Anyone who's at all active in Ogden politics has heard of Tom Owens. He's that cranky guy who lives in Farmington, owns an Ogden city rental property, and contributes those highly-entertaining and well-written articles about Ogden City to the Standard-Examiner. His articles never fail to get the City administration's hackles up -- for good reason. His style is witty and acerbic, and he's a definite and constant "burr under the saddles" of the Ogden City mayor and council, (and the Std-Ex editors, even as they "mount up" this week in their new "cowboy boots" and "ten-gallon-hats" for the upcoming Pioneer Days celebration.)Tom Owens is more than that, though. I've come to know him through various political events, from city council meetings to the BBQ that I referenced here in another article. My impression of him is that he's quite brilliant. The fact that he's a native Ogdenite doesn't temper that impression at all. Being a native Ogden boy myself, it enhances it, of course. Tom Owens is definitely NOT a "carpetbagger." He grew up in our town; and he definitely knows our unique local culture. And being a native Ogden boy, he's naturally tough as nails. He's U.S. Army "Airborne" to boot, as rumor has it. All these factors make him a force to be reckoned with, I think.
For those who are unfamiliar with Mr. Owens' contributions to the ongoing Ogden City political dialogue, you can brush up on his two most recent Std-Ex communications here and here.
We're also fortunate to have him contributing to Weber County Forum, from time to time, in the reader comments sections.
Recently, Steve Larsen contributed his own Std-Ex political broadside, slamming Mr. Owens, in the form of this guest commentary.
I consider myself a friend to both Steve and Tom, by the way. They're both honest, decent and honorable men, but I think Steve went a little off-track on this. I do hope they'll meet for lunch sometime soon, in order to identify what I see as much common philosophical ground.
Now that I've brought everybody up to speed, though, I'm about to expose Mr. Owens' secret life -- the one he leads down in Farmington. He's an evil guy, alright, and he hangs out with a bad crowd -- like the Utah Daughters of the Pioneers, Glen Leonard, LDS Church historian and Mary Johnson, International DUP president.
Tom Owens leads a stealth life. It's high time that he should be exposed.
In that connection, here's the interesting article that appeared yesterday in the Deseret Morning News, which was emailed to me by one of our attentive Weber County Forum regulars. It seems to me that Tom Owens may be quite a bit more "establishment" in real-life, than his detractors portray him. Read the article here.
Oh, the shame! And here we'd thought that he might be just another evil "obstructionist."
Yer busted, Tom Owens!
Comments anyone?
