The City of Ogden was incorporated on February 6, 1851. A City Council consisting of a mayor, four alderman, and nine councilors administered the new city. They had the authority to levy and collect taxes on all taxable property within the city limits, and to appoint the recorder, treasurer, assessor, collectors, marshal, streets supervisor and other officers which were deemed necessary. The first Ogden City officers appeared to be appointed by the Governor and State Legislature of the State of Deseret. The form of government changed in 1912 to a three-person commission form. The change of government form incorporated features of the Galveston Plan (the fad of local governments across the nation at that time and which essentially was government by committee) and was in conformance with the 1911 Act of the Utah State Legislature.
In an effort to overcome favoritism, inefficiency, and corruption that blighted the commission form of government since its inception in 1912, the citizens of Ogden adopted a council-city manager form of government in 1951. Unlike the three-member commission form, the city council had seven members with one member chosen as mayor. The council set the policies for the city and appointed a city manager to carry them out. This changed in 1992, when the voters authorized a change to the council-mayor form of government. Under this form, the voters elect a seven-member council, that adopts policies and the city budget, and elects a mayor who administers the day-to-day operations of the city departments.
