A Leadership Vote of Confidence & a Moratorium on Development

Ogden City Council Meeting Notes - 01.02.07

Last Update 01.05.07

By Curmudgeon

Substantive business began with the election of Council leadership for the coming year.

Council President Garcia was nominated for that post for another year by Councilwoman Jeske. Nomination seconded by Councilman Safsten. No other names being placed in nomination, Mr. Garcia was elected as president for another year by voice vote.

Then Mr. Safsten nominated Councilman Stephenson for Vice President. The nomination was seconded by Mr. Stephens. Councilwoman Van Hooser then nominated current Council Vice President Amy Wicks for a second term, seconded by Mrs. Jeske. On a voice vote, Ms. Wicks was chosen for another term as Vice-President by a vote of 4-3. [Note: see Councilman Safsten’s comments explaining his vote on the council leadership at the end of this report.]

For the sake of conserving precious front-page bandwidth, gentle Curmudgeon's article continues on an archive page. Be sure to read the full-text version here .

Gentle Curmudgeon's above-linked & detailed report of last night's council meeting is most excellent. Don't miss the discussion of the six-month development moratorium, which puts downtown property owners in further limbo, and a summary of Councilman Safsten's first campaign speech designed for the municipal election year 2007. If you didn't click the above link on the first pass... go back and do it now, we suggest.

Update 1/3/07 11:19 a.m. MT: We link here Scott Schwebke's Standard-Examiner story, which provides additional useful details about the six-month moratorium.

Update 1/4/07 11:19 a.m. MT: Councilman Safsten has graciously transmitted to us the full text of his prepared statement, which he read into the council record on Tuesday night last. We accordingly link it here, for our gentle readers' attention and analysis. We would also like to give councilman Safsten a hearty Weber County Forum Tip O' the Hat for checking out this public forum, engaging with our cyber-community and getting involved with those of us who discuss local politics 24/7. The major theme of Councilman Safsten's prepared statement revolves around the crying need for free and robust communication, and in this respect the gentle councilman has now put his money where his mouth is, as the old saying goes.

We now doff our WCForum hats, and welcome Rick Safsten into out cyber community.

Update 1/5/07 3:46 p.m. MT: As a matter of blogger courtesy, we also welcome Councilman Brandon Stephenson here. Unlike recent arrival Councilman Safsten, who seems to have some ready familiarity with the nuances of the blog atmosphere, Councilaman Stephenson appears to be still "hung up," like an internet "newbie" on the anonymity that prevails often here in cyber-space.

Stick with us, Brandon! We hope you'll become a regular reader and poster. Keep in mind that blogging is partly entertainment (with lots of political education built in.) In that connection, we don't believe ANYBODY believed that your below comments section imposter was really you.

You're bound to get in better touch with your political constituents if you read this blog daily. Better yet, please post here often. We designed this place for continuous political discourse, and it's encouraging that we now have at least three city council members regularly reading and posting here along with the rest of we lumpentownsfolke.