By Curmudgeon
Mayor Godfrey is a seasoned campaigner, who knows how to use his incumbency to good advantage, to win him good ink the papers, and to shift the public's focus off topics he'd rather not have people discussing over their morning coffee -- like his attempts to have the taxpayers pay off a quarter of a million dollars in development costs for his crony Chris Peterson, involving the failed real estate development scheme intended for Ogden city parklands on the benches.
Good examples in this morning's papers here and in Salt Lake City.
First, in this morning's Std-Ex, there is this story headlined "Godfrey, vets lobby for nursing home." Here are the opening graphs:
SALT LAKE CITY — Mayor Matthew Godfrey and a contingent of veterans lobbied state officials Monday for $19 million to construct a long-awaited nursing home in Ogden. The group wants Gov. Jon Huntsman to include the allocation in his fiscal 2009 budget request to be submitted to the Legislature next year, Godfrey said.Then there's this story from this morning's Salt Lake Trib, headlined "Ogden to crack down on gangs." The story combines a report of the latest gang violence in Ogden [more yesterday] and reports of a new initiative by the Mayor to deal with it. From the story:
OGDEN - Police plan to double their efforts to crack down on gangs in the wake of a double homicide Sunday that punctuated a recent spike in gang-related violence. And Mayor Matthew Godfrey is preparing to announce several initiatives today to battle the crime wave.Police and politicians alike say that seven gang-related shootings in a month are unacceptable in a city that has touted its decline in crime over the past eight years.
"We're going after [gangs]," Godfrey said. "We're not going to wait around and see if this subsides. This kind of increase happens in Salt Lake County, but it does not here, so we will be putting a stop to it."[The Std-Ex has three gang-related stories, but nothing yet on the Mayor's new gangs initiatives, though once he holds that press conference, it too will be front page news.]
Now, let me say that of course, the Mayor of Ogden supports the building of a veteran's home in the area. It's a good idea, long overdue, and would help the area's economy as well, and I do not doubt for a second the sincerity of the Mayor's support for it. Similarly, of course he wants to cut down on gang violence, and eliminate it if possible in Ogden, and sincerely so. No sane public official would want to do anything else --- though it might be suggested by some, myself among them, that the Mayor seems a little late focusing on gang-violence in the city and coming up with initiatives to deal with it. And he is coming very visibly on board as the election approaches. But that, really, is the point. He is a seasoned campaigner and an elected official and he knows how to use the fact of his being Mayor to generate press coverage and move the public's focus in directions favorable to him.
The Mayor was working the crowd at the "night out against crime" event downtown yesterday evening. Shaking hands, talking to voters. Big signs announcing his presence. I'm not sure how many other mayoral candidates were there, if any. If they were, they were not nearly so visible as the Mayor. He knows how to do this, has a record of doing it successfully and is, reportedly, well financed. All this by way of suggesting to those who think the Mayor is done [and some who think that post here regularly] that such assumptions are risky when the guy you think is done is an experienced, successful and now well-financed candidate.
Finally, there is a Std-Ex piece on transit, pretty far back in the paper that it might not get noticed much, so I thought I'd link it here. The headline is "Fresno mulls a return to streetcars." From the story:
FRESNO, Calif. — Fresno leaders are looking into an old idea to deliver new life downtown. Think streetcars. That’s a key element of the latest revitalization plan from Mayor Alan Autry’s administration....Pity the poor people of Portland, and now Fresno, who have Mayors who support investing those cities' transit money in to streetcars instead of gondolas. Think how angry all those people in Portland who invested billions... yes, with a "b" ... in trackside commercial and residential development are going to be when they realize they could have had a gondola whizzing overhead carrying potential customers and residents past their businesses and apartments and condos with no way to get down to them instead.... Think how lucky Ogden is to have a mayor who thinks differently.
Streetcars are being used by more than two dozen cities across the United States as a way to jump-start development and reduce air pollution.
Fresno hopes to follow suit. About 30 city officials, elected leaders and local developers are traveling to Portland, Ore., this week to look at its streetcar system and the residential and commercial development that has sprung up around it. The city is picking up the group’s $20,000 airfare and lodging tab.
In Portland, they will examine a 7.2-mile streetcar loop that links downtown with several neighboring districts. It cost $100 million, and another mile will soon be added to the route for $14.5 million.
Since it opened in 2001, more than $2 billion in development has occurred within two blocks of the streetcar rail line, Portland officials say. This includes about 7,200 new homes and 4.6 million square feet of offices, stores and hotels.
[Sigh.]
23 comments:
Lets not overstate the obvious, election season, 7 shootings in a month, the mayor should be out front on this.
Problem for him is, where has his attention been for the last 7+ years?
A critical analysis would reveal, the only addition to the police force has been in the area of traffic control, to be used as a source of funding for crony development projects. He also purchased those funny scooter things for display at the new jackass center.
He's spent all his time the last 3 years, and devoting all his administrative resources to a childish sky-ride that by his own admission must have just been a diversion to conceal a crony land grab of public property.
Their latest half measure, highly questionable gang ordinance was also accompanied by the inference that the council chair was responsible for Ogden's gang problems.
We must also note the priorities of our chief of police, future political aspirations, seems to me his priorities have put us all behind the 8 ball.
One would be hard pressed to concider these two not contributing to the problem, for years.
This mayor has done everything imaginable not related to the expectations of the electorate. Crony development and trying to change this town into something it is not, nor do the citizens want it to be, while ignoring the real duties of the job he holds, providing safety and services.
Bill C:
Exactly. If the Mayor had spent half the time on controlling gang violence that he spent chasing his gondola obsession and lobbying to sell the city's parks to his cronies for real estate deals, maybe we wouldn't be waking up to headlines like today's.
The simple fact is the rise in gang violence in Ogden happened on Mayor Godfrey's watch. Rudi's sub-head to this morning's main thread got it exactly right: now that the park sale is off the table, the rumored Peterson Proposal is kaput [and revealed, by the Mayor, to have not been a feasible idea from the start], he's got time, at last, to do the job we're paying him to do: be Mayor of Ogden and concentrate on the things he should have been concentrating on for the last four years.
Did you know Lying Little Matty Gondola Godfrey is fluent in Spanish? Were we aware that he has been down in west OTown kissing babies and promising people that he will give them free bowling at the JACKASS CENTER if they vote for him and Curt THE SKI IS BEAUTIFUL BLUE Geiger. Remember, Little Matty has to ask THE SKI IS BEAUTIFUL BLUE if it's OK to go potty.
jason w.-
What is Curt Geiger running for?
Did any body see Mayor Godfrey's campaign literature and arm twisting for votes going on last night at the "Take A Bite Out of Crime"?
The Mayor used the event as his personal campaign rally.
Why weren't the other candidates invited to have their campaign signs there, too?
Ms. May:
That's just good campaigning on the Mayor's part. Other candidates were free to show up, work the crowd and hand out their lit if they wanted to. I don't know if any of them did.
Serious candidates for public office should not have to be "invited" to campaign. When a few hundred voters assemble themselves in a public park at an event like this [at no expense to the candidates], it strikes me as foolhardy for a candidate, especially a non-incumbent, to pass up the opportunity.
Certainly, the Mayor's office --- he is Mayor of Ogden, duly elected --- will give him opportunities challengers will not have. Like giving opening remarks or welcome speeches at public-sponsored events. But beyond that, nothing whatsoever prevents other candidates from working the crowd. Nothing.
Everyone knows Lying Little Matty Gondola Godfrey and Curt THE SKI IS BEAUTIFUL BLUE Geiger are a package deal, and they smell like onions. Plus, they hate squirrels.
Jason, you forgot to mention that they share the same propensity for lying,and suffer from a rare syndrome. The pinnoccio syndrome, which manifests itself by affecting the nasal appendage. The same syndrome reacts somewhat differently with individuals, lying little mattys' nose just grows in an elongated more streamline pattern while the older falsehood stricken geigers' just grows wider and more porous and dark, thus resembling a potato.
Godfrey's recent acquisition of a concern for the Veterans, and his get tough on the gangs, reminds me of the long term athiest on death row that all of a sudden gets religion as the day draws closer.
If he does get re-elected, and I agree with Curmudgeon that is a distinct possibilty, just watch how fast the lying little bastard will forget all about his concerns for the people.
He will be right back to his old disingenuous tricks in a heart beat. There will be a resurection of the Gondola monster, and he will be doling out public assets to his cronies just like nothing ever happened. In fact it will renew his corrupt ways because he will now consider that he has a mandate from the people to continue screwing us.
Hyenas don't change their spots or their characters, and snakes shet their skins only to grow new ones back, dontcha know.
Taking a bite?
The problem is that there’s too much to sink your teeth into!
Mayor Godfrey has done nothing to address crime in his time in office. He views the police department as a necessary evil, save for one part; Traffic Cops!
If Mayor Godfrey had as much interest in curtailing the gangs in Ogden as he has with ensuring that all of the citizens pay for his pet projects, through the money generated by HIS TICKET QUOTA and THE NEWLY MORGAGED JUSTICE COURT, we would not have a gang problem. This “doubling of efforts” is nothing more than smoke and mirrors. I will bet my meager city paycheck that the manpower for this “effort” will come from the patrol officers, the detectives, the narcotic officers but absolutely not from the traffic officers!
There is only one monthly number that the police department is required to give the mayor every month, and it’s not “What have you done to curb the gang problem”. It’s “How many tickets did you write so we can accurately project the revenue from them!” In his tenor, Mayor Godfrey has only increased the numbers of traffic officers in the police department, not the gang officers. If he had we wouldn’t have this problem.
The gangrene that has become our gang problem was but a small scratch when the Mayor took office. It is only due to HIS neglect and lack of resources that we have this problem. This man has no interest in long term public safety. We have had these types of shooting last year and the year before, but no “doubling of efforts” then. Why? Back then the citizens of Ogden did not have the benefit of forthcoming election and the lip service that comes with it.
The time grows near where a change can be made. HELP MAKE THAT CHANGE! Be informed, be involved and beware! This change can only be made with Godfrey leaving office.
Yes, Ms. May, we saw the Mayor's campaign display at the "Council a bite Out of Crime" last night. We also saw a frantic Council member trying to calm their incensed spouse down when they encountered the display. I hope everyone was as disgusted with the Mayor using his office to take advantage of the situation as this spouse was. It would have been another matter if he had informed the other mayoral candidates that they could have a display at the event. But Godfrey is not known for playing fair. It would serve him right if his attempt to take advantage of his position backfired on him. Just another example of his ethics.
All voters should remember just how ethical he is when they vote Seept. 11th: 1. Misuses his office to benefit his friends in fantastic land deals for them; attempts to pay the bills of his friends with taxpayer dollars (a felony); deceives the residents by stating the gondola and sale of the golf course are off the table, but still trying to obtain funding for the gondola and trying to delay the alternative analysis for a valid mode of transportation for Ogden. He is so secretative that there are probably dozens of other areas where is ethical behavior should be questioned. It's too bad we haven't heard any more about an ethical code for our elected officials, the administration and staff. By the looks of this last fiasco, one is most certainly needed -- maybe that is why they attacked Council woman Jeske when she first suggested it. We hope they didn't scare you out of doing your duty, Ms. Jeske. How about it? Take that little tyrant to task!
T. Payne:
You wrote: It would have been another matter if he had informed the other mayoral candidates that they could have a display at the event.
Sorry, but it was a public event, on the city's schedule. They knew about it, or should have without the Mayor's invitation. Unless you know that the other candidates announced to the city their intention to be there, doing what the Mayor was there doing, and were told by the city they would not be allowed to, I don't think your criticism stands.
This is the US of A. The first amendment to the Constitution guarantees free speech [to the extent at least that no government agency at any level can ban it]. I'm disturbed by the number of people [including many of my students] who seem to think people, including candidates, need somebody's permission to turn up at public events, shake hands, talk with people, distribute literature... to do in fact everything the Mayor did at the event last night. They don't. They don't need anybody's permission.
If they passed on the event, they either were so careless about the calendar of public events that they didn't know it was happening, or they chose not to show. [Again, if you have information that they were told by the mayor or any city authority that they would not be permitted to be there doing what he was doing, I would very much like to have that information. That would a very different matter.]
The Mayor does not have the obligation to invite his opponents to campaign at such events, and he does not have the power to prevent them from campaigning at such events. No one does. Not even in Ogden.
Not yet anyway Curmudgeon.
But when Godfrey is re-elected watch out, I am sure he will try to sneak that one through! Rules, regulations and constitutions don't mean much to this guy.
I know this isn't a restaurant review site, but after our recent discussions about Mr. Moyal and his attempts to open an Indian restaurant in Ogden, Mrs. Monotreme and I got a hot tip on the Bombay Grill, 3035 Washington Blvd (directly across from Carlo's Produce).
We went there tonight and had a wonderful meal. I had the shrimp vindaloo and the makhani dal, and Mrs. M had the rogan josh (lamb curry).
I'm guessing from the menu selections that it's all Northern Indian cooking. The taste is quite different from some of the other Indian restaurants I've been to.
Who should show up during our dinner but Kym Buttschardt. I guess you can't eat at Rooster's every night.
I can say, with a great deal of certainty, that it's the best Indian restaurant in Ogden. Those of us who love Indian cuisine should work to keep this new one in business.
I asked the owner, and he said he'd been open about 3 weeks.
Mono:
Thanks for the heads up. Will check it out soon, probably this week. Lucky for the owner he didn't try to open in an RDA zone. He'd probably still be threatening legal action trying to get his business license if the Mayor didn't like the shape of his building or who owned it before he did.
Do they have any beef dishes on this authentic Utah Indian place?
Winkie:
Nope, but Mrs. M and I had a good laugh over the "Tandoori Beef" recipe in today's S-E.
Congress has recessed for a month. The ostensible reason for such long breaks is to give Congressmen a chance to return home to their districts, get in a little R and R [aka vacation time] but also to allow them to consult with their constituents on public matters, so they can return to work in September with the public's concerns freshly in mind.
And so, Paul Rolly of the SL Trib reports
last week, staffers for Utah Children called the office Republican Rob Bishop to see what town meetings he had scheduled in his district during the recess.
Answer: none. As Rolly notes, if this were not an off-year for Congressional races, Congressman Bishop [Bush Lemming -- Ogden] would be touting several community meetings, boasting of his interest in the voter's views and his accessibility. But not this time.
Imagine that.
[Full disclosure: Rep. Matheson [D-Utah] isn't holding community meetings either. But he's not Ogden's Congressman. Let his own voters ask him why. Rob "The Lemming" Bishop is, sadly, Ogden's representative and so its up to us to ask why in off years he seems strangely uninterested in scheduling community meetings with his constituents. Conflicts with lobbyist-paid golfing trips to St. George, maybe? Who knows. Maybe we should ask him. But then again, he's been busy protecting the nation from having a post office in Pennsylvania named after Rachel Carson --- yes, he touted that as one of his proudest voters this term. And maybe arranging an earmark of a quarter of a million dollars in federal taxpayer's funds that the Mayor wants to pay off Chris Peterson's development costs on his failed land development plans. Maybe we should ask Cong. Bishop if his fingerprints are on that particular earmark too. ]
Re: the Mayor's plan to quell gang violence.
So he plans on hiring a few more police officers - how long will it take to train them or are we going to recruit experienced people away from better-paying jobs so they can come here to be treated badly by their bosses? Most of what I read involves shuffling existing officers around. The six points made are mostly the same one point reworded several ways.
I think smoke and mirrors has evolved into the old shell game.
Ogdenlover:
Two things about the Mayor's gang violence press conference today caught my eye:
First, he apparently thinks Ogden's long running and now burgeoning gang violence problem can be solved if only “a couple of hooligans” can be gotten off the street. The frightening thing is, he may actually believe this.
Second, after three and a half years of his second term in office has passed, Mayor Matthew Godfrey has suddenly discovered that there is serious gang violence in Ogden. All I could think of when I read this morning's piece was Claude Rain's announcing the he was shocked --- shocked! --- to learn there was gambling at Rick's.
Mono:
Thanks for the tip on the Bombay Grill. Went tonight, and enjoyed it. Interesting and good food. I'd mention what we had if I could remember the names. But this being only our second Indian meal ever, I can't. Large portions so order accordingly. And great view of the mountains from the dining room. And as befits a good neighborhood restaurant, we didn't have to take out a mortgage to eat well. Which means we can [and will] eat there more often. Always nice. [Places where you can eat inexpensively and poorly are a dime a dozen. Places where you can eat inexpensively and well are not thick upon the ground and are community assets.]
One glitch: took a long time to get orders taken. A loooong time. If they hit big and fill that dining room, they'll need to bring in some help. But it's early days, still in shakedown stage. A good tip. Thanks for the heads up.
Fight the gangs. Godfrey is full of shit. He's chopped the budget from Ogden's finest gang unit. They rarely meet to together anymore.
License:
Can you document that he did that?
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