In an apparent portent of things to come, as Emerald City lurches toward the 2007 municipal elections, we find two more pro-Godfrey slime pieces in this morning's Standard-Examiner.In this front-page Ace Reporter Schwebke story, another slavish Godfrey underling unleashes some serious accusations:
OGDEN — A second highranking manager in the Ogden city administration says he was asked to support a mayoral bid by City Council Chairman Jesse Garcia and feared he could be fired under a new administration if he declined.The accusation is "bribery," to be specific. That's right. The most mild-mannered and gentle soul on the entire city council is being accused, on purely hearsay evidence, of behaving like an evil Godfreyite. One of our gentle readers has provided us a copy of the above referenced memo; and we duly link it here, for our readers' amazement.
Risk Management Manager Ron Ball made the claim in a memo sent to the city council Thursday.
And then at the top of Std-Ex section "C" we get the latest low-down on Business Development Manager Scott Brown, who continues to demonstrate symptoms of total melt-down. Scott has how called the cops, according to this morning's story. No; we are not making this up.
We'll skip the microanalysis and put this article up on today's WCF front page right now, as a kick-off to a weekend open thread. Our protective HAZ-"MATT" anti-slime suit is still at the cleaners; and we don't want to get Godfrey Goo all over us.
Perhaps our gentle readers will be able to explain the true meaning of all this.
Update 3/10/07 4:45 p.m. MT: Our insider snitch at city hall confirms the predictions of yesterday's Standard-Examiner editorial, and furnishes us the latest heretofore-secret design photos of Chris Peterson's most recently pared-down urban Whac-a-Mol Bike-ola:
"Wheeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Update 3/12/07 8:57 p.m. MT: Former Emerald City Human Resources Director Dean Martinez forwards to us a letter transmitted to Scott Schwebke on March 11, responding to the series of recent Standard-Examiner articles slamming Councilman Garcia and others. We provide our readers an archived copy here, per Mr. Martinez's request.
43 comments:
But it's not like the Mayor asking the Firefighters to support the Gondola and to use their influence on the Council to go along with it, in exchange for the possibility of hiring three firefighters that he axed a few years back as a revenge tactic for supporting Jesse in the last Mayoral race.
Everyone better get out the hip waders, it's getting deep with the desperate inuendos that the crumbling Godfrey Administration is facing.
What a bunch of hypocrits and liars they are.
Rudi:
I'm afraid you're right. The campaign has begun, and not begun well.
So, before the Gondolistas arrive crowing with glee, might be worthwhile to take a careful look at what the two SE articles this morning actually said.
First, we have another rant from Mr. Brown. A confidential file regarding allegations of sexual improprieties in the workplace regarding him was taken by Mr. Martinz. That much appears to be uncontested. [Whether the file, whatever it contains, was "stolen" or taken for legitimate purposes by Mr. Martinez is a matter of dispute and is under investigation.]
Brown claims Martinez "stole" the file to deliver to Councilman Garcia. And the SE [properly] reported his claim. Does he have any evidence to support his claim that Martinez took the file to give to Garcia? Apparently not. The paper mentions none. Did the file in fact get to Mr. Garcia? Apparently not. [Brown does not claim it did and the paper has no information, apparently, that it did.] And that's it: a Godfrey team member, known to be an angry critic of Chairman Garcia claims somebody else [Martinez] took a confidential file without authorization to give to Garcia. Martinez denies it. That's it. Raw allegation and no supporting evidence, offered by a man known to [I think this is fair to say now] hates Garcia. Period. Newsworthy, of course. Mud slinging always is. Convincing to anyone other than a card-carrying Godfrey Gondolisata and Park Sale Propmoter? Not a chance.
Let's go on to the second article, this one on the front page, in which Risk Management Manager Ron Ball, described by the SE as a "high ranking" member of the Godfrey administration, seems to suggest that Councilman Garcia threatened to fire him unless he supported a Garcia for Mayor campaign. Newsworthy? Absolutely. Again, mud-slinging alwasys is. Well, actually, according to the paper, that is not what Mr. Ball claims, though it seems that way.
But let's take a careful look at what Mr. Ball actually said, according to the SE: that Mr. Martinez [fired by the Godfrey administration], not Mr. Garcia, spoke to him about changes he thought Garcia was going to make if he ran for mayor and won. And Martinez [not Garcia] suggested to Ball a promotion he, Ball, would get if Garcia won. And he [Martinez, not Garcia] showed ball a list of men high in the Godfrey administration who would be replaced, he said, if Garcia won a mayor's race. Note: Ball's name was not on the list of those to be removed. Nevertheless, Mr. Ball now claims he was afraid he would be fired if Garcia won --- even though his name was NOT on the list of men Martinez [not Garcia] said Garcia would replace if he became mayor.
So, we have two high Godfrey administration officials, attempting to "take out" a potential rival for the Mayor's job, by hurling allegations for which they offer no evidence [I repeat, no evidence] based on what they claim a man the Godfrey administration has already fired told them.
It is beginning to look more and more like Mr. Brown's tirade at the Council meeting may in fact have been the opening salvo in Mayor Godfrey's re-election campaign rather than an impromptu and [the mayor claims] unscripted and surprizing outburst of which he was entirely unaware. I believed him when the said that Tuesday night. Not sure I do now.
By the way, does anyone actually know if Mr. Garcia is running for mayor? That he considered it and began testing the waters seems clear enough. In that process, asking about potential support is hardly unusual, nor is thinking about changes in administrative appointments he might want to make, particularly if he thinks current policy fueled by the present mayor and his appointees are taking the city in an unwise direction. But so far, Mr. Garcia has not announced a candidacy.
This --- Brown, Ball, the letters appearing in the paper [one this morning targeting the same Councilmembers Brown targeted in his tirade --- and writen by a non-resident of Ogden by the way] suggests to me that the Mayor and his cronies [all of whom, please note, are fighting to preserve their well-paid appointive positions] have begun a mud-slingnig campaign.
I hope --- and I expect --- that whoever runs for the Mayor's postion in Ogden will not submit to the temptation to sling mud back. I hope --- and I expect any candidate I would support and work for --- to remember that old bit of country wisdom: "Don't get involved in a mud fight with a pig. Both of you will get dirty --- and the pig likes it."
Who in this corrupt little town hasnt thought, if I was Mayor this is what I would do. And I am pretty sure that most all of us has thought of getting rid of the secrecy and mis trust brought about by the Godfrey Administration. How would you start?..by getting rid of the fat cats on the A team.
Oh whoops, I may be investigated for saying what I think.
Speaking of pig fighting, if Godfrey wants to raise more campain money he may concider sending his fab five administration team to Hyrum this year. Funny that article appears on the front page, opposite the Ball story.
Thanks for the hanging curve ball Curm.
If I might try [hopeless I know] to rasie a matter that actually should bear on the campaign for mayor, and that has I fear been lost amid all the recent mudslinging from the Godfrey crowd---
This week, on 9 March, the SE carried a story by Rebecca Palmer, covering this week's Planning Commission marathon session on a new Mixed Use Ordinance for Ogden. Ms. Palmer's story contained the following remarkable lines:
The ordinance was originally drawn up by developer Chris Peterson’s attorney in August. Planning commission staff and a city attorney then made changes to the proposal and it went before the commission in early December.
After hearing complaints from many community members, the seven-member commission tabled the issue. In mid-January, the commission discussed the ordinance during a work session. Since the December meeting, about 70 percent of the ordinance has been rewritten, said Planning and Zoning Division Manager Greg Montgomery.
No one has commented on this and it seems to me extraordinary. The SE reports that the Godfrey administration permitted the attorney for an out of town developer to actually write the Mixed Use Zoning Ordinance [that would regulate developers of mixed use projects] the administration submitted to the Planning Commission for its approval. The administration permitted an out of town developer's attorney to draft an ordinance for Ogden City! Need I add that the developer the attorney works for is planning what purports to be a mixed-use project in Ogden?
Happily, the Planning Commission did its job, took its time, asked for feedback from actual residents of Ogden, and altered the ordinance the Mayor permitted the attorney for an out of town developer to write. They altered it so much that 70% of what the administration originally submitted and recommended be adopted was changed as a result of Planning Commission action. Yes, you read that right: 70% of what the Godfrey administration originally got from the out of town developer and endorsed had to be changed. 70%.
Nice work, Ms. Palmer, and good work SE.
And since we seem to be in election mode already, here's the question Ms. Palmer's story raised in my mind: "If I want the mayor of Ogden to permit out of town developers to write Ogden's zoning ordinances which will regulate the actions of those developers, who should I vote for?" The answer seems pretty clear: Matt Godfrey. On the other hand, I ask myself this: "If I want the mayor of Ogden to draft ordinances for the benefit of the citizens of Ogden and not permit such ordinances to be written by attornies for non-residents of Ogden, who should I vote for?" Again, the answer seems pretty clear: Not Matt Godfrey.
Again,I thought Ms. Palmer's story was significant and I'd had to see it overlooked amid all the mudslinging by Godfrey administration appointees. Though I suspect that was one of their intents in slinging mud: to divert attention and discussion from real issues that acutally matter to the future of Ogden.
The SE really does a bag up job. We have an announced canidate for Mayor and They should be calling him for some input for what is happening here. I know that Rep. Hansen would not stand for this kind of mud slinging in our government yet alone in our own City. I'm pretty sure he would have closed the door on the mud before it made its way in the council chanbers. He is the one that needs to lead this city and People should really get to know and get behind him. His politics are always above board and he is always looking out for others. I have never seen him tear others down to make himself look good. He make me feel good about myself. I feel that he is the only one that knows how to run government and that he would bring the dignity back and clean out this muddy trough.
I can't believe the naivete' of these accusations.
Anyone who is a political appointee expects to lose their position if their boss loses an election. These jobs do not come with a promise of lifelong security. How many of Clinton's appointees did Bush keep on? Those in politics also know that supporting a candidate can be rewarded by their receiving an appointment if the candidate wins. Where do Presidential Cabinet members and Ambassadors come from, pray tell?
If Ron Ball is so concerned with ethics and propriety, why did he wait until two days ago to write his memo to Johnson, Williams, and Godfrey? It seems more like someone suggested quite recently (March 8th?) that he write something for public consumption.
If you were to elect ME Mayor, I would certainly dump Patterson, Ball, Brown, and many others before you can say "gondola". Anyone want to sue over that?
What is strange to me is that Godfrey is spending so much energy sliming Garcia when there are other candidates waiting in the wings. Does Godfrey actually fear that he'd lose to Garcia, or is it just a case of attacking him because he's there?
The SL Trib's take on Ball's memo.
If Kristin Moulton could contact Martinez for his opinion, why didn't Schwebke?
It's sad to see this mayor lash out at the Council,good point about the fact that the original intent for MU failed to arrive in tact,but what was produced could and should have been a better ordinance. Let's all hope the Council will not be intimidated and badgered into this peice meal attempt to rewrite the zoning as well as changing the General plan. Would that put these attacks on the Council into a proper perspective and show some of the real motivation behind this mayors tactics?
HAZ-MATT?
Very clever, Rudi.
Maybe Godfrey's plan is to have a shill on the other side of the ballot when the elections come around.
In other words, weaken Garcia to the point that in a party run off he looses to a Godfrey chosen opponent (where by the opponent to Garcia wins the primary and has the right to represent the party on the ballot). Then the guy either takes a dive (boxing term) just before the election and bows out of the race in some way thus leaving us with only Godfrey to vote for or the guy wins the election and after the election he hires Godfrey into one of those high paying business development jobs.
This is probably way out there but rest assured he's up to something with these latest orchestrated moves.
That 70% was rewritten by whom? Aren't Ellison's prints still all over the ordinance the PC passed?
I tried slogging through the ordinance and became burdened with too many words and confusing phrases. Deliberate? Did any of you brainiacs on here feel as I?
Godfrey was not surprised by Brown's egregious outburst Tu night. Had he been, he would have quickly condemned such vulgar behavior. The mayor's approbation of the whole tawdry affair is apparent.
Shame on the whole putrid administration, via Ball, for launching this attack on a good man's reputation and character. And notice the timing? Jesse is in Washington D.C.!! Good on ya, SE. YOUR timing makes me wonder about your complicity in this "Campaign Godfrey Style".
Where was your interview with the ANNOUNCED mayoral candidate, Mr. Hansen? Good reporting demands comments from Mr. Hansen.
Will Martinez get the same treatment as Jones in this 'ivestigation' by the OPD into alleged wrongdoing? Is the conclusion as foregone for Martinez as was Jones'?
Can there be any fairness for Martinez when the Chief of Police is the mayor's 'do his bidding bud'? The Sinkable Scotty Brown and At Risk Ball have fired a specious salvo at Mr. Martinez and Garcia. After all, from press reports, Mr. Brown should have been 'outed' by HIS superiors who apparently readusted their blinders and refused to discipline Brown who reportedly committed federal offenses.
Seems to me, that Brown and Ball would not keep digging themselves deeper into this very public hole for Godfrey. Godfrey has not shown himself to be loyal to friends, lackeys or the city. B and B, now that you've dug yourselves into this sandy-walled hole, you may just want to keep on going til you end up in China.
Methinks you two BB's will find a pink slip in your paychecks soon. Godfrey will have no further use for you, and will wisely distance himself from two silly fools who have brought 'dishonor to hizzoner. Can one DIShonor the DIS honorable???
These two clowns and the other sycophants will be fired by ANY new mayor!!! First order of business. ANY new mayor will assemble his own trustworthy team and should be thinking of that NOW!
Garcia has not announced his candidancy...but if he were giving it a thought...surely he would be thinking how better to better our city?
Bring in CSI....the prints of this fetid administration and hangers-on will be found when forensics is through 'dusting'.
Ogdenlover:
Two points.
1. You wrote: Anyone who is a political appointee expects to lose their position if their boss loses an election. These jobs do not come with a promise of lifelong security....
Well, yes and no. At the city level, it works a little differently. Certainly those who hold very high appointive positions in policy making jobs in city government, such as the Chief Administrative Officer, are normally expected to submit their resignations upon election of a new mayor, who then has the option of accepting that resignation or not. In fact, sometimes, all appointed officials submit their resignations, even if the sitting mayor is re-elected. He then has the option of accepting the resignations of those he wishes to replace. They will have resigned, not been fired, and the mayor gets to inject some new blood, if he thinks it needed, into his administration. If the new mayor achieves office by defeating the reelection bid of the sitting mayor, I don't think most CEOs would expect to have their resignations refused.
But I don't think the City's Risk Manager is high enough up the political ladder that someone who holds it would automatically
be replaced. I don't think its so much a policy making position as a postition requiring a great deal of techincal expertise. Competent risk managers are often "held over" I think on a change of city administrations. If however the person holding that job became a major campaign supporter of the existing mayor, a player in the campaign, and the existing mayor lost, the Risk Manager might want to see if his resume was up to date before innaugration day.
2. You wrote: If Ron Ball is so concerned with ethics and propriety, why did he wait until two days ago to write his memo to Johnson, Williams, and Godfrey?
Very good question, it seems to me. And I note again, that not even Ball claims he so much as spoke to Garcia about a mayoral campaign, or a job, of any sort. Very good question you asked.
Unless a Godfreyite is elected as mayor....anyone else will demand the resignations of the whole gang of thugs no matter how high up or down the food chain.
How could the new mayor or any of the citizens ever trust a holdover from the most corrupt administration in memory?
Off with their heads!
Bill C:
You wrote: Good point about the fact that the original intent for MU failed to arrive in tact,but what was produced could and should have been a better ordinance.
I read the various drafts, including the final one and had some difficulty at times figuring out what the words meant in a practical way. How they would work out on the ground, so to speak. Not surprising, since I am not an expert on zoning ordinances.
But I know people who are, and on whose opinions on such matters I've come to rely. They tell me that the new revised ordinance is a significant improvement over the one drafted by Mr. Peterson's attorney and originally endorsed by the Godfrey administration. The changes were not merely cosmetic. They also tell me that there are still problem sections in the ordinance that, they hope, the Council will address.
One problem apparently is this: the MU ordinance as it now stands presumes that MU developments will come exculusively from developers planning large projects. The ordinance makes no provision for small mixed use area development by small business owners.
What comes to mind for me is the one block lont MU zone in Salt Lake City [I think it's 15th and 15th] --- where The King's English Bookstore is, and the Paris Bistro restaurant. Several small shops, two coffee shops, three restaurants [one Italian, one French, one Middle-Eastern], some crafts stores, pet shop, one or two more. It does not seem that the MU zone there was developed by a single developer, but emerged after the zone was designated, one shop at a time.
And it has been very successful. The AAA traval magazine recently wrote this one block MU zone up as worth a visit for travellers (and it's a long way for the interstate). People are drawn to it from all over the city, and from outside the city. [Mrs. Curmudgeon and I manage to find our way there nearly every time we're in Salt Lake, to browse The King's English Bookstore, and while where there occasionaly to grab a lunch as well. Been there for the occasional dinner while in SL too.]
I gather the proposed Ogden ordinance has requirements for MU zone development that are appropriate for large developers proposing large projects. Apparently it does not provide for designating small areas as MU zones in which small business owners individually might locate, such as at 15th and 15th in SLC. [Driving around, I notice SLC has several other one or two block small shop MU zones in largely residential areas, and they seem to be thriving.] If that's true about the Ogden Ordinance, it should be amended to permit such small zones to emerge by encouraging small businesses to grow there, not just major developer-driven projects.
Council is the next step. From what I've seen of this Council so far, I doubt it will be stampeded on much of anything. It has its divisions, and members disagree strongly on a variety of matters, but they've acted in unison when necessary [e.g. the unanimous vote to change RDA procedures so that the RDA Director [the Mayor] may not in the future refuse to reveal to the RDA Board [the Council] who is involved in pending land sales.] They don't always decide things as I would [ever a mistake on their part, of course], but they do seem to deliberate and consider matters before them seriously.
Re: article about Brown's complaint in today's S-E.
"Dude stole my file! I'm calling the police!"
Yes, it's a job for the Major Crimes Unit.
These are the same group of people who are ridiculing the idea of freezing Leshem's assets when he's been accused of fraud to the tune of $11M, but they call in the Major Crimes Unit when someone's personnel file is stolen?
It's just an example of how impaired their ethics and thought processes have become, after seven years of ripping off Ogden.
After reading this mornings SE,
All I can say is that Mr. Ball must really feel intimidated by the administration. Can you imagine how many other city employees are being distracted from their jobs by the administration right now to pursue this strategy being implemented by the administration; what a waste of city money for political motivations.
If Mr. Ball really had issues with what he says happened he would have brought them up when the original flap over the Martinez firing was going on and the accusation would have been made rightfully toward Martinez not Garcia. Why would anyone reduce to writing third hand hear say and then offer it up to the paper and the city council? At best its only hearsay and what does he have to gain other than hurting someone that mistook him for a friend. The only thing he has done is validated his loyalty to the administration.
I’ve been around enough water cooler gossip over the years to know that people don’t confide in other people that don’t share their common views of a given sensitive situation or discussion. If someone comes around that doesn’t share those commons views in that conversation then the conversation changes direction or ends at that point. I would suggest that Mr. Ball and Mr. Martinez had similar views of the administration and that was the basis for their dialogs. Both were mid level and neither were inner circle. Both saw the inconsistencies going on within the administration and both felt the similar concerns and alienations. Mr. Ball had to be intimidated by the fact that someone that he saw, of his own admission, several times a week, was let go. Someone that was viewed by others as being Mr. Ball’s friend and someone that confided in Mr. Ball and most likely that Mr. Ball likewise confided in.
I am truly sorry for Mr. Ball, that he has had to choose to show his allegiance to the administration, that he has been most likely intimidated with the threat as to upward mobility limitations due to the administrations perceived interpretations of his lack of loyalty and that he has had to compromise his own personal values of friendship and integrity to others in order to save his chosen career within the city.
The smoking gun in this trumped up story would be a hand written note from Councilman Garcia to Mr. Martinez listing the names of the supposed hit list. That would be the only thing that could substantiate that this story ever actually took place and that’s all it would prove but I’m equally confident that it didn’t exist either.
Mr. Ball needs to keep in mind that if he ever gets terminated at a later date for reasons that are not justifiable and that if he brings up accusations that he was wrongly fired that the administration will bring this letter out to discredit him just as they did with a previously written letter of support to the administration from Mr. Martinez.
This letter did not buy Mr. Ball security with the administration, in fact just the opposite. The administration now has documented evidence that Mr. Ball associated with those that undermined with the administration’s credibility, Mr. Ball talked behind their backs and now Mr. Ball has given them a get out of jail card with regards to his career (in his letter) should they ever decide to let him go. He had much more leverage over the city administration in how they would treat him before he ever wrote this letter. I’ll wager that Mr. Ball dead ended his career within the city as of 3/8/07.
I am assuming that Ogden City employees are given periodic drug tests.
I would like to see the results of those tests for Scott Brown and Ball. Let's also include Garcia and Dean Martinez just to make it a fair comparison.
Does the Mayor have to undergo drug testing, too? Aha..that might explain his fixation with gondolas and other such "none such".
One of Godfrey's cousins told me he takes thyroid medication, which is the drug that makes Godfrey's eyes bug out.
naw...the rx doesn't 'make the eyes bug out'...
protruding eyes can be the result of hperthyroidism.
Godfrey's faults aren't about his eyes...they're about his amoral character.
A bunch of questions jumped off the page as I read Mr. Ball's indictment letter to the council.
If this simpleton attempt at political sabotage were not so clumsy and silly, it would be alarming.
My questions to Mr. Ball:
Q1-
Why are the tax payers giving you a very big salary to sit around with Dean Martinez, on a regular daily basis, chewing the fat and speculating about what Garcia may or may not do if he were to be elected mayor?
Q2
What high paid insider in his right mind would ever take serious the idea that Garcia could ever get elected mayor of Ogden?
Q3
Mr. Ball went to all the trouble to write this lengthy indictment and to look up and quote the Utah Law, so why wouldn't he look in his own notes to get the exact August dates?
Q4
What year was this August golf date between Garcia and Martinez? Was in last August - over a year away from the next election? Was it two Augusts ago? Three? Four?
Q5
Is Mr. Ball so stupid as to think Garcia is so stupid as to solicit high paid Godfrey insiders to risk their giant paychecks to spy for the benefit of a far off and highly unlikely run for mayor?
Q6
Is the highly paid Mr. Ball so stupid that he doesn't see how dumb this second hand report of Golf buddy political gossip looks to any one beside the desperate Godfreyites?
Q7
If Mr. Ball truly felt a year or more ago that his job was being threatened by this second and third hand information, why didn't he blow the whistle then?
Q8
How many other highly paid Administration people sit around on the tax payer's dime involving themselves in this kind of idleness?
Q9
Does Mr. Ball realize that there are comedy writers that make a whole lot more money than he does that can't write stuff this good?
How can the Godfrey insiders slander Martinez's character and call him a liar, and at the same time claim that what Ball says he said is true? Can they have it both ways?
It seems that the Mayor and his whole staff wouldn't know the truth if it reached up and slapped them in the face.
What lurks below the surface of this city government? Perhaps only the shadow knows.
I thought it was a common practice among newspapers to get confirmation before publishing stories like the one on the front page this morning. As Curm points out, we don't have a story of someone claiming to have heard things from Garcia that he thinks are unethical, but of someone who claims to have heard things from Martinez about what Garcia would do. So if I send a press release to the SE claiming that I heard person X claim that Godfrey told him he was going to do Y, will they publish it? I also thought it was inappropriate for the SE to publish this article before it was able to get a comment from Garcia -- since he is out of town. WHole thing seemed like a hatchet job by the SE.
There is also one other interesting point in all of this. I find it interesting that I and others received the email about all of this the day before it broke in the Standard Examiner by Bob Geiger. Which means this was all planned and set into motion by the Lift Ogden/Godfrey Gondolist team. It was and is planned. Brown, Geigers, Gadi were all drinking together after the city planning commission meeting Weds, the day after the initial strikes by Brown, which they all attended to see how the mixed use ordinance was playing out. Once it was passed they all walked out to the Ben Lomond Hotel lounge and/or Wine Cellar for cocktails then meandered to see the hanging gondola. This has been reported. This is a ploy that was set in motion and Bob Geiger mass mailed it out to media and friends. That is how the Tribune and Standard picked it up. I sent my copy to this forum so Blogmeister had a heads up. I dont think any of us thought the papers would pick it up with so much heresay in it. This is strategic and is strike two in an ambush, an aggressive attack for distraction and confusion so the good people of Ogden begin to mistrust someone else for a change. They are trying to turn the tables. It will back fire I predict. These folks are keen business men and sales addicts. They are out to make a dime and want power and need to win. It is a military strategy for the sake of business and to get what they want in their own agendas. I can assure you all that Brown/Geigers/Gadi were discussing this information and what to do next over the cocktail table on Weds night. Is the Mayor and Peterson in on it? Perhaps not directly but surely indirectly. These are his generals just like any regime. And at times they do run amuk and on their own. Godfrey does not care only that the gondola gets passed. Why he cares and believes so much in this is the biggest mystery of all. This is a ploy and it will backfire on them.
ogden iii
"This week, on 9 March, the SE carried a story by Rebecca Palmer, covering this week's Planning Commission marathon session on a new Mixed Use Ordinance for Ogden."
Can somebody post this article?
Anon 3:52
Ms. Palmer's article can be found here.
As you know I’ve had my operatives raising Cain all over the city, and so before they cool off I felt this would be a good time for me to clear up a few things up about my 4-wheeler outing with Chris Peterson and Scott Brown’s perversions.
If you just go to images.google.com and type in “bush kiss Saudi” or “bush holding hands Saudi” you’ll understand. Or you can click here, here, and here.
You may recall the help that Papa Bush gave the Arabs with the gulf war and how he’s gotten a lot of fat cash from “consulting” contracts from the Saudis since them. His son, GW has driven the price of oil up by a factor of three times what it was when Clinton was president, and so when GW leaves office he knows he’ll be taken care of too. How else do you think people like the Bushes get rich? How else do you expect somebody like me to?
Getting to the point, what Clinton did with Monica Lewinski was nasty, and what Scott Brown wanted to do with the women here in the city offices was nasty too. But as the old man who lived next door to me when I was a boy used to say: It’s nasty to do that with a girl, but it’s different when it’s with a friend.
You know I don’t care for sodomites and those Democrats and their queer parades with guys holding hands and kissing in public and all that. But remember, it’s different if the two men are good conservatives, or if they’re doing business, or if they’re part of the same club or whatever. So for instance, if Bush holds hands and French kisses an Arab guy it’s ok since he’s a good Republican. It’s just a way for a man to tell another man how he feels.
Anyway I was at Chris Peterson’s house, helping him look for those pills his wife makes him take a half hour before they go to bed and I was thinking that I could do a lot more for a man like Chris and he could do a lot more for me. So I arranged for us to ride some 4-wheelers on the golf course. Lots of fresh air and scrub oak and who knows what could happen? We even took some friends along. I told Chris what happens on the golf course, stays on the golf course.
I know it’s illegal to ride 4-wheelers on the golf course, but I told Greiner to keep his men far away. Awhile later, Schwebke from the paper called so I gave him a story and he printed it: A famous designer wanted to ride around on the mud and mush to look at the dead grass. Yeah, right.
But nothing happened with Chris and me – this time. So just remember, when you see two men Frenching they might not be gays. They might just be good friends like Bush and the Saudis are, or like Chris Peterson and I could be. A man’s gotta have friends, and a man’s gotta make a living.
SE Reader:
The story that concerned me was the front page story in which Mr. Brown alleges that Martinez in essense stole a confidential personnel file for Councilman Garcia's use. No evidence offered, no corroboration of any sort. Seems simply to be a surmise on the part of a city official with a known animus toward Garcia. I wondered as I finished the article whether it merrited publication, much less front page publication, with apparently zero corroboration in hand. Still wondering about that one.
Ball's story is a little different, since he forwarded his charges to the Council, so it's on the record, charging [apparently] that a Council member commited a crime. I'd have printed that one too. In fact, I'd have front paged it before I front paged Brown's latest rant without having in hand, as apparently the SE did not have in hand since it reported none, any corroboration for Brown's specualtions.
But the Ball story, because he made his charges in writing to the Council, had to be covered by the SE I think.
Well, well...
Mr. Brown does like to shoot off his mouth.
My sources tell me that Scott Brown told some ladies at a popular Ogden eatery a few nights ago that April 15th is his last day with Ogden City.
The most interesting part of his announcement was that he is going to receive a retirement package
a la Stuart Reid.
Can this possibly mean that Godfrey is going to hire him back in some other position?????
Scott Brown is also supposed to be the only Ogden City RDA employee who understands all the City's financial maneuvers.
At least that is what Scott Brown believes wholeheartedly.
Let's hope that is just his opinion because the financial mess has been created in a most convoluted fashion.
Ogden iii,
You’re absolutely right that this is like a military attack. This is the classic diversion.
The administration is hoping that all or most of everyone’s attention will be focused on these latest attention grabbing news stories that they will not focus in on the big issue, that of the Mixed Use Ordinance. The current news stories are of interest of both the residents and the council members that will be having to both interpret, amend and decide whether the new proposed ordinance is worthy of going forward.
This is not the first time Godfrey has used this tactic, the last time was when the RDA sold the Wall property to Bootjack, LLC. As I recall, in that meeting where the sale took place, the first order of business there was a sale to Chianti of the Shupe-Williams property (this was the diversion) in that as you recall the paper brought up the fact, after the council approved the sale, that the owners didn’t want to buy the property and the whole issue as to why the administration would have had the council approve a sale before they had a deal came up. There was a long and attention grabbing discussion over the matter before they went on to the next item on the agenda that was moved along in fast order, the sale of a like sized, like priced piece of property to a willing buyer that turned out to be to Bootjack, LLC. But one of the questions that was asked by the council and that should have been answered by the administration involving the sale (Who owns Bootjack, LLC?) was intentionally not answered for fear it would compromise the sale, a transaction that the mayor very much wanted to make.
As such the diversion was set up, Chianti. The item that the mayor really wanted to get through the council more than anything else was the Bootjack sale. He sacrifices the Chianti sale (knowing it wasn’t ready to go to council),knowing he’d be able to put the thing together at a later date and knowing the attention that would be brought about by its incompleteness would be enough of a distraction to get the Bootjack deal through.
It worked, and we’re seeing him trying it again with these current attention getting news stories. We residents and the city council need to devote an extra amount of effort into reviewing the Mixed Use Zoning Ordinance to ensure that this is in the form that we want to pass. We also need to ask ourselves and our council members what are the motives for this ordinance and is the timing right for passing this ordinance. The answer could turn out that it’s a good ordinance but that the political motivations behind its creation should preclude the council from passing it.
I find it passing strange that after getting all high and mighty about journalistic ethics in their editorial pages a few weeks ago, the S-E board reports unsubstantiated third-hand rumors as though they are facts.
Reading some of the rumors above, it occurs to me that this blog is exactly where this type of thing belongs -- and not in a newspaper. Or so they taught me in J-school.
I find it hard to believe that Mayor Godfrey is responsible for the timing of these allegations. The timing just doesn't make any sense. My guess is that Brown actually did start this on his own, in a misguided defense of his boss, Dave Harmer, and it has now taken on a life of its own.
Maybe the rumor is true and Brown will be leaving employmnet soon and wanted to make a splash while he was still relevant (as an Ogden City manager).
anon 8:13
ON the other hand, if you are of a suspicious turn of mind, you could suspect that Brown, departing within a month, was the perfect one to begin the mudslinging. Short timer with nothing to loose.
Lots of theories and suspicions, but nothing really at this point but speculations.
Here's how it works, anonymous.
Brown makes ragged unsubstantiated allegations about three of Godfrey's most obvious council opponents.
Brown mugs and rants for the press and slams these councilpeople relentlessly for a few weeks.
The Standard letters column fills with Lift Ogden letter writers until the public says: "enough."
Godfrey terminates Brown involuntarily, issues a slight reprimand and blames the whole problem on Brown's illness.
Brown packs it in to Montana, along with a fat severence package.
The Ogden City taxpayers take it in the backside again.
Pure Godfrey 101.
Love the picture of EVIL on his bike!
I wonder if the purists in our city government will be in church tomorrow looking pious?
Wouldn't that be special?
If Kristin Moulton could contact Martinez for his opinion, why didn't Schwebke?
I'll suggest why. Because Schwebke is a moron. That's not descriptive, but public officials don't trust Schwebke to write a peice of journalism. Moulton is capable of journalism. Schwebke is SO BAD that neither side trusts him.
Which brings me to the subject of the SE in general. The whole paper is so bad, that I lapsed my subscription once I discovered wcforum. In fact, correct me if I'm wrong, it seems to me that Schwebke gets a considerable amount of his information right here. Schwebke, if you are reading this, go back to college! Or finish high school.
Anon:
Well, unless you have an all-seeing eye someplace, kind of hard to say for sure that SE did not attempt a comment from Martinez, and he was not available when they called. And It's possible they didn't call. [I don't know. The point is, neither I think do you.] I've been critical of Schwebke stories here, but also noted when he did good work, and he has. Not as consistently as I would like, I grant, but he's done good stories too. And he's working [all reporters are] under space and policy constraints. [E.g. SE policy for covering City Council meetings is for the story to focus on one, and only one, event/topic at the Council meeting. Which has led to complaints here about why Schwebke covered only topic A at a Council meeting and not B and C. You may have problems with that policy --- I do --- but the grousing about it should be directed to the editors, not the reporters who work under the policy and have no control over it.] Ms. Moulton seems more curious than the SE staff, and willing to ask of officials in particular that one extra follow-up question that has led her to some good stories. I wish Mr. Schwebke more often showed the same curiosity and willingness to probe beyond the first answer when interviewing officials too.
WCF makes a useful supplement to the SE, but if you think it replaces the SE for information about Ogden, I think you are sadly mistaken. All you need do is note the number of times... and it is a lot of times... the subject of discussion here is an article or editorial or cartoon or letter or op ed piece that appeared first in the SE.
Is the SE what it could be? No. Is it what it should be? No. Is it so bad it's not worth subscribing to? Also no. It's a not bad paper for a city and county of this size. Not excellent, but not bad. You want to see really odorous "journalism" [politely so called], check out the San Antonio Light sometime. Or the New York Post. Compared to either of them, the SE is Pulitzer Prize material.
Curm,
looking at the front page story from 3/10, the lead in suggests that Ball was asked "by City Council Chairman Jesse Garcia" but as you read on you see that the memo says: "Dean (Martinez) would relay what Garcia's plans were ... Dean came into my office ... He told me ... Dean stated ..." and so on. So why does the SE print that Ball was asked by Garcia? Plus why did it print the story before being able to get a comment from Garcia? Again, story is misleading at best. If they were right to print it, they at least should have made it clear right from the start that Ball was accusing Martinez of saying things.
SE:
We're going to have to agree to disagree on this. Yes, there was misleading information in the Ball story, but it came from Ball. He claimed Garcia promised a promotion and he said he was afraid if he didn't support Garcia he'd be fired in a new administration. That was Ball's claim, and the SE reported that... and, please note, included all of the detail that you note [and that I noted on the second post on this thread] so readers would have the information to draw conclusions about how reliable Ball's claims might be. The SE would have been wrong not to report Ball's claim, which remember he made in a letter to the entire city Council, making the complaint official. It's now on the record.
Garcia was out of town at a convention or conference [don't recall which] and was apparently unavailable for comment, leaving the SE with the choice of holding the story that a city official had filed a complaint with the Council about alleged criminal conduct by one of its members, or going with the story and noting that Garcia was not available for comment. I think they made the right choice on that one. I'd have printed the story as well.
You have a better case on the Brown story that led on page one, the one in which Brown says Menendez "stole" [so to speak] his personnel file for Garcia for political purposes. The question naturaly arrise how he could possibly know what was in Menendez' mind when he took the personnel file? Brown offered no corroborating evidence, only his guess that Menendez took it for Garcia. That one should not have been run without the SE finding some corroboration, and the story reported none. Not any. Headlining on page one Brown's specualtions about what Martinez was thinking last year, sans any corroboration at all, was a miscue on the SE's part. Particularly since Brown's speculations worked to the detriment of a third party, Mr. Garcia, who Brown is known to dislike intensely [to be delicate about it]. The Brown story was a bad call on the SE's part unless/until it could corroborate Brown's musings, but the Ball story was, I think, the right call.
Wayne "Chris" Peterson and his "land use team" are evaluating their options now that WSU has eviscerated his "plan." Wayne might also want to check with his imaginary friends Don and Mike and see what they think about a $50 million urban gondola and its chances of succeeding. Wayne might also seek the pulse of his second incarnation of the Squirrel Patrol to see if the land he wishes to steal is infested with the aforementioned animals to the point that it's not worth his time as a "developer" who's never developed anything. Wayne and his traveling pal and "visionary" Little Matty Godfrey live in a nice world, but it's not real. The word is out on all you clowns. Keep up the brilliant PR. Keep doing inane things like hoisting a gondola car in the middle of a heavy construction zone. Keep writing letters. Keep posting. Keep sending giddy emails to each other about politics. Hell, I'm driving down to Pinnacle Marketing tommorrow and will offer them a crisp $10 bill for their work thus far. Remember,
THE SKI IS BEAUTIFUL BLUE.
Under meeting agendas in the SE, the Ogden RDA / City Council meeting for next Tuesday is shown as being cancelled.
Anyone know the significance of this?
not enough items to keep them going til past midnight.
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