Incumbents Bart Blair and Marcia White are both seeking new terms. White has already served three terms and Blair has already served four. I personally like both of them. I’ve supported them in past elections. I’m grateful for their years of service.

So it pains me to say that neither Blair nor White is what Ogden needs at this moment. They’ve grown too comfortable in City Hall, attending their meetings and ceremonies, cozying up to the city’s bureaucrats, and ignoring the people they represent.

Sadly, neither White nor Blair was ever much of a leader. They’re content to turn over the agenda to the administration, listen politely, and enact whatever the administration wants.

That means raising our taxes and fees, year after year. It means ever-stricter regulations on land use and parking and commerce. It means public subsidies for favored developers. And it means acquiring more and more property, taking it off the tax rolls and keeping it vacant for decades, so they can eventually micromanage whatever happens there.

I’m sure Blair and White and their colleagues mean well. They sincerely believe that private ideas and investment must be suppressed with regulations and red tape. They believe it would be a waste of time to seek information from anyone outside the government, because the government knows best.

White and Blair have forgotten that what makes a city great is its people. As new needs and opportunities arise, the people can respond more quickly than the government.

Fortunately, both Blair and White have highly qualified challengers. Kevin Lundell and Alicia Washington are younger and full of energy. I’ve known both since they were students at Weber State, nearly two decades ago. Since then they have both invested deeply in our community. They are in touch with the people of Ogden.

Ogden is incredibly fortunate that Alicia Washington and Kevin Lundell have stepped forward to represent us. Let’s put them on the City Council and see what they can accomplish.

Dan Schroeder

Ogden