When I became mayor in 2014, I became aware of several critical city needs, including that our 50-year-old city building was struggling to meet our current needs and was ill-suited for future demands. Together with the City Council, we asked the city manager, Jamie Davidson, to conduct an engineering study to fully examine the building’s status and identify options to move forward. We also tasked Jamie to find a way to fund a new building without a tax increase.

In light of his recommendations, we began a pay-as-you-go program and voted to set aside a portion of tax revenues for future capital projects. Orem was beginning to receive increased revenues through recent business investments and some rate changes that would fund the program. Starting in 2015, we put an annual average of $3.5 million into a reserve account for future capital needs. This approach/plan ultimately saved the city about $16 million in interest expenses for the planned projects. In under 10 years, there was $34.5 million in the reserve account.

As we discussed possible building plans, we determined that a new multistory building would fit southwest of the existing City Hall, which would allow us to continue to occupy the old building while constructing the new one. Again, that decision saved the city $2 million dollars. Engineering studies showed that maintenance costs were inordinately high and confirmed that our existing City Hall posed significant seismic risk. We followed that study in 2020 with a financial study by Lewis Young Robertson & Burningham, which verified that we could pay for the new building without incurring additional taxes.

We were fortunate to receive a $2.5 million ARPA (COVID) grant that we put toward the building and another $500,000 from safety impact fees, grants and IT reserves. That money, combined with the $34.5 million in reserve, was enough to cover the $37.5 million needed to pay for the building.

Everything was ready to go. All we needed was a vote from the City Council to approve the project. I urged the council to have the vote in November 2021, but some members felt it would be a nice gesture to let the new mayor (Dave Young) and city councilwoman (LaNae Millett) vote for the project. I was disappointed that I would not get to vote on the project after working so hard to get it to that point. Nevertheless, in January 2022, the council voted 7-0 to approve the debt-free project and move it forward.

It is a fact of life in government that current leaders often harvest crops that were planted years before by others. Such is the case with the new City Hall. Some of the key players who did the heavy lifting were not the people taking the bow at the ribbon cutting earlier this year. In fact, it was sad that their names weren’t even mentioned in the program.

Probably first and foremost among those was Jamie Davidson and his team, including the current city manager, Brenn Bybee. As city manager, Jamie played the lead role in identifying funding sources and planning for the building. Jamie also worked hard to build consensus with all the City Council members from 2014-2021 who were supportive of the project and had lots of input. They put in place the critical steps to set aside the funds, plan the building phases, select the engineers and prepare all the approvals needed for a simple, easy final vote for January 2022.

I am also grateful to have played key roles in making the new City Hall and other projects possible. It was truly a team effort that gave the City of Orem a significant victory.

The same cast of players who made the City Hall happen should also be given credit for pushing through projects that are either already completed or are in the works throughout Orem. A few examples include the new water tank on 400 South and 400 West, which planning began in 2019; the Hillcrest City Park, which was purchased in 2018; the Water Reuse Project, which has been part of the water master plan since 2016; the expansion of 1600 North, which was converted to a state road in 2020; and the expansion of Geneva Road, which will begin soon.

The vision, navigating difficult political decisions, planning and preparation for these projects were made years ago. Consequently, when people stand up today and take credit without acknowledging those who did the hard work to make them happen, you will know that they are being disrespectful, disingenuous and, frankly, selfish. Granted, we should give credit to the current administration for what they have done to execute the plan and finish such a beautiful facility.

I believe the true measure of success of an administration will not be fully evident until a decade has passed. Good leaders look to the future with vision and identify ways to make the city better in the long term. Status quo leadership leads to stagnation and decline in the city. If voters want Orem to continue being a vibrant community, they should identify and vote for leaders with vision and a plan to make Orem better both now and in the future and will go to work to make that plan happen.

Richard Brunst was mayor of Orem from 2013-21.

Others who were “in the room where it happened”

City Council members

Hans Anderson Jr., 2012-2016

Jeff Lambson, 2019-present

Sam Lentz, 2016-2020

Debbie Lauret, 2016-2024

Tom Macdonald, 2014-2026

Terry Peterson, 2020-2024

Mark Seastrand, 2006-2020

David Spencer, 2014-present

Brent Sumner, 2010-2022

City personnel

Jason Bench (City Planning)

Brenn Bybee (city manager)

Ryan Clark (assistant city manager)

Lane Gray (capital projects manager)

Sam Kelly (city engineer)

Chris Tschriki (Public Works director)