Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Lawn Sign Wars Update; and a Look at Campaign Finance

We have two items which we believe to be worthy of discussion this morning, both involving our ongoing 2007 municipal election:

1) Lawn Sign Wars. Aggressive campaign sign vandalism is developing into one of the more intriguing features of Emerald City election 2007; and we have more to report on that topic this morning. We'll do a quick review of past incidents first, just to bring everybody up to speed on where this story stands to date:

On August 24 we reported an incident wherein mayoral candidate Neil Hansen caught Boss Godfrey Sturmabteilung Bob Geiger red-handed, in the pre-midnight darkness of August 23, in the act of switching Godfrey signs for those of Hansen. This event was also the subject of a Salt Lake Tribune write-up on August 30.

On the first of September we briefly mentioned a truly odd and interesting twist to this story: that Little Bobby had again been involved in yet another lawn sign interference incident, and was once more caught in flagrante delicto, this time with a Godfrey opposition council candidate's sign in his hand.

This morning we have more to add to the facts concerning the latter event. We now have a report of the incident from the candidate/witness herself, the Hon. Councilwoman Amy Wicks. Ms. Wicks yesterday decided to go public with the story, and provided us a brief written statement. Here's what allegedly happened on the afternoon of September 1, according to Councilwoman Wicks.

We've been involved in lots of municipal election campaigns over the years, and have become aware at various times of incidences where overzealous candidates (or their agents) have been caught (and sometimes prosecuted) for interfering with opponent's campaign signs. Never once however, in thirty years campaign experience, have we ever seen an agent for any political candidate who is actually so dumb as to get caught doing it twice.

We don't know what's going on with Little Bobby. Perhaps he's just a slow learner. We would of course be curious to know what our gentle readers think about all this. And consider the odds of not just one, but two, candidates catching the same fellow interfering with their signs, within a little over one week's time. We know that Emerald City is a fairly small town, but the probability of the near simultaneous convergence of these events borders on the ridiculous.

2) Campaign Finance. Toward this topic, we turn again to our earlier cited September 1 WCF article, in which gentle reader Danny shared his thoughts concerning this Salt Lake Tribune story, reporting on the August 31 campaign finance disclosure statements filed by each of the Emerald City mayoral candidates. In the course of the ensuing reader comment discussion, at least one reader queried whether it might be possible for your blogmeister to obtain and post complete information on those misguided souls who have contributed their hard-earned dollars to inflate Boss Godfrey's bloated campaign war chest to the truly-obscene level of $100,000 -- and to that gentle reader we happily say the answer is "Yes."

In that connection we have uploaded to our storage site a pdf file, composed of the following items:

1) Matthew Godfrey's August 31 campaign finance disclosure statement, consisting of pages 1 through 8; and,

2) A one-page excerpt from Mayor Godfrey's 2004 final report of campaign contributions and expenditures for his successful 2003 campaign, consisting of page 9 of this pdf file.

As to the first eight pages, we recommend that you read attentively, folks. Within these pages you'll find a list of the names of those those sodden souls who don't give a hoot for honest and ethical government. Although we're sure that some of these folks are simply ignorant of Boss Godfrey's methods and mis-deeds, we also find the names of a whole boatload of dyed-in-the-wool Friends of Matt (FOM) who are well aware of what Boss Godfrey's mode of operations, and plainly beholden to him for his many "favors."

And to expand the discussion on this topic for the benefit of those readers with an eye for detail, we direct our detail-oriented readers to page 9 of this pdf file, which shows the balance of monies remaining in Godfrey's campaign coffers upon the conclusion of the legally mandated 2003 campaign finance reporting period. At line 6 of this document you'll see a calculated figure of $37,788.02, which represents the account balance carried forward upon conclusion of his 2003 campaign.

Examining Mayor Godfrey's 2007 filing (pages 1-8,) we find no reference to this amount. Boss Godfrey's 2003 campaign carryover fund has thus vanished into thin air, in an accounting sense.

Although Utah campaign law imposes no restrictions as to the disposition of these moneys, we believe that applicable statutes do impose upon Boss Godfrey the obligation to account for these moneys. Although it would be perfectly lawful for Godfrey to blow this sum on a trip to Paris, or a wild weekend in Vegas, we believe that Utah campaign finance law nevertheless imposes upon repeatedly-elected officials an obligation to donors and the members of the general public alike, to explain how campaign donations have been spent.

At the moment, we believe Boss Godfrey may be in technical noncompliance with Utah campaign financial disclosure requirements, in other words.

We'll do a little further research on this, and do an update if we find any substantive information on the subject. Right now we're just "shooting from the hip" on this.

In the meantime the floor is open. We're dying to hear what's on our reader's minds this morning.

43 comments:

Anonymous said...

If Godfrey has the highest integrity in the room why is it he does not show it here. Lets be honest Mr Mayor. There are some people that still believe in your vision for the future but if you can't and won't get this straight then why in the freak should they have any trust in your righteous ability to be a CEO of this $110,000,000 corporation? I thought that we elected people because they work for the people and that they have integrity? So I now call yours in to question Mr. Mayor Godfrey. answer please. Will you?

Anonymous said...

This is part of the city code

REPORTING PERIOD: The period beginning from the date of either the first contribution or the first expenditure, or since the closing date of the last filed financial statement, if any, and the closing date of a financial statement to be filed.

(1979 Code § 1.20.010; Ord. 95-53, 7-18-1995)

Anonymous said...

Has Godfrey broken the law?


1-8-7: PENALTY:

Any person violating any provision of this Chapter is guilty of a Class B misdemeanor, punishable under Chapter 4 of this Title, and no person convicted thereof shall be permitted to take or hold the office to which the person was elected, if any, or receive the emoluments thereof.

(1979 Code § 1.20.100C; Ord. 95-53, 7-18-1995)

Anonymous said...

Holy crap Batman, Geiger is a flat out crimminal, and should be punished as any other individual.

Anonymous said...

Boss Tweed lives and was last seen masquerading as a Mo high priest and small town mayor in the land of Oz!

Anonymous said...

Where's The...

Not sure which alleged violation [sign stealing or campaign finance reporting] you're referring to here. Or maybe it's both. In either case, I don't think much will come of allegations, vis a vis Godfrey, in terms of legal action.

I can't recall a single election, anywhere I've lived in which a small bevy of campaign finance reporting violations didn't turn up, usually post election. The courts are very reluctant to overturn elections and remove people from office for relatively minor campaign finance reporting violations. And properly so. Once the election is over and the people have spoken... or so our system presumes... it takes, and should take, a very large and significant violation of election law [such as stuffing ballot boxes] to overturn the judgment of the people. I don't think much will come of the alleged campaign finance reporting violations [though its certainly proper to raise them as campaign issues]. Yes, yes, I know that the statutes say. Just noting that as a practical matter, they rarely are applied by the courts to overturn elections.

As for the sign stealing matter, to impact the Mayor, it would have to be shown that he was aware of it, and had in fact directed that it be done on his behalf. Nothing has so far emerged to support that. It seems, based on what is on the record so far, to have been Mr. B. Geiger's doing. [Mr. Geiger is God's gift to Godfrey/Gondola opponents. He is the gift that keeps on giving.]

While Mr. Geiger's antics may be embarrassing to the Mayor [presuming it is possible to embarrass an elected Republican office holder --- a presumption difficult to support on the record], I doubt they will ensnare Hizzonah in any legal trouble.

Anonymous said...

More contributors to Mayor Matthew Godfrey for repayment of financial favors he made to them:

Boman & Kemp $3,000.00 In Kind - This is for the $2.1 million tax incentive given to Mel Kemp for his Airport property. The big question on this one is what is "In Kind" for Godfrey's campaign since Boman and Kemp is in the business of fabricating steel. How can that be used in his campaign? Could it be that Godfrey is getting new windows in his house? If it is for sign poles Godfrey must be planning on running again.

Dave Harmer $2,000.00 donation is saying "Thanks" for his cushy Ogden City Job.

Fat Cats $2,000.00 is also saying thanks for building us a palace at taxpayer's expense.

R & O Construction's $2500.00 is another Thank You for a cost plus contract on the Junction building.

Scott Nicol $2,000.00 must be a repayment for getting the $300,000.00 assistance from the City on the Windsor Hotel giveaway.

I KNOW - Maybe Mel is going to throw a party at his restaurant at the Airport for Godfrey's campaign workers to the tune of $3 grand - or - Godfrey and his family are going to eat there for the next 5 years.

Anonymous said...

Amazing! Captain Geiger of Wayne Peterson's famed Squirrel Patrol has outdone himself! Well played, sir! As Good Old (?) Curmudgeon, certified ninny, notes, Geiger is doing a Herculean job, and I salute him! I also salute the Squirrel Patrol for its specious reasoning in re: lawn signs; just because Lying Little Matty Gondola Godfrey and his council candidate colleagues have the most (and a great majority are on lessee properties, those near vacant homes, Squirrel Patrol HQ -- GTrain's! -- and Provident-owned residences), it doesn't mean they're winning. In fact, many of my neighbors, who suddenly awoke to several Little Matty signs placed on their yards because they are new to the area and the homes had been listed. Go, Squirrel haters and lovers of gondolas, eaters of onions and wagers of sign-and-Internet subterfuge campaigns. Only one piece of advice for Captain Geiger, in response to his nocturnal Hansen switcheroo, from Baudelaire:

"Nobody wants to see a clown at midnight."

THE SKI IS BEAUTIFUL BLUE

Anonymous said...

Obvious to see, short deck geiger has lost a couple more cards since his lift ogden campain.
I wonder if the dude has 43 cards left in his deck. This dude's a high ranking exec for a giant chinese made high adventure outdoor clothing outfit?

Anonymous said...

Can you just imagine how very proud the Marine Corp is for having had this little moron as an officer?

And can you imagine how relieved they are that they got rid of him, however that may have happened?

And just think, the intellectually short changed short guy alledgedly was once some sore of "ethics" officer!

Did the Marines know about his "short" comings before we did? Could that explain why after reaching the grade of Captain he is no longer in the Corp? It is rather unusual that someone would reach that rank and then leave the service.

Maybe little Bob could 'splain this anomaly to us?

Anonymous said...

Rudi:

Love your new ad in the left column.

My husband suggested this morning that it could be locally dubbed a "Geiger counter"

Get it????

Anonymous said...

Any chance that Godfrey and Eccles will step forward and declare that they do not support the actions of one B. Geiger in removing the campaign signs of their opponents?

Anonymous said...

diogenes;

I doubt he will do that. For two reasons. First, the "official" Geiger version of what happened in the first incident is that it was a misunderstanding resulting from miscommunication, and not campaign skulduggery, that this is all a tempest in a teapot. Second: any such announcement from Hizzonah as you suggest would give the matter a whole lot more publicity than it has now. Would give the story more legs than it probably has. He won't want to do that unless he concludes the increased publicity would help him.

If I were advising him on campaign tactics, I'd advise him to say nothing at this point. And if he's directly questioned by the press, to go with "Mr. Geiger assures me it was all a misunderstanding."

Anonymous said...

Mistaken "good faith belief" is no defense in the criminal law arena.

Little Bobby's "goose is" cooked with his latest arrogant misbehavior.

Anonymous said...

curm...
If Godfrey had nothing to do with this, then why on earth does little bobby have his signs? and if the mayor gave those signs for bobby to put up, then Godfrey has to take some responsibility for what is going on here, does he not?

Anonymous said...

Where's the Beef:

I didn't say Godfrey had nothing to do with it. I said at this point I would advise him to say nothing officially, that any statement from him would just give the story legs.

If the mayor concludes the story is hurting him... not with WCF folks who mostly aren't voting for him anyway, but with undecided voters... he will say something about it. But I suspect not until then. Nor, until then, should he [from a purely political POV]. We're a week from voting. You don't want to be explaining negatives in public that close to the vote if you can avoid it.

But honestly, I also don't think Hizzonah would be so bone-numbingly dumb as to direct his campaign staff to steal opposition signs. Way too much risk involved for way too little benefit. I suspect this was a typical act-before-you-think Geiger special. Sort of like, on a much smaller scale, the Geiger embracing of the park sale/land development/ gondola scheme before doing any research to determine if it was even feasible. It's kind of become the Geiger Lift Ogden Trademark, hasn't it? Act first --- think later?

Anonymous said...

Actually I think the Geiger MO is
act first, don't ever give it a
second thought, and what ever the hell you do, don't ever ever ever admit you might be wrong.

Anonymous said...

Curm:

Given Geiger's record, however, one could argue that the mayor has shown poor judgment in continuing to allow Geiger to work as a volunteer for his campaign.

In other news, I just received a phone call from an outfit called Summit Research, based in Phoenix, conducting a poll about the upcoming primary election. The woman I spoke with was very professional and didn't express any opinions. She first asked my level of interest in the election on a scale of 1 to 10. Then she asked whether I work for an advertising agency, news organization, political campaign, or something similar. Third, she named the five candidates for mayor and asked which I would vote for if the election were held today--and followed up by asking whether my choice was uncertain or definite. Finally, she asked which I would vote for in the city council race among Aardema, Johnson, and Youngberg. She didn't mention the other council races.

I didn't ask who paid for the poll, but from their web site it appears that Summit does a lot of work for candidates. The one candidate who can afford to commission polls is Godfrey.

Anonymous said...

Do you suppose the Mayor is scare d of a poor old retired firefighter ?

Anonymous said...

Dan:

I'd love to know how the polling came out. At this point, inside a week from the election, I have no clear sense of how it is likely to come out... mayor's race or council races. I don't find any big mo' reflected in coffee shoppe eaves dropping, causal conversations, etc. Not much buzz outside of the political junkies and policy wonks. Usually, a week out, I've got some sense [or think I do] how things are going to fall out when the polls close. Not this time.

Anonymous said...

Godfrey - 47%

Van Hooser - 31%

Hansen - 20%

Other two - 2%

Anonymous said...

Shadow...

Ah, memories... back when radio was great:

"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows...."

Anonymous said...

Shadow:

Are you the same person who calculated the 43% drop in violent crime during Godfrey's administration?

Anonymous said...

the shadow is bobby gieger because he lurks in the shadow stilling the signs, right bobby!

Anonymous said...

shadow you got it all wrong. It is Hansen with 67% with Susie at 30% and little matty at 3% and the others some where else.

Anonymous said...

Only the Shadow knows who the Shadow is!

Ha Ha and Mono are both wrong!!

And of course only Curmudgeon even knows about the Shadow!!!

Anonymous said...

Hey shadow, so tell us about the council races, if your know so much. Or are you just the Mayor's little lap dog, Bobby?

Anonymous said...

The Shadow is a friend of mine.

I am the All American Boy and
I know that the Shadow knows.

Anonymous said...

Guidant Strategies is: Richard Ellis, none other than the Chris Petersen legal mouth piece. That’s who is running the Little Lords campaign. Is the Gondola dead? Is the sale of Mt Ogden Golf Course dead?

Anonymous said...

Bobby needs another good slap upside the head from Sharon!

Anonymous said...

Amy, have you filed a police report? You and Neil need to stay on top of this with the police. Interesting that the Trib had an article, but the hometown paper seems to be protecting the homeboy, Matt, over the citizens right to know what Godfrey's minions are up to.

Anonymous said...

Is there anyone of sound mind who ever believed the liar, Godfrey, when he said the gondola was a dead deal? Or that he wasn't going to sell Mount Ogden?

Now Ellis is advising the twerp? Is Ellis letting Bob Geiger steal signs and will "get him off" when it all hits the fan?

Just like a sleazy mouthpiece workin' for a sleazier candidate.

I feel dirty just talking about these pieces of awful offal.

How about you?

Anonymous said...

Ta dah:

I'm a little confused. What's the reference to Guidant Strategies about? I must have missed that. How does Guidant Strategis come into all of this?

And --- I want to make sure I understand this clearly --- are you saying that the Mayor's "secret" campaign manager is in fact Mr. Chris Peterson's attorney? If so, do you have any corroboration of that? A citeable source?

Thanks.

Anonymous said...

What is the proof that Ellis and Guidant Strategies is one and the same?

Interesting - if true.

Anonymous said...

Ta Dah:

Thinking back, wasn't Mr. Peterson's front man before the planning commission name Ellison, not Ellis? As in the infamous "Ellison Ordinance" which was designed to pave the way for Mr. Peterson's building project on the city's golf course and parklands [the scheme since declared "not feasible" by the Mayor]? Are you sure you have the name right? Or is this another spokesman for Mr. Peterson?

Anonymous said...

Guidant Strategies is the beneficiary of most of what Matt Godfrey claims as campaign expenses so far. It amounts to $13,370 of the $17,996 he claims to have spent on his latest finance report.

I say "claims" seeing that he lies so often about so many things.

Anonymous said...

Frank:

Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Peterson's mouth piece is/was Tom Ellison. He is a pretty big time and busy attorney specializing in Real Estate. He is also a trustee for Westminister College and is involved in all kinds of stuff and organizations associated with the law. No where in his resume does it mention direct involvement in politics, campaigning or any advisory rolls connected to that.

Guidant Strategies is listed at 147 West Election Rd. Suite 200 in Draper. This particular address must be some sort of mail drop as there are a number of different and diverse companies using the same exact address. Ellison is not overtly listed as connected to any of them that I can find.

So Ta Da, how about enlightening us on your revelation about Peterson's mouth piece being Guidant Strategies. It would indeed be very interesting if you can make this connection.

In fact it would be interesting to find out who Guidant Strategies are even if they aint Ellison as they seem to be in charge of conning the voters of Ogden into putting the little prick in office for four more years.

Anonymous said...

Guidant Strategies is Jason Powers, an all around Biz guru and political consultant from Alpine in Utah County. He was the brains behind Wayne Niederhauser (R) in his successful run for the Utah Senate. He reportedly was paid $80,000 bucks for his efforts on that campaign. That's a whole lot of dough for a part time low paying legislative seat!

He specializes in consulting in Management, Scientific, Technical, Architectual and Engineering, as well as political apparently. Sounds like a pretty smart guy!

His bio from MTG Management Consultants where he used to work:

Jason C. Powers, Senior Associate
Mr. Powers joins MTG's Human Services team effective December 2, 2002. He holds a M.B.A., a certificate in management of technology, with emphasis on information systems, and a B.A. in political science from the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. His expertise includes business process reengineering, system requirements definition, procurement assistance, federal financial participation, change management, electronic data interchange, and relational database design and implementation. Prior to joining MTG, Mr. Powers provided consulting services to Fortune 10 corporations, from which he has received recognition for delivering solutions that continually surpass expectations.


It doesn't matter how high powered of a guru Godfrey hires, or how much he pays him, he is still a lying little bastard that deserves to be tarred, feathered and run out of Ogden on a rail, in my humble opinion.

Anonymous said...

Shadow:
Although Utah campaign law imposes no restrictions as to the disposition of these moneys, we believe that applicable statutes do impose upon Boss Godfrey the obligation to account for these moneys.

Fact is Democrats when in power in Utah did have more transparency and laws governing campaigns. Republicans have changed those laws, and call it “LESS GOVERNMENT.”

The courts are very reluctant to overturn elections and remove people from office for relatively minor campaign finance reporting violations. Because the REPUBLICANS are the law makers and law enforcers and judges are appointed by republicans.

Obviously now the REPUBLICANS control the STANDARD EXAMINER. Otherwise they would have written at least one small line on Bob Geiger’s theft of Godfrey’s political opponents. My guess part of the reason the S E doesn’t report on these things is because the republicans have been very generous to the S E with our tax dollars and tax incentives.

You do the math!!!

Having said that. I know, not all republicans have that way of thinking. Thanks to many of you, who are strong republicans don’t like what the republican elected officials are doing. Sadly republicans are doing more than the democrats have been doing. But we Democrats and we Republicans have been instrumental bringing these corrupt acts and way of thinking, to light.

There is nothing more important than what you few republicans and we few democrats working side by side on this “SO IMPORTATNT MATTER.” Lets keep up the good work.

God bless you all. Republicans and Democrats and Independents.

Anonymous said...

Wicks I really want you to win. Your the only Councilwoman that has the guts to take on Godfrey's bullsh..t. By the way you cuter than him too. And much smarter than him too.

Vote Wicks

Anonymous said...

Shadow do you want to toe tap with me in the mens room?

Anonymous said...

The council races:

At large A
Dirk Youngberg - 67%
Sheila Ardema - 24%
Blain Johnson - 9%

At large C
Amy Wicks - 52%
Royal Eccles - 37%
Dennis Howland - 11%

Municipal Ward 4
Jim Freed - 54%
Kent Peterson - 25%
Caitlan Gouchnour - 21%

Municipal Ward 2
Numb Skull Stephenson - 50%
Apathy candidate - 50%
Citizens - 0%

(this race will go down as the great tragedy of 07 where the people of Ogden's Ward 2 lost
out completely)

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