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Show Dirks Hopes for Demo. Slot Ogden's Mayor A. Stephen Dirks breezed through southern Utah last week meeting with members of the local Democratic organizations. He discussed his bid for the democratic candidacy to challenge Republican Jake Garn for his seat in the U.S. Senate with the "Record" last week. Northern Utah lawyer Dan Berman is also vying for the democratic nomination for that office and as the state's democratic convention approaches in June the competition seems keen. As Ogden's mayor since 1974, the 37 year old Dirks has an impressive record of development in that city. Accomplishments include bringing new industries to the Weber Industrial Park and establishment of the Ogden Industrial Park; the construction of the largest shopping mall in Utah in Ogden's downtown; the restoration of Union Station; the renewal of 25th St.; the construction of a major hotel and convention center in central Ogden; the establishment of an historical district for the preservation of old homes; and a low-cost housing program for the aged and handicapped. He won the city's election in 1979 with 78 percent of the vote. "Working with federal government-instead of fighting it-nets Ogden City approximately $300 million annually in payrolls, federal grants, school lunch programs, transportation, social and cultural endowments. en-dowments. Federal Bureaucracy is a fact of life. I'm not advocating bigger government nor more government, but better government. I have no doubt that things can be improved, that's why I'm running, but we must realize that the system can and does work for us now. We need to change the system for the better from within, not consistently attack it from without," said Dirks. Cautious about the proposed MX system development in Utah, Dirks feels that the state's citizens can have an increased effect oh that proposal and used the Air Force's position change in the basing mode as an example. "If we can solve the environmental, en-vironmental, economic and social problems to everyone's satisfaction, MX may be able to solve some of the nation's problems," said the mayor. On Gam's record, Dirks commented,"I don't think he has a very good record for the state of Utah. I don't think that he has had any real impact." Dirks is a native of Salt Lake City and attended Weber State College. His mother, Mary Ellen DeLong Dirks, is a native of Panguitch. Dirks served eight years as the Business Development Officer of the Bank of Utah until 1978. During 1979 he served as the Executive Director of the St. Benedict's Hospital Foundation. Foun-dation. He is currently a partner with Asset Exchange, Ex-change, local real estate, investment . and marketing firm. He holds a number of local and national positions including: in-cluding: member of the Governor's Advisory Committee on Community Affairs; Chairman of the Economic Development Committee of the Wasatch Front Regional Council; member of the Weber Area Council of Governments, Golden Spike Empire, Inc., Union Station Development Corporation, Renaissance Project Advisory Board, Weber Industrial Development Corporation; he is chairman of the Ogden Neighborhood Development Agency. He is also a past vice chairman of the National Bicentennial Committee for the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He was a member of the National League of Cities Steering Committee on Community Development. |