First Things Last

Well, Ogden city officials have finally gotten around to it; and there are photos to prove it, according to this morning's John Wright story. Ogden city crews are now working to repair washed-out Country Hills Drive, which has been unusable since last spring. Of course they had to scramble a little bit to accomplish this. They "diverted" $300,000 from other infrastructure projects; and the city's "contingency fund is now tapped-out. "We just don't have an extra $400,000 sitting around anywhere," Community and Economic Development Director David Harmer said.

This should come as no surprise to our gentle Weber County Forum readers. We've all watched with amazement as Ogden City government has already begged, borrowed and stolen every available dime to keep the Rec Center project alive. And we've shaken our heads in disbelief, as our city government has squandered discretionary money on big-city luxury items, like a full-time paid lobbyist, a public relations person for the city council, and of course our prodigal adopted son, Stuart Reid. And there have been many other items such as these.

If you ask the average citizen about municipal government priorities, you'll find roads at the top of the list. Police and fire services would be right on top, along with water and sewer services, too. These are the things normal citizens expect of our city government. These are the services that justify city government's very existence in the first place.

I was talking to one of the current city council candidates a couple of weeks ago about the legitimate priorities of city government; and the candidate told me something startling. This candidate had attended a city council candidate orientation, and was presented with a booklet, sort of a manual for city council operations. The candidate kindly furnished me a copy of the booklet, and I've read it cover to cover.

At page 7 of this booklet, joint Council-Administration "goals" are clearly enumerated. Here they are, gentle readers. These are the present city council priorities. Feast your eyes on this:

• Revenue Enhancement
  
• Downtown Development
  
• Natural Resources, Recreational Amenities
  
• Neighborhood Stability.

And here are the priorities which are conspicuously absent. These are the things that didn't even "make the cut:"

• Infrastructure Maintenance and Repair (Roads, Sewer and Water)
  
• Police and Fire Services

I don't know how the citizens of Ogden have allowed our government's priorities to get so fouled up, but our current leadership has obviously gotten it exactly backwards. And no, it isn't a single aggressive and ambitious city mayor who's responsible for this. Responsibility lies squarely in the present city council's lap.

Road repairs and other traditional services are not a priority for our present city government. That's the official policy.

With a primary election coming up in less than a week, we citizens have an opportunity to set things right. Don't sit on the sidelines this year, gentle readers.

I don't care what challenger you vote for in the primary. There are numerous good challengers in the race. The important thing however, is that you show up to oust the council members who've gotten us into this mess, Jorgensen and Burdett, and to turn away Filiaga's heir-apparent too.

It's time to take back our government, folks, and fire the people who've turned the city's priorities on their head, and adopted the official policy of putting first things last.

Comments anyone?