OP-ED: JOIN ME IN VOTING FOR TAYLOR KNUTH BY NOVEMBER 21
LETTERS & OPINION
Op-Ed author Kevin Lundell at Taylor Knuth’s campaign launch in January, 2023. Image provided
Ben Nadolski and Taylor Knuth are both my friends, but only one of them will be the next Mayor of Ogden City. Navigating politics and friendships is a sticky situation. Nonetheless, from the moment Taylor announced I’ve felt driven to share with people why I think he’s the best person for the job.
On a cold, rainy day in January, my wife and I were standing in front of the Marshall White Community Center listening to Taylor Knuth announce he was running to be the next Mayor of Ogden. With his husband standing next to him, carefully holding an umbrella over the lectern, I couldn’t help but wonder if his candidacy was a long shot. But then he began to speak, “I grew up poor – very poor. The kind of poverty that limits a young kid from dreaming about the future because the present was just so hard.” While describing this impoverished reality, he spoke about his first job at the Standard-Examiner throwing papers on front doors, “Ogden is the place where despite who you are, what you are going through, and where you are from, your dreams can become a reality…Ogden is the city that built me.”
In a debate just last week, Taylor looked back to that campaign launch, “I never thought I would be one of the last two standing on this debate stage; people like me aren’t meant to run for office.” But huddled under my umbrella that day, moved to tears, and inspired to action, I quickly came to realize that Taylor could win.
Before either candidate officially announced, I was having a beer at a Raptors game with Ben Nadolski. “Kevin,” he said, “I’ve got to tell you about a new program I’ve created that is going to be game-changing for youth sports in Ogden. The motto is ‘competition level play for recreation level pay.’ It’s called Ogden Untamed!” That motto instantly caught my attention.
My involvement in coaching two Ogden City Recreation baseball teams has given me some insight into the inequities within the system. My 8-year-old son played on a team in Washington Terrace with a great coach and great players, but he only had the opportunity to play on this team because I had a personal connection with his coach. Meanwhile, we were playing against teams whose organizations had their own training facilities, indoor batting cages, pitching tunnels, and fields of turf. These kids’ parents invested thousands of dollars into their children’s ambitions. Technically, every child in Ogden has an equal opportunity to play in this system, and yet it’s clear that many of the youth in Ogden lack both the financial requirements and social connections to actually play that kind of competitive baseball.
At its heart, Ogden Untamed is an equity program. The city pitches in to relieve the financial burden on families who can’t afford the substantial costs of competitive sports, ensuring every child in Ogden has the opportunity to participate. Ben’s background as a college athlete led to a passion for youth sports that allowed him to identify one of our City’s unique needs. The approach of solving unique problems with customized solutions for diverse communities reflects an equity-based approach. That said, I was surprised by Ben’s responses in recent debates when asked about the choice between equity and equality in regard to addressing problems in underserved populations. Ben’s responses seemed almost allergic to the word “equity.” Again, in the most recent mayoral debate, Ben even argued that the entire equity conversation was merely political semantics designed to drive a political wedge through our community.
In stark contrast, Taylor decisively chose equity, drawing on his life experiences of growing up in poverty and marginalized communities. He emphasized the pivotal role of local government in creating opportunities and programs for individuals like himself and his family: “It’s easy; it’s equity all the way for me, and I say that because I wouldn’t be standing here today if it wasn’t for a government that valued equity over equality.”
Taylor’s perspective and life experience make him an advocate for viewing community issues through a different lens. He never dreamed of running for Mayor, let alone making it a reality, without the support of a government that invested in a local community center with programs accessible to youth from low-income families, which is where he spent much of his childhood. Nor would he be where he is today without the “Own In Ogden” down-payment assistance program that helped him buy his first home and get him on the path to building a family.
As someone who previously served as the Vice Chair of the Ogden City Diversity Commission and has a steadfast commitment to promoting all communities, this is a big deal to me. We need someone in the Mayor's office like Taylor, who sees the world through a new lens. We need someone who will identify the specific needs of the elderly, disabled, and multicultural communities, and who can offer solutions to address those needs in a way that benefits all of us.
Huddled under an umbrella with my wife on that rainy January day, I knew Taylor Knuth could be Ogden’s next Mayor. In that ten minute speech, Taylor exhibited not only the intellect, knowledge of the issues, and experience required to manage a city, but also unparalleled compassion, empathy, and charisma that can motivate individuals like me to work for him in unprecedented ways. This is why I’ve spent many hours knocking on doors speaking to people about the many qualities Taylor has that make him the perfect person to be our next Mayor. I hope you’ll join me in voting for Taylor Knuth by November 21st.
—Kevin Lundell, Ogden resident
Op-Eds/Letters to the Editor can be submitted to The Ogdenite: editor@theogdenite.com.