Ogden mayoral candidate Taylor Knuth frequently says it’s the city that built him.
It’s the city where he became a first-generation graduate from Weber State University. It’s the city where he bought his first home – a historic Victorian-style house he and his husband could only afford thanks to an Ogden program for new homeowners.
“It's also the city that truly set me on a path that I was never meant to be on. Because, quite frankly, people like me are not meant to run for public office,” Knuth said outside the steps of the Ogden City Municipal Building a week after his primary election win.
Raised by a single mother who worked two jobs to support her three children, Knuth said he wasn’t “raised with the silver spoon,” nor did he “come from a family with a long lineage of being politically engaged.” As a result of his upbringing, Knuth said people didn’t expect him to graduate high school, let alone obtain a master's degree or work toward a doctorate.
Now, he’s one of two remaining candidates for Ogden mayor.
The front-runner out of six others in the municipal primary, Knuth led Ben Nadolski, the other mayoral candidate, by 168 votes. If elected, Knuth would be the first openly gay person of color to serve as Ogden mayor.
At a campaign event Sept. 13, he laid out his top priorities for the growing northern Utah city — public safety, environmental sustainability and economic development. Most importantly to Knuth, he wants “to put people back in the center of local government, right where they belong.”
Making Ogden safer
Knuth would like to see Ogden police officers out of their vehicles and instead connect with residents.
“My vision for community-oriented policing in Ogden is to see our officers actively engaging with our residents, forging meaningful relationships on the streets and sidewalks before crimes are even committed,” he said.
While Knuth said he “recognizes the imperfections” of the approach, he believes that officers should be a part of the Ogden community and “not above them.” By meshing cops with the Ogdenites, he hopes it’ll make the community safer as a whole.
As a solution to an ongoing mental health crisis, Knuth wants to establish Ogden’s own 411 hotline to “coordinate nonviolent, non-life-threatening responses between public works [and] police officers.”
He’d also like to make Ogden streets more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly. Knuth said he would do so by reducing speed limits in some areas, like school zones, improving sidewalk infrastructure and expanding public transportation services.
Shifting to renewable energy
Knuth wants his campaign to “get back to the basics of good governance” by “protecting and preserving our environment.” To him, that means sticking to Ogden’s commitment to transition to 100% renewable energy by 2030 through the Community Renewable Energy Program.
“This helps us ensure a sustainable future for Ogden as an outdoor recreation hub and safeguard our environment for generations to come,” he said.
The Ogden City Council voted in 2019 to join the program. But since then, Mayor Mike Cadwell and members of the council have considered withdrawing from the initiative.
Knuth believes that would be a mistake and pledges to keep Ogden in the program if elected.
To bolster city sustainability, Knuth would like to establish a “Sustainability Solutions Center in close partnership with Weber State and other anchor institutions in our city,” to help fix in-home infrastructure needs like leaking faucets and inefficient toilets.
“The center will also explore bigger, innovative solutions like installing solar panels on the roof of every city-owned building, offsetting carbon emissions and paving the way for a municipal power grid that is resilient to the changes of our climate.”
Balancing growth and housing
A lack of affordable housing is also plaguing Ogden. Knuth would like to create a Housing Stability Division “dedicated to addressing the displacement and all other emergent housing needs in our city, and ensuring Ogdenites are able to continue to live a dignified life and contribute to our city.”
The division would help residents with things like finding housing and available resources for those struggling to pay rent or a mortgage.
He would also like to expand programs for first-time homebuyers. The expansion, Knuth said, would focus on public servants like police officers, firefighters, postal workers and teachers so they don’t have to travel far to get to work.
“I remain committed to this simple proposition that growth within Ogden City should not lead to the eviction, erasure or exclusion of any resident who calls Ogden City home,” he said.
Knuth believes that small businesses are the “lifeblood” of Ogden’s economy. Continued growth, however, has negatively impacted businesses through construction and other infrastructure woes, he said.
“We should look into programs like expanding grants for facade improvements, providing strategic and business-oriented training and services, and even construction mitigation grants for our local businesses being impacted by our growth as streets and sidewalks get torn up throughout the recent years.”
When it comes to spending taxpayer dollars on capital improvements or development, Knuth wants stronger transparency and community involvement. If elected, Knuth said he would establish a “participatory budgeting committee” made of “everyday citizens” who would work with city leadership to help create an annual budget.
The general election is Nov. 21.
Editor’s Note: This profile of Taylor Knuth is the first of two profiles in the Ogden mayoral race. You can read about Ben Nadolski here.
