Your blogmeister is busy working his fingers to the bone this morning on non-cyber business, so we're setting up another open thread.
The topic is wide open, so rattle on here to your gentle hearts' content.
Not much in the news today, except this:
The repeatedly jinxed Rec Center Project has suffered its first fatality. Rudi was in the neighborhood when he got wind of this story, and visited The Junction site to get the lowdown. OSHA was already there investigating when he arrived; and every manjack on the site is keeping completely mum. Everyone on the site is watching his/her p's and q's.
Nobody will even speak a word about which contractor the poor guy worked for.
We also received this about 2 hours ago from a separate source: "A sub-contractor was working on the roof, not wearing a safety belt/harness and fell. Information on the individual is not available at this time." This language apparently originates from Mark "Hummer Guy" Johnson.
Having observed the sheer sloppiness of Boss Godfrey and his assorted "suits" in launching this project, we cross our fingers, utter a few Hail Marys and hope to hell Emerald City's liability insurance premiums are paid up.
Sincere condolences go out the the family of the first working man who gave up his life to the Boss Godfrey "Vision."
The floor is open.
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42 comments:
I know R&O Construction is one of the big builders on the site. I know a lot of these guys with R&O and I can tell you they are first rate from the Opiekens guy and his daughter to the basic laborer and all the highly skilled men and women in between. They work in a very dangerous invironment and accidents do happen.
They do great work, so at least the Godfreyite Temple will be built well.
I would be the first to want to hang this sad accident around Godfrey's neck, but that's a bit of a stretch for even this avowed anti-godfreyite. Ye gods Rudi, ya aint going radical on us are ya?
I think the better thing for history to hang around his little highness's neck is the long term financial hangover that Ogden is going to suffer for years into the future over this entire ill advised approach to inner city urban renewal. I think that history will point out the folley of having a very expensive publicly financed arcade and bowling alley as the anchor of a down town revival.
The whole idea reminds me of the old down town of Long Beach California which consisted of several square blocks of 1940" carnival attractions.
It was quite the deal, all the seedy types mixed with the middle and upper class looky loos taking a walk on the wild side. It was great stuff for a young person to see, but over all it gave Long Beach a sleazy reputation that persists to this day.
Incidently none of the major urban renewal that has been going on in Long Beach has stayed with this theme.
Let me guess. You and that pompous political stuffed shirt Curmudgeon are the same guy.
A bit sad that a newsroom editor from the Standard died in an auto- accident yesterday.
Sad that people die everyday, in all kinds of lines of work-doing all kinds of things.
Irresponsible to blame it on Godfrey. Again, too bad this site doesn't hold itself to the same principles it preaches about.
Rudi sez: GFY Ozboy ...
and try to keep your peabrain on-topic in the future.
JUST HEARD THE SAD STORY OF THE YOUNG LABORER AT "THE JUNCTION". I THOT I HEARD THE RADIO NEWSREADER SAY..."AB CONSTRUCTION"... IS THERE SUCH A CO? ALSO MENTIONED WAS SO. JORDAN. I WASN'T PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION AT THE TIME, OBVIOUSLY.
My 'pea brain' is with you, Ozboy...we are in debt for a couple decases, but we ARE "the first mall in the country to have a climbing wall and bowling alley as anchors!" I'm wishion Matt didn't have visions.
R&O is the "general contractor" indeed.
Don't think for a minute that Ogden City won't wind up as a defendant.
Here comes another expensive lawsuit... Courtesy of Boss Godfrey.
Now Rudi I thought your mom and dad and doctors had your meds adjusted properly. This little self destructive streak of your's sneaking out like this seems to contradict that theory.
Be a good boy and take your pretty pills like the doc says, and quit washing them down with the cool aid.
We do not "take pills," here at Weber County Forum, although we do accept donated flasks from time-to-time.
We do however assail "pills," who react in knee-jerk fashion to our own well-seasoned political philosophies, strategies and tactics.
Our mission here, right now, is to reveal "The Emperorer with no Clothes."
Try to keep up.
I hate this rain. Godfrey must have done it. The leaves are falling...dang that Godfrey! Why can't he just leave well enough alone? All this I-15 construction has got to be His doing! I wish he would stop doing everything that is bad in this city. I can't wait until he leaves, then everything will be just fine, just like it was before.
Precisely, anonymous.
As the appointed "right hand of God," the severly delusional Boss Godfrey deserves all the credit during his totalitarian regime...
Along with all the justifiable criticism.
Most psychiarists would say GODFREY is NUTZ.
It's understandable though, that you can't see that.
You're cut from the same irrational cloth, eh, anonymous?
"I hate this rain, (ergo it's all Godfrey's fault)"
So say you. However rain is good.
Your bs proof fails upon its first proposition.
Back to Logic School for you, anonymous.
I'm with Oz and Anon on this. Labor accident and worker died. Not something, really, to make points on vis the Mayor. Sad event.
Dear Keisha:
You wrote: Let me guess. You and that pompous political stuffed shirt Curmudgeon are the same guy.
I am hurt. Deeply hurt. You think I might Rudi, that I might be a Republican? That's really hitting below the belt.
I'm with Oz and and Anon and Curm on this.
The emperor is very dapper in his marvellous clothing.
The emporer is butt naked
but don't tell any one.
Curt
"You think I might Rudi, that I might be a Republican?"
The Republican/Democrat dichotomy is largely irrelevent these days.
Do you like big gummint solutions? Do you like the sound of "President Hillary?"
If so... you could inded be a NeoCON Redneck and not even know it.
We cracked up when two Skull & Bonesmen "ran" in the last presidential election.
Please don't try to tell us that "Kerry got robbed."
And Utahns should bag the weird Mitt Romney MoMo gesture. This is NOT the guy who will rescue society, whilst the US constitution remains "hanging by a thread."
Ahem! Construction workers don't just fall off roofs for no reason.
Hopefully, the taxpayers will get the full story in thus
Boss Godfrey, Comrades Safsten & Stephenson now have political death on their hands.
Nobody in their right mind would vote for a single council incumbent in 2007.
Barring better perfomance in the near futrure, we think now that ALL Council incumbents should be sent packing in 2007.
Egads...that's pretty tuff talk, Rudi dear. ALL? When we haven't even seen what Susan can do?
Word is that the luncheon hosted by G and G left Mrs. V.H. with a bad taste in her mouth.
And, our little birdie said it didn't seem to come from what was on her plate.
Don't forget that the contractor building this monument has an open-ended contract with Ogden City RDA.
No amount of total cost of anything. That is cost-plus for the uninitiated.
It's only taxpayer money the City Godfathers are spending.
I am glad to see that Mayor Godfrey has come out of his shell and is participating on this blog.
He brings great insight and understanding to the very complex workings of city government, and his voice is very much needed here amongst the speculators and rumor mongers.
I am still intrigued with the Ex-Councilman Glasmann's salary with the Ogden Redevelopment Agency being $18 grand more than offered to the general public.
And now it seems he has the same Job Title as long-time RDA employee McConkie. So we have 2 highly paid people doing the same job?????
Where do I sign up for Harmer's title?
The accident is tragic and really shouldn't have happened. I feel so sorry for his family. I don't know how many children he left without a father, but I'm sure it is devastating for them, and my prayers are for them.
There are others besides Glasmann with the same job title. It seems like there were three or four of them who work under Scott Brown.
Since this is an "open thread" I'm going to take some liberties and come up with a totally different subject. This is the real reason I am on the blog today, and since I've been spending as much time on this project as I have on Council business. This is one of the things I do in my other life, besides take care of grandchildren.
Next Saturday, Oct. 24th, the Mount Lewis Stake is sponsoring a Community Emergency Preparedness Fair from 10:30 am to 2:30 pm. There will be more than 20 booths presenting information and handouts on preparing for and protecting your family when a disaster happens. Even Gov. Huntsman and Lt. Gov. Herbert have developed a 12-step plan to prepare for and manage a disaster. They say, "It isn't a matter of IF, but WHEN Utah will have a disaster." The people who will experience the least impact on their lives are the ones who have prepared. I am inviting everyone who reads WCF to attend. Some of the booths will cover water storage, obtaining it and purifying it, Mel Bartholmew's "Square Foot Gardening" concepts will be taught by Pat Westaway at 11:00 and 12:30, children will be fingerprinted and receive an ID kit, a demonstration of how to use your food storage with recipes that your family will eat, various containers with which to make your 72-hour kits will be displayed, how to prepare your car for winter and what should be kept in your car in case you are stranded by a winter storm, varous first aid kits will be displyed, and the American Red Cross will have some there that you will be able to buy. A HAM radio organization will be there to talk about communicating in a disaster, and take applications of people who are interested in taking the training to become a HAM operator. There will be a lot of other worthwhile related booths, and we have some vendors with exceptional camping, and preparedness items that you will be able to buy if you want. Pandemic LLC from Salt Lake has committed to be there with their products that will help keep you and your family healthy and lessen the risks of contracting a life-threatening flu during an outbreak. Officer Ron Gardiner and his dancing horse, Sundance will be there after 12:00 Noon for the children. People commented last year about the quality and the wide-range of information available to those who attended, and said that it was very worthwhile. I hope that you will come and take advantage of the free information that will be very helpful to you and your family in any kind of a disaster.
____Dorrene Jeske
SE is reporting that the construction worker that died, 'was wearing a safety harness on but was not connected to a safety line.'
Makes it all the more tragic. An accident that could easily have been prevented. Probably worse news for the contractor than the city.
No matter how Rudi spins this, it's a terrible, accidental tragedy. There are those who should keep things in a bit more perspective than they do. This is a time to show respect and is no time for finger pointing.
Oops! Sorry, I hit the 2 key instead of the 1. The Emergency Preparedness Fair is next, Saturday, the 14th.
Dorrene,
What's the address where the Preparedness Fair be held?
Butch:
Exactly right.
"Interesting".....Don't you recall Godfrey saying "It isn't real money"...about the $7.3 mil going to fund Fat Cats and Gary Neilson as the 'anchors' for the Junction??
Dorrene neglected to tell one and all that SHE is the person who is in charge of the Preparedness Fair and has put it all together, year after year!
She is a woman of amazing talents. She's on the CERT Board...Community Emergency Response Team...(trained volunteers who work under the direection of the fire dept when needed to help out in any disaster.) My husband and I are CERT trained and I encourage the rest of you to talk to her about it.
Dorrene's been an active Scouter for over 30 years, and also works with the fire dept in Boots and Bunkers.
Dorrene takes a lot of flak, and I think it's because she's the one who has the INTEGRITY to look the mayor in the eyes and tell him 'no'.
When she's shown a better idea or one she hadn't considered, her ego doesn't get in the way of stepping back and listening and taking another look at the issue.
I hope you'll take advantage of her vast knowledge and attend the Fair on the 14th.
If Peterson gets our land and builds those 'footprint' homes on the fault line....those poor schmucks will need to know how to be safe. Did anyone else get the shivers last nite learning that so many homes were evacualted in the E Layton hills during that
torrential rain storm? A portent of the future here?
Sharon said:
Dorrene takes a lot of flak, and I think it's because she's the one who has the INTEGRITY to look the mayor in the eyes and tell him 'no'.
When she's shown a better idea or one she hadn't considered, her ego doesn't get in the way of stepping back and listening and taking another look at the issue.
I hope she has the INTEGRITY to tell the mayor 'no' when the mayor's idea is a bad one, but she didn't have the INTEGRITY to tell the Council leadership (Chair, Vice-Chair, exec director, and attorney) 'no' when they had the bad idea of not releasing the candidate info and changing Council Norms to make that policy.
arcritic:
On Ms. Jeske: well, I don't know. Chairman Garcia apparently did not inform the rest of the Council when he and Mr. Cook and, I gather, Ms. Wicks, decided not to follow procedure and to withold the letters. Or so Mr. Garcia has said, as part of an apology to the rest of the Council members for not keeping them informed in timely fashion of what the leadership was up to.
Ms. Jeske did approve of the procedure change following the new Council member's election. That change was not, I agree, wise. But it is possible, surely, that [and others] were convinced that the change was a prudent one at the time they voted on it. My only quibble with what you've posted above is your suggesting that her vote on the matter constituted a lack of integrity. I don't think we should take a difference of opinion on a matter of policy as involving, necessarily, a lack of integrity on the part of those who think differently.
Lack of integrity would be involved on this question, seems to me, if and only if the Council member believed the change was a bad idea, but voted for it anyway. And I don't have any information to suggest that that is what happened.
Sorry. Just starting to react to the growing trend [not just in Ogden, but nationwide] of people charging lack of integrity when an elected official differs on a matter of policy. [I hasten to add that elected officials can indeed, and far too often do, act without integrity and unethically. Just noting that a differing POV on policy is not necessarily evidence of a lack of integrity.]
Curm,
I was being a little sarcastic in response to Sharon's implication that it takes integrity to vote against anything and everything that the mayor proposes or stands for.
But for someone who ran on a platform of government openness and began her term by handing out flashlights to fail to object to the leaderships abuse of secrecy and then to vote to close government more from the people seems to me to have one of two explanations, a lack of one of the I's (Integrity or Intelligence). Harsh? Yes, but Ms. Jeske's own explanation here as to why she went along with it seems to show she doesn't understand what government openness means.
So as with most elected officials (myself included), I will give Ms. Jeske the benefit of the doubt and say I don't think her stance on this is a lack of INTEGRITY.
The Community Preparedness Fair is sponsored by the Mount Lewis Stake and they have provided a church building for us to use. It is located at 435 N. Jackson, which is on the northwest corner of North street (the street that runs east/west on the north side of the ATC) and North Jackson. From Harrison, take Collins Blvd. west and it curves around and goes north where it turns into N. Jackson at North Street. I hope I haven't thoroughly confused you. Also, if you know where St. James Catholic Church is on N. Harrison, you can turn west off Harrison and go past their parking lot and down the street to the front doors of the church on North Jackson.
Monotreme, the City pays the State lobbyist a flat $45,000. fee to lobby the Legislature, so no taxpayer money is being used for him to lobby for Greiner. That would definitely be unethical, and I think illegal. This coming year, the Mayor will have to pay Jolley's fee, the Council won't.
I admit thatI used poor judgement when I compared a family situation, where I disclosed to another family member some information that a daugter-in-law thought was their RIGHT to disclose, with the rights of candidates for the Council. It was a lesson dearly learned (in both cases) as it affected the whole family and especially my relationship with their children. Curmudgeon is right that the Council leadership did not inform the rest of the Council members even after the decision was made by them. Since this was not the first time that leadership had made a decision and the rest of the Council was not informed, I requested in the future the rest of the Council be informed of a decision that is made because an immediate response is needed,
that the other Council members are informed as soon as possible. The issue was brought up briefly at our work meeting last Thursday, and I doubt that this current Counsel will revisit or amend the ordinance. It take more than one vote or even two votes to do that. I think we will have to wait at least until January 2008 to see it change.
As I've said before, I think the Council made a mistake in changing its procedures on making public information about finalists for appointment for the Council, and since Ms. Jeske voted for the change, I think she made a mistake as well.
That said, kudoes to Ms. Jeske for posting her reasons, and for replying to criticism on WC forum. She didn't have to. A tip of the hat for taking her critics on, head on, in a public forum.
Arcritic,
You misunderstood my comments about Dorrene. She doesn't vote against everything and anything that the mayor proposes.
THAT wouldn't take 'integrity'...just smallminded vindictiveness. But, it was Dorrene who said 'no' to Godfrey when he was talking to each CC member about the gondola/Peterson scheme. She's the only one who wouldn't meet privately with him.
You can bet that she wouldn't go to lunch with him and the shill Geiger either! Of course, Godfrey wouldn't dare ask her either!
Oh BTW Curm...I still haven't received a reply from my emails to the Council. ONLY Dorrene called me about it. And I didn't call anyone a '.....son of a sea snake' either. Too bad. THAT mite have gotten a response.
Sharon:
Sorry you're not having much luck on replies. The only member I emailed or mailed [some of them are computer-averse] direct who never replied was Mr. Glasmann, but then, I emailed him about something two weeks before he steppted down. I just figured, finally, that he'd stopped doing the job by by the time I contacted him.
Besides, the "miserable misbegotten son of a sea snake" comment wasn't aimed at you, Sharon. Just meant to suggest to those prone to write elected officals with angry, accusatory, threatenting emails or letters, that they're not likely to get read, much less have any effect. And that if someone's goal in writing is to try to change an official's mind about something, or get him or her to pay attention to an issue needing attention, flames are likely to have the opposite effect from the one wanted.
Actually, I don't think I would flat out turn down an opportunity to speak privately with my Mayor about an issue. I think that things can be accomplished with face to face meetings. However, I would make it clear that if the topic that we discussed ever came up in a public meeting that I would not feel the private conversation was confidential.
Arcritic, the Mayor was supposedly presenting the same information to each Council member instead of the Council as a whole. I objected to that because I want to know what questions the other Council members ask, and I'm sure that they would have some that I had not considered. Also, I am positive that was the time that he was able to change some Council members' point of view. For me, I felt that though he was not actually violating the Open Meeting Act, he was violating the spirit of that law. I obtained the information from a much friendlier source without any pressure put on me.
I have met with the Mayor alone a couple of times, and both times, I felt our meetings were congenial and productive.
You know who I am, but I would feel better about your comments and criticism if I knew who you are. I know that you are a woman on the [redacted by administrator] Council. My email address is jeske4ogden@comcast.net, if you would like to keep your ID secret.
hey curm...know that wasn't directed a me.. I just admired the phrase!!!
d
Again, I am not a woman! Ozboy was wrong. Just cause I seem to look at things with an open mind doesn't mean I have to be a woman.
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