The Standard-Examiner has run two pieces within the past two days urging the townsfolk to attend their neighborhood caucus meetings. The first was a letter to the editor yesterday, (pan right and scroll down below the editorial cartoon,) touting Davis county Republican meetings. This morning there was this strong lead editorial, extolling the value of grass-roots citizen participation, as a remedy for extremist politics.
In essence, both articles got it mainly right. The neighborhood caucuses are a very important part of the political process in the state of Utah. Because of the normally low attendance at these meetings, every attendee has political clout magnified well beyond "one man, one vote." As the Standard-Examiner points out, the caucus meetings are the initial step in the candidate culling process -- the initial proceedings in which the final candidates are separated from the also-rans.
If you haven't attended your party's neighborhood caucus meetings in the past, we urge you give it a try tonight. It's a unique opportunity to gather with your friends and neighbors to discuss and debate the important political issues of the day at the grass-roots level. If you've been alienated from the political process; the caucuses present an opportunity for you to genuinely re-engage.
For the convenience of our gentle Weber County Forum readers of all political stripes, you can find your local Democratic Party caucus locations at this link, and your local Republican caucus sites here. Both links are provided courtesy of the respective Weber County political parties, each of whose website is also linked in the Weber County Forum sidebar.
If you don't know the designation of your respective Weber County voting precinct, you can find it here, simply by clicking the link and entering your home address.
As an added convenience, we are also providing a link to the Weber County Clerk's website, for a complete list of all the candidates who are running for Weber County Offices, as well as other important 2006 election information.
Get the to the caucuses we say, gentle readers. Let your voices be heard.
Comments, anyone?
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39 comments:
Wow 7 hours and no comments. Everyone must be working hard to get all their work done so they can go to the caucus meetings. Well except for Ogden city council members and staff and those who don't want to miss their meeting.
Here is an article that tells what other cities did to accomodate, and why they are on tuesday now instead of the traditional monday.
Luckily, though not mentioned in the article, my city rescheduled council meeting to Wed. Could have been because one council member is his precinct chair and is hosting the meeting in his home and another is vice-chair of his precinct.
Also a good thing because another of our members threw her hat into the ring for county commissioner.
Well, I attended my Democratic legislative district caucus. There was a standing room only crowd. They had to bring in more chairs, and people kept coming, and in the end, there were not enough seats for all.
A standing room only crowd at a Democratic caucus in Ogden?
Clearly, the Second Coming cannot be far off now....
And my precinct had only 9 republicans. How shameful.
Mine had
6 elephants,
11 donkeys,
and
15 horse's asses.
mine had 20 elephants.....my living room could've handled about 3 more...so glad we rounded off at 20.
Good discussions...everyone left feeling like they'd been heard, answered, and voted for the delegates and officers they chose.
The elephants enjoyed the peanuts and cookies!
I wish I had been at yours ella.
At mine they talked some about the state party platform (ie read some of it, and someone handed out a copy to everyone). Then talked about our great nation and state. Then elected precinct officers and county and state delegates, had punch and cookies and went home. On the table was information from a few candidates that we could take.
We did get an earful from the leg district vice-chair. Seems our precinct was the only one in the district (and maybe a greater area but she just handed out stats on our leg district) that had a majority for Matheson for gov in the last election.
Jennifer - The Horses A____ probabably represented a combination of the reps and dems.....
Rudi...
I appreciate you linking OgdenGondola.com!
We have a new blog (blog.ogdengondola.com)we welcome civil debate from all sides! I notice you have a blogroll and was hoping you would kindly add us as well, as you have quite the readership of passionate ogdenites.
Please come and discuss the gondola.
Dear Mz. Lovely:
The horse's asses represented the Keg Party.
OgdenGondola invites us to come discuss the gondola.
Which gondola would that be? The one from downtown to WSU that we were told was going to be built entirely with private funds? Or the one that will be built with money the city gets from selling off Mt. Ogden Park to a real estate developer to build a gated community for the super wealthy in its place?
Or do you mean the Gondola Chris Peterson was going to build with his own money up to his as yet unbuilt [and unrevealed] realestate development in Malan's Basin? Or do you mean the one he's going to build from the money he makes carving Mt. Ogden Park into upscale home sites after Mayor Godfrey sells it to him?
Or do you mean the Gondola that will go from WSU to Snowbasin that the mayor keeps talking about? Or the one that will stop at Malan's Basin?
So many gondola plans.
So many questions.
So few answers.
Curmudgeon...Exactly! I am talking about all of those and welcome your comments. These are the issues that need to be discussed and will be on the blog. I welcome your presence.
Arcritic,
oh, you poor endangered species!
Perhaps you should think of moving into a better leg. dist. MATHESON????? My area of the jungle welcomes you.
At least you read the Repub Party Platform.. ONE good Republican may be able to save your entire district. Convert 9 more...reread Sodom and Gomorrah.
hey read this one,
{and notice that the Mayor's father in law is in with this crowd of emails!!!}
[mailto:dorimosher@hotmail.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, March 21, 2006 1:03 PM
> To: jstelars@comcast.net; bgeiger@descenteus.com;
> stevenprisbrey@yahoo.com; bobjen565@msn.com; Council,
> City;
> cpsoc@yahoo.com; deallenmd@aol.com;
> dustinchapman@msn.com;
> editor@streetmagazine.net; katypaulson@gmail.com;
> scheshire2@hotmail.com; sirlance@networld.com
> Subject: RE: Ron Atencio's Leg 9 Campaign
>
> If you are not a registered democrat you can still get to
> the Weber
> County building and register as one today. Danny, Chad,
> and I have all
> changed our party affiliation in order to be able to vote
> in the caucus.
>
> Dori
>
>
> >From: jstelars@comcast.net
> >To: bgeiger@descenteus.com (Bob Geiger),
> dorimosher@hotmail.com (Dori
> >Mosher), stevenprisbrey@yahoo.com (Steven Prisbrey),
> bobjen565@msn.com
> >(Robert & Jennette Ballantyne),
> citycouncil@ci.ogden.ut.us (Donna
> >Burdett), cpsoc@yahoo.com (Chris Peterson),
> deallenmd@aol.com (Ed
> >Allen), dustinchapman@msn.com (Dustin Chapman),
> >editor@streetmagazine.net (Ron Atencio),
> katypaulson@gmail.com (Katy
> >Paulson), scheshire2@hotmail.com (Sheldon Cheshire),
> >sirlance@networld.com (Dan Mann)
> >Subject: Ron Atencio's Leg 9 Campaign
> >Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2006 17:54:43 +0000
> >
> >Dear Friends; (imagine Mission impossibe music playing in the
background.)
You are now chosen as members of the committee to elect Ron Atencio to
the State Legislature from District 9. If you want off the mailing
list, please send a message to that effect as an email reply to this
message and I will take you off the mailing list.
I have phone lists of Registered Democrats in Leg 9 to
"The Good in Ogden", committee. If you want copies please have one of
them send you a copy or wait while I reconstuct the list, and I will
send you a copy.
I hope we can pull off this political coup, there is a
fresh breeze brewing in Ogden.
Do whatever you can to see that Ron gets 60% of the
Delegates in tonight's meeting (Tue. 3-21-2006) at the Weber County
Library. Only registered voters registered Democrats can vote or be
delegates to the Weber County Democratic Convention held later this spring.
If 60% of the delegates from Leg 9, elected tonight, vote for Ron in
the convention, he will be the Democratic nominee and avoid the nasty confrontation of a primary. That pretty much assures him a win,
because only Democrats have won in that area since Adam was in the Garden.
I thank you, and Ron thanks you for whatever you can do.
Steve Larsen
PS: Please destroy this letter after you have read it, rember this is a stealth campaign. (Mission impossibe music playing in
the background.)
Does the does steve larsen really think that you can fool all the people all the time or is he just the fool.
I wonder if this really where all the negitivity in the city is coming from and they hide behind the name "the good in ogden campaign"
shame on all of you for condoning such activity. How do you sleep at night?
Jenny, Jenny, Jenny - Of course I do NOT take you seriously.... ;)
I am behind the negative emails! Ha Ha Ha
The lights are on,
watch the cockroaches scatter!
It will be real interesting to see how many, and who, on this list of upstanding citizens actually played along with this perfidity.
Some allegedly upstanding citizens and "civic leaders" implicated here. Also an amazing cross over with the Godfreyites and Gondolists!
Hmmmm, you don't suppose the little one was in on this do you? Nah, he wouldn'd do anything sneaky - would he?
Ron Antencio, he of the "stealth Campaign." He's actually hired Steve "get your signs in the ground 9 months early" Larsen to run his "stealth campaign?" And the Mission Impossible music--imagine that.
This alone pretty much seals Atencio's fate. Why would ANYONE vote for a guy who hires Steven Socrates Larsen to run his campaign. Looks like good old Steve can't let it alone--still trolling around, even after Doug Stephens kicked his butt last Fall.
Atencio and Larsen, a pair to draw to.
Sailing under false colors is not an honorable things to do. Not on a blog. Not at a party caucus.
But explaining honorable conduct to Republicans is, I have sadly learned over the years, an all but hopeless endeavor.
Ah cummon now Curmudgeon,
Dick Nixon was a republican, Spiro Agnew was a republican, Douglas Stringfellow was a republican, DeLay is a repuplican, Georgie Porgie is a republican, Dick (shoot em in the face) Cheney is a republican, Karl Rove is a republican, Kenny Boy Lay is a republican, Enid Green is a republican, Joe Waldholz is a republican, Matt Godfrey is a republican - or is he?
Now why would you cast dispersions on such fine wrapped in the flag patriots at these?
Peekaboo!
ICU, Little Bobbie!
Please read the comments posting policy before you attempt to post here again.
Also... please take notice that you're within a hair's breadth of having your IP addy permanently added to the spambot.
I'm growing tired of deleting your childish posts.
How about the gall of Larsen including the city council in his army of supporters for Atencio? Well, he may have broken the law. There is a prohibition against that kind of 'political' activity....and they were 'recruited' without foreknowledge nor permission!!!
What a bunch of losers: Allen, Prisby, Mosher, Larsen, Geiger, et al. And to think B Geiger is a graduate of Annapolis...where is your honor? And in with a bunch of seemingly morally bankrupt losers.
Godfrey 'joined' the Republican Party last time around just to get into the R caucus and be a delegate.
These people are so crooked they can't walk straight.
The Allen/Godfrey/Larsen/Geiger group seem to have delusions of grandeur....Kennedy dynasty wannabe's. However....no granduer...just delusions.
Impropriety, Immorality, Mission Impossible, for sure!
I would like to take the opportunity to disassociate myself from this email that was sent out. I do not condone the language of the email and wish to clarify that just because I was a recipient of this email, doesn't mean that I am "secretly" helping any candidate.
However I do know Mr. Atencio and find him to be an outstanding Ogdenite, business owner, and gentleman who loves Ogden and has worked hard to make it a better place. I wouldn't judge him on the merits of this email as I assume he had no knowledge of the email as well.
It looks like this email was sent out to a group of people of a wide array of political, economical, and ideological backgrounds and clearly not a targeted secret group, illustrated by it being sent to a past city council member who has been out of office for months.
Additionally, I am not a Democrat and will not be taking part in the process of choosing Democratic candidates. I wish the best of luck to all candidates who have entered their respective races, I know it can be a daunting task.
ches,
was it necessary to take up so much room to give us the whole posting policy? That is so time consuming for you and us....Just a reference would have sufficed.
How come you show up on other emails emanating from city hall with many of the persons in this lastest 'secret' email??
Unlike Prisby, I didn't see you distancing yourself from the self-proclaimed Ogden 'elite'.
The rabble are aroused......they may even storm city hall.
But Steve, even though it's nice you stepped out and disassociated yourself from this pack of "whatevers," didn't yoy work for AND support this Steve Larcenous during his futile run to the City Council?
Now, here he is again, plying his wares, stretching all that is dignified, pushing the envelope of his religious value system, all in the name of hypocrisy and left handed politics.
Likes been mentioned, the guy's a troll with no respect for civility.
Mr. Prisby is to be congratulated for disassociating himself from a stealth attack by Republicans pretending to be Democrats in order to intervene in the nomination of a Democratic candidate for office. Kvetching about who he supported, openly and without disembling [his right] in a past election seems over the top to me.
I am puzzled by only one thing: Mr. Prisby's post is so lucid, so reasonable, and it comes down so soundly against dishonesty and disembling in public matters, that I find it hard to understand why he's still a Republican. Certainly if he continues to think as he does in his post, and to act on the principles expressed there, he will not long be welcome in the party of Abrahmov, DeLay, Duke Cunningham, Karl Rove, Bill Frist and Scooter Libby, Sean Hannity and their ilk.
When the scales fall from his eyes, the party of Jefferson will welcome him home.
Bonnie Lee and Curmudge - Maybe we should not go down that road. A political party (the Dems )who puts getting elected as a priority over the welfare of the country is nothing to be proud of either. As I have said a niumber of times, the Reps have thoughly disgusted me. The Dems are NO BETTER! I guess the difference between you and me is that I at least admit that my (former) party is beyond repair.
It might be interesting to see how many times Mosher, Larsen, Godfrey, etc have changed parties just to influence their respective mass meetings and thus the conventions. I'm of the opinion that this stunt is not their first.
Instead of your assinine Party bashing, which only makes Bonnie and Curm look like cheerleaders for the Ogden Elite...why not keep Larsen's feet to the fire for that email to all of Atencio's 'new' supporters?
How many will try to disassociate themselves? So far, on this site, only Prisby. But, Prisby is looking out for himself...and will he support Atencio?
Here I am, grining at the notion that I am a cheerleader for "Ogden's elite." I hope, someday, maybe, to meet one of Ogden's elite, not having done so in four years here so far. But then, I'm at a real disadvantage in hob-nobbing with the patricanians: I don't play golf, I don't ski, I don't ride horses and both of the family cars' remaining blue book value is less than the deductable on collision/comprehensive insurance for them would be. What's a poor syncophant of the Power Elite to do?
Maybe I need to take Rudi up on his offer to grant Mrs. Curmudgeon and myself safe passage to Angelos some night. Is that where the Ogden Elite has been hiding from me?
Curm...don't worry...be happy.
"they " are only legends in their own small minds.
Go to Angelos anyway. Bon Appetit!!!
Memo to Bonnie Lee:
God, you're good! I didn't think anyone would remember Doug Stringfellow. I think he would find today's Congress as hospitable to his incomparable patriotism as it was in 1954.
Maroni
Stringfellow was a tragic figure for sure. He was really a decent guy that got caught up in a phony war story that started out small and as his political career grew it came to consume him in front of a national TV audience.
He was a neighbor of mine when I was a kid at 34th and Tyler. I remember him well, the crippled war hero with tons of charisma. He rode into the US Congress with his wounded in combat story and on the coat tails of Ike.
His fall was swift and brutal and he ended up as a disk jockey at a small radio station in Long Beach, California. He died there a broken man a few years later.
Oz:
Interesting. I had to google the name. I was unfamiliar with Stringfellow.
Which brings up for me at least a point not un-related to the current Abrahmov/Duke Cunningham scandal. I'm not sure I can buy the "decent guy caught up in..." explanation. Seems to me we don't have a lobbiest problem, we have a congressman problem. All it would have taken for there to have been no Abrahmov scandal was for Duke Cunningham, and the rest, to have said this: "Wait... are you trying to bribe me? Get the hell [or heck, pick one] out of my office, you son of a bitch, before I set the dogs on you. And don't come back."
Apparently, Cunningham and several others couldn't find enough honor in themselves to say "no. This is wrong. I won't." Neither could, apparently, Stringfellow.
Is there a cure for this lack of a sense of honor in public persons, or is it something simply in the nature of mankind and power and preferment that we'll have to deal with always. Sadly, I think probably the latter.
What strikes me most is these two instances did not involve difficult moral questions, edgy moral choices. The options were plain and clear and subject to no debate: take a bribe or don't. Lie about your recrod for your own agrandizement or don't. Not hard to separate right from wrong in either case.
Yet neither could summon up enough honor to say "no. I won't."
Sad. For them. For us.
Or, as H. L. Mencken put it, "I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible to any public office of trust or profit in the Republic."
Gloat thee not Mr. Curmudgeon. The elephants amongst us do not have an exclusive license on perfidity! There is enough larceny and political arrogance to go around for both major parties.
Abscam comes to mind from a few years ago. Six congressmen and one senator were convicted of conspiracy and bribery ! They were: Representatives Michael Myers, Frank Thompson, John Murphy, Ray Lederer, John Jenrette, and Senator Harrison Williams - all Democrats! One Republican was also convicted - Richard Kelly. There were also a number of other lesser public officials - all Democrats - that were convicted.
A Republican Senator - Pressler as I recall - was offered bribes, but he immediately threw the FBI agents, posing as Arab crooks, out of his office!
Of course we also have Bill Clinton's little escapade in the Oval Office with Miss Lewinsky that we could remind you of - if we weren't such gentlemen that is! Also coming to mind is the mysterious appearance of the Watergate papers on the conference room table at the Rose Law firm!
Granted, as I sit here searching my few remaining brain cells for more examples, I do come up with more Rebublicans than Democrats, but rest assured, them lard assed Elephante's do not have an exclusive on corruption, idiocy and skulduggery!
Ah, Oz.... you may also remember that the Republican cry, quite successfully as I recall, under Newt Gingrich of Contract With America fame [which Republicans don't like much to talk about, having violated the contract over and over again since coming into power], was "end the corruption" and such like. Your lot came in as reformers, the family values crowd, supposedly light years above those sleezy Democrats because of the Republicans' fine Christian values. If your argument now is "well, we're no better or worse than the Democrats were," I'm willing to accept it. See how that plays as a campaign theme. Please.
Power corrupts, Oz. No matter who wields it. Sooner or later. Only thing I'm chuckling about is how this latest round of sleeze and corruption [involving Republicans nearly exclusively for the nonce] lights up the hipocracy of the claim that your folks are the party of "family values" and "Christian values." But then, some Republicans found god... like so many criminals do... somewhere between conviction and sentencing. [Can we all say "Chuck Colson" now?] And as I seem to recall [and as you did not mention], after multi- millions of dollars of taxpayers money spent on years long investigations, the Whitewater probe finally concluded that neither PResident Clinton nor the First Lady had broken any laws in the matter or committed any crimes. Imagine that.
However, I am encouraged by Ms. Littrel's post on another thread. Perhaps we could, Weber County Republicans and Weber Country Democrats, have our county conventions BOTH reject the idea of selling off Mt. Ogden Park to a real estate developer to build a gated community of upscale homes to finance the gondola/gondola scheme. Maybe we can find common non-partisan ground in that? Worth a try? If that were to happen, maybe hizzonah, the Republican Mayor of Ogden, would have to re-register as a Green Party member. Now wouldn't that be something....
My personal belief is that we should have term limits. While I
know our founding fathers did not include such a provision in our Constitution, I believe they did not intend for ANYone of ANY political persuasion to make a life time career as either a senator or a congressman.
I further believe in campaign finance reform. If I were king fo r a day, NO money could be accepted by a candidate from ANYone outside of the distict they represent. This is NOT a violation of free speech! Both senators and congressmen are representatives of the people in THIER district. For instance, the Hollywood crowd has no business raising money for a senator from, say, New York. IN addition, that senator shoudl have no right to send some of HIS or HER money to suppost a candidate in yet another state. This is NOT what free speech is about.
I really can spell folks, just fatfinger typing ;)
Curmudgeon
Small correction here. I am not a Republican or a Democrat. After many years aligning myself with the party of Lincoln, I too found religion. However, I did not rush into the open arms of the Devil Democrats. Instead, I found salvation as an almost Libertarian. Actually I think all political parties are highly suspect and not to be trusted. I especially have a boat load of contempt for the modern day Utah version of the GOP. A party of real self important weenies with messiah complexes, very much like the Godfreyites.
ozboy:
OK, OK, I take your point.
If the Weber Country Republican and Democratic Conventions pass resolutions denouncing the sale of Mt. Ogden Park to the mayor's real estate developer buddy, and Hizzonah has therefor to re-register, we'll have him sign up as a Libertarian. Not a problem.
Though Mayor Godfrey as a Green is an image it will be hard to surrender....
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