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Show OGDEN'S MAYORAL CANDIDATES 4 | MyWeberMedia.com | July 23, 2019 DEBATE AT WSU By HEATHER WRIGHT Reporter Four candidates are in the race for Ogden Mayor in 2019: incumbent Mayor Mike Caldwell, Ogden City Planning Commissioner Angel Castillo, Ogden businessman Daniel Tabish and perennial candidate for office in Weber County, John Thompson. At 7 p.m. on July 18, Ogden citizens joined in Lindquist Hall to watch the four candidates debate. The Haven J. Barlow Lecture hall was nearly full of people listening as Bob Hunter, director of Olene S. Walker Institute of Politics and Public Services, asked the candidates about their thoughts on various issues affecting the city. Caldwell would enter third term as mayor if elected. He has focused on making Ogden a community people want to come visit as well as working on economic development and plans to continue this pursuit. Castillo, formerly from Los Angeles, would like to make a safer community by recruiting and retraining Ogden’s law enforcement officers. She has also said she would like to fix the streets and sidewalks, as well as focus on expanding housing needs as the population grows. Tabish, a life-long Weber County resident, plans to bring more businesses into Ogden to increase economic prosperity. He said he wants to lower the crime rate and taxes. Thompson, a former U.S. Marine Corps officer, has said he would spend taxes how the public wants while making Ogden somewhere people want to be. After the candidates introduced themselves, Hunter asked the candidates how they would engage the community in an “authentically transparent way.” Castillo answered first. She proposed regularly reaching out and interacting with the community by way of frequent town hall meetings, which would be more casual than council meetings. Tabish said he would have an “opendoor policy” for the office, as well as have the police out in the communities to con- nect with the citizens. Caldwell responded to Tabish, saying he already has an effective open-door policy in place since he’s been mayor, which would continue if he is re-elected. He said his focus is crime reduction through actively policing and reaching out to the community. Thompson said he had problems with how decisions are made and communicated to the public. “I think there are many, many things that are being discussed that we don’t know about,” Tompson said. “You don’t really find out about that stuff until you go to the council meeting that the decision is being made at.” To raise awareness of what’s happening JOSHUA WINEHOLT | The Signpost Mike Caldwell, Ogden Mayor, pictured here speaking at Joe McQueen's 100th birthday celebration, debated three mayoral candidates at WSU on July 18. Candidates discussed topics such as economic development, race relations and public awareness. (Joshua Wineholt / The Signpost) |