Did everybody catch this letter to the editor that appeared in this morning's Standard-Examiner?Fly on the wall tells it all
Sunday, October 9, 2005
I recently had the good fortune to speak to the "fly" on the wall that was present at the meeting between Ogden Mayor Godfrey and Stuart Reid.
The meeting went something like this:
Godfrey: "Hey, Stuart, come on in. I've got a deal for you that's really good and will dupe the City Council and the public."
Reid: "I'll be right in."
Godfrey: "You can resign or I'll terminate you. We'll pay $43,561 in severance and hire you as a contractor for $77,828. Your first-year compensation will be $121,389 instead of your current salary of $104,547."
Reid: "You've got my attention, Mayor. I'll resign -- it looks better."
Godfrey: "I hear you, Stuart. I agree."
Reid: "But, mayor, I don't think I'm entitled to severance unless you terminate me, and how can we get around the City Council?"
Godfrey: "Well, Stuart, if it comes to that, I'll change the paperwork to 'termination.' The City Council will whine, but they can't do anything about it."
Reid: "I'm in. It's an early Christmas. Thanks, Santa."
My conclusions follow:
* Mayor Godfrey looked at the decision as, "What can I legally get away with?" instead of, "What is morally correct for those paying the bills (the public)?"
* The process smacks of cronyism.
* We need to elect officials who view public revenue as a sacred trust.
* Is this the tip of the iceberg in the behavior of Ogden's public servants?
Don L. Owens
Ogden
And if you caught the letter, you probably read the other side of the story,"" on the right side of the editorial page, written by none other than Mayor Godfrey himself.
For my own part, I'm growing sick of this story, and I don't feel like ruining a perfectly enjoyable weekend by dissecting it further today. If you're a glutton for punishment, though, you can read more about it here, here and here.
It's probably a little early to draw conclusions about the technical legal merits of this transaction; inasmuch as the city council's independent attorney hasn't issued his own opinion yet.
While we await the verdict of learned counsel, though, I'm going to apply a few of the facts we do know, and ask a few peripheral questions.
Inasmuch as we know that Stuart Reid's term of employment as Ogden City Economic Development Director was covered by a written agreement, why wasn't his purported prior oral severance agreement incorporated and integrated into it too? It was an integral part of his employment agreement with Ogden City, so why did Mayor Godfrey and Mr. Reid choose leave it out? Was it supposed to be a secret? If so, Why? And from whom was the secret to be kept? The city council? The taxpayers?
Mayor Godfrey's guest commentary also contains this slightly disturbing revelation: "Stuart received exactly what is allowed for under Ordinance 99-46, just as other Ogden employees have over the years. "
Are we understand from this that there exist other similar secret oral severance agreements ready to spring forth upon the voluntary terminations of other highly-paid city employees within Ogden city's current employ? If so, who else will be receiving a secret severance bonus?
And isn't reader Don Owens Right? Doesn't morality enter into the question here? Disregarding legal technicalities, doesn't this boil down to a question of right and wrong? And am I the only one who finds the adoption of a highly legalistic posture in this situation, adverse to the taxpayer interest, to be, well, more than slightly inelegant?
And what, if anything, did the other members of the "gang of six" (Jorgensen, Safsten, Burdett, Filiaga, and Stephenson) know about this; and when did they know it?
So many questions; so few answers.
