Utilizing the medium of a rally complete with free tacos, music and dancing at Lester Park on Tuesday night, Kevin Lundell made his own unique pitch for why he should fill the council’s at-large seat B position.

Lundell told the Standard-Examiner that he was first inspired to run after the city turned away efforts to transform the former Aspen Care Center into permanent supportive housing for people facing chronic homelessness.

“The way the city spent $2.2 million to reject $5 million worth of homeless services, I thought, was just wrong,” he said. “It’s what sparked me and made me want to run for this race. But in the aftermath of that, what I noticed is that streets need new lighting, we need new sidewalks … and the $2.2 million they spent on the Aspen House could sure go a ways to help with some of those things in that neighborhood to make that neighborhood ‘quality.’ That’s where those funds came from, the Quality Neighborhoods Initiative, and I think that money should go to investing in the people that already live here.”

In addition to homelessness and infrastructure, Lundell said he would like to work on investments in the people of Ogden, if elected.

“Ogden needs to invest in its citizens,” he said. “We’ve been investing in economic development for as long as I can remember with this promise, this hope, that sometime in the future that that will come back to us and that we will see the benefits. And that time’s now. We’re spending $3 million to support the WonderBlock and $2.5 million every year to support the parking structure, and it’s time that some of that money comes back to Ogden and its citizens.”

In a 15-minute speech during his rally, Lundell conveyed his message of investing in the people of Ogden as well expressing solidarity with the city’s immigrant community, federal workers, LGBTQ+ community and all Weber State University students impacted by the forced closure of several student service centers as a result of measures opposing so-called DEI — or diversity, equity and inclusion — practices.

“I care about who you are, I care about what you must be going through, and from now on, you shouldn’t have to go through it all by yourself,” he told the crowd. “Ogden’s superpower is that we are a community that cares, and it’s time for time change. It’s time that our city government decides it cares about us as much as we care about each other.”

Lundell said he’s looking to host more events like Tuesday’s rally to get the word out about his campaign as the summer goes along.

“We’ll be holding more events and pushing it out to the community,” he said. “I’ll also be door-knocking, making phone calls and doing all of the things to try and get my name out there so people know who I am.”

In the at-large seat B race, Lundell faces Pieder Beeli and incumbent council member Bart Blair.