Changing Times: Plan Amendments, Wildcat Pride and Higher Ethics

Council Notes 9.6.06

By Dian Woodhouse

After the Pledge of Allegiance, the meeting opened with Councilman Stephenson reading a Joint Proclamation between the Council and Mayor deeming the week of September 15-23, 2006, as "Weber State University Homecoming Week." Founded in 1889, WSU has provided education in the professional, liberal, and technical areas, and has provided "exceptional teaching" and "extraordinary commitment" to its students. The University also, the proclamation went on, recognizes the uniqueness of the individual and fosters freedom of expression. The Proclamation was accepted by Dennis Miller.

Directly following this, there was the adoption of of Resolution 2006-21, approving the honorary designation of Harrison Boulevard from 36th Street to 46th Street as "Wildcat Way." Greg Montgomery presented the background research on this issue.

First, all the addresses will remain the same, and therefore Emergency Services, checked with as to how this would affect them, will not find this new name a problem. There is also another street called "Wildcat Lane," and this was also gone into and it was concluded that the similarity would not cause confusion. Mr. Montgomery also mentioned that some high schools in Ogden have streets named for them, and also mentioned Caesar Chavez Street. The motion to approve passed unanimously.

As there was a public hearing on this matter, several individuals spoke to the issue, all in favor. Dennis Miller, originally from Wisconsin, stated that in his hometown, the "city comes alive" during games in a very exciting and positive way. "We would feel more a part of the community," he said. Chris Bentley brought up the sign "Welcome to Ogden, Home of Weber State University," and mentioned that WSU was a "huge part of Ogden City." Peter Owen, the WSU Association President, informed us that this suggestion had come from the student association, which is all in favor of integrating the University community with the larger Ogden City one, and having us all join in in the pride felt for WSU, a statement echoed by Councilwoman Jeske.

The next order of business was was the vacation of the property at 23rd between Fillmore and Pierce by the city, and this was also a public hearing. Again, Mr. Montgomery presented for the Planning Commission.

Read the rest of Dian's article here.

The Salt Lake Tribune website also features this morning's Kristen Moulton story on this topic, and today's Scott Schwebke report is available for viewing via this link.

We'd like to thank Dian once again for providing yet another fact-filled installment in her exceptional City Council Notes series, and we invite our gentle readers to chime in with their own comments and observations.

Update 9/7/06 9:57 a.m. MT: For the sake of those readers who don't often visit our comments sections, we link this morning's Standard-Examiner story, in which Boss Godfrey mendaciously spins the issues regarding the Chapman planning commission rejection, contending, in pious seriousness, that the council's act of rejecting a militantly pro-gondolist political lackey from an important decision-making planning body on the eve of the presentation of the Godfrey/Peterson Landgrab Scheme somehow inserts "a new ideological standard" into the planning commission appointment process.

We also incorporate herein a link to a very succinct previously-linked essay, Ethics and Conflict of Interest, by ethicist Michael McDonald, which we believe sets forth in a nutshell the ethical standards that the council properly applied last Tuesday night.

We invite our readers to visit our below comments section, (where a robust discussion seems to be developing;) and accordingly urge our readers to offer their own comments, insight and analysis.