KAYSVILLE—Jaysen Christensen has wanted to be a city manager since he was 8 years old. The new Kaysville City Manager took over June 5 and already feels at home. 

“When I was 8 years old, any time I’d see a street or sidewalk being worked on I would sneak behind the yellow tape to see the improvements,” Christensen said. “I was surprised that not everyone liked this. When I got to college I realized, ‘wow, I can do this as a job.’”

Christensen grew up in Pleasant Grove and attended BYU. “I was interested in staying in Utah,” he said. “My wife was from St. Louis. I was planning on interning somewhere along the Wasatch Front but she suggested I could do an internship in St. Louis and we could live with her parents. I told her whoever finds one first, that's where we’ll go.”

Within 24 hours she had an internship in St. Louis, he said. “I ended up taking an internship as a city manager in St. Louis for the summer. I thought it would be a one and done then I’d come back to Utah for the rest of my life.”

It was tough finding jobs in 2002, said Christensen. “I went to California for two years then back to St. Louis for 18 years. I worked in three different cities. My most recent was in Frontenac. It reminds me of Kaysville. It is a desirable community, a place where people want to be. It has that hometown feel.”

Christensen said he hadn’t been looking for a job. “I had relationships there. But I saw the posting on the website and it checked every box. I threw my hat into the ring and here we are. I love Kaysville. There’s a lot of great nostalgia.”

Kaysvillewas founded by the pioneers so it has a strong community spirit, he said. “There’s a lot of history and charm.”

People come out in masses to events, said Christensen. “There’s the downtown theater and businesses. I’m excited for the future of Kaysville. It has a great past and an exciting future. I’m excited to be a part of it.”

Kaysville City has tremendous employees, he said. “I’ve been impressed since I’ve been here. They have a vested interest, love and dedication and they put their heart into the job. I tip my hat to Shayne Scott. He left the city in great shape. Great things are happening and we’ll continue to build on that.”

There are a lot of opportunities on the horizon, said Christensen. “There’s been a lot of effort in planning for future land use, etc. with the general plan. One thing we’ll pay attention to is the Main Street corridor of Kaysville City center and what’s happening.”

The city recently signed an agreement for a food hall, he said. “It should spark interest to get a lot of other things going. We want to try and bring in more destination businesses where people will get out of their car and visit. We’ll do more landscaping and make it more pedestrian friendly.”

Kaysville is close to being built out in the next 10-15 years, Christensen said. “We have to be wise to make it the best it can be for residents and provide services the residents need. We want to keep the momentum going to make Kaysville a great place to live.”

Christensen said it’s important to him to truly listen. “There’s always a difference of opinion. I want to truly understand every side and take it to heart. I want to build relationships in the community. There’s never a slam dunk in government – there’s always some other side to it.”

It’s great for my family to be here, he said. “I feel like this is where we’re supposed to be.”