Skulduggery @ Emerald City Hall

By Debbie Dew

In connection with the Ogden City/Chris Peterson/Matt Godfrey Gondola conundrum, I found this letter to Tom Ellison and John Patterson from Bill Cook most interesting. It is one of the many documents that surfaced due to the Sierra Club's GRAMA request.

It's dated Oct. 27, 2006:

"Per the discussion that we had yesterday in our Leadership meeting (Council Leadership and Mayor), the Council will be proceeding with the adoption of a resoluion regarding the 'project'. The anticipated date for adoption of the resolution is November 14th. This means that we need your feedback right away (no later than Friday, November 3rd). The date chosen is important given that the Planning Commission is moving forward with public hearings on Nov 1st regarding the mixed use zone and sensitive areas and the Mount Ogden community plan will become very public again in November (according to Greg Montgomery). Thanks for your assistance." and signed by Bill Cook.

There are so many aspects to this letter that point to deceit and betrayal of the Council:

1. Ellison's reply suggested changes that they wanted made to the resolution, and those changes were made to accommodate them!

2. Ellison indicated that they were almost ready to meet with the council, but not in a public meeting. They want to meet "under the radar" so as to not make any "noise." WOW!! More secret meetings behind closed doors! What subterrean scheme have they hatched now that won't bear the light of day? We know that the multi-use and sensitive overlay zoning ordinances were authored by Ellison to accommodate Peterson's project -- What else are they planning to do? Sneakily buy the golf course in the darkness before anyone can stop the give away? If Mayor Godfrey is stupid enough to do that, he would need to move out of Ogden! As strongly as people feel about selling the golf course, I can imagine that life would be very uncomfortable for him and his family in Ogden!

3. Bill Cook in his letter said: "Per the discussion that we had yesterday in our Leadership meeting (Council Leadership and Mayor)." So what does that mean?

a. Were Garcia and Wicks there? Did they go along with the scheme? Did they inform the Council? Are they playing games with the welfare of Ogden? That letter may explain why we are getting mixed messages from Garcia and Wicks. This is very serious and a grave concern in light of all the decisions that will be made this year with their inherent impact for generations to come.

b. "The Council will be proceeding with the adoption of a resoluion regarding the "project". There's the proof that the mixed-use and the sensitive overlay zoning along with that resolution are being pushed for approval to make it easier for Peterson to take control of the golf course! How can anyone say that those mixed-use and sensitive overlay zoning ordinances and that resolution have nothing to do with the Chris Peterson project?!

c. Who does Bill Cook REALLY represent -- the Council? Or the Administration? It appears as though he is working for both sides at the same time! That's a very precarious position! Is he the reason that the Council doesn't seem to do anything proactive? No wonder the citizens are getting screwed and the Council looks like a bunch of fools! Has the Mayor compromised EVERYONE who works in that Municpal Bldg.? It appears that you can't trust a damn soul down there!

d. Stephenson and Safsten tried to justify their votes for that resolution by stating: That many hours had been spent on that resolution and the steps. Excuse me! In life and business, lots of projects have hundreds of hours expended on them only to be dropped when they are not what's needed. Their reasoning is faulty and very frightening whereas they are policy makers for the City. A word of advice to them: "When something is wrong, it's wrong! Spending a lot of time on it, doesn't make it right!" The process with its defining steps is still in place and can be followed -- they are established no matter what happens to the resolution! So really time was not wasted and the best course of action for the City prevailed.

WHERE IS THE LIGHT that Jeske promised us? We really need a light on this Administration and the Chris Peterson project! Look at what was uncovered by the light that the Sierra Club put on the Chris Peterson deal! CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS SHINE THOSE FLASHLIGHTS THAT JESKE GAVE YOU LAST YEAR ON THE CHRIS PETERSON PROJECT!!

A WORD OF ADVICE: You need to watch Bill Cook and your staff. They almost sold you down the river with that resolution that you had the good sense to table last November. WATCH THEM CLOSELY!

Debbie Dew