I'll explain that I've been on the phone all day, gentle readers. Even though today's Standard-Examiner delivered a week's worth of news discussion red meat today, I've spent hours today dialing out and talking to my many secret but will-informed sources close to city hall on and about the most important one -- the empty downtown mall site.
The most important news story today, in my not so humble opinion, was this one that John Wright logged today. The title was ominous"... "Ogden Puts Up Collateral for Rec Center."
Yes, gentle readers, the lender who's been found, even though we didn't know he was lost, is asking for additional security, as a further condition to serving as the issuer of the essential letter of credit.
I'm going to break a real blockbuster story here. No, it's not about sidewalks. You'll remember when I warned you that Ogden City voters would receive an October Surprise, shortly before the November 8, 2005 municipal election.
This coming Friday, October 22, 2005, the Ogden City Council will conduct a special session, with the sole object of setting the thirty-day public comment period going into the Rec Center Project.
My sources reveal that:
The gang of six will try to characterize this completion of the project arrangements as an accomplishment, whereas rational people will see it for what it is -- putting all the revenue eggs into an insubstantial and risky basket -- and delivering an October surpise to continue our hellbent-to-debt present napoleonic government into another two years in the direction of municipal bankruptcy.• The "toxics" problem has been resolved;
• The construction materials price problems have been resolved;
• The financing problems have been solved, now we've thrown a public guarantee into the financial pot;
• The project is thus almost ready to go;
• The only remaining obstacle is the free-thinking Ogden townsfolk;
• the gang of six considers Ogden citizens to be morons; and,
• This election IS NOW regarded, even within Ogden City government inner circles, as a public referendum on the Rec Center project.
What had been sold to the Ogden city taxpayers as a public-private partnership, which would stand or fall on its own merit, has now been transformed into a deal that's guaranteed by the taxpayers -- us.
It's the old "bait and switch" folks. The central-planning schemers promised the taxpayers we wouldn't be "on the hook," even in the event of the default of the Fatcats and Golds principals. That's all changed, changed utterly. As a practical matter, the administration might as well be financing this project with government obligation (GO) bonds, because the present "publicly-guaranteed" financing structure is about as close to that as you can get.
If you don't vote out the neoCON gang of five brain-dead Godfrey-zombie incumbents in this general election, I don't want to hear anybody whining or complaining about it again.
As a matter of fact, I'll dun you for your complacency here from Nov 8 onward if we don't kick out these rubber-stamping dopes on November 8.
There will be scheduled a series of public comments sessions during the 30-day period after Friday, pursuant to the thirty-day plan, according to my information. I'm also told these proceedings will be recorded, pursuant to the Utah Open and Public Meetings Act. Concerned citizens should attend these meetings en masse, and put their objections on the record.
It's much simpler than that though, really.
If you like the rec center project, and its enormous debt, which ties up virtually every spare dime in Ogden city cash-flow, vote for People's Deputies Comrades Jorgensen, Burdett and Larsen.
If not, vote for the common sense choices of the people of Ogden -- Glasmann, Jeske, Stevens and Garcia.
Many Ogdenites demanded a Rec Center Referendum. It's comin' right up now.
Weber County Forum recommends cool-headed, business-minded Ogdenites to run Ogden City government.
Weber County Forum recommends against voting for mind-numbed, financially-reckless pro-Godfrey big-government extremists.
Don't be flummoxed by the October surprise B.S, which you'll probably read about in the Godfrey-Std-Ex around Friday. They'll try to tell you its good news.
It's time to say "good-bye" to the outta-town carpetbaggers who are trying to turn our wonderful cultural "melting pot city" into a backwater "whitebread" abomination -- like Provo.
Say "no" to Godfrey and his brain-dead zombies.
Etch that into your brains.
There are important political implications here. What for instance should happen if Godfrey-zombies Jorgensen and Burdett are voted out on November 8 -- and then cast their pro-rec center votes in favor or the rec center project anyway, as brain-numbed pre-programmed lame ducks?
Not a very pretty picture.
Comments, anyone?
Update 10/20/05 12:50 p.m. MT: Three public notices appeared this morning on the Ogden City website, which refer to a "contribution agreement," and appear to relate to the "additional collateral" reported in yesterday's John Wright story. You can read them here, here and here.
You can also read another concurrently-posted public notice, which pertains generally to the rec center project bonding here.
Each of these notices seems to bear an October 21, 2005 publication date, so it's likely that the thirty-day clock begins running tomorrow, regardless of whether a special council meeting is set, as a reader downthread has already suggested.
Update 10/20/4:30 p.m. MT: Councilwoman Wicks has kindly provided to this board the Ogden RDA's press release, which you'll probably read about in tomorrow's
Public venues have been scheduled. Please take your minds off the kids' soccer practice, Ogden citizens! Pay attention ye "unwashed" city towns-folk! We need to have the public input of people who recognize the ridiculousness of the administration's latest flip-flop. What started out as a public-private partnership, has now become a public-resource-draining publicly-financed boondoggle which will ultimately RAISE YOUR TAXES!
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