page_title: Ogden, Utah
section_title: Government and politics
hierarchical_section_title: Ogden, Utah / Government and politics
caption_attribution_description: English: Ogden City Municipal Building at 2549 Washington Blvd Ogden, Utah, USA.
context_page_description: Ogden is a city and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately 10 miles east of the Great Salt Lake and 40 miles north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,773 in 2019, according to the US Census Bureau, making it Utah's 7th largest city. The city served as a major railway hub through much of its history, and still handles a great deal of freight rail traffic which makes it a convenient location for manufacturing and commerce. Ogden is also known for its many historic buildings, proximity to the Wasatch Mountains, and as the location of Weber State University.
  Ogden is a principal city of the Ogden–Clearfield, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Weber, Morgan, Davis, and Box Elder counties. The 2010 Census placed the Metro population at 597,159. In 2010, Forbes rated the Ogden-Clearfield MSA as the 6th best place to raise a family. Ogden has had a sister city relationship to Hof since 1954. The current mayor is Mike Caldwell.
context_section_description: Ogden is governed under the mayor-council form of government, in which the full-time mayor serves as executive while the seven-member part-time council serves as the legislative branch. All these elected officials serve four-year terms, with elections occurring in odd-numbered years and terms beginning in January of even-numbered years.
  The mayor is Mike Caldwell, who took office in January 2012. The city council members are Marcia White, Richard Hyer, Bart Blair, Ben Nadolski, Luis Lopez, Angela Choberka, and Doug Stephens. Four of the council members represent the city's four municipal districts, while the other three (Lopez, White, and Blair) are elected at-large by voters from the entire city.
  The Ogden City government operates on a budget of $190 million per year and employs nearly 600 full-time workers. In addition to providing the usual municipal services, the government promotes business and economic development. The city operates a redevelopment agency (RDA), with the city council acting as the RDA governing board and the mayor as its executive director. The RDA's activity has increased since its establishment in 1969, with tax increment revenues at about $10 million per year and an outstanding debt of over $50 million. Designated redevelopment districts now cover nearly all of Ogden's central business districts, as are Business Depot Ogden and several other industrial areas in the western parts of the city.
  Much of the recent political discourse in Ogden has focused on controversial government-sponsored development projects in the downtown area, including the Ogden Eccles Conference Center, Lindquist Field, The Junction, the Ogden River Project, and other proposals that have not moved forward.  A proposed streetcar connecting downtown to Weber State University has attracted considerable attention but only limited support.  A major controversy flared up in 2005–07 when the mayor and many others pushed unsuccessfully for construction of a luxury residential development on public land in Ogden's foothills and a new ski resort in the mountains above the city, to be accessed by a pair of aerial gondolas. Other local political concerns include Ogden's relatively high tax and utility rates, efforts to fight crime, allegations of government corruption, and challenges facing the Ogden City schools.
caption: Ogden City Municipal Building
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