When Will Lift Ogden Shut Up?
By Dian Woodhouse
Outside the municipal building before tonight's council meeting was a Lift Ogden Rally. There were Lift Ogden signs, and T shirts, and small signs, about four by eight inches, with a stick about six inches long attached to them that one could wave. These small signs had the Lift Ogden name and the name of the individual supporter printed at the bottom.
At about ten minutes of six, rock music was playing, (I think it was Twist and Shout.) I thought the crowd was a bit over three hundred at that time. A policeman who had been through the whole thing estimated peak attendance at five hundred. Another individual with experience of crowd numbers weighed in at four hundred. There had been speakers. Many of these people from the rally then went into the council chambers, signs and all. In fact, there were about six or seven personalized small signs on the agenda table outside waiting for their owners to claim them.
The Council meeting began as usual. All Council members were present. Mayor Godfrey was absent. For a rough overview of this, which I can enlarge later if people want specifics, Scout Matthew Hills from Troop 4 led the Pledge of Allegiance. Councilwoman Jeske read a speech honoring Jody Stark, Miss Rodeo Ogden, and then Councilman Doug Stephens spoke honoring Coach Hislop and the WSU Track and Field Team.
There was a public hearing on the rezoning of 916 7th Street from CP-1 to C-2 presented by Greg Montgomery of Ogden City Planning. It passed. There was an ordinance adopted concerning the terms of the Crossroads of the West Committee. The ordinance limiting the amount of unrelated adults living in one dwelling also passed, but on this one there was some dissent.
At this point, the council was supposed to move into closed executive session to discuss employee negotiations. This was, of course, having to do with the police and firefighter contracts, and I believe discussion on this was to be reopened at this time in that closed session. However, Councilman Safsten made a motion to move the agenda, putting the public comment session next instead of the closed exec session, and it passed, and supporters of the gondola began to approach the microphone.
There were over thirty of them. Comments like the gondola/resort being comparable to the coming of the railroad to Ogden, the investment of the half a billion dollars, the need for jobs in Ogden, all that we've heard before. But underlying this, one began to detect a theme. That theme was: Take the next step.
The Ogden City Council was being urged by Lift Ogden to take the next step in the project, and from what was said, I believe that the next step referred to was the signing of a development agreement between the Council and Chris Peterson. People who spoke in favor of taking the next step also represented, or said they represented, various organizations. "I speak on behalf of all small businesses," one woman said. One man spoke for the Hispanic business community. Another for hotel and motel owners. The Bank of Utah. The Board of Realtors.
They all spoke of "taking the gondola to the top of the mountain." Of an infusion of money into schools, sewers, and city coffers. The project, it was said, would enhance the reputation of WSU. It would create jobs for those who currently don't have them. It was a half billion dollar investment in Ogden. Property values would appreciate.
There were also comments regarding the negative effect upon Ogden that would occur if the Council did not take this "next step." "The longer you wait, the more it's going to cost," one person said. Another suggested that if Council Members did not vote yes, they should abstain from voting, otherwise they would "kill hope." Yet another stated that if he were Chris Peterson, and people were wanting to keep the trails across his property and did not want him to develop it, he would put a fence up and not let anyone on them.
Near the end, Chris Peterson spoke. He addressed none of these things. Instead, he told the Council that "If you take this project to the next step, I will work diligently....work with you.....flesh out the details." He mentioned the fact that there were "good, well-meaning people" on both sides of the issue.
There were only a few who spoke against the project. One submitted a letter to the council, and she was gracious enough to give me a copy. I will quote part of it here:
"...My family and friends were under the impression that we would be watching Karate Kid at the opening of the Monday night movies at the Ogden Amphitheater. Eventually, we did get to view the film, but not before LiftOgden forced its captive audience to endure a presentation on the alleged benefits of the proposed Gondola/resort development. To give themselves some additional cachet, LiftOgden recruited a lead cast member of the film, who was introduced by a supposed Hollywood producer. The actor, who played the evil sensei in the film, had the audacity to voice his opinion regarding the gondola, after informing the audience he had been in Ogden for only a few hours. Following this rallying cry was some propaganda footage starring the usual suspects, namely, the honorable mayor Godfrey and developer Mr. Peterson.
I find the co-opting of this family friendly event--with hundreds of unsuspecting and defenseless spectators in attendance--shameful on the part of the LiftOgden interest group, to say the least. I am equally disturbed that such a flagrant abuse of power, and along with it the exercise of subversive public information campaigning, appears to have the blessings of the Ogden City administration. I sincerely hope that the staging of such one-sided events in a public arena, where the intent is to enjoy a movie, not to be manipulated, end immediately. Surely, a film screening that is in the spirit of a family friendly event, with numerous small children in attendance, should not end at close to midnight on a work night."
Throughout these speeches, the reps for the police and firefighters waited patiently. The Council then retreated to Closed Executive Session to discuss the employee negotiations. I assume they eventually came out and announced a decision but I didn't hear it. It was quite late by then.
I heard later that a previous council might have approved a process regarding development agreements which involves steps a developer must take and information he or she must provide in order to get such an agreement even on the table. However, the current council has already hammered out a process, and perhaps that process must be undergone before this "next step" is taken. If there is such a process, it should be found and looked at.
I took extensive notes on this meeting and can answer questions or do another, more detailed piece if there is interest. But mainly, that was what happened, and "the next step" is the next big push.
And regarding police and fire, I for one applaud the city council re-opening that door. That, in my opinion, was a good step to take.
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Ed. Note: Dian wrote the article; your incensed blogmeister came up with the title(s.) The sheer audacity and tackiness of these Lift Ogden folks boggles the imagination.
1/4-page ads running in the Standard-Examiner all week at no small expense to somebody, and with "invitations" rolling out to the entire Chamber of Commerce -- and MANY others -- and all the support they could raise was four or five-hundred warm bodies or so at the high-point of the event -- including bystanders who may have wandered into the event to listen to the Rock Band?
Meanwhile, our cops and firefighters cool their heels again, listening to mind-numbed gondola cultists who can't even tell you how much money Chris Peterson is willing to offer for our irreplaceable and treasured parkland.
Comments are invited from other gentle readers who may have attended this ridiculous "pep-rally." Comments are also welcome, of course, from those who didn't.
