aid the homeless. Leveraging state funds would be key in developing such housing stock, but he maintains it would require involvement of other communities so the burden isn’t solely on Ogden.
Home ownership: Tapping the resources of the Ogden Redevelopment Agency, he’d push for construction of homes geared to first-time buyers. The RDA has helped spearhead past efforts in Ogden to build and market homes on city-owned property, aiming to redevelop blighted areas and promote homeownership.
“We’ve built a lot of apartments lately,” Nadolski said. “And so I want to see our balance of apartments and owner-occupied homes come more into line. I think we can do that through the proper planning and making sure that if more apartments are going to be built, they’re built in the right place.”
Downtown redevelopment: City leaders have crafted a plan, called Make Ogden, that outlines ambitious efforts to redevelop large swaths of the city center. Included in its vision are the plans to upgrade Union Station and redevelop the land around it, the WonderBlock development proposal off the north side of 26th Street between Lincoln and Grant avenues and more.
“(I’m) largely on board with continued development, but how we do it, I think, will have to change,” he said. Specifically, he said he’d seek a “more collaborative and transparent” process, involving stakeholders who don’t feel they’ve had enough say in the process.
Nadolski voted against the bonding measure required to help cover the WonderBlock development cost, though he was in the minority and it still passed. Now, though, since the project received the green light, he’ll push for its completion.
“I want to make decisions that help propel it forward and make sure that it’s successful,” he said. But, he added, he’ll put a focus on making sure the proposed paid downtown parking element of the WonderBlock plans actually cover the cost of a proposed parking garage, one of his reservations with the plans.
Growth: One of the city’s biggest challenges going forward will be managing expected population growth, Nadolski said.
Updating the city’s general plan, already in the works, is “first and foremost” in preparing for the future. The general plan is a guide for growth in the city, indicating what sort of development is allowed in which parts of the city.
In the plan and the city’s zoning ordinances, Nadolski said the city needs to make sure high-density housing, like apartments, is focused in the downtown area and near mass transit hubs and other “walkable” areas. “That to me is a way that we can manage and control our growth. (It) helps us grow better rather than just growing bigger,” he said.
Ogden-Hinckley Airport: He’s not so sure expansion of passenger air service to the city-owned airport is “naturally a good fit” in Ogden. The Caldwell administration has put a focus on bringing commercial air service back to the city.
“I hear a lot of feedback both ways on that,” Nadolski said. However, he’s leery of offering incentives that last “forever” to lure a carrier to the city.
Even so, he thinks there are plenty of potential growth areas at the facility, via general aviation, promotion of private jet traffic, operations at hangars and ground-based operations. Proximity to Hill Air Force Base, he said opens up possibilities for “off-base maintenance,” also pursued under the Caldwell administration.
Youth: An area of particular interest for Nadolski is increasing mentoring of youth, chiefly through youth sports programs, but also through other activities like robotics. “I’m really passionate about youth recreation. That’s just something that has had a big impact in my own life,” he said.