OGDEN — Six floors separate the offices of Mayor Matthew Godfrey and the city council inside the Municipal Building downtown, but cracks in their relationship often seem much wider.Yes, gentle readers. Our Emerald City government is composed of two co-equal branches of government, with distinctly separate roles. We've been trying to hammer that point since the early days of this blog. The council/legislature sets the general policy in our city. The Mayor's office executes this policy. This formal "separation of powers" is of course the foundation of a conflicts-based system, whereby each branch acts as a check and balance against the other.
Never mind being on the same page, it frequently seems that hardcharging Godfrey and the methodical city council aren’t even reading from the same book as they attempt to map out Ogden’s future.
So who’s to blame for helping set the stage for discord?
You.
That is if you voted in favor of a measure enacted in 1992 enabling Ogden to be governed by a full-time mayor and part-time city council.
Municipalities in Utah, other than Ogden, that use the “strong mayor” system include Salt Lake City, Provo, Logan, Sandy and Murray.
Patterned after state and federal government, the system gives Godfrey administrative and executive powers and the city council legislative responsibilities.
It has also been the catalyst for turf battles and public bickering between the
mayor and council.
All in all, Mr. Schwebke's effort is applaudable, for a journalist with no apparent training in political science. We'll nitpick a little bit over Mr. Schwebke's above query about who is to blame for council/mayor discord. No blame should be affixed, we believe. Conflict is a key feature in governments which operate with checks and balances, Even Boss Godfrey gives at least lip service to this principle:
Godfrey believes disagreements between him and the city council ultimately foster productive debate that leads to good government, which is the hallmark of the strong mayor system.And there's one other element of this otherwise excellent story with which we wish to take issue. Throughout the story, Mr. Schwebke and his interviewees repeatedly refer to our so-called "strong mayor" form of government. This is a misnomer.
“With everyone who has this form of government, there is a healthy tension,” he said.
In 1975 the Legislature repealed the Strong Mayor Form of Government Act and enacted what is now known as the Optional Forms of Municipal Government Act. The Act provided for optional forms of government known as council-mayor and council- manager forms and made them available to all municipalities, regardless of their classification.
Emerald City's government follows the council-mayor form of government. The archaic "strong mayor" appellation is an unfortunate mischaracterization. The persistent use of the phrase "strong mayor" is technically inaccurate, and a pet peeve of your ever-humble blogmeister. Frankly it drives him nuts.
For readers interested in a more scholarly and thorough discussion of the various traditional and optional forms of municipal government existing in Utah, we're linking to this excellent David L. Church article. Mr. Church is a prominent Utah lawyer, a recognized expert in the area of Utah municipal law and is also quoted briefly in today's Std-Ex article.
Even with the annoying "strong mayor" flaw, which we believe to glaring, we're going to give Ace Reporter Schwebke a Weber County Forum Tip O' the Hat this morning, for digging in and informing himself and his Std-Ex readers about the true conflict-oriented nature of Emerald City government.
The floor is open for your always-cogent comments.
35 comments:
The emporer is still nekkid as a jay bird.
Who will snitch?
My favorite exchange?
Godfrey has been vexed by some city council members, particularly Chairman Jesse Garcia and Vice Chairwoman Amy Wicks. He claims they fail to come to him with their complaints and instead vent their frustrations to the media.
"It's challenging with this leadership to get them to pick up the phone and call me and say they have a concern," Godfrey said. "Instead, they do it by press release."
Garcia declined to specifically address Godfrey's complaint. "Everyone's got their own opinion," he said.
So, let me get this straight. Godfrey accuses city council leadership of "communication by press release", but he makes the accusation through the press.
And Garcia fails to take the bait.
Hmmm, what does this tell us?
Monotreme:
Not to mention the story includes the Godfrey administration not only not informing the Council about to sell RDA land to Bootjack that Bootjack was owned by Mr. Chris Peterson, but actually refusing to tell the Council when it asked who owned Bootjack. And this is the Mayor complaining about somebody else's reluctance to communicate? And this is the same Mayor who is plumping for "the gondola" [meaning two of them], who is still implying that "the gondola" will connect downtown with Snow Basin [it won't], and who still cannot [or rather will not] inform the public or the Council or anyone else about what the Peterson Proposal looks like this week, saying only that it's under development... but that whatever's in it, he's for it, sight unseen apparently.
And he's complaining about other people's failure to communicate? If there weren't so much at stake it would be funny. Good material for "The Daily Show."
By the way... kudoes to the SE for the story. I've been patching together [via wcf] some idea of how the strong mayor form of government works in Utah municipalities. I presume at least some other folks are [or were] as ill-informed about it as I was. Good to have the matter discussed, the history of it related, the powers of Mayor and Council explained in the SE.
Good on 'em.
The other priceless Godfrey quote:
"'It gives the people a bigger voice in what happens in the city,' Godfrey said of the existing system."
But he's already told us that this is a Republic, not a democracy. God-free says all the time that he is the decider and that the people don't have a voice.
Irony is not the dictator's strong suit.
The council runs to the press,
and the Lord Mayor runs to Geiger
and his other sycophants.
The press takes the truth to the people, and the sycophants plot ways
to hide the truth from the people.
Hmmmm, very interesting stuff here in River City.
If the two branches of government were truly equal in power, the council would have more staff support and would write its own legislation. Instead, nearly every piece of legislation they consider originates with the administration. For comparison, imagine if virtually every bill considered by congress were written by executive branch officials who report to the president, or if virtually every bill considered by the legislature were written by the governor's staff.
Because of its meager staff, the council has to rely on people who report to the mayor. When they need a legal opinion, they consult the city attorney; on land use matters, they consult the planning department; on budget matters, they consult the comptroller. When these people provide information to the council, if they don't spin it to suit the mayor's agenda, they risk losing their jobs.
And then, when council members act even slightly skeptical of what they're being told, they risk being branded as obstructionists.
By the way, Schwebke's mostly-decent article missed another important point: When it acts as the RDA board, the council has authority over the mayor, who is merely the hired RDA director. Thus, when Harmer (acting as the mayor's agent) refused to provide the information on Bootjack, it was a clear case of insubordination on the mayor's part.
Did anybody notice the sign on Godfrey's desk?
"The fear of the next election is the beginning of bad government."
It's kinda like a sign that says:
"The fear of a heart attack is the beginning of a bad diet," or
“Concern for my boss’ wishes is the beginning of being a bad employee,” or
“Taking an interest in my wife’s wishes is the beginning of being a bad husband.”
What unbelievable arrogance!
While I appreciate Schwebke’s efforts, once again he glosses over the problem, which is that Godfrey doesn’t care what anybody thinks and he acts like it – that is, anybody but his cronies who get whatever they want to the detriment of the public at large!
How many elected officials are so arrogant, insular, and condescending that they would put a sign like that on their desk?
Speaking of arrogant,insular and condesending, another great article shared the front page with Schwebke's. DOCTORS: Utah air an environmental disaster. They even go so far as to say something I have been saying for quite some time. Public transportation should be free, for the health of the population. At the Councils transpotation work session I even had the WFRC rep aggree with me, his concerns were not health or air quality related, they were as a tax payer. He hates to see empty buses. The point is free transit will help get people out of their cars,which would be a great benefit to all. How does this tie to Godfrey you ask? Simple, he is currently lobbying the WFRC and WACOG to change the mass transit corridor, to benefit both his rec center and his gondola scheme. With the ammount of people working at the McKay Dee and the thousands going to WSU it seems unconscionable to change that corridor, it should be a top priority. I would urge the Council to officially make that request known asap.
Damn it, ya'll are doing it again.... Forcing me to defend Hizzonah, Mayor Godfrey. Stop it, stop it, stop it! Ruins my lunch when you do that. Puts me right off my feed.
Now, about that sign on his desk: I suppose you could read it as an indication of arrogant disregard for the opinion of others, the public included [and Lord knows Godfrey's provided more than enough evidence of that kind of attitude -- starting with the amphitheater rollaway seats he bought after the Council refused to; we don't need the desk sign to make that case].
But it's far more likely the point of the sign is something more admirable: that an elected official ought to be concerned with, and act to implement, the public good as he or she sees it, and should not raise a wet finger to the air before every decision, to see how public opinion may have shifted, so as to assure the most votes come next election. [Democrats' tendency to do that nationally has cost my party heavily, may and should cost Ms. Clinton the nomination, and drives this yellow-dog Democrat absolutely bats.]
What the desk sign advises is, in fact, how elected officials should act: do what's right, and when your job review time comes around [aka the next election], defend your choices and the let voters make theirs. Do the right thing as you see it and let the chips fall where they may on election day. Not to mention that it is often difficult to know on any given matter what the public will is. Usually both sides of a controversial dispute claim to represent the public. Government by perpetual polling is no way to run a city, a county, a state or a nation.
Does that mean elected officials should ignore the public and public opinion? Of course not. They ought to be aware of it, seek public input and take it seriously, and [I would say] on hugely significant matters on which there is demonstrably a great deal of public disagreement and division, seek a referendum to establish what the public will is. Or, an alternative, make the controversial matter, and your take on it, the lynchpin of a re-election campaign. Say flat out: "If you re-elect me, I am doing to do this. You need to understand that before you decide who to vote for."
Of course, we know Mayor Godfrey does not believe in being honest about his intentions during re-election campaigns. We have proof. We know now he was already committed to his gondola/gondola scheme before he ran for re-election last time. Yet he managed not to mention it during his re-election campaign. Being honest and open during campaigns is not Hizzonah's long suit.
But the desk sign itself, it seems to me, does not advocate arrogance or ignoring the public. It suggests office holders should make decisions that are, in their view, the most sound ones, without worrying about how they will play in the next election. If I were an elected official, that's pretty much what I like to think I'd do.
Curm, this is a case where we all want to have our cake and eat it too--and no matter how you slice it, someone loses. I think the optimum mix of doing what you think is right and doing what the voters want is bound to be pretty complex. The particulars will vary with each specific decision. No bumper-sticker (or desk-sign) slogan can capture the complexity of this essential dilemma of representative democracy.
Curm and Dan,
Perhaps next time, you could warn me so I could wear a napkin to avoid the splatter of treacle from your sweet, sweet posts.
If the sign on Godfrey’s desk had said, “Decisions in government should not rest solely on fear of the next election,” that would have been one thing, and it would have been different from what Godfrey’s sign says.
It is the public, and only the public, who appropriately review politicians. And it is precisely the fear of elections – and usually solely that – that keeps them honest, and doing good, to the extent that they are, and to the extend that they do.
For Godfrey, it is as he recently said in a meeting of 100 or so of Peterson’s putative supporters, as recounted by Chris Bentley: “All the important people in Ogden are here.”
Indeed, for him, it’s that hundred, and only them, that matter. For him, the sign on his desk is his talisman, protecting him from the public, while he lives inside his star chamber, excluded from reality, beguiled by, and doing only the bidding of, the self-serving leeches that surround him.
Once again, your hoping gets the best of your seeing.
Curm, no need to defend the undefendable. Just take a deep breath and go on. Clearly the sign would not be the crux of the bisquit, surely Mr. integrety has provided you with plenty of material to formulate a meaningful afternoon rant, sling, in proper direction please. Representative democracy, Dan are you going on the assumtion that Godfrey may represent anything other than his own myopic, sociopathic, self aggrandizing mind's tiny world view, where gondolas ferry happy little foreign tourists clad in leiderhousins (sorry curm, not up on German) wearing Chinese manufactured coats bearing French labels, sold to them by a Japanese conglomerate over the city and up the mountain to a south Tyrolian style dollhouse model to sing praises of the the great vision little matty has given the worldwide GONDOLAIST CULT MOVEMENT.
Curm
You wrote "Being honest and open during campaigns is not Hizzonah's long suit".
I respectfully submit that the mayor's perfidity is not limited to campaigns. It pretty much is a year around pursuit for him.
Danny:
You wrote: Perhaps next time, you could warn me so I could wear a napkin to avoid the splatter of treacle from your sweet, sweet posts.
Well, let's see... the post talked about Godfrey's deonstrated arrogance toward other representative elected branches of the city government with every bit as good a claim to representing the public will as he has [the amphitheater seats matter], and his lack of honesty and openess in campaigns [not mentioning that gondola/gondola scheme he planned to implement when he ran for re-election last time]. I'm having a hard time finding the "sweet" in there. Your glasses must be better than mine.
Good governing has nothing to do with being "sweet." It has everything to do with being honest and ethical in the conduct of your office [to build and maintain public trust in you and in the office] and in making wise decisions, grounded in careful research, not "blind faith," and in being effective in office managing the city's affairs. Sadly --- for none of us in Ogden benefit from this --- Mr. Godfrey's performance in office has managed to undercut public trust in him, and his administration. His unethical use of his powers repteatedly [e.g. using the tax-supported community cable channel to campaign against a school bond issue he opposed while denying the channel to supporters of the school bond issue]has undermined his own effectiveness in getting what he wants enacted. Even his staunchest supporters on the Council had to rein in his arrogance on the Bootjack matter and talked of "trust issues" the Council had with his administration.
Had Godfrey stuck to the principles of good governance --- honesty, openness, ethical conduct, reality-based judgements, welcoming critical comment, recognizing that those who think differently on a matter may be no less motivated by a concern for the public good than you are, and may in fact have points worth considering --- he'd be a lot more powerful, and effective, as mayor than he is now. He'd certainly be having a lot less trouble with the electorate [witness the last council election] and with the council than he is having now.
But I don't think he understands that. In fact, I'm beginning to think he is not capable of understanding either what ethical conduct requires of an elected official or why it matters so much. He seems to have opted instead for crony government and for isolating himself among a relatively few supporters and yes-men who form a Godfrey Amen Chorus that sings only one song: "Yes, Mr. Mayor, we think so too!"
Seems [isolation among yes-men advisors] to be a habit of Republican elected executive officers these days....
If the mayor should lose the next election does he get a severance package? If not, then why should anybody else that works in government?
Threadjack! I am usually unoffended by Curmudgeon's gross evenhandedness and overbearing sense of self-important fairness, but he shall not lecture me with italics. I was once a proponent of such sophomoric expressionalistic tactics myself, way back when I was on the Tiger Beat staff at OHS and didn't know any better; if your writing is weak enough to demand stylistic and punctuational emphasis, well, then ... get on board the G-TRAIN!!!!! Naw, I kid, Curmudgeon, but sometimes you must shun the urge to bring a casserole to an Irish pug; Little Matty Godfrey is a liar, a shameless self-indulgent whacko with a God complex, a criminal misappropriator of public money and a proponent/executor of fraud. The Giegers, Wayne Chase Peterson, and even this New Kid in Town ("I hate the f#####' Eagles, man!"-- The Dude, Big Lebowski), douchebag Mike Dowse, by virtue of their silly whistle-stop,dog-and-pony shows and non-stop public circus appearances (Dance for me, clown! Dance!), as well as their leveraging of their corporate positions in the name of theft and the defrauding of the people of Ogden, have become public figures and as such are open to ridicule, name calling and much more, and justifiably so. I understand that Little Matty has some monetary support and there about 280 freaks who live in this town and who still buy into this Orwellian madness (vision, blind faith, performing God's will, divine levers, gondola for Christ, etc.), and will assuredly vote for Gondola Godfrey. But the suggestion that many of these clones are employed in PR capacities and we should therefore fear them is laughable, given the fact that the one of the main reasons they are so ineffective is that the Geigers/Gondola Godfrey/Wayne Peterson/"Producer" Rupert/Gadi "Cali wants back its $11 million!" Leshem/Scott "Gimme' back my porn!" Brown and their ilk are running the PR show. And if you doubt me, read Sue Wilkerson's letter again. Yes, it will take a good amount of money and campaigning to oust Gondola Godfrey, but we are up to the task. The question is, Are you? Or are you going to give us more fairness platitudes?
Jason:
Well, as I've said before, I don't consider being called "evenhanded" a criticism, nor do I consider "fairness" a weakness... not even "self -important fairness" [whatever that might be]. Aw, c'mon. You knew I was going to sneak some italics in there somewhere.... [grin].
Is it true that Mrs. Godfrey and the kids have to call Matty...Mister Mayor?
I hope they never ask me to tend their kids....the oldest boy (about 6?) singsonged to me...."MY daddy is the may or!".
One of those kids you hope you don't have to have over to your house for any length of time. Going to be just as arrogant and irritating as 'daddddeee!'
Aw, hell, Carl. If my dad had been mayor when I was six [he wasn't], I probably would have gone around singing the same thing. Give the kid a break. He's braggin' on his dad. That's a good thing, probably, for a six year old.
Curmudgeon
How the hell do you do those italics anyway? I want to be self importantly fair when I grow up too.
ozboy:
Instructions are here.
If I try to show you how to do it, the blog software will think I want it to do it, and hide the secret codes that I type. But the codes use the less-than and greater-than signs to make angle-brackets around "i" to start the italics and "/i" to end the italics. So it goes like this:
less-than i greater-than italicized text less-than /i greater-than
Have fun!
Hey Ozboy,
Come on over and we'll practice italics together. Maybe even BOLD face! How would that be?
Dan S.
Can you translate that into Ogden English? I don't do computereze or Chinese Arithmetic and I fear that if I can't learn to do italics I will never get to be self importantly fair, or mayor. There are lot of FOO's out there that are counting on me for their retirements to Islands.
I take offense at the scandalous implication by Ozboy that the "self importantly fair" have ambitions to be mayor. 'Tis a base canard and a damnable lie, sir! Have your seconds contact mine. [grin]
Hey Curm,
You'd make a far better mayor than the one we have now! (I know that isn't much of a compliment, but I mean it as one.) If you'll run, I'll work full-time for your campaign.
Well now Mr. Curmudgeon I am sorry if my post sounded like I meant all those with the self importantly fair syndrome have mayorial ambitions. I didn't mean that. I only meant that I crave to be self importantly fair like you, and I also would like to be mayor so I could make my friends (FOO's) rich at the public's expense like our current mayor is so notorious for doing.
I mean if a mayor can't roll out a red carpet to the public trough for his buddies what good is he?
I whole heartedly agree with Ogdenlover in his appraisal of your mayorial qualifications. If you beat me in the primary I will throw in with your campaign. But you gotta know, that like the mayor, I too will give first preference at the trough to my buds regardless of the quality of their character, experience or proposals. I mean that's what friends are for dontcha know.
After I win, me and my sycophants are going to bring the Rupert up from his latest block buster production on how Gadi scammed California and we are going to redo the entire FOO fighter franchise about how we, like Gadi, scammed the tax payers out of millions. Kind of a double dip kind of deal - first we scam the tax payers then we scam the movie going public by romantasizing how we did it! Rup (only his closest friends call him Rup) is obviously the best choice for this important part of the scheme.
Ozboy, the HTML tags are listed right above the box you type your comment into. To begin you use the letter in the <> bracket to end use a /letter in the <> bracket.
And I am amazed that rudi would link to that hated ULCT website. Church is the attorney for the league you know.
ARcritic
Ozboy is tu cumpyootur dum tu fallo yor simpl durecshuns. I wil jus hafta ceep macon my poynts with hangranades.
Ozboy,
You can learn I promise.
this is italic
the above was produced with the text below by removing the _ characters.
<_i_>this is italic<_/i_>
for bold replace the i with b.
Go ahead and give it a try. I know you can do it.
Arcritic
I don't think I can master that complicated of a deal.
<_i_> I think I will stick with grenades, they go boom and make elected politician flinch<_i_>
Being honest in campaigns is NOBODY'S right suit, Oz....and one other thing: Nobody asked anybody who owned Bootjack until after the vote took place. And so what if the Petersons own it?
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