Interesting development in the arena of Emerald City school board politics, with this morning's Amy K. Stewart article, reporting on the latest public statements of recently-dissident school board member John Gullo:
OGDEN — Ogden School Board member John Gullo has a lot of questions when it comes to the district’s numerous construction projects — but it may be a while before he gets any answers.Of course this is not the first time Mr. Gullo has raised questions about school board procedures for the bidding and approving of school district construction projects. Mr. Gullo (who has held a seat on the school board since January 2005) has been speaking out publicly on this subject since -- well -- late last week, to be exact.
Gullo believes there are problems with how the school district conducts its bid process. He wants to know exactly what the procedure is and why things are being done the way they are.
And he has dozens of other questions regarding the district’s school building projects."At the end of the day, my confidence level is low," Gullo said. "And I want to check this out."
Although we don't know what has caused Mr. Gullo's seemingly sudden awakening to the recognition that school board construction projects should be very carefully examined, we are at least tentatively happy to have Mr. Gullo now apparently "on board" with us in our constant WCF crusade -- aimed at subjecting ALL ambitious and expensive government plans and schemes to the most strict possible scrutiny.
At this point we're going to confess that we may indeed be reading too much into Mr. Gullo's public statements. When it comes to the reporting Mr. Gullo's specific concerns, today's article is actually fairly thin on the facts. We did nevertheless find some further encouragement in these additional Gullo remarks:
"I don’t think we should trust anybody," he said.Having said all this, we have not overlooked the possiblity that these "apple pie & motherhood" statements on Mr. Gullo's part may have at least something to do with our upcoming Emerald City Municipal election. As our regular readers will recall, Mr. Gullo has at least once in the past expressed interest in serving on the Emerald City Council.
Before any other district projects go to bid, Gullo wants to go through financial details line by line.
"The $40 million (shortfall) may be right. This all may be good," he said, "but I owe it to the taxpayers to do this right."
So what about it, gentle readers? Has school board member John Gullo truly experienced a finance-prudence conversion? If so, the Emerald City school board my have something akin to an Emerald City tiger on its tail. In support of that proposition, we cite the September 26, 2005 WSU Signpost comment from somebody who knows much about such matters:
"When John Gullo gets a good idea, get out of the way," said Ogden City Mayor Matthew Godfrey. "He's tenacious, hardworking, and absolutely passionate about improving Ogden."And speaking of Matthew Godfrey, we admit we had earlier considered John Gullo to be a dyed-in-the-wool Godfreyite. But we wonder -- now that the "tenacious, hardworking, and absolutely passionate" Mr. Gullo has publicly advocated the concept of subjecting government-funded projects to careful examination -- whether he'll also be bending the mayor's ear on this subject.
So what do your think, ever-gentle readers? Will John Gullo suddenly start hammering Boss Godfrey about the taxpayer's fundamental interest in keeping a close eyeball on Emerald City projects and resources?
Or are Mr. Gullo's recent statements mere pre-election political posturing?
Update 7/3/07 10:12 a.m. MT: We were delighted to find an email missive from Mr. Gullo in our Weber County Forum inbox this morning, responding paragraph-by-paragraph to yesterday's article text. Our readers can read Mr. Gullo's retort here. We thank Mr. Gullo for his gracious, candid and timely response.
We also had a short but cordial telephone conversation with Mr. Gullo a few minutes ago, during which he confirmed that he does NOT intend to run for an Emerald City Council seat, and further agreed to hook up with us later in the week for an exclusive follow-up interview.
We'll keep you all informed as this matter progresses.
104 comments:
Looks like you've identified the mayor's first as yet unannounced "stealth candidate", Rudy.
Let's see. I guess he'll be running as Safsten's rubber stamp replacement.
Rudi:
So, he said ""I don’t think we should trust anybody." A little excessive, maybe... as he'd probably agree when he realizes that means he's recommending we not trust him either.
Rather than "don't trust anybody," I'd prefer Ronald Reagan's formulation: "Trust. But verify."
Now you see what you've made me do? Quote Ronald Reagan favorably on something. Now I'll have to build a sweat lodge and undergo a ritual cleansing. At least.
An interesting, and sadly true, perspective on "development". The Rich Have Priced the Outdoors out of Everyone Else's Hands
Kinda makes one appreciate what we have here in Ogden.
Good find, Ogdenlover!
Thanks for the link.
(Sidebar to Curmudgeon: Just as we suspected, you're obviously a libertarian-style Republican...
Just like us.)
Gullo's epiphany is indeed remarkable. In June of last year his name appeared in one of the Lift Ogden "YES" endorsement advertisements. So he's on record as being willing to trust Chris Peterson with Ogden's most valuable foothill park lands, without even seeing so much as a feasibility study for Peterson's "project".
I have a question.
Does Mr. Gullo close his hamburger joints on Sundays?
If not, there's no way he could be a Godfreyite.
Could someone please tell me why i am unable to get the comments screen to enlarge to fuul screen? It gets some what difficult to read some of the longer points of interesr.
Could someone please tell me why I am unable to get the comments screen to enlarge to full screen? It gets some what difficult to read some of the longer points of interest.
ver ry in ter est ing.
So he wants to do right by the taxpayers. Does John actually LIVE in Ogden? Surely he isn't in elected office with an attitude like that!
Well, he's a pal of Godfrey's, so as he says, 'trust no one'.
On the comments page all I have is the minimize icon. The last time I was on here reading I was able to maximize the page to full screen. As I recall there was a comment about the page having some problems. Perhaps I am wrong on this.
"On the comments page all I have is the minimize icon."
1) Click the right button on your mouse on the comments section upon which you wish to read or post.
2) click on "open up full-screen view," in the new pop-up window.
2) After that, you're back in busines.
That SHOULD WORK.
The flaw in the new Blogger.com software, which squishes all comments into a silly narrow sceen) has sent a tsunami of complaints to the dolts at google.com.
We expect they'll "fix it" sometime during our lifetime.
In the meatime... use your "right-click" mouse button... which puts your browser in control, and overrides Blogger.com's fantastically POOR Programming.
Sorry, Rudi, but no "open full screen view" option appears in the box that opens when I right click on the comments box. Using Mozilla browser. That make a difference?
On a PC, right click and then select either "open link in new screen" or "open link in new tab" (if your program uses tabs).
Thanx, Ogdenlover.
Your same basic insrtructions also work on pc's in the latest versons of firefox, from which browsr we're posting now.
Hoping these instructions work for most of our readers.
My wife, Mrs. Donner, has some experience with Mr. Gullo on the school board, and she feels that he is more talk than action. The fact that Godfrey has indicated he is a man of action also indicates he is ineffective since Godfrey seems to lie about virtually everything.
He strikes me as one of these guys who runs for office because he's bored and wants attention.
Dan's observation that he is, or has been, a Liftie means that he should not be voted for, under any circumstances.
Also, if your mouse has a scroll wheel and you are using Firefox you can just press down on the scroll wheel and it will open a new tab, which is easier than right clicking. You can open many tabs and then read them one at a time which is what I find useful.
Any FOM's is no friend of the people!
Mayor Godfrey is hypocrite.
He has his cronies, complain about his opponent’s campaign signs. Where there placed and the timing of the signs (that their up too early).
But in the past two election cycles; Mayor Godfrey has had signs up this early and in parking strips and some even in vacant lots that the Mayor never got permission.
Well, I'm not sure about this, but I don't think the city can limit political signs to a certain period, can it? Perhaps it might be able to limit a candidate's sign to a certain period [and I'm not even sure of that], but if a citizen wanted to put up a sign on his own property at any time saying "We need a new mayor," I don't think the city could prevent him from doing that.
I'm a little disturbed by the notion, fairly widespread on college campus and spreading elsewhere, that free speech is something government can limit to particular areas and particular times. Some universities have "free speech zones" and attempt to limit advocacy speech to those zones. And we all saw during the last several political conventions the parties declaring "protest zones" ... usually well removed from the sight of candidates and delegates... which protests are limited to. People were hustled away by police from the streets in front of the convention hall for wearing anti-Bush tee shirts.
It is with great shame that I have to admit here that the first president I'm aware of to try to establish a "free speech zone" behind a fence away from the convention all at which he was to be renominated was Bill Clinton.
Time was... and it should still be now.. that the Free Speech Zone was the United States of America, and government authorities had to justify attempts to designate small areas as non-free speech zones [for security reasons]. Now the reverse seems to be the presumption: that free speech is permissible only in limited areas designated for that purpose by governments. Or, on public campuses, often [thought not I am pleased to say, at WSU] by Administrations.
The city can limit the placing of political signs on public property and at locations on private property that might constitute a hazard [say placed in such a way as to block a stop sign]. But beyond that, I don't think the city can do much by way of restricting political speech. Even by signs on someone's own property.
Crum:
What you say is true. But Godfrey has and continues to stop free speech. Just ask Matt Jones.
Godfrey wasn't alone. Republican Chief Senator Greiner was involved with; stoping the free speech of Officer Matt Jones and his wife. These are two republicans stopping free speech.
Jon Gullo, the corporate mascot for burger king? Next time you see a burger king commercial featuring the larger than life burger king himself, take note of the striking similarity to Gullo's photo. Spitting image. Whopper ego.
Dem:
I yield to no one in my Yellow Dog Democratness, but I'm afraid this is one issue that transcends party. It seems to be a function of power not partisanship. Those in office try to limit criticism: mayors, governors and presidents, all parties. The only partisan element I can see in this disturbing trend is that Democrats seem to complain about it when Republicans do it, and Republicans seem to complain about it when Democrats do it.
My own view is we all ought to be screaming about it whenever anyone in public office tries to do it. When a Democrat [like Clinton for whom I voted, twice, and would again] does it, in fact, it's Democrats who should be yelling loudest. [Similarly, when the Republican Bush had his party do it at the last Republican convention, it should have been Republicans raising holy hell about their party's leader doing that. Alas, all we got was silence and some sneering right wing applause at protesters being locked behind chain link fences over half a mile from the convention hall.]
Here's a more local example. At a recent Council meeting, Rep. Neil Hanson rose to point out to the Council that the city's "election rules" book, given to every candidate, contains limits on city employees participating [on their own time] in political activities. That prohibition has been included in the book handed to all candidates who file for office during Mayor Godfrey's entire term in office. Well, Rep. Hanson told the council, that prohibition flatly violates state law.
Hansen knew that because, when he first entered the Utah House of Representatives nine years ago [as a Democrat from Ogden], he introduced and got passed a bill, still the law, guaranteeing public employees the right to participate in election campaigns on their own time. After Rep. Hansen's statement, and after he presented them with the law he had introduced and gotten passed, Council members asked the Mayor to respond. His response was [I am informed; I was not there personally to hear it.] "Representative Hansen is correct." He added that the city would have to change what's in the election book it has been giving to candidates for his entire term in office.
Attempting to restrict political speech they find inconvenient or critical is what governments, yes even our governments, do. We should all of us, whatever our political affiliations, raise holy hell every time we see our governments [Democratic, Republican, Independent or non-partisan] doing it.
And we owe, all of us, I think, a nod of thanks to Rep. Hansen for discovering what Mayor Godfrey had not discovered in his seven years in office... that the city elections book for candidates flatly violated state law in its provisions regarding city employees and elections... and pointing it out to the Mayor and Council so it could be corrected.
Speaking of Griener, passed hin at the muni building the other day. We attended OHS at the same general time, can't believe how poorly he's aged. I have to say,Jon,dump the job that you don't really need,and the stress. Get some exercise and start eating a healthy diet. This I say, not out of sarcasm or ridicule, but genuine concern.
Personally I would pass on anyone who owns a Burger King.
Burger King is hand-in-hand with McDonalds and the rest in the great American Obesity Conspiracy.
Where is the disconnect that has us respect a businessman for simply having a business and not accounting for the nature of one's business.
Sure if he decided to get health-minded he could just sell it to the next purveyor of death by cholesterol.
That would not settle in my mind that one has no conscience about how they make their buck.
We live in the land of choice but conglomerates like BK spend and sponsor their way to legitimacy in the hearts and minds of the clueless. I'll hold both BK and their numb consumers accountable for the poor example they set and the drain they both put on the american healthcare system.
Tec:
Well, Tec, your view puts I think too much of the blame on owners. If the public didn't buy fast food burgers, there would be no Micky Dees or BK. Generally, people choose to patronize them. Nobody has a gun at their backs. I'm hard put to criticize a BK owner for selling the public the burgers and fries the public has demonstrated, in spades, that it eagerly wants to buy.
I'll agree with you that things like the "supersize me" program are bad news. And it shouldn't be as hard as it is to order a plain burger [regular size, not a Whopper] at BK or McDonald's. [Tried that lately? In some BKs you can't find just a plain burger on the menu. You have to ask for it special. Ditto at some Micky Dees.]
But I'm hard put to criticize the owners for selling their customers food they clearly want to buy. There's lots of information out there about nutrition, etc. If people choose to remain clueless, as you put it, or to simply choose another way... well, it's their choice.
Curm,
I'm basically comfortable with your position as I share it to some degree.
By the same logic, We should not hold crack dealers accountable for the crack they sell. They may be breaking the law by selling a controlled substance so for that they may be responsible. They are, however, supplying a demand and are nothing more than a function of the marketplace, just like the BK franchisee.
Since city employees can be 'politically' involved on their own time, Matt Jones was illegally put thru the GG wringer, was he not?
I think Matt had a constitutional case that he could have won. I'm sorry that he didn't pursue it.
We were bashing Wal Mart on here not long ago. I don't think any of its employees have guns to their heads every day so they show up for work.
I beleive that fast food joints can do a better job serving better fare (and many are!), but the onus is still on the consumer.
I'm struck by the obesity I encounter EVERYwhere! Fat parents, fat kids, and chips, cookies, sweet cereals in the grocery cart.
I saw a girl about 11 or 12 years old yesterday wearing one of those skin tight spandex T shirts the SKINNY girls all seem to wear, and this poor child looked nine months plus pregnaant!
Her mom was fat also, but this poor child's fat belly hanging over her belt was distressig to see. No doubt she will be ostracized by the 'cute and popular' girls (hey...I was a school girl once upon a time...I know!), and will gravitate to the group, usually other emotional and social 'misfits', who will accept her. If I knew how to track her journey, I'd bet that she's pregnant by 16.
Mama and probably fat daddy are accountable here. Instead of making their daughter "feel better" by ordering a large pizza, because she can't find a bathing suit to fit, go join a gym and
leave the chips on the shelf.
What does fat Michael Moore say about the drain on the American taxpayers' pocketbooks for the myriad of health problems associated with obesity? Those without health insurance use the ER's as their personal physicians. If they aren't taking responsiblility to get healthy and buy insurance....will they pay their ER bills? Is the Brooklyn Bridge still up for sale?
Tec:
Well, the distinction is, crack sales are illegal and have demonstrable deadly short term effects [as opposed, for example, to eating burgers and pizzas for thirty years and clogging an artery]. Not a particularly good parallel, I think, comparing crack sales to fast food burgers. Where I'd agree with your analysis is on the national level: it makes little sense for the US to get all huffy about Columbia producing cocaine for sale in the US when, sans demand from American buyers, the trade would not exist at all. As we try to, via trade policy, punish nations that have not succeeded in eliminating drug production, their complaints that we ought to be working on the demand end, on reducing that among our own people at least as vigorously, seem reasonable to me.
Sharon,
Distressing it is. I hold both the consumers and purveyors responsible. It is immoral to provide unhealthy food no matter that it is in the context of choice. It is also immoral to consume with no mind to what is consumed.
Being a shallow minded male my inclination is to hold the purveyors responsible for the degradation of the American female figure. Many of these young girls never had a choice or a chance. Their parents are the stupid ones as is the schools that fail to educate on diet and nutrition. The fast food conglomerates have succeeded in making their food seem fun and cool in the minds of even otherwise intelligent individuals. How is this so possible. Would these people willingly eat trash out of the dumpster. Where do they draw the line. Most people put higher quality oil and gas in their vehicles than the food that drains down their esophagus/sewer.
Curm,
Yes it is unfortunate that we have not found the need to make greasy fast food illegal like crack. I'd venture that the fast food is a far greater drain on our national resources than crack, heroin, meth and all the rest. "There oughta be a law..."
Of course I am solidly libertarian so I am only saying "oughta" with tongue-in-cheeckiness.
I am terribly saddened by the conditions that Sharon so ably described.
It wasn't till the mid 90's that the AMA finally came to the realazation that what you eat totally affects your health.(you are what you eat.) We have continually seen generation after generation adopt poorer and poorer dietary options. What is sad is the corporate consumer mentality has finally eliminated our abilty to really feed ourselves in the most healthy manner. The elimination of small family farms has wiped out our ability to get fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables, Our hurried keep up with jones,time management doesn't allow for preparation of wholly nutritious meals. Most folks purchase preprepared (boxed,packaged,instant) food items now. This type of product has usually been engineered in some fashion(taken apart and put back together with numerous chemical food aditives)and is never a good alternative to the real McCoy. As far as educating the consumer, the National health and dietary bureaucracies are totally infiltrated and influenced by corporate powers like ADM general Mills, macdonolds and the like. Even as public awarenes rises, we're so far behind the curve it will take generations to catch up. And the farmland can not be replaced.(hencho in mexico)America's newest bread basket. I won't mention the tarnished reclamed water used for agriculture in this country, it may be better than whats being used south of the border.
Sharon:
We already to some extent punish bad health habits via insurance rates. Higher for smokers than for non-smokers, for example. Higher for those morbidly overweight [I think that's the term] than for others. Some auto insurance policies pay less if you are hurt in an accident in which you are not buckled up than if you are. And so on.
The advantage of a single-payer national health plan is that it saves a fortune in processing costs, which money now delivers not so much as an aspirin, even to the insured. [Overhead costs... advertising, paper work, profit, etc of most health insurance operations runs between 30 and 40% of the premiums collected; by contrast, medicaid costs run about 1% of expenditures; VA and Medicare costs in single figures. Government delivered health care is simply far more financially efficient than the system we have now. Far more. By billions a year.]
Not Moore, not anyone I know of, suggests that a national health care single payer system would be perfect or not have faults or not involve some inequities. But it would not involve nearly as many of those things as the system we have now where we pay far far more for health care than do the people of any other nation in the industrialized world... and we get less for the money.
The argument is not that it would be a perfect system, a panacea. It's that it would be better than what we have now.
And government run systems [Canada and France and Australia, for example] put a lot of emphasis on, and provide free service for, preventive care [which many health plans do not. One I was in paid zip for an annual check-up for example. Not a dime.] And every study done, every nation, shows every dollar invested in well-care or preventive care saves between eight and ten dollars in medical care down the line. It's nearly a ten to one payback. That's one of the reasons national health care systems [Canada, France, Australia] are more efficient than ours: they encourage preventive care. Our private insurance system often doesn't. And of course the 45 million uninsured often avoid going to doctors until the very last minute, by which time easily treatable conditions often have become much more serious ones far more expensive to treat.
To bring the discussion back to Weber County, one of the good things I think the City had done under Godfrey is provide subsidized health club memberships for city employees. It has cut health insurance costs, and it does emphasize well care and preventive care. On that, the man done good.
Of course, he did it with his usual penchant for cronyism, steering it seems, or trying to, city employees mostly to Gold's Gym and not listing as acceptable clubs for the city program all other Ogden health clubs city employees might have used instead. Leave it to him to take a good idea and find a way to make it pay mostly for his cronies.
But the basic idea was a good one.
Curm, my point is health care and insurance issues will never fully address the problem. It's far bigger than that. And a system driven by the strongest monitary powers is doomed to fail.
Curm,
Great observations.
That is exactly what I got from Sicko.
When people get to a hospital in Britain or France or Canada or even Cuba you get served. No paperwork, no fuss, no muss. Just medical attention and no judgement on whether the hospital can provide care based on insurance or ability to pay.
Our system is burdened by administration. If the goal of the system were simply to care for everyone than the only thing to administer is their stock of supplies. This would be a huge contribuytion to our personal privacy. Our medical records would be held simply as a record of our medical condition and protected that way by law instead of it being used against us in pursuit of better coverage.
Sicko IS NOT playing at the megaplex downtown. The guy owns 70+ screens and the fare is lowbrow level 1. See his website. 70 screens and less than 20 selections. Larry Miller-censor extraordinaire.
Some things to remember:
In the USA, already more than 50% of all health costs are paid by various government entities. Therefore, we have more socialized medicine than private medicine already. The issue for me is how to move back to a private system, from the socialized system we have now (that is very cumbersome.) And those who tout socialized medicine do not have my support. Based on my actual experience with it, it SUCKS.
Second, Bill's comment about using reclaimed water (i.e. processed sewage) for irrigation overlooks than many cities now use that water for drinking water. Welcome to Ogden's future if we continue to grow willy-nilly. People who visit me from AZ and CA comment on how good the water tastes here, compared to there.
So what we need to do is tell everyone about Ogden so they can all move here and we can drink each other's sewage. Yipee! I liked it better when we were getting BAD PRESS. If this place becomes Phoenix, I will leave for another untrammeled city. You people can stay and drink Bob and Curt's reprocessed urine.
Curm, most Americans now believe KETCHUP is a vegetable, I wouldn't doubt they concider it to fulfill one food group serving in the school lunch program. Where'nt the fast food groups alligning with the free market folks to get Mcdonalds and burger king as well as pizza hut involed in school lunch programs? What would say say to future hopes of educating the public about dietary concerns?
So, Mr. Gullo "supports anyone who tries to make things better." Does making things better involve selling 175 of the most valuable acres on the Wasatch Front to a possible gay lover for pennies on the dollar "make things better"? The original contract Wayne Peterson proposed held him unable to bulldoze MOGC, yet it contained no stipulations for subsequent owners. Anyone who has witnessed the residential development process knows that most initial property owners will make the purchase and secure the necessary zoning measures, before selling it off to a larger development entity (reference Rich Haws and the troubled Station Park in Farmington, via CenterCal properties). That's what Wayne has planned for MOGC all along -- if he can get Little Matty to pull the trigger on the land deal after November (assuming Ogden's populace has a mental collapse of monumental proportions), Wayne can walk with $50 - $60 million, even after the minor expenses he's faced thus far, seeing as how he's duped the Great Geigers and Teeny Matty into paying for most of his nonsense. Further, Mr. Gullo signed the Lift Ogden YES! petition, and we must therefore and rightfully conclude that he is a moron.
I would encourage anyone that was duped into signing lift Ogden's petition to call them and immediately have them remove your name from that list. This has the potential to ruin you,remember Sen. McCarthy? If that organization has ceased to exist,expired,died,gone underground or morphed into something else, contact envision Ogden, or the mayor's brother in law, and demand they honor your request. This could be an urgent matter.
Has anyone produced a study of the impact of a steady diet of falsehoods on a population?
Danny,
I can find no instance of the use of reclaimed water for drinking. Not that someplace may sneak a little in to enhance the supply but I doubt it. If you can provide a link to this as reality I would like to know, mainly that I will avoid that locale.
My strategy is to drink purified water except in emergency. I have a 5 stage RO system on my home tap and keep the filters current. That's for cooking. Been drinking distilled since about 1978. Some have published that distilled will eventually kill you. Well, I am either living a slow death or they have their head up the proverbial backside.
Living in Flagstaff for many years, it was famous for it's water's purity. There is a monument to Flagstaff Spring near the train station. Hardly pure anymore. My confidence in it's purity was lost after working for the city water utility and observing the ancient pipes, valves and meters we replaced.
Hey, you smart guys (a compliment)....what happens under socialized medicine to doctors wages? (Geez, my sentence structure makes me sound like I just got off the boat from Sweden..."throw me over the fence some hay, yet")
ANYway, how will doctors be recompensed for services?
Will all orthopaedic specialists receive a standard fee for a hip replacement?
An OB in Iowa be paid the same as an OB in CA? Will there be a sliding scale for complications?
I have relatives in Canada. ELECTIVE surgery patients are put on a lonnnng waiting list. Emergency or urgent care is given. My cousins, married to each other, ended up in different hospitals because that's where their care was scheduled.
So, you fans of socialized medicine...and I agree that our system needs fine tuning...what's the answer?
DO NOT tell me Hillary Clinton will be the dr to fix all our ills.
I will have to return to reading books and leave this blog forever! hah.
Getting back to the flowrider...
The Wave House at Mission Beach in San Diego charges 9.00/hour session. Remember that this place is beach front real estate. A far cry from downtown Ogden values. How did Nielsen arrive at the 20.00/hr entry fee. It seemed fair to start but is getting pricey and the thrill may wane without some incentive. I also understand that Gold's members do not get a discount for the flowrider. That is completely counter to the Wave House Athletic Club, whose members ride for half price.
On the closed Sunday business...
My son works in the arcade industry as an IT technician. He has traveled the world on installations and reports that every single one of the fun spots he has visited from Mumbai to Moscow to Dubai to Orlando are all open Sundays. Any surprise?!
Another first for Mayor Godfrey and friends (FOM)
Sharon,
See the movie for some examples that answer your question. Doctors do well under universal healthcare. Using the terminology "socialized medicine" is part of the problem. It's a scare tactic. Sure hate to see an articulate thinker like yourself fall for that kind of thing.
BTW...we were invited to eat lunch at the elementary school where we taught reading.
YECCCCH! It was awful...awfuller..is that a word? than anything I thot we'd have.
A precooked, in a plastic bag, cheeseburger. Hetaed in a microwave so it was like eating a mattress cover. Or, a slice of pizza on a slab of cardboard. AND... CHIPS!
Also, a most unappetizing "salad bar"...with, thank heavens, a 'sneeze' shield. Only thing is
most kids were short enuf to be under the shield! The bar had some lettuce, carrots, canned pie apple slices, and dressing. The kids drop the tongs into the food...how sanitary is that?
Needless to say, we nibbled on what we could and chatted with the kids.
I noticed that few children actually ate an entire 'meal'. They picked, drank the milk and bolted.
The eaters brot a lunch from home.
I remember eating in our tiny school lunchroom when I was a kid. Mothers came to school and did the cooking. I vividly remember having a bowl of soup, half a p'nut butter sandwich (protein), (maybe a piece of fruit?), a cookie and milk. Then, we went outside, played hopscotch, dodgeball, jumped around on the monkey bars, took turns pushing each other on the swings and jumped rope.
I remember only ONE overweight girl from 5th grade thru 12th.
Of course, I'm so old I helped fish Moses out of the bulrushes.
Now, some schools don't offer PE. So sad.
Dr. Mr. Gullo, I thank you for your response. If I may ask you one question, you have expressed taking your fiduciary responsibilities seriously in your capacity as board member and have also,as most of us,question the wisdom and viability of the rec center. Did you examine at all, this gondola thing before giving it your endorsement? And do you still endorse this thing?
Sharon, lunch programs fall under the jurisdiction of the schoolboard, you should ask Mr. Gullo where the priority lies, quality of product, or cost of services? In all likelyhood he'll say both, thats what you ate. But in fairness(Curm,) it is a board, more than one decider.
School lunches were nothing great in the mid-sixties. Hot dogs, crappy grain-extended burgers on white. Heavily mayoe'd soggy tuna slabwiches. 6" greasy chocolate chip cookies, frozen "fruit"? bars. Fortunately, my mom had no intention of giving us lunch money. We got PBJ's, celery and carrot sticks, an apple and navel orange from the back yard tree. It's all a matter of choice, as Curmudgeon reminds us all. The lament from so many mothers that "I just don't have time to prepare all that" is simply negligent.
Brief note on Drs Pay:
Yes, they get less under public health care systems... but then, they don't have to hire huge staffs to try file and then to try to collect on private insurance held by patients, and wait three months or more to get paid by the insurer, if the claim is allowed. They tell me they routinely have to file the same claims two or three times to get payment. Ask any large clinic operation in Ogden what it spends on insurance processing and collection. Not a dime of which provides so much as an aspirin to a patient.
Personal experience: Mrs. Curmudgeon was briefly hospitalized early this year. We filed a claim under a supplemental hospitalization policy we hold. It was denied as a duplicate claim. [She was hospitalized for the same thing five months earlier. Some ear wig in processing didn't notice the date of service on the new claim was five months later.] We called to get someone to track the claim. They promised to call back. They didn't. We kept calling. Finally, they told us to refile it. We did. Nothing heard for over a month. We called. They promised to check and call back. They didn't. Called three more times. Told "Someone screwed up and misplaced the claim" and would we please file again. Did. Five weeks. Nothing heard. Called. Twice. Promised the check was "cut yesterday." Five and a half months after the hospitalization, after filing the same claim three times, we got the check. I don't even want to think about how much processing the same claim three times, and hours of staff time on the phones with us cost the insurer. With a single payer national health plan, none of that happens. This was with United Healthcare, one of the nation's largest health insurers.
SE reports Berthana sold... with big money plans to refurbish to old state of glory and reopen as event, retail and restaurant space. Details here.
Forth of July Wishes:
Up the rebels!
No truce with kings!
George III was a limey!
Have a happy 4th, people.
Curm,
Horror stories we all (or most anyway) have had! It would help if professionals would hire staff people and phone answerers older than 15 year old valley girls.
You do make some excellent points abut eliminating the costs of these snafus and paper shufflings. But, would doctors still realize enuf return on their expertise and education?
John Gullo,
Thank you for you reply. I would like to know what your perceptions are about the gondola now? And aren't the taxpayers paying for the rec center? Exactly how much are the 'tenants' kicking in?
You seem to have a relationship with Godfrey....are you privy to any plans from Peterson? How do you feel about selling off Ogden's treasure? What would be the lure if we lost Mount Ogden Golf Course, park and the beauty of our trails? I like the Junior Whopper...without sauce...on occasion.
Did anyone else notice the "poll" results in today's S-E (page 2)?
(AFAIK, the above link will only work if you subscribe to the S-E's Digital Edition. I can't find a "normal" link to it.)
Question: Are you pleased Ogden Mayor Matthew Godfrey plans to run for re-election?
Yes: 39.1 percent
No: 60.9 percent
Although these results are clearly not scientific, it does make me even more curious than ever to see the results of the poll the Mayor commissioned last month.
Monday, July 02, 2007
What's in your wallet?
get out of jail free?
I bet godfrey wish he had one of these cards signed by Ol' George W. himself cause he will need it.
I just found this on the net and thought the rest of you might want to check this out.
Representative Neil. A Hansen (D-Ogden) has represented the Utah’s Ninth district in the Utah State Legislature since 1999. As a legislator, Rep. Hansen has committed himself to making state and local government more accountable and accessible to all Utahns. This legislative session is no exception as Rep. Hansen continues to sponsor progressive legislation that challenges the status quo. Not only do his bills this session focus on the accessibility of state and local government, but also on protecting and promoting the right to vote to all of Utah’s citizens.
One of Rep. Hansen’s commitments is to assure the right to vote is accessible to all members of the electorate. He recognizes that it is not only a privilege of a citizen to vote, but a fundamental right. Therefore, it is the duty of both local and state governments to ensure that this right is not only protected, but easily realized by all members of the electorate. House Bill 278 Election Day Voter Registration, shows Rep. Hansen’s commitment to this goal. This bill would allow voters to register the day of an election and cast a provisional ballot until their status as a member of the electorate can be verified before being counted. This ensures the voters’ right to vote as a priority. In districts where people are more likely to move this would be particularly helpful to voters.
Representative Hansen was approached by numerous constituents who felt they were turned away from the voter’s booth due to either a recent move or a minor mistake on their registration form. Thus, their right to vote was not adequately assured. Rep. Hansen sees HB278 as a way to allow the electorate every opportunity possible to vote, while still protecting the validity of the election. This progressive piece of legislation was unfortunately defeated in the House Government Operations Standing Committee. One Representative declared that his “fear” that the county would see buses of people crowding the voting booths if HB278 is enacted. Rep. Hansen’s reply to that concern was that it was the very goal of his legislation. In his opinion it would be a great day for democracy to see people voting by the busloads as voter turnout, particularly during mid-term elections, is often left lacking.
Although the accessibility to vote for the electorate is one of Rep. Hansen’s main concerns, other legislation show that his concern for the democratic process does not stop there. House Bill 109, for example, attempts to make a Mayor more accountable to his or her constituents by requiring the Mayor to consult the city counsel when attempting to sell land that is appraised at or above one million dollars. Just as the legislature would not appreciate the Governor attempting to make such a large decision without legislative input, so should local city councils be able to check the power of their executive counterparts.
Another piece of legislation which would make elections a matter of popular democracy is House Bill 346. This bill encourages a compact agreement among the states that would allow the popular vote to have more significance when deciding which presidential candidate gets a state’s electoral votes. Currently there is no law that requires the electoral votes of a state to directly correspond with the popular vote. This has been problematic both historically and in recent presidential elections. It is Rep. Hansen’s view that the democratic process is dependent on the votes of the electorate. Therefore, the way a state’s electoral votes are distributed should reflect the popular vote tally.
Through these three examples, Utahns can see that Rep. Hansen is attempting to reign in the powers of local and state governments. He works to make them more accountable to their constituents by challenging the status quo. And he demands a more open, democratic process in both elections and in policy.
The residents of Ogden can feel secure knowing Rep. Hansen is looking out for their best interest. As a side note, Rep. Neil Hansen is also a candidate for Ogden City Mayor in the upcoming November elections. You will continue to see more of his ideas in the media as the election nears.
Oooooooops!
Forgot the link.
Get outta jail for free!
Interesting news about the Berthana building. Are these the same investors who promised a while back that they'd do something similar if the city moved forward on the Peterson project? In any case, it looks like this is yet another example of investment coming into Ogden even though we don't have a gondola. Inexplicable, ain't it?
That's right Dan, Same guys. I guess they felt that Ogden is doing quite well right now and they better get in on the action. Better late than never, which would be the result if waiting on the gondola. Likely they heard that the gondola is falling out of focus in the grand vision.
I am very impressed with Rep. Hansen's willingness to try to fix the broken system for the average citizen who has no where to turn for help.
I wonder where all the customers are going to come from for all the new eating places going in????
The longtime Skippers restaurant on Wall Avenue was closed when I went there tonight.
Sign on the building "For Sale".
And the very excellent longtime Lion's Den restaurant had a full page ad in the Standard this past week to advertise. We will be really destitute for good food if they can't make it and give up, too.
Here's a fun article from the LA Times about sprawl and transit and more.
SmartGrowth L.A.
A dirty bird told me that Godfrey, the sneak, is going to sell the golf course and adjacent land to Peterson very soon!
This needs to hit the media fan right now!
Godfrey won't have a chance in hell once the people really see how sneaky and corrupt this crony lover is!
69.9 percent think the creep shouldn't be mayor again. Isn't that telling? HE said his friends and family convinced him he should run. I think that he wouldn't have filed if he really understood that the PEOPLE think and know he's a piss poor leader and a psycopathic personality. Very dangerous. Like a rattlesnake.
Am sure the Feds will be knocking on his door very soon. The sneak wants to hand over that property to Peterson before he's caught. What's in it for Godfrey and his cronies????
Exactly what has Neil Hansen done for Ogden or Utah in the many years he has served in the House? Besides naming the canyon road and making Juneteenth a state holiday. Just wondering.
The Mayor cannot sell the Mt Ogden land legally, it is against the general plan as it is zoned O1 and would have to be amended to be legal to sell open space or rezoned and approved by city planning and city council.
I Ask Therefore:
Well, if you'd like a list of the bills Rep. Hansen has introduced and gotten passed, I can send you that. Along with a list of bills he's co-sponsored that passed. Provided you keep in mind that he is a Democrat in a legislature overwhelmingly Republican and what that means. [In the last session, I think the total number of bills passed was about 500... 14 or 15 were introduced by Democrats.]
That he got any bills passed under those circumstances seems fairly remarkable to me. But he did.
He is also one of the few Ogden reps willing to stand up on local issues. [Remember the ticket-quota policy of the Godfrey administration?] I don't see other Ogden reps standing up on local matters much. Or at all. Rep. Hansen does.
He also asks common sense questions on various legislative committees that some in state government wish had not been asked. At a recent meeting of the Transportation financing subcommittee, Rep. Hansen asked UDOT if it monitors and audits the hundreds of millions of dollars it sends to cities and counties for road maintenance... if it tracks and audits how they actually use the money. Turns out, UDOT could not provide such an audit and finally revealed that it generally leaves auditing the expenditures up to the towns and counties it sends the money to. That came as a surprise, apparently, to the entire committee. It also turned out that there had not been a legislative audit of such UDOT grants to towns and counties for road maintenance [were are talking hundreds of millions of dollars here over time, remember] for nearly a decade. I gather that preparations for the first legislative audit of those funds in a decade are now under way. And all because Rep. Hansen asked a question or two UDOT would, it seems, had rather had not been asked.
The contributions of a legislator of a minority party often are made in committee meetings and not through the passage of legislation the majority will not permit, in most cases, to come out of committee to be voted on in the whole House at all.
He worked for the city of Ogden for two decades and has been in the House for nearly a decade. Seems to me he knows the city and how it works from the inside out, and how the city relates to the state government from the top down. That is a fund of experience 29 years in the making that the only other announced candidate so far... the mayor... can come close to matching.
If I had to summarize in one short term Hansen's advantage over out only other announced candidate, it would be "fiscal responsibility" and a much firmer understanding of what holding public office requires by way of ethical conduct.
Well, you asked....
Thanks, Curmudgeon.
Anticipating that this question would inevitably arise at some early point in the 2007 Municipal Election campaign, we have obtained and uploaded to our storage site a complete list of Rep. Hansen's bills, in Adobe PDF format.
This material can be accessed here.
What's obvious is that Representaive Hansen has been a very active Utah House Representative during his legislative career, notwithstanding his membership in the Utah House minority.
I ask so therefore I wonder:
[...]
"The Mayor cannot sell the Mt Ogden land legally, it is against the general plan as it is zoned O1 and would have to be amended to be legal to sell open space or rezoned and approved by city planning and city council."
That's hogwash. Boss Godfrey could legally sell the Mt. Ogden Parklands property tomorrow, subject to current zoning and general plan restrictions. Such restrictions would in fact justify the low-ball proposed sale price ($2-7 million)that's been rattling around recently in the local press.
Boss Godfrey's chosen buyer could then regard his investment as speculative, and sit back and take his chances with future councils and planning commissions, as the property continues to appreciate in value in the future.
And don't think for a minute that a new buyer in possession of our crown jewel Mt. Ogden Parklands won't put on a full-court press to back a whole slate of council lackys who'd bend over backwards to "pave over and develop" the "newly-privatized" property.
Imagine the political effect if pro-development forces dumped a couple of $millions into our local municipal elections races.
Those naive lumpencitizens who find "safety" in ephemeral zoning and general plan restrictions are merely "whistling in the dark."
We do hope our current council is paying careful attention to this.
Although we've heard some talk about our city council considering placing these parklands into a "lockbox" or "special trust," our council appears to be still "sitting on its thumbs" re this.
I would tend to believe that, given this mayor's aggressive advocacy for this proposition,(despite his down playing the issue of late) coupled with the outpouring of public reaction during the Mt. ogden comunity planning process and backed up by the thousands of correspondences on record to the Council, this Council would be justified in crafting an ordinance that removes the ability of one person ( the mayor) to be able to sell any valuable public asset on his own. Sorry for the extremely longggggg sentence. The should be done just to protect the public interest and alleviate public fears. Good governance. Any one would be hard pressed to argue against the merits of such an ordinance, Mayor included.
In fact I suggest that everyone please send a new e-mail to every one of the Council members urging just that sentiment.
Just concider this, under this current arrangement this mayor could possibly sell this new rec center to his crony Neilson for 10 million, despite the fact that the city still owes over 40 million it spent to produce it. SWEET, aint it.
Just like to remind everyone that in his recent interview with the Salt Lake Tribune, our very own Mayor Matthew Godfrey said that the gondola and selling the city's park lands to his friend scheme would not be a major goal of his third term, should he win one. And that as far as the gondola is concerned, he is no longer as sure as he once was that it's a grand idea and the key to Ogden's future because, he told the SL Trib, he wants to keep looking at it to see if it makes sense or not. Meaning that that's still an open question in his mind.
Our very own Mayor Matthew Godfrey wouldn't utter something not absolutely true to the SL Trib, now, would he? Surely not.... Surely only sour cynics would even entertain for a moment the idea that his polling showed the gondola and selling-the-park-to-his-crony plan was an election campaign loser, and so he's decided to back off both plans unless and until he wins re-election, at which point he will restore his two year old full court press to make them happen.
Oh ye of little faith to even think of such perfidy on the part of Ogden's very own Mayor Matthew Godfrey....
The council hired an attorney to rpresent them in this matter of protecting the parklands. HE WAS SUGGESTED AND FOUND BY BILL COOK!
IMHO Cook isn't sure where his allegiance lies...with the council or on the 9th floor.
The council needs to call a press conf today and blow the lid off this scheme of Godfrey's. When the citizens actually HEAR Godfrey's nefarious plans, they will rise up. We can only pray!
Most people don't read the paper, or don't take the paper, or don't read the commentaries. But, they DO watch TV and listen to the radio!
Get off your thumbs, council, and show the leadership you promised
us.
Curm,
A wonderful post on Hansen!
Thank you for articulating the points of his career and his strong affiliations to Ogden!
I'm a, yes, I'm going to say it in print, Republican, but that doesn't blind me to the fine qualtities of Neil Hansen.
Kudos to Neil for nailing the auditor and getting the ball rolling on a lonnnnng overdue investigation into the auditing practices of UDOT.
I know Neil to be HONEST, INQUISITIVE, caring and knowledgable.
I don't think we'll ever associate the word "hubris" with Neil Hanses...but "Integrity" sounds good.
So does Mayor Neil Hanson...Good for Ogden.
Curm,
why would anyone believe a word that the dissembling, cunning, vituperative, corrupt and manipulative psycopath Godfrey says to a newspaper reporter?
The are his fellow actors and the printed page his stage!
In a reply to "I Ask Therefor" above, I omitted a word. Naturally, it was a key word . [Still loggy from ingesting too many pancakes at Huntsville's 4th of July Breakfast In the Park which is rapidly becoming a Curmudgeon family tradition... including [as various family members grumble about heading up canyon at 6:45 AM --- "the butt crack of dawn" as Ms. Curmudgeon delicately puts it --- on a holiday] my speech about how if Washington's rebel army slept until noon we'd all be British now and we wouldn't have the day off at all. ]
Anyway, here's what I meant to write with the missing word... "not"... inserted where it should have been. Sorry, people.
He worked for the city of Ogden for two decades and has been in the House for nearly a decade. Seems to me he knows the city and how it works from the inside out, and how the city relates to the state government from the top down. That is a fund of experience 29 years in the making that the only other announced candidate so far... the mayor... can not come close to matching.
So, lets see, lying little matty puts in at the behest of his crony's,beneficiaries, and those that have no choice but to appear to like him publicly(family) despite his Bushlike approval ratings. About August,(time for to contractually sure up his personal nest-egg with his selected cronies,(project administrator for the CP squirrel development Corp.) he sells the property and bows out of the campain, leaving nothing but a mountain of debt and a pile of rubble to his successer. And we're not supposed to be afraid?
I believe the mayor can only unilaterally sell property deemed excess, like vacant lots. However, this loophole is far too large, since I believe the word "excess" is not adequately defined. Our understanding is the blogmeister was working with our favorite council member to draft a proposed code change to correct this state of affairs. What happened?
I may contact our favorite council member myself on this subject of selling land.
In the meantime I was thinking about writing another tedious review of the Salomon center since I visited it this week. I wonder if there is any interest . . .
A couple of the planning commisioners were overheard having just that discussion.
Mercy, I beleive the council's lawyer was hired to help them deal with the handling of the Peterson proposal, remember the discovery thing? Since there is no proposal and the resolution was dropped, I don't know if they still have their own lawyer. Just williams, Godfrey's boy.
They have a new atty chosen by Cook! Is that scary enough? Nah, this information must hit the big papers, tv and radio stations so the citizenry will HEAR it,, read it, if they will, and be riled up.
We just talk to ourselves on here, don't we?
PS I'm not particuarly interested in another critique of the junction...but don't let me stop you.
PPS It's my understanding that the new atty is hired (by Cook) to 'protect' our parklands. Haven't heard a peep, have you?
I still understand that the general plan has to be amended in order for it to be sold by changing the zoning or amending it completely. With the addition of the Mt. Ogden General Plan with clear verbiage stating: "Leave our open space" everywhere within it, that also becomes part of the general plan. I don't quite understand, Rudi, how the Mayor can go against that. Excuse me for my ignorance or slow understanding but I just don't see how he can do it without a battle with city planning commission, city council and the public or breaking the law. What was the point of the Mt. Ogden Community Plan then after so many months working on it and painstakingly wording it just right to prevent future sale of the open space. One city planning commissioner asked Greg Montgomery in one of the final meetings if once this plan goes into the general plan does it bind it and he replied yes it does.
Alright so Neil Hansen has good intentions and perhaps has some merit although I have not really seen much of what he has accomplished. I will look over the bills you presented. I am glad he asks questions. We all should. My concern is will he stop or slow down the progress and development of Ogden as it is going now? I know this forum is very critical of what is happening in Ogden right now and wonder what would make many of the folks here happy other then just plain halting everything and progress. I think it is going well and would like to see it continue. My concern is that he will stop the momentum of growth in this multi-decade sleepy town which needs growth and development desperately. And I am not talking about the gondola or development on the benches but actual stimulation to our sales tax base, reasons to come to Ogden and downtown revitilization. I also wonder if the zealous support of Neil Hansen on this blog is due to the fact that everyone here hates the current Mayor so much. We yet have to see who else is running. There may be someone who is a perfect balance and perfect for this job who has not announced intentions yet.
Thanks for all your insights. I will study them before I do make my decision of whom to vote for this year.
Mercy:
Well, just to keep the record straight: if a new atty was hired, it was hired by the Council. On Mr. Cook's recommendation, doubtless, but any such attorney works for the Council. Mr. Cook reports to the Council. He acts on the Council's behalf. I see little point in trying to distinguish between the actions of Mr. Cook and the actions of the Council. He is Council staff, as I understand it, and cannot proceed without Council acquiescence.
The other thing to keep in mind [and just to be clear, I have no more information on any of this than you do], the council is to some extent a deliberative body, as well as a legislative one. Which means a great deal of its work is done face to face, in conversations, working out compromise positions on a variety of matters in order to build a majority without which nothing can be done. Not only does a good deal of its work take place out of the public eye, it is in the nature of a legislative and deliberative body that much of it must. This is true for Congress, the state legislature and the city Council. Effective government would be impossible otherwise at any level.
However, at a certain point in all matters, public notice is both legally mandated and [usually earlier than the legally mandated point] a wise policy for any public body... or official... to follow. The Mayor seems not to understand this. [Again, think of his out of the public eye golden handshake separation arrangement with Mr. Reid, and his refusal to inform the Council of who he wanted to sell the public-owned Bootjack parcel to, and much more].
But from what I've seen over the last two years, the Council has a much firmer grasp on the need for openness in its proceedings and the importance of full disclosure at the right time in the legislative process. The members don't have a perfect record on this --- witness the refusal to release the candidate filings when they looked for a replacement Council member. But on the whole, their record is not bad.
And if you are not happy with Mr. Cook, the place to bring your complaints is the Council members. He works for them, and they seem satisfied that he works for them at least adequately.
Mercy,
You say some are for halting everything. But you yourself mentioned the vision that was expressed by the Mount Ogden community. It is the same vision the rest of the city has. It is the mayor who is the obstructionist - he obstructs this vision.
If you participated you know what that vision is. It is a great vision for open space and for enhancing the many qualities we have here, rather than the Godfreyite vision of a debt-fueled cement and asphalt project to make Ogden like everywhere else.
I could go into detail, but much of it is in there, in the Mount Ogden community plan.
As far as another review of the Salomon Center, note I was not offering another review, but a review written by the inimitable Danny Donner.
Danny, if you'd like to send us a draft of your Salomon Center Review, we'd be happy to post it as a main article.
Print media reporting is generally fairly light during long 4th of July weekends, so the timing might be right during the next 4-5 days.
If you'd like to sumit an article, you can do so via the email contact link in our upper-right sidebar.
Asking and wondering, just what have you seen that gave you the impression that the city has increased sales tax revenue? All you see is tax payer investment in real estate so far. Sales tax revenues are lower this year.Nothing this mayor has done has even been to that desired outcome, look at the river project, my first impression was, do we need that many more appartment buildings? There little artist's conception presented by Montgomery had very little space allotted for commercial. I might add that the ridiculous mixed use ordinance they adopted may just cause them problems trying to conform to, since it was done after the fact.
Not one of the outdoor companies bring retail, offices and warehousing only. So far lying little matty has only managed a cosmetic change, which may only appeal to you until you see the total bill. You'll not see the total bill until long after the election unfortunately, because those numbers will not be release until the final audit is completed. I know, last years numbers were held till Dec. The Cities year end in JUNE, thats 5 months to recieve the audit.
SE running ad today offering Class A office space in the four storey office block going up at the Junction. Link here. I don't know how long it's been running, but thought if anyone else had not seen it, they might find it interesting.
SE also has a first rate 4th of July editorial. Of course, hard to miss on this one since they got Abraham Lincoln to write it. Of course it is old. And it's long, so I don't know how many people will take the time to read it to the end. I suspect not a lot. But it's worth staying with it to the end. Good on the SE editorial board for running it. Link here.
Danny, I am confused..or are you? I reread what I submitted and I don't see anywhere that some are for halting everything, What does that mean?
We just want to stop Godfrey from selling our most desirable treasure! I THINK most of us here are in agreement on that!
Curmudgeon,
I KNOW the council hired Cook, and he's supposed to work for them, but he's a bit disingenuous at times, (VERY), so any atty he brought to the table should be scuttled and a new one hired by the council themselves would be less suspect. The new atty is supposed to protect our parklands...no time to waste.
Mercy,
Forgive me. It was "i ask" to whom I was referring in that part of my post.
Rudi, you will make me a star? I will send you my thoughts on my family's visit to the center.
Danny:
Think it over carefully, doing a lead thread piece for WCF and what will follow...the papparazi... the cheering throngs everywhere you go... the endless invitations by FOMs to fly down to St. George for a weekend of spa and golf action in the company plane [no obligation of course]... starlets seeking career publicity calling endlessly for dates so they can be photographed with you.... Think it over carefully, Danny...
Ohhhh Danny!
When you are a star will you take me along too? I know the producer will be with you in all your public engagements and I'm just dying to get out of this one horse town!
Please? I'm really good company and very talented. Everyone says so, if you catch my drift.
Type away, Danny,
I like to hear some other thoughts on it. You've seen mine. Here's some additional.
I bowled for the first time in 3 decades on Monday. I stunk but bowling is still fun. The bowling center is an odd one. MTV music videos overhead with no sound. The garish colored backlit transparencies above the pins is absurd. It throws a psychedelic reflection right across the the bulk of the lane in front of you creating quite a visual distraction and preventing finding markings for lining up your shots. Surely pro style bowling centers would not have these. Of course, they do not serve beer until 6pm so we had a fairly boring time of it. My ball got stuck twice in the works and had to be manually retrieved. Took awhile for a guy to show and help us return to our game.
I will return to bowl. The blacklight golf is a strange attraction. My guess that it will be a toss up between that and the bumper cars as the first thing to get junked.
The iFly is till the oddest piece of equipment. $2.5 million for this oversized leaf blower. So few people willing to blow hard earned cash on it. I may be wrong but I cannot see it's viability. This thing cost more than the flowrider and the bowling center combined. I say we put Godfrey in it and keep him in there pinned to the top at full force velocity until he cries uncle.
Still no "tortillas de maiz" at Costa Vida.
Well there's my addendum.
Take it away Danny.
I posted a note (above) to John Gullo replying to his remarks.
So far, I haven't seen a response nor anything from him regarding the gondola. A couple of us asked him about his allegiance to the gondola now and a few other questions.
I'm disappointed that he hasn't seen fit to address those questions.
when godfrey says uncle in the wind tunnel, you just know that it will be uncle greg to the rescue.
I ask so therefore I wonder...
When you ask has Rep. Hansen done anything for the community? You will only need to go as far as the police dept. Since Rep. Hansen ran the ticket quota bill, the ogden police dept is now rewriting their policy.
So you don't have to have a new law passed to make a change. You just need a voice in goverment like Neil's
to get thing done.
No doubt. No other public official has done more for us cops than Neil Hansen. On behalf of all the agencies in the Weber County area. Neil Hansen, thank you! You have our vote for Mayor. You've watched our back, now we will watch your back.
Neil Hansen won't fire a cop for his wife speaking out against the city's cronies either. Remember Matt Jones
Sharon-The overweight 11 or 12 year old is out of luck at the new Gold's, big sign at the front desk "No one under 14 past this point". The kids room is 10 and under, 11-13 stares through the glass. My kids liked the pool at the old facility, the new pool I was told is 18 and over only.
You'd think a nice place like Gold's and it's owner would offer to kid's a free time slot since they are getting such a sweetheart deal from the city. What better way to introduce kid's to fitmess than allow them a little quality gym time.
Cheap and thoughtless bastards.
I have real issues with the lack of a locals policy at the Junction. We paid for all that stuff. Why don't citizens of Ogden get some kind of discount. After all, that kind of policy may even be some incentive for people to move here.
One glaring fact about this place is that the flowrider was paid for in full by the city and just simply handed to Gold's owner Gary Nielsen to use to generate revenue which he pays absolutely no royalty to the city. Someone please give me a $1 million dollar piece of reveniue generating equipment and lease me the improved space for a fraction of market rate. Does anyone else see a problem with this picture?
As for local discounts, weren't we being told that locals may ride the gondola for reduced rate. How can we trust they would really do that. No discount for anything for anyone at the Junction except rent to the lessees.
I am struck by the overly simple language of several key clauses in the Junction lease. The "normal hours" portion is left open for some interpretation. Commercial leases that I have party to devoted a page or two to issues like business hours including penalties for violation.
The prices on all the signs at Fat Cat's are already wrong, they have been raised by a quarter. $4.25 for golf(took my 6 year-old 10 minutes), what a bargain!!
Obesity and child obesity is a national problem and disgrace!
Godfrey gave city employees 'fitness" perks...some used it and apparently, (and I do mean apparent) some haven't.
How wonderful if Godfrey, in keeping with our new "recreation" image, also instituted a "get fit' program for families struggling with obesity and for kids, especially.
Since we paid for all that stuff...how about a family/kids slot for working on exercise, nutrition/ and general fitness?
Godfrey was a running star...Matt, organize some races for Ogden's kids...get 'em moving.
Work out a reasonable fee or FREE at Gold's and Marshall White swimming pool
Ogden: "'We're Fit"
PS..we may be the "first city in the nation" to encourage a whole city to be healthy! What better advertisment for our "Recreation" moniker?
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