Letter: You Can't Un-Bake A Cookie
Ogden City Must Reconsider Its Stance On WHA’s Aspen Project
By Sean Bishop
Letters | Opinion
Ogden City Council and Administration's recent interference with the Weber Housing Authority's (WHA) plan to convert the former Aspen Village retirement home into permanent supportive housing is a disappointing and misguided move. This initiative, designed to stabilize chronically unhoused and disabled people, is well-researched and backed by years of extensive community engagement and leadership. Several local experts who live and work in our city who have dedicated their careers to ending homelessness support this project unanimously.
The 2019 Community Assessment & Strategic Plan (which lists Ogden City as one of six key organizations invited to provide “Community Input”) explicitly states that Weber County has disproportionately high rates of homelessness, inadequate funding, and a severe shortage of affordable housing, reinforcing the necessity of projects like Aspen. The claim that "the neighborhood doesn't want this" is simply incorrect, and it's time the council members acknowledge the reality: the people of Ogden support compassionate, evidence-based solutions to homelessness.
The Weber County report is not the only exhaustive study of housing needs in the area. I wonder if anyone opposing this plan remembers presentations to the council or has recently read this thorough study of the needs in East Central? These documents point to a plethora of evidence that this specific model, in this neighborhood, is essential to growth that doesn’t push long-time residents out or leave the unsheltered behind. It is wildly discouraging to see my elected leaders either refuse to read it or fail to re-engage with it in the context of this decision.
Ogdenites see the disparity. We understand it doesn't have to be this way, and we are ready to act. Hundreds of people attended an Open House on the WHA site with only a couple of days' notice. This is a vital, engaged, compassionate neighborhood. We understand our part in the civic process to ensure solutions actually serve the people.
My mom used to tell me, “You can’t un-bake a cookie” when referring to anyone who refused to change their views when presented with new information. This conversation is a veritable bakery of baked cookies in the form of some of our elected leaders and their opposition to the Aspen project. Instead of engaging with the evidence and the neighborhood opinions on the matter, they question our motives and our character.
For instance, councilmember (now Vice-Chair) Hyer's assertion that citizens speak out merely to "feel good" is dismissive and insulting. That comment is not the first (and certainly won’t be the last) time he has directly shamed Ogden citizens for engaging in the process of government. Contrarily, his argument in early work sessions suggested that we don’t have enough information or input from the community on the matter. Now that the overwhelming majority of engaged community members have lined up to express their support, isn't that the very data the council claims to seek? Those tuned into council meetings heard the Mayor’s defense against the public comments in the form of a long list of services Ogden City provides. We all acknowledge those ongoing efforts and understand that they didn’t materialize overnight; they are the product of similar surges of public pressure, and there is still more work to do to meet the needs in front of us.
Yet, instead of embracing facts, members of the City Council—Hyer, White, Graf, and Mayor Nadolski—have all demonstrated a lack of understanding of the project itself, repeatedly misrepresenting key details. Mayor Nadolski's question about background checks, framed as "filling a building with criminals," is particularly egregious. The WHA has made its screening and application process crystal clear, both in detailed online materials and in the packet provided to the council. Their supporting documentation also shows this housing model’s proven track record of helping the targeted population overcome chronic homelessness. The information is available, yet many city leaders continue to mischaracterize the project contrary to the contents of the project description.
Let’s remember some basic facts about this project: Weber Housing Authority has already purchased the building for $1.7M, set aside over $2M for renovations, and secured rent assistance for the next 15 years. WHA also announced a designated fund of $10,000-$20,000 to support community building within the neighborhood (block parties, service projects, reading hours, or any other events that give all residents of East Central chances to get to know each other. See also: building community). The plan also outlines WHA's intention to move their office to this site, directly investing in the neighborhood by spending their working hours here, on the ground, and helping everyone in the community.
This is not some speculative, underfunded experiment—it is a well-planned, sustainable project based on an extensive housing needs assessment for the county. Council and Administration have cited their lack of "a seat at the table." Still, the truth is that WHA extensively discussed the project in Homeless Coordinating Council meetings, a council that has always held a seat open for Ogden City officials. Rather than evaluating this project on its own merits, they appear to be reacting as though it were some highly coordinated political ambush from our community. If there's any petty infighting happening here, it's Ogden City's overall obstruction of this solution simply because they feel excluded from its early stages. I use the word “feel” carefully here because they were invited to the early stages. The mayor himself was on the City Council the entire time this project was percolating (again, in public meetings). The other detractors, Hyer, Graf, White, and presumably Blair, were either on the Council or the Planning Commission at the time.
The Mayor has repeatedly stated that he is working with brokers to find another location. The next step in the process is a City Council vote. Why is the Mayor exerting pressure on the WHA to make an impossibly sharp (and wildly costly) turn before a vote? Who else wants this specific piece of land, and for how much? Where is his data to support that another location would reach better outcomes? This contradiction further undermines the credibility of his objections. It demonstrates an alarming willingness to throw away years of work from community leaders on homelessness and waste a whole lot of time and money while also incorrectly miscategorizing this effort as surreptitious or a subversion of the city when it could not have been a more publicly visible process.
The Mayor’s and City Council’s constituents care about this project. That is why so many people continue vocalizing their support and frustration with the red tape and flaming hoops. Lives are on the line. Ogden City has residents sleeping upright in the lobby of an overcrowded shelter. Ogden City has refused to sign expansions that were routine under the previous administration, and city and county leadership have not adequately addressed Code Blue for the area. The 2019 Community Assessment & Strategic Plan explicitly states that without permanent supportive housing, the crisis in Weber County will only deepen, leaving more people at risk of dying in extreme temperatures.
How can we hesitate while people are dying on 10-degree nights, either trying to reach the shelter—across the infamously wide and dangerous Wall Avenue—or simply succumbing to the cold? Why are our most vulnerable neighbors being asked to wait for a better alternative? Who else is going to come into Ogden and spend millions to do this work and take it off the city’s hands entirely, completely separate from Ogden’s budget?
Ogden City has not met this specific need, so when my elected officials say, "This had better be the last project you do in this city," it sounds like they're asking their constituents and fellow service providers for permission to stop doing the job they were elected (or were renewed by default, after running unopposed) to do.
Why are my elected leaders downplaying the county's exhaustive analysis of the housing crisis? The only baked cookie I'm comfortable with here is the project WHA has presented. The city even has the official sign-off from its very own body, the Ogden Planning Commission. Rarely has the City Council voted against the recommendations of this body, especially Hyer, who repeatedly positions himself as a “planning expert.” If a project makes it through Planning after years of development, the council should have some hard data and a statute to back their denial. The Council and Administration have yet to present a shred of anything concrete that would meet that standard.
Much like you can't un-bake a cookie, you can't downplay the damage that perpetuating blatant lies and misinformation and refusing to listen to the voices of the community does to all of us. The Council still has an opportunity to correct course, engage with the facts, and support a solution that has been carefully designed with input from experts and local stakeholders alike. The question is: will they?
As always, I am very grateful to every elected official for their service. I would be remiss if I didn't extend my gratitude to Councilmember Choberka, who has supported this initiative from the very beginning and whose extensive professional experience in health disparities and outcomes is particularly relevant to this neighborhood. She is also the only elected official in the conversation who lives in this neighborhood and regularly interacts with the affected population. Thank you to Councilmember Myers for publicly voicing your support, on public record, for this project and recognizing its potential impact.
To our elected officials: don't be the baked cookie. Don't be rigid in your stance, refusing to adapt despite clear evidence and community support. Instead, get back in the kitchen and bake with us. Work with the people who live in this neighborhood. There's plenty of room at the table for those willing to rise to the occasion. And if you need help loosening up, consider a different kind of baking session.
— Sean Bishop, Ogden
Former Aspen Assisted Living Building at dusk. Photo provided