For a good laugh, don't miss this morning's Standard-Examiner editorial, an unabashed and romantic pean to Blessed Boss Godfrey. "Prickly character" though he is, the Standard-Examiner plainly loves him, and will continue to do so, until he's unceremoniously ushered out of office by the taxpayer-citizens, in January of 2008.We say January of 2008 can't come soon enough.
A few select quotes from today's editorial:
The mayor's a prickly character, not much given to smooth public relations.Godfrey's critics and opponents, of course, are the citizens of Emerald City, the very same folks Boss Godfrey was elected to represent.
He doesn't seem to mind a fight, and has stood toe-to-toe with critics too many times to recall.
It's true this newspaper's editorial board has disagreed bitterly on some occasions with the way Godfrey has gone about his job.The editorial board has disagreed bitterly? We don't recall that ever having happened even once. Perhaps our gentle readers can help us out on this.
By way of that aggressiveness -- so unusual in some politicians who crave respect and admiration -- Godfrey has achieved quantifiable triumphs in the city's attempts to revitalize and re-brand itself.Translation: Godfrey has a public be damned attitude. He simply doesn't care what the lumpentownsfolke think; and neither does the Standard-Examiner. As for the "quantifiable triumphs," the jury remains out. After seven years, Godfrey has yet to show one project of his that runs cash flow positive. And of course there's that mountain of public debt that he's "created."
Is Ogden there yet? Well, we're not sure where "there" would be, since success ought to be measured on a continuum and constantly compared against progress or setbacks in the city's many spheres of responsibility -- taxation, fiscal management, maintenance of infrastructure, social well-being, etc. But the Junction City one sees now is indisputably better off than it was a decade ago, and part of the credit for that progress can be given to Godfrey's administrative team.We suggest Emerald City won't "be there," until the city's credit is completely maxed-out, and every free-and-clear City and RDA property has been either sold at bargain-basement prices to Godfrey cronies -- or hocked. Our precious Mt. Ogden Parklands hasn't been yet transferred to Boss Godfrey's crony Peterson, however. Perhaps we can use that as the benchmark to tell when we've arrived "there."
Aside from the few remaining twisted folks of the Emerald City Gondola Cult, the Standard-Examiner remains the sole voice in Emerald City still able to hold its nose and slavishly sing praise of the Tyrannical Boss.
And for those who think Boss Godfrey doesn't play the public relations "game," check out this morning's dandy Blake Fowers letter, straight from the Boss Godfrey Campaign Form Letter Mill.
Comments, anyone?
54 comments:
Well, Rudi, while the editorial goes a little over the top on praise, its main point is, I think, pretty solid: the Ogden re-branding as a center for outdoors oriented businesses has produced measurable results, and may produce a great many more. Nothing wrong with approving what the Administration has done well.
Of course, it could be argued that much of Ogden's growth at the moment can be more reasonably attributed to the imminent arrival of Frontrunner, but as Dan S. pointed out some time ago, the Mayor gets points for that too since he was an early advocate of and supporter of the taxes that made Frontrunner a reality.
However, much of what the Godfrey administration has mortgaged Ogden's future finances to get are still unproven projects. They may succeed [and I hope they do] and they may not. We just don't know yet. The River Project area, begun five years ago, has yet to have a single development project finished and open. Not one. The mall redevelopment has the Tree House children's museum open in larger quarters, but everything else is still a-building. Whether the High Adventure Rec Center will succeed is still unknown. So some of the SE kudoes seem a little premature.
The danger is --- and it is a danger inherent in may long-term administrations [municipal, state and national] --- that the Mayor will over-reach, and endanger successes already achieved by that over-reaching. His obsession with a flatland city-built and owned gondola from downtown to WSU is I think a good example of a dangerous over-reach. His obsession with that project is such that he's willing to sell off the city's largest public park and adjacent public open land on the benches to raise only part of the money needed to build his flatland gondola.
That's what happens when people find themselves in the grip of an irrational obsession: they lose all sense of proportion and their passionate commitment overcomes their reason. That's where we seem to be now with respect to the Mayor and the flatland gondola.
Godfrey's done some good stuff. Done some stuff that absolutely has not worked well. Has much still on the boards the outcome of which is not yet certain. And stands a chance of leading Ogden over the edge of fiscal responsibility in pursuit of his obsession, the flatland gondola. Sadly, some of the Mayor's more vocal supporters have become obsessed as well. When a businessman stands up before the city Council and, his voice quivering with anger, tells the Council with a straight face that in asking the Mayor who he was proposing to sell Ogden public land to, the Council was being un-American and acting unconstitutionally --- well, at that point, reason has gone on vacation and passionate obsession has taken its place.
But the re-branding of Ogden as an outdoors oriented business venue has had some success, and may have a great deal more, and there was nothing wrong with the SE saying so.
"Nothing wrong with approving what the Administration has done well."
Yeah... and Mussolini got the Italian trains running on schedule.
;-(
I feel more ilk towards the city council over the (Earnest Hospital deal) than I do towards Godfrey, and as far as Godfrey being snuffed out in o8' I'm not so sure anymore about that. I mean would Neil Hansen be better, according to the Deseret News Sundays paper Mr. Hansen was one of the only legislators who got 0 bills passed he sponsered over a dozen and 0 passed I mean how effective is this guy really?
What is missing from the SE's editorial is the question "What more could have been accomplished to benefit Ogden if Godfrey hadn't decided to spend his and the City's time and resources pandering to his developer and would-be developer friends?
So much time has been lost.
We fell behind in improving true public transportation. Our police and firefighters have been treated shabbily. The citizens have been insulted - we have never received a true accounting of City expenditures for promoting the Gondola/Gondola. The devisiveness and ill-will engendered by the Mayor and Lift Ogden reflects a narrow-minded, irresponsible view.
Yes, some good has been accomplished but not anything of the order attributed to Godfrey's reign by the SE.
Meanwhile, Ogden is obligated to repay enormous, undefined debt incurred by the City. Our infrastructure is falling apart (had a drink of clean water lately?), and the only way it seems to curb Godfrey's megalomania is to throw him out of office in November or into jail before then.
Spumoni:
In re: Earnest Hospital matter. If you go back and look at what happened [at least as it was reported in the press], the lead up to it is remarkably similar to the lead up to the recent Bootjack matter. The Mayor negotiated with Earnest in private [not necessarily a bad thing in negotiations], but when it was clear he was going to bring the matter to the Council for its approval, several Council members asked for more information, and the Administration refused to provide it. Leaving members of the Council not option but to ask Earnest for the information the Administration had refused to provide them previously. Seems to me the Godfrey administration's irrational penchant for operating in secret when it has no need to is as responsible for what happened as the Council was. And maybe more so. The natural question that arises when an official withholds information that he or she appears to have no reason to withhold is: "What's he hiding? What is it that he doesn't want us to know?" Full and timely replies to reasonable requests for information from Council members about matters on which they are being asked to vote can eliminate such suspicious. But, as we saw in the recent Bootjack matter, the Administration seems not, even now, to have learned that seemingly so simple and easy to grasp lesson. I hope it will learn it soon. I'm not optimistic.
As for Mr. Hansen: Well, Mr. Hansen is a Democratic member of a House so overwhelmingly Republican that in the previous session, Republicans didn't even bother to include Democrats in conference committees, etc. Given the size of the Republican majority in the recent legislature [massive] and the [you should excuse the expression] "quality" of much of the legislation it produced against the wishes of the voters, according to polls [e.g the school voucher bill, the Real Stadium tax-give-away bill, and the usual cluster of "message" bills from the Buttars-Eagle Forum Axis which will cost the state still more to try to defend, unsuccessfully, in Court], I'm not willing to take his failure to get any passed as a sign of ineffectiveness. Could be instead a sign of commitment to Democratic principle. Doubtless you will think otherwise.
I agree curm.
All the bills that Neil has run, were and will be, what he is all about, and that is public service. All the bills he has run though the years, is how can he make this a better socitey. he is the one that understands that when he votes in behalf of the voters he always ask himself what will this do TO the people or what will this do FOR the people and I belive that he does things for the voters. He is the one that is always gracious, and very down to earth, this is what will make him a great mayor.
When the Standard decides to kiss the mayor's butt they sure don't do it half way do they! This editorial smells like it may have been written in Sandusky and/or the ninth floor. In light of a few pretty good pieces from the Standard's editorial board lately, this one seems a bit out of step. Or, maybe Porter is just schizophrenic and forgot to take his meds.
I do not have any problem with these ski oriented companies coming to Emerald City any more than I do any type of clean business. It just seem that the mayor has put all of our collective eggs in this one very sketchy basket. If you add up all the companies he alleges came here because of his fantasies, they all collectively would not be hiring a fraction as many people as any of our existing medium size companies.
The Scott deal, with the most employees, really shouldn't count because they were already in the Ogden Metro area. The Amer catch was pretty good with a possibility of a couple hundred jobs (yes, that is posibility, not an absolute), and a lot of them "maybe" jobs will be imported with them. Still with 200 jobs, the deal is pretty small potatoes in the over all scheme of things around here.
The point is, even if the dream of a ski hub did materialize, it would not amount to a total gain of employment that was as big as Ogden's current tenth biggest company. Convergence alone employes 1350 people in Ogden according to yesterday's paper. Only a completely clueless or dilusional person would ever imagine that this ski hub idea would rival the railroad in its impact on Ogden! That is a completely ridiculous idea that shows a great deal of historical ignorance on the part of its adherents.
So the mayor totally focuses on this sports hub for the last seven years to the exclusion of most every thing else. Meanwhile the infastructure goes to hell, the debt goes through the roof, the city is teetering on bankruptcy and the mayor sits in his office fiddling as he pursues these dilusions of grandeur that center around a future ski hub in an age of global warming. His only other visible activity is skulking around after dark spying on citizens and city employees. Oh ya, he also apparently spent at least a little time a couple of years ago burying Scott Brown's sexual harrasment complaints.
Meanwhile Orem gets a new high tech company that employes 4000, Provo gets one with 3200 new jobs, and all the rest of the state seems to be enjoying robust economic growth on a much grander scale than Ogden whose only vision is this piss ant size ski hub dream.
The mayor and his Koolaid gang see him as a great visionary. Unfortunately his visions are of small potatoes while the rest of the state feasts on a grand buffet.
You describe a Neil Hansen very different from the one I know. He does not have the respect of even his democratic peers on capital hill. His last job for the city was running a back hoe. He is currently unemployed, except for his 45 days at "work" in the legislature. How it is that you think he would make a competent mayor?
Wow, ozboy. Now that is some writing and analysis - brilliant. I can see why you don't work for the paper.
And as far as the paper goes, we already know what the big wigs there really think regarding Godfrey's visions. After all, they "voted with their feet" and LEFT TOWN!
Strangely, they pitch the opposite of what they really believe, to the rest of us. Is it any wonder the public holds them in so much contempt? Happily, this latest editorial of theirs will backfire, linking Godfrey and them together, as they should be.
The one element that has attracted renewed investment in Ogden is the attractive real estate values.
Schwebke asked me the other day, If the current surge is driven by the relatively low values, why wasn't Ogden surging 10 years ago? Well, Sadly, ten years ago and up until the real estate balloon burst a couple of years ago, Ogden was missing out on a boom that was affecting everywhere, especially western cities. Ogden was still on the decline. I did not live here during that period. Schwebke's question reflects the kind of isolation in which many others in Ogden live.
Nevertheless, when the bubble burst, rather prices topped out, in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Tucson, Reno, Sacramento, Bay Area, Seattle, Portland, Couer d Alene, Boise etc...
Savvy and still hungry investors gravitate to where the values and fundamentals offer some upside. Well here sits little old Ogden with a thousand homes for sale under $150,000 and Snowbasin just got upgraded to world class status. Don't forget The Wasatch Front suddenly moving up to fastest growing metro area by some parameters.
Mayor Godfrey comes along and deservedly rebrands the city as a recreational destination and all the cards line up. Suddenly, he looks like a genius. There was nothing that could have prevented Ogden from being discovered eventually. We have all the resources of any trendy western recreational mecca. In fact it's better here as a resident than most high-brow destinations. Cost of living being the major factor.
Most do not understand and recognize a basic fundamental that will drive Ogden real estate values for the next decade. We are landlocked. There is nowhere to grow but to redevelop older properties and to build up. This is a very good thing. Redevelopment is far more beneficial to a community than new raw development. In fact, a community that does not have an aggressive redevelopment strategy is dying. Ogden's classy architecture assures that it will be cared for like any heirloom. I predict that Ogden will be like the San Francisco of the Rocky Mountains in a couple of decades. By then all the historic homes and buildings will have been renovated and living here will be the envy of all the front.
So I will give the mayor credit for getting us positive press and moving on some key redevelopment projects. Even reigniting the possibilities of an up-mountain gondola could add to our recreational assets. Unfortunately, His obsession with sacrificing our prize urban foothill greenbelt over some silly urban gondola idea and Peterson's greed as he drools oveer said land has the potential of ruining that recreational mecca status. Instead of being the envy of the Front we will be the laughing stock as we dismantle a hardly used urban gondola and reminisce about the old golf course and uncrowded foothill.
Tec:
I understand the Lift Ogden Amen Chorus is busy again, these days, promoting the idea that what Hizzonah envisions is "a gondola," not two separate gondola systems. And busy implying that there is in fact a Peterson Proposal and they know what's in it. Or so they're telling people as they urge them to support Peterson's plans, sight unseen.
Do you suppose they'd let us know what those plans are? Or, maybe, the City Planning Commission? Or the Council? Or even the Standard Examiner, none of which seem to know, no proposal having yet been presented in a public way?
I suspect not. I suspect the Amen Chorus will simply keep cranking out letters, press releases, and going on Ogden's All Geigers All The Time community TV channel to sell "the gondola" and a so-far-as-we-know-as-yet non-existent "Peterson Proposal." Hell, it's only naysayers who want details and who dare to ask questions. Real Ogdenites simply bleat approval without question to spending up to fifty million on a flatland gondola between WSU and down town and to selling off the city's largest parklands property to pay for part of it, and demanding that WSU give up the limited land the U. has on which to expand in order to serve a Godfrey crony's real estate development dreams of a private up-scale gated community of 600 homes on what is now Ogden City parkland.
I guess it's only the rest of us who don't think daring to ask questions of the Godfrey administration or its apologists is un-constitutional and un-American.
I should add the the real estate boom was driven by new home construction. Since Ogden has no new home construction it did not share in the boom. When the bubble burst, investors realized that cheap older homes were just as good a cheaply financed new ones. Add that we are on the interstate and still a crossroads...
bingo, we are rediscovered.
Godfrey would have done just as well marketing Ogden for it's affordable real estate alone.
anon.
I think that because godfrey was fired from the city and was and is the biggest slumlord in ogden, {and by the way how can others get the city to clean up their propeties by using the city employees and equiptment like the mayor did.} that would make a good mayor we have yet to see how this little guy is cleaning up the mess that he has made and by the way, tell me what are the qualifcation for mayor if you think that you are so bright. and then I tell you how Neil fits that mold. You have no Idea how good of a person Neil is.
it sounds to me that you are one of godfreyite naysayers and Neil would kick is but in the election. that is why you are tring to tear him down. Didn't your mother teach you any better than that.
Don't be too sure that our historic older homes and buildings will survive 10 more months of Godfrey. He has stated that even the mall will be obsolete after twenty years. He thinks old buildings, like Li'l Audrey's magnificent edifice on 20th St. is an eyesore!
He's too young and immature to know the value of preserving these magnificent buldings.
Hell, burn them down. You know, St Anne's could expand onto the Shupe Wiliams property!
Did anyone catch the good letters in the SE today? One writer wonders what we've been saying here...that the gondola towers will go on the valuable property that Peterson took that option on....right next to the Frontrunner landing.
Shame on the SE! Just when we thought they might be smartening up, they show us that they sing in the Amen Choir too.
NO snow at Malan's this winter (to speak of)....Just why would anyone come to Ogden to purchase ski clothing? One cannot ski within 10 minutes of here...so why come all the way to Ogden to buy some gloves and caps just to go to Park City, Snow Basin, Powder Mtn??
One can 'sled' on our hills and enjoy great scenery. Warm gloves are needed for that. But, can these retail stores sustain themselves on the occasional shopper?
Penney's is opening soon on Riverdale Rd. IKEA will be opening in Draper. Cabela's (a REAL OUTDOOR HUB) IS IN lEHI..
Does anyone know which big retail stores will be in the Junction? Where one can buy a suit? Dress? Shoes? Furniture? Groceries? Will we still be chasing down to Willey's, Wal Mart, Macy's, Penney's???
We were in REI in SLC on Sat. They have a big climbing wall. The store was bustling. NOT ONE person was on the wall.
Have you driven past that eyesore parking 'structure' downtown? That ugly thing should have been torn down and open parking, just like at Newgate, would have been better and safer. Hardly any women wanted to park in there. Shuttle buses from Frontrunner could drop shoppers off there and then shuttle them back to the depot.
BTW...please do not put any of the blame for the Ernest fiasco onto the Council. They don't share any blame with this sneaky mayor and his minions. They asked for information...were told the request had to be in writing...and their own Bill Cook did not accomodate them! He isn't loyal to the council...his loyalties appear to be at the tiny feet of the tiny mayor.
Go Neil...,
You say that Godfrey worked for the city and was fired? Tell about that , please.
Go Neil Go:
You wrote: "You have no Idea how good of a person Neil is."
With all due respect, and not meaning to question in any way Rep. Hansen's character, "how good a person" he is is not the main question voters ought to be asking when looking for a candidate for Mayor of Ogden. The question they should be asking is "Will Neil Hansen make the best mayor for Ogden over the next four years from among the candidates who are running?" That's the question.
I know many many very good people who would make terrible mayors. Lots of "really nice guys" have been elected to public office largely on grounds of their being "really nice guys" with often uhappy results, and sometimes disastrous results. [E.g. GWB.]
So, I'll want to know what Hansen plans to do as Mayor. I want to know what he thinks about Ogden's needs, its future, and how both will be served by a Hansen administration. In fact, if I decide he will be best for the City as mayor, I won't much care if he's a "really nice guy" or not. If he can run Ogden better than anyone else on the ballot, I'll pull the lever for him even if it's revealed that he's mean to puppies and kittens and won't buy Girl Scout cookies.
Running for Mayor [any elected office] is an extended job interview, not a courtship. I'm looking for competence and honesty, not niceness. I'll be looking, as a voter, for a CEO for Ogden, not a Church youth group leader.
Curm, your right on the money, I feel exacly that way and we don't need to tear some one apart and neil is the positive impact that we need here.
You and I are in agreement here, Curm,
I had a doctor in CA who had the personality of a den of vipers.
I was consulting and paying him for his SKILLS and expertise, not for his charm.
When I was no longer in danger and my health improved, he turned out to be a 'very nice guy'.
But while dealing with my very serious problems, he used his training and professional skills to heal me.
It's the same with the city. Though we want a mayor who won't bare his teeth at the citizens and scare little children and new business owners out of his path, we do need a mayor who will decide that making Ogden healthy is more important than being charming at the Rotary luncheon.
Ogden has many ailing parts: Infrastructure, debt that threatens to strangle the taxpayers, the crumbling sewer system, roads in need of repairs, public servants in need of a decent wage, and the list goes on. Our new mayor must bring in a first-rate CPA/Auditing firm to pore over the books.
One wonders if the books are scorched from being cooked?
Our new mayor must listen to the citizens who want our open spaces preserved.
Our new mayor must not, in any fashion, practice 'cronyism'.
Our new mayor must practice 'open' government.
Our new mayor must want and pursue an open door policy with the Council.
Our new mayor must be fiscally responsible.
He/she should adhere to the same good budget practices that families do: If we can't afford it...do without.
Our new mayor will not use the people's monies to traipse around Europe being wined and dined like a high priced call girl.
Our new mayor shall not, with his crony in tow, jet to WA D.C. to lobby for a 'vision'.
And the list goes on.
So, all mayoral candidates...will you let the folks know what your platform is?
It's good that you'll be a good guy or gal, but more importantly, will you be good for Ogden?
Who is it that wanted to know more about godrey getting fired from the city? Here is the history and the rest of the story. godfrey was hired in to comminity devlopement for the city and was working form his uncle greg mongomery, one day after godfrey had been out testing the water to run for mayor, his boss mr scott that was over the dept. went inot godfrey and told him that he was breaking a city ordaince by running for mayor and that he would have to quit the job or be fired for doing politics while working for the city, godfrey left and who was the first person that he fired after he was elected was mr. scott. btw this was his stake pres. at the time and gofrey was a bishop. how is that for a fine how do you do. see how vindictive the little man can be.
Sharon,
This is exactly why I'm supporting Neil Hansen, he is this and more of the good things that this city needs. those that know him, knows that he always does, what is in the best interest of the public!!!
History of...
Thanks for the insights
So, the bishop fired the Stake president??
Hah! Guess there was no 'cronyism' there, eh?
Anon.
You sound alot like Mark Jonhson, did you know that some of the things that you say is just like what the mayor is saying about jesse. I could see that you don't have enough to do during the day and that you are wasting taxpayer money while you are on this blogg.
Ogden also need someone in there that is intelligent and has a complete ken of the process to get things done. It's easy to run-a-mok when you have a pompous attitude (that causes a 5 million dollar lawsuit that could have been settled for 2 million) like godfrey. And just to add to the smarts of godfrey, it does sound highly intelligent of a lawsuit settlement to be added to bonds for a New High Adventure Center and your taxpayers get to pay interest on the lawsuit money. Neil Hansen finds the facts and then votes for the best, even if he told someone he'd vote for it and then voted different because he found other facts pertaining to the peice of legislation, he's not affraid to uphold the integrity of the office. He seems to be able to focus on his elected office at the times of need and still run his own business...... but that's just me.
My first thought upon reading today's editorial was to wonder how Godfrey's accomplishments over nearly eight years compare to what we would expect from any mayor, or to what his predecessor accomplished over a similar time period. For example, since taking office Godfrey has accomplished the following:
* Endorsed and supported commuter rail, which is now about to begin operation;
* Extended the Ogden River Parkway west from Washington to 21st Street Pond;
* Redeveloped much of the 100 block of 25th Street;
* Moved IRS to downtown;
* Attracted several small ski-related companies and one reasonably large one (Amer);
* Built the downtown amphitheater;
* Tore down the mall and initiated redevelopment of the site.
For comparison, here are some of the things that happened during the previous eight years or so:
* Restoration of the Egyptian Theater and construction of the Eccles convention center;
* Construction of Lindquist Field;
* Construction of the Ogden River Parkway from Washington to Ogden Canyon;
* Restoration of much of the 200 block of 25th Street;
* Restoration of the Municipal Building (funded and initiated);
* Construction of the new court house downtown;
* Construction of the Colonial Court apartments downtown;
* DDO converted to BDO, creating a revenue stream for Ogden City;
* Construction of most of the East Bench trailheads and many of the trails;
Of course, these lists are merely illustrative. I don't have the knowledge to do a careful, detailed comparison of the amount of development under Godfrey vs. the amount under his predecessor, or of the total number of downtown jobs gained or lost, etc. And it would be even more difficult to determine how much credit the mayor deserves for each accomplishment, especially when there are larger forces at work like the overall economy and real estate market in the West, not to mention the Olympics and the expansion of Snowbasin. But I think it's fair to conclude that the pace of positive change in Ogden has not accelerated greatly during the Godfrey Administration. It might not have accelerated at all. In fact the main difference between Godfrey and his predecessor is that our current mayor is much more aggressive at taking credit for anything good that happens. Perhaps the best that can be said of him is that he's done several good things, and in most respects, he hasn't made things any worse.
"...in most respects, he hasn't made things any worse."
Don't be a dunce, Dan S.
During the seven years of the Godfrey administration, RDA debt has shot up from around $14 million, to around $90 million.
Godfrey hasn't made things worse my ass.
Dan
The true test of any politician is - Did he make things worse!
There can certainly be a very good argument that on balance, and looking at all aspects of city government, Mr. Godfrey has cerainly made a very large number of things worse.
Re: Blake Fowers' letter in today's S-E.
"Garcia, Wicks and Jeske"
We could use this phrase as a diagnostic tests for letters written on the 9th floor of City Hall.
Griffiths Op-Ed piece? Check.
Brown rant? Check.
Geiger rant? Check.
You think they could switch the order around from time to time, just for variety's sake.
Quite an impressive list of accomplishments in this town BEFORE Godfrey!
Yeah, our debt is sky high. The infrastructure needs attention. Downtown looks crappy. Some paint on those buildings up and down Washington Blvd would make things more inviting. We need lighting downtown that lets drivers know when people are crossing the street.
Does anyone know the answer to the question someone asked about who is going to be in business in the mall?
This town has a lot of ill will in it because of Godfrey. THAT is one of his accomplishments. You said one thing for sure, Dan. Godfrey is quick to take credit, and quicker to step back and let others take any blame. HIS hands are always Clean!
Jeske, Wicks, and Garcia?
Wicks, Garcia, Jeske?
Wicks, Jeske, Garcia?
Nah...none have the melodic ring of
Garcia, Wicks, and Jeske!
Remember that the Amen Choir always has melody.
Mono and Mercy:
Hmmmmm... I wonder if the problem in the administration and its apologists is a fundamental inability to handle basic math. If all the Mayor's problems with the Council could be tracked to Wicks, Garcia and Jeske, the Mayor would be riding high, winning vote after vote by a 4-3 margin. But, oddly, on several measures important to him [two extra floors, at city risk, on the office building at the mall site, against consultant's recommendation; placement of Mr. Chapman on the PC; defeating revision of RDA rules to prevent RDA Exec. Director -- aka Mayor Godfrey -- from concealing information on pending sales from the RDA Board -- aka City Council] the Administration has not been winning votes. In fact, the Council voted 7-0 to revise RDA rules over the Bootjack matter. 7-0. Imagine that.
Can't be that basic simple addition is beyond the Godfreyistas' reach.
Can it?
May be my husband and I could switch from teaching reading to teaching basic arithmetic?
isn't blake fowers from san fransico
You got it.
topix.net.
Read his disclaimer.
Dan S:
BTW, thanks for posting the comparison between the Godfrey administration achievements and those of the previous administration. Especially useful for those of us, which includes me, who did not live in Ogden during the former Administration's term. Appreciate it.
Merle and bean counter,
Point taken. I was trying to be positive, and to focus on visible, physical projects rather than less tangible measures of success. It's certainly true that Godfrey has created a great deal of ill will and division among Ogden residents. As for fiscal responsibility, I don't have enough expertise to make a comparison between this administration and the last, but the information I've seen is quite troubling.
Ok Dan S.
lets look at the background of all these issues.
* Endorsed and supported commuter rail, which is now about to begin operation; which by the way is a state project and he had nothing to do with it.
* Extended the Ogden River Parkway west from Washington to 21st Street Pond; which was done with the help of jay hudson or it would not have been done.
* Redeveloped much of the 100 block of 25th Street; with over run and then donna burdett husband could make alot of money off the project.
* Moved IRS to downtown; yea like he can tell the IRS what to do.
* Attracted several small ski-related companies and one reasonably large one (Amer); brought them here on a bunch of lies telling them that the gongola is in the makeing and there is not a proposal yet.
* Built the downtown amphitheater; that was in the works before he took office, and moved the christmas village on to 25th by the bars.
* Tore down the mall and initiated redevelopment of the site. tore the mall down costing the taxpayer 10,000,000.00 dallors and then another 5,000,000.00 dallors for the law suit. great idea.
For comparison, here are some of the things that happened during the previous eight years or so:
* Restoration of the Egyptian Theater and construction of the Eccles convention center; cost 25 mil to build and another 1 mill to keep it running.
* Construction of Lindquist Field; which put millions in lindquist pockets for his new building on 34th and washington.
* Construction of the Ogden River Parkway from Washington to Ogden Canyon; that has brought out the vandels with there spray paint.
* Restoration of much of the 200 block of 25th Street; only to have bruce edwards to embarass the city and sued the city and won every case.
* Restoration of the Municipal Building (funded and initiated); this is so they could put their name on a plaque in the hall telling every one how great they are. they could have done a better job. just look at the mayors office door way. what a joke.
* Construction of the new court house downtown; This once again is state project the mayor had nothing to do with it.
* Construction of the Colonial Court apartments downtown; this was a church project and the city just oked the plans for it.
* DDO converted to BDO, creating a revenue stream for Ogden City; this was happening already with the militay closing down some of the basses, the city did get a windfall from this. but who did sale off the fork filts for pennies on the dollars.
* Construction of most of the East Bench trailheads and many of the trails; Thank you jay hudson and serria club and malans donating their property, because citizens were trespassing on it.
well there you have the rest of the story. thanks dan for bringing these great accomplishment to our attenion.
I've lived in several large cities throughout the country. In each of those, when there was a large public expenditure proposed it was funded thorough municipal bonds. The decision of whether or not to issue these was put on the ballot for voters to decide.
In Ogden, it seems that the Mayor has usurped much of that authority. The City Council/RDA tries its best but these people have day jobs which necessarily take away from the time they can devote to civic duty.
Someone asked what Bill Cook does. I suspect that in theory he does the homework on proposed issues and brings that information to the CC. They certainly don't have time to research everything that comes before them themselves, nor should they have to.
Perhaps one solution (aside from electing an honest administration and firing Bill Cook) would be to make CC membership a full-time, decently paid job for those who want this.
SCHOOL VOUCHER PETITIONS can be signed Monday-Friday 8AM-5PM all of this week at 8AM-5PM at 939 25th Street in Ogden. I was there yesterday and asked about the final date.
It is possible that signatures will be accepted until the end of March, but that is not certain. Please don't procrastinate.
did anyone see in the paper that jesse garcia is going to announce weather or not if his going to run, today in the council chambers at 3:30 p.m. can anyone go and report back to us what he has to say.
Ogdenlover, your perception of the way Ogden does business is right on. There are two reasons the mayor uses RDA so much instead of bonding are first, to be fair to the mayor, is he wants it to be said of his administration that he didn't raise taxes, and second, he knows that the taxpayers would never approve the bonds for his projects.
Dan S., I must add my two-bits to your comments concerning what Godfrey has accomplished during his tenure:
”* Endorsed and supported commuter rail, which is now about to begin operation;” -- I don’t about anyone else, but I voted to pay taxes for the commuter rail without knowing where Godfrey stood, (was he even mayor when we voted for commuter rail?) – he really didn’t have a choice to support it or not, once the voters committed tax money to it.
”* Extended the Ogden River Parkway west from Washington to 21st Street Pond;” that project was well under way before he became mayor.
* Redeveloped much of the 100 block of 25th Street; -- I don’t know, but I think that 25th St. renovations was started long before he became mayor.
“* Moved IRS to downtown;” If my memory serves me correctly, the IRS came to the City and asked for help in finding a place to relocate – I’m not sure where they were looking so maybe he did talk them into downtown or maybe it was just into one of the old buildings that he talked them into remodeling, and sold them land to build the other facility that they needed.
* Attracted several small ski-related companies and one reasonably large one (Amer); -- Yes, we can give him credit for that!
* Built the downtown amphitheater; Yes, he did that, and was underhanded in the way that he obtained the bleachers, which seems to be his way of doing business.
* Tore down the mall and initiated redevelopment of the site. Yes, he did that – how successful the rec center will be, is something that is unknown at this time – I sure hope the taxpayers don’t eat it on that one!
I know of a number of businesses that he has driven out of town because they did not meet his “vision” of what should be in Ogden – so they have opened their business in South Ogden and Riverdale. I haven’t noticed any stores opening in those two towns that shouldn’t have been welcomed in Ogden. The Mayor, it seems, would rather use taxpayer money to encourage HIS kind of businesses rather than let business owners develop their own business.
His most recent accomplishment was to play “coy” instead of acting as an adult and the Mayor and let Scott Brown hold Ogden up for ridicule nationally if not world-wide!
Bean counter is so right about the debt! It’s a very sad statement on the financial condition of a city when there isn’t even enough money to fix a road! Money had to be taken from the “Snow Removal” fund to fix Country Hills Drive in 2005!
Dan S., when you say that he hasn’t made things worse, you most certainly weren’t talking about the atmosphere and feeling in Ogden – there is enough static and tension in the air that sparks are continuously flying – neighbor has been pitted against neighbor over the gondola and the possibility of losing a treasured golf course and winter play ground to 600 homes! Godfrey has very successfully divided the City! To me that is his foremost accomplishment, but nothing to be proud of!
Godfrey’s accomplishments could be summarized as: a few were good, a few are still “results unknown,” and most of them have affected Ogden negatively. Godfrey is really a winner, isn’t he?
His accomplishments aren’t nearly as wonderful as some people seem to think that they are when you list ALL of the ones truly attributable to him and not a
Anon, it's tomorrow, Wednesday, March 21st, that Jesse is having his press conference.
That last paragraph of my first post somehow lost a few words. Here they are:
His accomplishments aren’t nearly as wonderful as some people seem to think that they are when you list ALL of the ones truly attributable to him and not a consequence of other events that were already in progress!
Let's not forget Tec's point yesterday regarding real estate in Ogden. I think he was right on. Ogden real estate has been undervalued and overlooked for years. It just so happened that realtors, developers, investors, etc. finally discovered Ogden (and would have even if Mayor Godfrey was not in office). That has had more do w/ Ogden's resurgence than anything Godfrey has done.
Having just read "History of Ogden" post above, let me suggest again it is not necessary, and I think it's counter-productive, to try to attack or discount everything the Godfrey administration has done since coming into office. "History of Ogden's" attempt to pick apart the accomplishments that Dan S. listed for the Godfrey administration provides good examples.
"History of Ogden" wrote of the items on Dan's list:
* Endorsed and supported commuter rail, which is now about to begin operation; which by the way is a state project and he had nothing to do with it.
Yes, it is a state project, but it required Weber County to agree to levy taxes to support it, and that required the cooperation of Mayors and others on the COG to secure its passage. No tax, no Frontrunner. Saying something is "a state project" does not mean it would have or even could have gone forward with out the support of local governments. No, of course, the Mayor didn't bring Frontrunner to Ogden single-handedly. Nobody did. But he played a role.
* Extended the Ogden River Parkway west from Washington to 21st Street Pond; which was done with the help of Jay Hudson or it would not have been done.
It also would not have happened without the support of Ogden City government. I'd be the last to discount Mr. Hudson's contributions to projects like this, but they are city projects, they don't happen without the support of City government, and that support was there. As it was for the newly opened Birdsong trail which connects with the River Parkway.
* Redeveloped much of the 100 block of 25th Street; with over run and then Donna Burdett's husband could make a lot of money off the project.
This was not one of the Mayor's most resounding successes, as we all know. The condo's went into receivership, as I recall, the storefronts are having only mixed success, so there is room to question claims of unvarnished success. However, the fact that business people or realtors [I do not know what business Mr. Burdett is in] profit from urban re-development seems a non-starter to me. Of course they will, or at least we hope they will. The whole purpose of business district re-development is to encourage and make more likely business growth and success in the area. Saying that a project helped business and property owners in the project area prosper is not a criticism.
* Moved IRS to downtown; yea like he can tell the IRS what to do.
No, he can't, but again, these projects rarely happen without the municipal government playing a significant part. I imagine state Congressional delegations played a much larger role in all this. They usually do. But Mayors and municipal governments play a supporting role and I presume the Godfrey administration did that here.
* Attracted several small ski-related companies and one reasonably large one (Amer); brought them here on a bunch of lies telling them that the gondola is in the making and there is not a proposal yet.
I too worried that the official spokesperson for Ogden City was being less than fully honest with respect to the gondola/gondola projects when he spoke with potential business re-locators. [This is the Mayor, recall, who had the city webpage insisting for months and months after it was known not to be so that the gondola/gondola projects would connect downtown Ogden with Snow Basin]. But those who have been contacted by the press have said they were aware that the projects were controversial and not sure things yet. If the major reason they would relocate was the promised gondola [as Lift Ogden likes to say], the business owners involved would have been fools to move here without checking first on the status of the gondola/gondola projects. Since they seem to be running reasonably successful businesses, we can take it as given that they are not fools. So this particular criticism seems a stretch to me. Did Godfrey gild the lily? I'm sure he did. Most municipal promoters do. Did he "lie" the companies into moving? Clearly not.
* Built the downtown amphitheater; that was in the works before he took office....
Again, there is reason to consider the amphitheater less than an astounding success. It has not become a venue for profitable for-pay performances as it was intended to be [and is in fact poorly designed for that purpose]. Its fixed costs for non-profit groups are higher than competing amphitheaters in other nearby communities. It serves as a public space for brown bag concerts [free] and summer family movies [free -- if you're willing to sit through the occasional Lift Ogden Propaganda Show first of course].But it has not been the entertainment and audience draw it was planned to be.
* Tore down the mall and initiated redevelopment of the site. Tore the mall down costing the taxpayer 10,000,000 dollars and then another 5,000,000 dollars for the law suit. great idea.
The jury is still out on the wisdom of the mall redevelopment project. We'll have to wait and see if it was, in the end, a good idea or not. History of Ogden's criticism may be right on the money, or in retrospect it may come to seem way off the mark. We just don't know yet. I do not know enough about the law suit matter to
comment on it.
The question is, has the Godfrey administration, on balance and in light of its announced plans for the future, served Ogden well? It is not necessary to find fault with everything he's done in office in order to answer that question "no."
Discredit, discredit, discredit, yet no cold hard facts or citations. For a site that prides itself on the "real" information it seems like there is a lot of potentially not "real" statements being thrown around here. If you can't say for sure with cited statements and/or links what did or did not happen than don't post it at all.
When I look at that downtown amphitheater I can only think how that much space and concrete could have been used for an incredible skatepark. Skateboarding parks are an incredible draw 24/7/365. Progressive cities worldwide include them in their downtown revitalization plans. Skateboarding contributes to the overall street scene. It is an outdoor recreational activity. That Ogden is attempting to brand itself as a recreational destination without a downtown skatepark makes me chuckle. This administration is out of touch. Creating a street scene requires starting with youth activities. Skateboarding is the essence of urban youth culture. It is a healthy individual activity that requires exceptional physical skill and commitment. Exactly the spirit we want to instill in our youth. They missed the opportunity with the amphitheater and they are now missing the opportunity with the Junction. See Layton, American Fork, Oakley, Park City, SLC, Farmington, Clearfield....
So which issues are of interest to you specifically, anonymous?
I'm sure the readers here would be happy to come up whatever documentation you require.
I'm glad to have generated so much good discussion with my hastily assembled list. Yeah, each of these examples can be picked apart as we ask whether it was a good idea, whether it's been a success, when it actually happened, and who deserves credit. Thanks to those who have provided some details that I wasn't aware of. So far, though, I haven't seen any new details that really change my overall assessment. Godfrey has done some good things while in office. He's also done some bad things, and probably missed a lot of opportunities to do even more good. Compared to his predecessor, his accomplishments aren't anything extraordinary.
On the particular issue of the FrontRunner (a very important, positive development), I can add a bit more detail. The 1/4 cent sales tax increase to pay for it was put on the November 2000 ballot by the County Commissioners. Prior to this, several city governments adopted resolutions urging the Commissioners to put it on the ballot. I was in the room when the Ogden City Council adopted such a resolution. I believe that Ogden was actually the first city to do so, at least in Weber County. At that meeting, Godfrey gave an eloquent speech about what a great benefit commuter rail would be for the city, especially in helping revitalize downtown. After his speech, the Council vote was unanimous in favor. I believe that Godfrey also did quite a bit of work behind the scenes, before this public phase of the campaign.
Now I wish Godfrey would put a similar effort into lobbying for a streetcar system to connect more of Ogden (and eventually North Ogden, South Ogden, and Riverdale) to downtown. Unfortunately, the gondola has clouded his vision. He wasn't even present at the most recent WACOG (Weber Area Council of Governments) meeting when they voted that nearly all of any new sales tax should be spent on roads (mostly in west Weber County) rather than transit. Let's hope he'll wake up and try to turn this decision around before it's too late.
I would like to see ozboy, dan, or history do an op-ed guest commentary giving these perspectives on the accomplishments of Godfrey. They offer much more clarity and balance than the vacuous cheerleading of the paper. It's nice to have a place (WCF) to go for some real analysis and info.
Agree with you, tec, a skatepark would have been a real asset.
I'm surprised that Godfrey, in his eternal quest to be 'first' in everything, didn't creat that park!
After all, we ARE the rec hub of the west, aren't we?
In the winter, the firedep't could have flooded the arena and had ice skating for the kids and others who enjoy being OUTdoors to skate.
Some well placed benches for spectators would have added a lot of 'atmosphere'.
Flooding Lindquist Field in the winter is an idea suggested a year or so ago for ice skating.
We ARE the rec hub...and some would say, just a wreck.
Well, the amen chorus, a repeat performance for the council tonite. 3 realtors and Gold's Gym. One actualy managed to get Powder Mountain, Snow Basin and the free-flowing gondola into the same sentence....also stated his investment group has purchased 100 homes on the east bench, they'll be second homes for Scottsdale residents to beat the heat.(is that so good for Ogden residents?) One may have greatly benefited from inside knowledge and association with the Mayor,or his property managing partner,Benjamin Logue about the RDA on Jefferson. though she claimed to have bought the property on blind faith. Rick Safsten really liked that comment,"blind faith",he voted to approve the RDA.( $400,000.) No wonder Gold's gym would praise little Matty,($37 million tax dollars to their betterment,with no risk of their own.)
In response to today’s Standard Examiner’s editorial,
There are several people that are willing to contribute their personal money and effort to ensure that the rest of the world knows that these companies (Descente and Amer) assisted in the confiscation of our public owned and accessed open space environment for the duel purpose of creating a promotional flat land gondola gimmick and to convert this area into a private gated housing development. That these companies only provide lip service as to their concern for the environment and people’s quality of life, but are actually only interested in separating their customers from their money, period.
If these companies assist in taking something of value away from the people of Ogden is it wrong if there are people within Ogden that would reciprocate and take something of value away from these companies? We feel that Ogden is a more valuable place with the open space than it is with either one of these companies. If these two companies don’t think this is fair then they should rethink their position or rethink their support of this ill conceived project.
A script is being written to detail the events and roles that these companies play in the destruction of our open space, narrators are being selected for their on air presence and appearance, the site selection has been chosen for the YouTube production and products with company logos will be prominently displayed. The production will involve an eye catching event to hold the attention of the intended audience while delivering a clear message to boycott the company products marketed by these companies that show no stewardship for the environment. The production may be presented in up to four different languages. The goal 12 million hits.
Whether this boycott goes forward is dependent on whether this project goes forward and what role these companies play in its eventual outcome.
The companies can choose to live up to the claims that appear on their company web pages that extols the virtues of preserving the environment and show their responsibility in protecting the environment by not supporting a project developed for pure commercial reasons or they can take responsibility for the actions taken against them that expose their inconsistencies on environmental issues that they try to publicly portray.
The production may not be effective, but then again it just might be. Is it worth taking the chance by going against your own company’s stated position on the environment?
If we have to choose between the financing of an illogical urban gondola by selling off our open space environment and golf course in order to develop this area into a private gated community and that of boycotting the companies that help the current administration to accomplish this goal, we will choose the latter. The choice is yours.
Anonymous 9:28
I'm right with you. It is that easy. One need only watch the news and how fast issues can be highlighted over the internet. YouTube is truly citizen enabling technology.
The project can start with focusing on Descente since they are here and have clearly positioned themselves against the wishes of their neighbors.
As for AmerSports, we should give them a chance. First of all, they are bringing in and hiring far more than Descente and they will likely have a more worldly view than the trolls at Descente. I am confident the average AmerSport employee will be more sensitive to green issues and will also likely see the beauty of Ogden as it is.
AmerSports will also likely not take such a shine to the mayor using the goodwill of an international sporting goods manufacturer for his selfish and community-be-damned initiatives.
The SE wasted more space on this non-story as a part of their resurgent mayoral high-colon slurp-fest.
They pressed on the term "threat" when there was no such threat. Sensationalism is their best hand. So sad for a daily local newspaper. So inconsequential. I laughed that they felt they had some kind of scoop with the letter. They claim objectivity and a desire to inform
while they lap up anything fed them from floor 9 no questions asked. They are the ones who should be asking about the utility of an urban gondola. They should be researching Transit Oriented Development. The SE is a failure and lacks credibility.
I guarantee that the grunt that forwarded that letter to the SE has already had their ear bent over backwards. I will also know that the release of this letter has done more good for our cause and made many more aware of the issues at hand. Surely almost all at AmerSport are now aware that there is a green component to the battle here in Ogden.
It should be quite obvious to any conscious reader that the real issue is NOT Gondolas, Business development, Recreation Centers, MUzoning etc. The top issue is urban open space at the foot of the mountain. Greenbelt in Boulderesque terminology. Boulder fought tough for their now famous greenbelts leading the way for hundreds more US cities. Ogden needs activism now to protect our valuable Foothill Greenbelt. Talk to your lazy ass friends who don't post or get involved. This is the summer of love '07, people. We have a miserable war overseas and a miserable landgrab locally. Time to get busy and put these evil neo-cons to rest once and for all. It's a no-holds-barred thump-a-thon. These guys fight dirty, wear your grubbies. We should use the coming fair weather to involve more in the community to protect our recreational resources from attack by the Godfrey Administration.
Did anyone see the video this morning on Headline News of the cop shoving the skateboarder off the bench as he pulls off a fat grind. This is much like the spirit of Godfrey who fails to see the value of downtown skateparks and who would shove the Mt Ogden golf course off the map and replace it with 400 homes for sensible rich folks. Having that much fun playing golf and hiking has so little value to him and his group of ill minded suits. These people are socio-pathic development-obsessed ne'er-do-wells. Put them in private industry and they would sink to the natural level of common density. They would likely not have the skills to handle a mop. I would not trust them with Sanitation Engineering.
The SE and the reactive kook who released a private letter to them reveal their ineptitude when they completely misinterpret the content. The essence had nothing to do with boycott. It was written to inform Amer Sports that they were being used by Godfrey and co. to forward a grand plan that included selling off a major component of our local recreational resource base. That would be quite counter to their company's stated environmental commitments. I do not think the principals in Finland would appreciate their corporate goodwill and strong environmental initiative being leveraged into something that will be generating a considerable amount of negative publicity.
To use the mayor's accomplishments to forward this disastrous attack on our quality of life is wrong.
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