Henry Ford once said, “Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success.” Although we have nearly 21,000 citizens in North Ogden living in over 6,000 residences, I believe the common thread we all have is wanting our community to be successful. As your mayor, I encourage diversity in thought, and yet this in no way should stop us from coming together to become ONE NORTH OGDEN. It’s healthy to have differing opinions if we are respectful of each other and have a sincere desire to develop solutions that keep us connected as a community.

We have all probably heard the statement, if you’re not growing you’re dying. There are numerous communities who have experienced decaying conditions as they face declining populations. We are blessed to live in a growing community where individuals seek to live in our beautiful surroundings. To accommodate and manage the growth we are experiencing, it is important that we have adequate infrastructure that keeps North Ogden a great place to live. This includes having quality fire and police protection. It is important that we are proactive in rightly sizing our police department and providing them an adequate facility in which to perform their responsibilities. To accomplish this, city leadership has engaged a firm to perform a feasibility study on constructing a new public safety building. A committee of citizens has been appointed to work on this project. I would encourage you to attend their open committee meetings so you can be informed. City Council meetings for the next several months will include discussions regarding the 2021 fiscal year budget. We need citizen input on how to spend your tax dollars. Please come and join us at council meetings. Both meeting times and agendas are posted on the city’s website. I believe the public safety building and the budget process provide opportunities for us to work together for the success of our city and are an example of how we can become ONE NORTH OGDEN in purpose.

Keeping North Ogden strong and vibrant is a goal that is important to me and the city council. As J.K. Rowling said, “We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.” We can remain united in purpose, even though we have diversity in thought. Let’s make it a goal for all of us to be ONE NORTH OGDEN.
Have a great month of March!