Six months after announcing his intent to run for mayor and just weeks after coming in second place in the primary election, Ogden City Council member Ben Nadolski had a simple message for his supporters gathered at his first major post-primary event Thursday.

“We are here today to announce again, together, that we are still running for mayor,” he said to applause.

Thursday evening, Nadolski held his first major public campaign event since coming in second in this month’s mayoral primary — a get-together for supporters and the public at Ogden’s High Adventure Park to celebrate his advancement in the primary and the next phase of his campaign.

Even the dreary weather conditions weren’t enough to put a damper on the festivities as Nadolski expressed his gratitude to supporters.

“Ride or die, we are Ogden,” Nadolski said. “We do the work in this town and we do it together We’ve done the work of this campaign and we’ve done it together. So thank you to all of you who have been here with us, alongside us, the whole way. You’ve gotten us to this point. You didn’t get me here, you got us here. You got Ogden to this point.”

During his address to supporters, Nadolski briefly laid out some of his policy priorities.

“We are going to build a stronger infrastructure, just like we did with (the Ogden River) — it conveys our floods away from our community and keeps us safe,” he said. “It creates an opportunity for our kids and our families to recreate, to come together. It creates an opportunity and environment for economic development. … We are going to build a strong infrastructure because that’s what you need to live your best life in this community.”

He said affordable housing will be a priority of his as well.

“We are going to make it an opportunity for you to buy a home, to live in this town at a rate you can afford so that you can raise a family, so that you can come together either by yourself, with your partner, with a spouse and you can retire here,” he said. “We’re going to have the whole spectrum of housing in this town for you.”

Nadolski said this will all be accomplished by developing the city responsibly.

“Nothing in this world is cheap,” he said. “We are going to pay for it with the money we have by making sure we develop as a community in a smart and responsible way. We are going to get the best deal for you.”

He also vowed a clean campaign moving forward.

“We are going to rise above everything and we are going to do it clean,” he said. “We are going to win clean. We are going to grow clean. That is who we are — we are Ogden.”

Nadolski is facing Taylor Knuth in the Nov. 21 general election race for mayor. Knuth won the primary with 2,065 votes (19.93%) while Nadolski finished in second with 1,883 votes (18.18%). Results of the September primary were canvassed earlier this week.

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