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Clockwise from top left, South Ogden City Council candidates Jeannette Smyth, Sallee Orr, Eric Lee and Doug Stephens. Not pictured is Jeremy Howe.
SOUTH OGDEN — Five candidates are looking for a seat at the table in South Ogden’s city government.
Incumbent Jeannette Smyth and challengers Jeremy Howe, Eric Lee and Doug Stephens are on the ballot for three at-large seats on the board. Incumbent Sallee Orr is not on the ballot but is running a write-in campaign to retain her seat.
Incumbent Brent Strate opted not to run for reelection this year.
Stephens, a retired recent transfer to South Ogden, is a 16-year veteran of the Ogden City Council and has served in other civic positions, including being a member of the Weber-Morgan Board of Health, the Weber Central Sewer District and mosquito abatement district.
“I thought with my experience and knowledge, I want to contribute to the continual growth and advancement of South Ogden,” he said. “I’m always an advocate that, where I live, I want to make it better. … That was my perspective in Ogden.”
Lee, a surgical laser clinician, said a major infrastructure need prompted him to throw his hat in the ring.
“I am running for office because our roads need to be painted in such a way that the lines and curbs are easily visible at night, and especially in the rain,” he said. “I’m from the Pacific Northwest (and) there is one and only one thing they got right up there — painting the roads and curbs with highly reflective paints. If (they) can do it, we can do it; we can do it better, and I suspect we can do it cheaper. Maybe we can access federal and states grants to do it? I’ll know more about all that once/if I’m elected. It might sound a little silly, but I want those who travel through our 3-square-mile city to leave thinking, ‘Wow! Those roads were really well marked!’ I’d love it if our roads were the gold standard by which the cities in the rest of our state measured their roads.”
Smyth, who is a retired nurse and is running for her third term on the South Ogden body, said she’s running for reelection to keep experience on the board.
“We’re losing Brent Strate, who’s a stalwart person on there,” she said. “We need people that have been on there for a while, even though we need new blood on there — which we will get — but you need some of that history so that we can keep the city viable.”
Orr, who has served on the South Ogden City Council for four terms, said she feels she can still offer a lot to the community.
“I feel that I can still help South Ogden,” she said. “I’m dedicated to the people of South Ogden. I feel that I listen to what they say. I do my best to make South Ogden a better place and feel that I’m a good representative for the the people of South Ogden.”
If elected, Stephens said he too would put an emphasis on safe roads and sidewalks as well as keeping an eye on the budget.
“We need to be fiscally responsible for the funds that come to the city,” he said. “I’m always an advocate of quality and safe neighborhoods, improvements of the parks, recreation activities and also they have a nature park here that I believe can be an amenity to the quality of life here in South Ogden.”
He said he’s also supportive of first responders, city employees and reducing crime in the city.
Lee said he’d rather run his campaign without the usual candidate paraphernalia and requests for funding.
“I’m just simple enough to believe that a good idea or two should be enough to get elected,” he said. “I’ve never liked the littered look of campaign signs during election seasons, nor do I want a robocaller or a mass texting bothering you at dinner time or while you’re at your kid’s game, play or recital. So, I’m not doing any of them.”
In lieu of campaign donations, he said supporters should donate to a charity of their choice.
Smyth said city beautification is an issue she’d like to see tackled if reelected.
“South Ogden used to be the ‘City of Trees,’ but with the wind that we’ve had, we’re losing some of those and people are cutting down trees and not taking care of their yards, and it’s not as green as it used to be,” she said. “I’d like to see people take a little more pride in the city and clean up. We’re doing a lot of things — we’ve built a lot of parks, we’re looking to build a skate park for the kids, so we’re really progressive here.”
She said she would also prioritize senior living and affordable housing.
Orr said she wants to encourage homeownership.
“I’d like to preserve the neighborhoods that we have,” she said. “Our neighborhoods are very important and connect the community together.”
She added that she would like to see more aggressive code enforcement if reelected.
The Standard-Examiner reached out to Howe but did not receive a response to questions about his campaign by press time.
