My name is Alex Sanders, and I am the president of the International Association of Firefighters Local 552, which represents about 90 percent of the working firefighters in Ogden City. As your city’s firefighters, we have taken an oath to protect and serve this great community. In order to effectively carry out this mission, it is imperative that we have the support of our local government. The current administration has been overwhelmingly supportive of our organization. They have proven time and again that they have our best interests in mind. This, in turn, ensures that we have competitive pay and the appropriate staffing to protect life and property in Ogden. When we can compete with other fire departments in these categories, we can retain tenured employees who have the knowledge and experience to effectively and aggressively extinguish fires and effect rescues. It is for this reason that we are impelled to support the incumbent candidates for the upcoming city council election.

Marcia White, Bart Blair, and Ken Richey have worked tirelessly to support our mission. They have proven that they want to keep their firefighters safe and keep Ogden’s strong firefighting culture intact for future generations of Ogden Firefighters to be better prepared to handle the multitude of different types of incidents that we are required to respond to. Our firefighters are some of the best in the state because of how busy we are. In order to protect against a high turnover rate that is often associated with busy departments, we must maintain the support of the Ogden City Council. Without them, we cannot be nearly as effective in all that we do. I fear that breaking this group apart would set us back in terms of having to rejustify what we have fought so hard to acquire. In addition, Flor Lopez has the support of her predecessor, Angela Choberka, who was a vocal advocate of Ogden’s firefighters. For this reason, and on account of our own findings, we believe that Flor is the best candidate to represent District 1 on the Ogden City Council.

By maintaining the current administration, Ogden City’s Fire Department will be able to continue its important mission unhindered. So please join me in voting for Marcia White, Bart Blair, Ken Richey, and Flor Lopez or your Ogden City Council. Their proven track record of support is more than enough proof that they have this city’s best interests in mind. A safer fire department means a safer Ogden. Thank you for your consideration in this extremely important matter.

Alex Sanders

IAFF Local 552 President, Ogden