Over the course of the past week, there have appeared several election news pieces in the northern Utah print media, consisting of relatively shallow overviews of 2007 mayoral and council candidates and their respective campaign platforms. All of these have been tangentially discussed in lower article comments. However we have previously chosen not to spotlight them, mainly because they came up "short" -- both in length and useful content. If our gentle readers would nevertheless like to peruse these articles, we've made them available in our "Elections Module" in the right sidebar.
This morning however, the Salt Lake Tribune's Kristen Moulton offers us an article with a little more reportorial depth. This morning's report, offering a more fleshed-out view of our 2007 mayoral candidates than in previous articles, goes beyond mere press-release journalism, and actually provides Kristen's own canny and independent analysis.
Among other things, Ms. Moulton implicitly rejects Boss Godfrey's recent claims that his policies have "reduced Ogden City's overall crime rate by 23%, and violent crime by 43%." We thus incorporate below the pertinent parts of Ms. Moulton's text concerning this topic, for our ever-gentle readers' attention:
Matthew GodfreyIt is our understanding that Ms. Moulton received last week a press release transmitted from Boss Godfrey's campaign office, touting the unsubstantiated figures which have appeared on Godfrey's campaign website, and in Thursday's Standard Examiner. Notably Ms. Moulton apparently rejected the suspiciously "outlying" figures presented by Boss Godfrey, and instead did her own calculations, relying on statistical data contained in the FBI's usually-reliable Uniform Crime Reports. And equally notably, we find that Ms. Moulton's calculations reveal disparity in Godfrey's figures even more striking than those presented by gentle reader Monotreme in two earlier articles previously published here and here on this very blog.
Godfrey said the fruits of his eight years in office are becoming more evident - safer neighborhoods, more jobs and a revitalizing downtown - and voters can expect more good news if he's re-elected.
Eighteen police officers have been added, and it's having an effect on crime, Godfrey said.
Ogden's total crime dropped 12.8 percent and violent crime dropped 5.1 percent between the two six-year periods of 1994-1999 (before Godfrey took office) and 2000-2005 (the six years after), paralleling a trend in the rest of the state, according to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report.
Ms. Moulton also makes note that the reduced crime rate which is manifest in Ogden, during the course of Boss Godfrey's mayoral tenure, is nothing particularly remarkable, inasmuch it reflects the same decline in crime rate which has been documented all across the entire Beehive State.
The balance of the article is likewise informative as to the other mayoral candidates, and is the first news article during the 2007 election season which in any way differentiates the "pack" of Emerald City mayoral challengers and their views. It's an interesting article, we think; and we thus recommend that our election-minded readers take a close look.
As a second matter of business, we would like to highlight two Standard-Examiner letters to the editor which appeared during the past several days, but which got crowded off the WCF front page due to other competing news and information. In this connection we refer to yesterday's letter by David Smith, and Saturday's letter by Tom Owens.
Each of these letters is a cogent and rational response to earlier letters by Godfreyites Thomas, Cameron, and Justin, three hopelessly-deluded (but entertaining and lovable) Godfrey lemmings who apparently compared notes and concluded that Ogden City is not actually a mid-sized Wasatch Front city at all, but rather a giant corporate megalith, which can only be successfully managed by by a political tyrant whose most recent previous long-term paying gigs were Ogden City slumlord and pizza delivery boy.
Three Weber County Forum Tips O' the Hat go out this morning -- to Kristen Moulton, David Smith and Tom Owens -- three dedicated local folks with obviously well-functioning gray-matter.
And stand by, gentle readers. We expect more fine number crunching on the "Godfrey the Crimefighter" topic from gentle monotreme in the early days to come.
Update 9/3/07 1:54 p.m. MT: It has come to our belated attention that we failed to spot a third letter appearing in the August 31 Std-Ex edition. A special Hat Tip to Ogden's Dorothy Littrell for yet another editorial page appearance. We swear that after Boss Godfrey is kicked to the curb in January 2008, Dorothy deserves her own ticker-tape parade for all her many contributions to honest and citizen-friendly government!
Keep those mails rolling in to Don Porter. The pre-primary letter deadline is September 4.
40 comments:
Godfrey may have added eighteen officers positions, however, call the City personell dept. They are fifteen officers short right now. They cant hire any, I dont know if it is because of the heavy handed Greiner, the fact that there are no promotional opportunities above the position of sergeant.
Oh, and one more thing, it isnt because of the Civil Service as much as the Mayor and chief would like you all to believe.
Godfrey isnt telling the whole truth again.
Godfrey of in incapable of mending fences!
I am not sure if anyone knows this little tidbit or not, but Mr. Patterson invited the Firefighter Union Reps over to his office to "mend the fence". While discussing ways that the Firefighters could show a sign of good faith, and endorse the Gondola, the administration was in the process of having Senator Jenkins sponsor a bill to eliminate the Civil Service Commission, also having their paid lobbyist, which is (GOVERNMENT WASTE) push the bill through the legislature. (This was a knife in the backs of the Cops and Firefighter). Sadly the bill passed. Because of (Rep Neil Hansen) speaking out to the press went to bat for us Cops and Firefighters. The city council, thank God, refused to abolish the commission, which would have been a bad thing for Police and Firefighters in Ogden, placing them into an at-will employee’s status. I am pretty sure that if the Mayor gets re-elected he will push to abolish the commission again with the new council.
I am just saying people need to be very cognizant of the placement of the hands of the present administration when they are reaching out to mend fences. It's hard to trust someone when they have a track record of not so forthright maneuvering.
So if you support those of us, who risk our lives to serve and protect. Rep Neil Hansen, from what I’ve seen of him, has the vision, experience, dedication to revitalize Ogden in the most cost effective way! The true winners will be the people of Ogden.
The man who want open honest government. Not spin or got ya games.
Out of the top three candidates for Mayor. Hansen has raised a great number of money. He’s getting his money from close friends and relatives that care about Ogden. He knows how to do more with less. Just look who has the signs on their lawns, flyers that have come in the mail. I havn’t seen any adds from the other front runners that have received major amounts of money from their corperate buddies.(Which by the way received your tax money by Godfrey for the so called “Economic Redevelopment Projects.”) that tax money is now funneled back into Godfreys and Susie Van Hooser campaigns. Now Godfrey and Van Hooser are going to be beholden to these major corperate contributers. If one of those two win. Now more of your tax money will be for the businesses for Economic Redevelopment. This cycle will never stop. Unless Neil Hansen gets elected Mayor.
From what I’ve seen of Hansen , he has the dedication to listen to the people who voted for him, the same as he is listening to those that put him in the State Legislature five times.
Neil Hansen has vision, dedication, experience, leadership to make Ogden safe again in the most cost effective way.
Just a cop:
Good post. You're right. The Mayor's word is no good, and you gave a good example of that. And Hansen's willingness to stand up on the issue of abolishing the public service commission is one good example of his using his experience in office for the public good and a reason to expect him to continue to act that way as Chief Executive of Ogden city should he prevail in the election.
Here's another example of the mayor's duplicity [from Ms. Moulton's article]: "We won't entertain selling the golf course," Godfrey said. Nor will he consider selling the city-owned land around the golf course. "I can't imagine . . . any developer wanting that. That's all very steep ground," he said. That after Hizzonah spent two years and triggered a great deal of turmoil in city trying to convince the Council and the citizenry to sell the golf course and the adjacent public lands to his crony Chris Peterson for the real estate development scheme the mayor now tells us no developer could have pulled off anyway because so much of the land involved is too steep. And he tells us this, now, with a straight face.
I think you're right: if the Mayor is re-elected, the double dealing, the "my way or the highway" approach to the Council, the Mayor's pathological commitment to secrecy and his aversion to full disclosure will all continue, and I suspect get worse.
Time for a change.
Independent, you say you don't want spin or got ya games but then you claim that Godfrey and Van Hooser are beholden to major corporate contributors. Please tell me what corporations contributed to Van Hooser's campaign? She gave $10,000 of her own money to her campaign. Her husband gave $2,200, the firefighters union gave $2000 and three individuals gave $1000 each. No corporation donations. That's all Godfrey.
Plus, while Hansen may have done some good for the firefighters while in the state leg, keep in mind that they have endorsed Van Hooser.
Van Hooser may not be the best candidate for mayor, but please don't suggest that she is another Godfrey. She is definitely not him.
Independent:
Sorry, but trying to pass off Candidate Van Hooser as some kind of clone of Mayor Godfrey, a bought and paid for candidate of out of city corporate interests, out of city developers and of the real estate industry just won't fly. The SL Trib's article on where the various campaigns are getting their money simply does not support your claim.
What it does support, fairly clearly, is two things: (a) that the Godfrey campaign has been bought and paid for by his cronies in the construction, development and real estate industry --- but he's been their obedient errand boy for some time now so that's hardly news. And (b) that Hansen seems to have raised most of his money from small donors, not from out-of-Ogden corporate interests who do business with [and want favors from] the city. As someone who absolutely intends to vote, I found both of those points interesting and informative.
But your trying to lump Van Hooser with Godfrey, as just another bought-and-paid-for developer's clone won't fly, for the simple reason that there seems to be little evidence to back it up.
Curm,
I always knew you were a sharp guy.
The SE's editorial today encourages people to take advantage of being able to vote early. On the surface this sounds good, however I wonder if they're encouraging Godfrey semi-supporters (if there is such an animal) to vote for him before any more sleaze is unearthed and the fence-sitters change their minds.
While Kristen Moulton's article did produce accurate crime statistics, I'm disappointed that she didn't point up the discrepancy between those and what Godfrey is trumpeting from the rooftops. It is significant that this is the first time real numbers have been put forth in print media, however. Maybe one of the news stations will pick up on it. It's a topic begging for a crusading journalist.
There is, in the SL Trib article Rudi highlighted this morning, another good reason to vote for a change in the Mayor's office this week. Here is Mayor Godfrey on the question of "infrastructure" repairs [i.e. water,sewer and storm drain repairs, which by the way the Federal government has mandated that Ogden must make beginning in just over three years]:
He says infrastructure repairs would have been well under way by now - if he had had his way. He blames the City Council for delays. "You can't wish it to be done. These are hard decisions we have to make," Godfrey said.
What he's talking about there is the Council's determination to do a water projects study first; to hold public meetings to get citizen input on the projects needed and, most important, how to finance them; to high a consulting firm to analyze the costs and recommend funding sources, and how the water and sewage rates to pay for them can be distributed and managed fairly.
In short, the Council's decision was to first collect the information, the facts, on which they could then base sound decisions about fixing the water system problems in Ogden. The Mayor opposed doing that and instead recommended [as he nearly always does] charging ahead with a policy and hoping that later on, facts will emerge to show that the policy had been the right one.
This is his normal way of proceeding. Action first, research and gathering information later. Did it with his "sell the city's largest park to my developer buddy to build a gondola" proposal: "Sell it, sell it, sell it! We'll do some studies later to see if the plan will work. We don't need facts to move on this. Sell it now! We'll get the facts later!"
Only now, of course, he admits the plan was not feasible from the start, that in fact no developer could possibly have wanted the city's park lands beyond the golf course anyway because they're too steep to build on. [Was his crony Mr. Peterson telling him that over the last two years? And if he was, why wasn't the Mayor telling us?]
A third Godfrey term would mean, I fear, four more years of action first, research second. Of the Administration running off half-cocked, dazzled by whatever glittering [hugely expensive] bauble his keepers have dangled before him. Four more years of the Mayor denouncing those, on the Council and off, who reasonably ask that the city get the facts on major proposals first before deciding on action as "naysayers" and enemies of progress.
If the Mayor is returned to office, and gets a bobble-head-doll ask-no-questions majority on the Council, then Katie-bar-the-door. The selling parks to pay for the truly weird flatland gondola from downtown to WSU will be back on the Mayor's menu the morning after the votes are counted.
The SE has a good editorial on the election this morning. Here is the key paragraph:
But you can call up your mayor or your city council member and tell them what's on your mind. And if you never get satisfaction and don't like the way they've been handling things, you can play a huge role in voting them out of office -- or, for the wingnut candidates, preventing them from ever being elected to office. It's retail politics, from both candidates and the voters, at its most fundamental.
George Bernard Shaw once quipped that ""Democracy is a device that insures we shall be governed no better than we deserve."
Exactly right.
It's time for a change at City Hall.
Cato:
GMTA
[Grin!]
Things worth noting from this morning's WCF:
Godfrey is a workaholic. Unfortunately that appears to be the extent of his virtue. He is also an arrogant, condescending liar who has nothing but contempt for his neighbors. How else can one explain the fact that after trying to sell the golf course and surrounding land for three years he now claims nobody would want to buy it, and expects the voters to be so dumb as to believe it?
Kristin Moulton, rather than simply reporting a press release as her own, actually dug up the real facts and reported them.
David Smith's letter to the editor, where he outlined who the zeig heil godfreyites are, left off one: Dennis Howland.
Just checking out this website today on a recommendation from a friend. I was hoping for something a little more objective. Too snippy for me, though. It seems the Standard Examiner is pro-Godfrey (we'll see once they editorialize and recommend their person for Mayor). This site is too one-sided for Hansen. Although I cannot stomach another 4 years of Godfrey, I think it will be even harder to stomach 4 years of Hansen. Although he has some experience, I have always found him to be highly ineffective (just my opinion). And keeping in line w/ the snippiness of this site, I cannot see him properly managing a lemonade stand, nonetheless a City. Please help us!
USA:
I have a VanHooser sign in my yard, and have been putting them up, and am an avid reader of this forum.
I also like Hansen very much. I hope to see those two in the general election.
(And I find the non zeig heil candidates to be very complimentary of each other, as opposed to the rabid, sign-stealing godfreyites.)
You will find a wealth of info here on this forum. And perhaps you should not be so sensitive about reading other people's opinions, by the way.
Stick around.
USA:
I respectfully disagree that this is a pro-Hansen site. At our house, Mrs. Monotreme and I have not yet made up our minds.
This morning had a couple of pro-Hansen posts -- nothing wrong with that -- but if you look back a few days in the archives you'll see a handful of posts promoting each candidate.
Each candidate except for Godfrey, because unfortunately his supporters refuse to make reasoned and well-thought-out arguments for their preferred candidate here. The blog administrator has to remove their obscenity-filled rants on a regular basis.
I, for one, would love LOVE LOVE to engage in a rational, Lincoln-Douglas style debate in this forum as to the pros and cons of a Godfrey administration.
I will, however, refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed man. (Or woman.)
For Godfrey to now blame the Council for the total inattention the city has paid to the infastructure is just simply off the charts! The little dude is such a pathological liar that he could actually say something like this, presumably with a straight face!
He certainly is staying true to one of the defining attributes of sociopaths - always blame the victim!
Wife beaters do it, most murderers do it, hells bells - Hitler even blamed the jews for making him kill them!! (sorry Curmudgeon, don't get your panties in a knot, I know you freak out when any one brings up Hitler!)
He has played more sneaky games on the council, he has told them more lies, he has tried more times to set them up to look bad, hell he has done all these things more times than Ex Senator Craig has cruised toilets in airports. Some body ought to flush both these Repuclican whores.
Oz:
Aw, c'mon Oz. Don't hold back. Tell us what you really think of the Mayor.
From Calvin Grondahl's blog:
"Democracy is a female dog in heat, gnawing on your ankle."
That from an only partly tongue-in-check essay he has up on the doubtful joys of running for local public office, like County commissioner or a city council seat. Interesting reading in the final days before an election, with... the author being Grondhal... a chuckle or two along the way.
Grondahl's blog essay is
here.
Oz:
Congratulations. A near perfect example of Godwin's Law.
USA
Reread your post...you sound a bit snippy to me!
I like Hansen because he is humble...listens, is teachable and will surround himself with the best integrity (real stuff, not higher than anyone else's in the room) experts to wade thru ( in hip boots) the awful financial morass Godfrey has created. Digging in the swamp of fetid deals they will have to untangle years of corrupt and deceitful "deals"....rather like untangling a huge ball of twine that has been pelted with sleet and mud for 8 years.
So, we like Hansen?! That makes us snippy?
Sheesh....maybe you are better off with pablum from the SE.
hmmmm...so Grondahl's female in hat gnaws on his ankle?
strange dog...most in heat dogs are cleaning themselves and running away from the pack of lover boy hounds who come from miles aareound to court the poor lass....if you catch my drift.
but I guess that's 'democracy". according to grondahl...the women get screwed.
Yo Mono
Are you calling this thread over already?
Not quite sure what your meaning is by invoking "Godwin's Law"
The original meaning formulated by Godwin was that the particular thread wherein a Hitler or Nazi reference was made had gone on too long and was thus dead.
I think a lot of folks have read a lot of other meaning into it. The most common being that any one who invokes "Hitler or the Nazi's" is devoid of imagination and any other worth while argument to support their position.
We did have a discussion last year on this blog about "Godwin's Law" incidently. As I recall, most people thought it was a bunch of bull shit. They of course were only reading into it the presumption that those who invoke Her Hitler are without substance in their position. Something I don't think Godwin implied, or did he?
I think that my use of "Hitler" on this particular thread was way too early in this discussion to be calling it over. Therefore, I assume you are implying that my use indicated I have no validity in my argument vis-a-vis Hitler and Godfrey.
If this is in fact what you meant, I refute that vigorously on the grounds that it is a very fair comparison. I have absolutely no doubt that were Her Godfrey to gain the power that Her Hitler had he would use it in exactly the same manner. I firmly believe that Godfrey is a sociopath, that he is a racist, that he thinks he is appointed by God to cleans society of undesireables and that only he knows what is best for the people.
There is no doubt the little prick would fire up the ovens if he could, No doubt what so ever!
Just noticed that Godfrey's re-election home page doesn't have a picture of Ogden in it but rather a picture taken in Ogden Valley.
Is Godfrey embarrassed with our city or is he trying to represent that he is all about open space (which we know he isn't)?
Anyone but Godfrey
If Godfrey didin't have the restraints imposed on him by our Constitution, he would definitely be sending Guido and the boys over to fracture kneecaps of those who oppose him.
In my mind, he IS like Hitler, Saddam, Idi Amin and all the other narcissistic, sociopathic and elitist dictators we've come to love and FEAR!
FEAR, revenge, reputation shredding, and sending the po leece out to harrass innocent citizens over the length of their grass or grass clippings on thier sidewalks is his style. Intimidation. No wonder 'crime is down"......the cops are busy giving out warnings and citations to the hapless.
THIS REIGN OF FEAR WILL END.. and Ogdenites can be happy again.
I'd sign my name, but I'm attached to my kneecaps.
If you're a friend of matt's you don't have to worry about being harassed for not maintaining your property.
Go to Taylor and about 33rd (or is it Boughton). The property is a vacate lot owned by a FOM's and the weeds are so bad that its a fire hazard to the surrounding homes, yet this landowner doesn't worry about taking care of the property because he's a FOM.
There was also a very good letter in the Friday Standard from Dorothy Littrell - about Godfrey.
Read it here:
http://www.standard.net/live/opinion/letterstotheeditor/112638/
What is this world coming to? The Standard ran letters about the truth on Godfrey 3 days in a row!!!
USA I admire Hansen for the reason that he has run a campaign on little money and made it work. He is a man of the people and he will make every dollar go far, we need tightening of the budget, not spend, spend, spend.
Oz:
I meant it in the original sense, that the probability that someone would mention Hitler goes to 1.0 as our discussion continues.
You did, and so it supports Godwin's Law.
Whether or not it's a valid comparison is not for me to say. I haven't met Adolph Hitler. I've met Matthew Godfrey.
Monotreme
Were you thrilled to meet Godfrey? Was he everything you had ever imagined? Did you shake his hand?
If so, will you ever wash it again?
As to not meeting Hitler, hell buddy, if you met one you've met em all!
He was shorter than I imagined.
I wash my hands frequently, even more so when they have touched a contaminated surface.
Hey USA...
I wonder if you don't like Hansen because you are trying to save your job and that Susie is really the candidate that the administration is hoping will win. This way they can tell her how it will be, instead of her telling you how it will be. at least with Hansen there will be NO learning curve.
Ps. USA you are really Mark Johnson
Greiner the Whiner:
Sigh. The problem with some Hansen advocates, like you, trying to sell Ms. Van H. as a Godfrey clone or someone and who will, if she wins, be a bought-and-sold corporate shill is this: there is no evidence to support that claim, which leaves you in the position of pushing something not supported by fact because you think it will gain you a political advantage. Which is, sadly, exactly what Godfrey has been doing for years, and will continue to do if re-elected. You are shortening the distance, seems to me, between your candidate and Godfrey when you do that. Which is not what you want to do --- not if you want to make Hansen's best case for election, which is that he will be a very different kind of Mayor than Godfrey has been in important ways, and that he has good ideas for moving Ogden forward. If you want to contrast Hansen's platform and ideas with Van Hoosers, have at it. But you didn't do that, did you....
If you can't make your case for Hansen... and you certainly ought to be able to, you have a lot to work with... without peddling unfounded charges against Van H., you weaken your argument and your candidate, not the reverse.
I’m extremely disturbed by Congressman Rob Bishop’s work ethic and views.
Last week I attended a Town Hall Meeting hosted by the Congressman in N. Ogden. A very good question was asked by a gentleman there about our health care crises here in America. What is his plan to deal with the out of control costs by insurance companies and doctors? And was asked if he seen the popular documentary that shows the lack of government response for our veterans, elderly, disabled and the disenfranchised that can’t get access to medical care and can’t afford it?
His answer was that he won’t see it the documentary. He then went on to compare this (companionate award winning documentary) to “porn.” And that the government shouldn’t do anything. This was a very disturbing comment, because there were two young fathers with their two pre-teen aged sons with them there. (These dads were obviously there to educate their sons about government in action).
When one of these fathers spoke up and let him know that comment was “inappropriate.” He didn’t apologize and hurried and changed the subject to illegal immigration. He then was asked many questions of how he was going to help solve this problem. Almost every answer was “I don’t know.”
I’m publically asking Steve Olsen who ran against Congressman Rob Bishop last year. Please run for Congress again. We need an ethical humble man like you that looks at all sides of issues to resolve the problems facing us Americans today.
Obviously Congressman Rob Bishop doesn’t care about these problems.
U S A:
Your a coward like Godfrey and Greiner.
It's too bad that all voters in Utah don't have an opportunity to see this kind of disgraceful performance by this sorry excuse for a US Representative. Mr. Bishop is a true embarrassment to the entire state. Unfortunately, here in Utah he is more the norm than the exception.
Congressman and Stan:
You guys are so unfair. Why just a couple of months ago, the papers were running stories about how Cong. Bishop [Bush Lemming -- UT] was campaigning, and voting, in Congress to save us from the great danger that a post office in Pennsylvania would be named after Rachael Carson. [No, I am not making that up.]
The nation's debt has come close to tripling on his watch in Congress [yet he insists he's a "fiscal conservative], we keep pouring men and women and money into the quagmire of Iraq, and Rep. Bishop nods obediently at whatever the administration says is the real goal of the war [it changes monthly] and whatever new strategy the Administration promises will correct its five year record of mind-numbing incompetence. We have a health care crisis in the country; tens of millions more Americans don't have health insurance now than did when Bishop went to Congress; real wages have dropped since Bush and Bishop took office; the illegal immigration problem grows greater by the day... and so on, and so on and so on.
And what has Bishop been working hard at on our behalf? He's been working to prevent the naming of a post office in Pennsylvania after Rachel Carson. Well, I know I've been losing sleep over that. I know my son asked me just the other day, "Daddy, I had a bad dream. I dreamed there was a post office in Pennsylvania named after Rachael Carson. Say it isn't so, Daddy. It was just a nightmare, right?"
I assured him he had nothing to worry about. Congressman Bishop was on the job.
As for his refusing the see "Sicko," and his likening it to "porn" is unbelievable. This man was a teacher? Of history? My god.
One would think a former teacher --- a teacher for gawd's sake --- would reserve judgment about the film until he'd seen it. Then he might criticize it with some reason, and offer examples of where it ws unconvincing or based on false or weak evidence. He might have set an example for students about how to reach judgments about public matters. But no. My congressman, and yours, instead, decided to react as a middle-schooler at recess, sticking his fingers in his ears, shutting his eyes, and chanting ever louder "I'm not listening! I'm not listening! I'M NOT LISTENING!"
My congressman. And yours. God help us. Bobble Head Rob Bishop won't.
USA:
You are quite the interesting character. You just jump in the deep end, expecting to swin and all you found was quick sand. But that's ok, there is nothing wrong with gaining experience at such an old age. We'll throw you a stick to keep yourself afloat. By the looks of how things have come out so far, I would have to agree with lance and independant. On the minimal means that Hansen has rasied from those that live IN the city and don't have a HUGE name, Hansen is living his integrity and experience as he runs this campaign. From his donators, it show clearly that is connected in the community and listens to those around him, you should try talking to him, I bet he'd listen. This will be a tight race and I would encourage all to do their homework, Hansen has my attention and jovial spirits in hopes that wins this......why?.....because he gave me the lemons, to start my own lemonade stand!!
I hope someone writes a letter for Tuesday's deadline reminding voters that the Mayor was aware of the porn on Ogden City computers, specifically Scott Brown's, and refused to do anything about it until Dean Martinez made an issue of it for which he was promptly fired.
The employees at City Hall are the ones that told about Mayor Godfrey's practice of calling women into his office and browbeating them until they left in tears.
When asked about why Gloria Barrett left Godfrey tells everyone that he was not the one who fired longtime City Recorder, Gloria Barrett. He must think the public is just plain stupid as he is the only one who could have fired her.
Godfrey's opinion that voters are stupid may just be his undoing in this election.
Cato:
What you have listed for Van Hooser's campaign? She gave $10,000 of her own money to her campaign. Her husband gave $2,200, the firefighters union gave $2000 and three individuals gave $1000 each. No corporation donations. That’s still $13,000.00 unaccounted for?
That’s exactly what Godfrey’s tactics were when he ran for Mayor the first time.
Besides, do you know her? Have you ever talked to her? Do you know what she stands for and what direction she wants to with the city? Well it seems as nobody does. Because nobody knows her.
I know for one thing, she seems like a bored wife, wanting to do something exciting in her life. But doesn’t know what that is yet. Well in the game of politics she’s got to fight hard and fast, just like in a boxing ring. Because the gloves are on now.
Besides Van Hooser seems to be ditpsey and doesn’t know the history of Ogden’s politics as well as she should.
But she’ll do much better than that little bald, prideful, irritant that just gets on your nerves. Especially when it comes to giving away public land to his business buddies.
I’m extremely concerned she’ll do the same as Godfrey. Not because she’s like Godfrey.
But because I don’t think she has the guts to get rid of the good old boy system that Godfrey has created. If she doesn’t fire Godfrey’s cronies? It will remain the same. Even worse these cronies will eat her up. She’ll resign within a year.
Suzie you’ll need to be on your edge at all times.
However Suzie Van Hooser will be ten times a better Mayor than Godfrey.
Independent:
A couple of points on your reply to Cato. First, you wrote:
What you have listed for Van Hooser's campaign? She gave $10,000 of her own money to her campaign. Her husband gave $2,200, the firefighters union gave $2000 and three individuals gave $1000 each. No corporation donations. That’s still $13,000.00 unaccounted for? That’s exactly what Godfrey’s tactics were when he ran for Mayor the first time.
The total candidates raise must be reported. The individual donors must also be reported for contributions of $50 or more. Presumably then what you say are "unaccounted for" contributions came from donations below the reporting limit. If you are alleging that Ms. Van Hooser is concealing [not reporting] contributions the campaign laws require her to report, that would be a very serious allegation. Are you alleging that?
Second, you wrote: She seems like a bored wife, wanting to do something exciting in her life. But doesn’t know what that is yet.
Uh oh. Independent, if you think a woman can not, and should not, be Mayor of Ogden, why not just come right out and say so? You refer to her as a "bored housewife." Tell me, do you refer to Dirk Youngberg, running for the Council, as a "bored househusband" who's looking for something to pass the time? I suspect you'd refer to him as "retired fireman Dirk Younberg." But you don't mention Ms. Van Hooser's career or present position in government. You don't call her "retired schoolteacher and City Councilwoman." Just bored housewife. Interesting.
If I were running Hansen's campaign [which I most certainly am not], I'd be highlighting Hansen's experience in government, as you do. But I certainly would not be demeaning Ms. Van Hooser's career and present service on the council, or her abilities and intentions by dismissing her as a "bored housewife." I'd be having my people say of Van Hooser something like this:
"Ms. Van Hooser has been on the Ogden City Council and in government for half a year now. I think she'd done a good job for the short time she's been in public service. She certainly understands, as do I, that Ogden cannot afford a third Godfrey term in office. And I think, once Ms. Van Hooser has served a full term on the Council she might make an excellent candidate for Mayor of Ogden.
But she still has much to learn about how city government works now, and how it should work. Mayor Godfrey has gotten Ogden into such a deep financial hole --- carrying a hundred million dollars of debt while neglecting the city's many problems that needed addressing long ago --- that repairs and changes need to be made immediately upon a new mayor's taking office. I have the experience to begin doing that job the afternoon of the day I'm inaugurated.
I wish Ms. Van Hooser had run for a full term on the Council where she was beginning to do a very good job so she and I could have cooperated to turn Odgen City around, and give its citizens the government... and the city... they deserve."
I would not go around demeaning Ms. Van Hooser's career [which was not "bored housewife"] or her seriousness or her integrity, and I would make damn sure my campaign people didn't either. And to Mr. Hansen's credit, he hasn't.
Some of his misguided supporters however....
josefina....can't you do a rewrite and send the letter yourself? we need to get a LOT of letters in before 5!
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