By Monotreme
Today's Standard-Examiner brings a letter to the editor and an Op-Ed piece from the "Re-Elect Mayor Matthew Godfrey" camp.
The Op-Ed piece contains what Curmudgeon would call a "sun rises in the east" epiphany: "Construction companies support Mayor Godfrey."
So now, his major financial contributors (although we're still not sure whether R&O wrote a $2,500 check or a $10,000 one) throw their 800 words behind the mayor as well. As we used to say back in high school, "big whoop".
We get the usual citations of increased jobs, lots of building going on, and you know The Junction is really cool. C'mon, admit it, you want to go there. Just because you haven't been going there, and the place is going down the tubes, doesn't mean it won't be successful. Someday. Really. You know you want to visit it.
The second item is this letter to the editor from school board President Don Belnap and school board member John Gullo.
This one contains two surprises.
The first surprise is that "there have been some statements made regarding communication between Mayor Godfrey and the Ogden City School District."
I try to keep pretty close tabs on the election, but I'm not aware of any such statements, so someone please tell me what this letter is really about.
The second one is a fantastic example of what Mrs. Monotreme, an editor, refers to as a "word-o".
(You know: "typo" is a mistyped word; "edit-o" is a mis-edited word; "spell-o" is a mis-spelled word; and a "word-o" is a mis-chosen word.)
Describing the relationship between the school board and the mayoral administration, the school board members write:
"...we have experienced open communication between the two identities [sic]."
This is a stunning revelation! Two members of The Ogden City School Board admit that Mayor Matthew Godfrey suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder (Dissociative Identity Disorder)!
From the above-referenced article:
Usually, a primary identity carries the individual's given name and is passive, dependent, guilty and depressed. When in control, each personality state, or alter, may be experienced as if it has a distinct history, self-image and identity.If this stunning allegation is proven, it explains a lot, like how Godfrey could forget that Chris Peterson's brother is the head of Bootjack LLC, or how he could forget that someone who calls Himself the mayor stonewalls the council and refuses to give them even the simplest pieces of data. Those were the product of the Evil Matthew Godfrey, who is not always in touch with the Good Matthew Godfrey.
The alters' characteristics -- including name, reported age and gender, vocabulary, general knowledge, and predominant mood -- contrast with those of the primary identity.
Certain circumstances or stressors can cause a particular alter to emerge. The various identities may deny knowledge of one another, be critical of one another or appear to be in open conflict.
This is something that has been long rumored but never confirmed. Fortunately for Ogden City, there is open communication between the two "identities."
The letter writers can't possibly have meant two "entities," because they're school board members, and presumably not prone to college freshman-type whoppers in word choice when attempting to write beyond their vocabulary skill level.
We look forward to a detailed psychiatric analysis of Mayor Godfrey in future installments of the letter column.
31 comments:
Thanks for the excellent article Monotreme.
Yes, the preliminary DID diagnosis would also explain Boss Godfrey's sudden flip-flop, whereby he suddenly became the chanpion of our Mt. Ogden Open Space Parklands, after hammering us mercilessly over the course of two years for the purpose of selling this acreage to his crony Chris Peterson. He's now the "good" Bos Godfrey, who is bravely battling the "bad" Boss Godfrey, his cognitively detached other "self."
It would also explain his truly odd statement during last week's debate, when he stunned the crowd by saying, with a look of child-like bewilderment, that he was "unaware" of any instance where he'd EVER withheld information from the council.
Thanks again!
I Guess that all these people that endorse Godfrey, really enjoy all the screw ups that he has made and that they really don't care how many more screw ups he is going to make. I guess that this show their judgment of caricature of the lord mayor. I wonder what he has said to the school board that would intimidate them like this. What is the plan to screw over the Ogden city schools. Oh I forgot he all ready has screwed them over and I wonder how Don Belnap feels about how Godfrey stop the bond election from passing, For this was the project that Don had been pushing. This really show good team work doesn't it Don. Good job in supporting the one and only one that screw you. Please don't try to tell us how Godfrey is such a great team player.
The letter from two members of the Ogden School Board, Don Belnap and John Gullo is a good example of how bad things have gotten under Godfrey's rule. Here's what they said:
When the district needed to make changes with our school boundaries, it was the mayor who offered city data resources to help us find where our students were living.
So, if I understand what they're saying rightly, the city Administration [one public body] made public records and resources available to another public body, the School Board, necessary to carry out its work. And this Messers Belnap and Gullo consider an act of such remarkable sharing on the part of the Administration that it needed to be called to the public's attention?
Then we have the old political "staw man" tactic employed, the old "some say" gambit: "there have been statements," Belnap and Gullo write, " made regarding communication between Mayor Godfrey and the Ogden City School District. Some of these statements say that the mayor has not had any interaction, and this is simply not the case."
Who is saying these things? Gullo and Belnap don't say. When or where? Gullo and Belnap don't say. It's a very old political tactic, which people who respect the public and the importance of election campaigns do not engage in. Or should not.
Messers Gullo and Belnap praise the Mayor for supporting the last school bond issue. They do not, I notice, mention his opposing a previous one, and his taking to Channel 17 --- ostensibly the Ogden Community Channel but in fact the Godfrey Channel --- to televise his opposition while denying supporters of the tax air time on their own [allegedly] Community Channel to express their support for it. [I believe, Mr. Gullo and Mr. Belnap that the school bond the mayor opposed was supported by the school board, wasn't it? Curious you have nothing to say about that.]
So, two school board members, one the president of the board, take to the public prints to do two things to help the Mayor out in his election troubles: first, they praise the Mayor for making public records available to a public body --- which, I will admit, given the Mayor's frequent and continuing attempts to keep public information hidden from the Council, the Standard Examiner and the public, is something remarkable enough to occasion comment. [Remember the Administration email's Dan S. discovered via GRAMA request in which Godfrey staff talking about how important it was to keep what they were doing secret from the Council?]
Gullo and Belnap's second goal was to set up a straw man ["somebody, we won't say who, has said something about the mayor, we can't say where or when"] which they promptly knock down. Any university student who tried that hoary old ploy on an essay exam at Weber State would be looking at a D or an F when he got his exam back.
And these guys are Ogden's educational leaders?
I might have taken the Belnap and Gullo letter as a public-spirited attempt to correct false statements regarding the Godfrey Administration during an election but for two things: their unwillingness to offer anything about who made the false statements or when or where. And their including the following in their letter: after praising the Mayor's communication with the School Baord, they add "we have every reason to believe that this communication will continue." That turns the letter into a campaign tract, plain and simple. Whether it was the course of wisdom for School Board leadership to have jumped into the mayor's race seems to me to be doubtful.
I have a proposal for Mr.Gullo and Mr. Belnap, and in fact, for all of us, on both sides of the Mayor's race. Can we agree, please, that we all have the best interests of our schools and our children in them in mind? Can we keep the schools and public education out of the mayoral race as an issue? Can we at least agree, that on that, both sides want the schools in Ogden to be the best they can be, and will do whatever they can, if elected, to bring that about? Can we agree that this is one issue that it will serve no one's interests, and definitely will not serve Ogden's childrens' interests, to make a partisan campaign issue in the Mayor's race? Can we all at least agree on that? Please? For the good of the city and its schools and its children?
Please remember, Gullo is one of boss godfrey's biggest dependants. His hot rocking 4th is one heavily subsidized jee wiz event.
He truely needs lying little matty returned to office, to protect his monopoly on 4th of July celebrations. If lying little matty loses, someone may just be able to come up with a better event, that appeals to more folks and benefits more than just gullo's foundation.
After all, competition is supposed to be a good thing, aint it?
Curmudgeon:
Nice try, but too late. I fear that issue has already been lost, since the publication of today's letter.
I'm still waiting for any evidence whatsoever, even Rumors on the Internets, that there was any friction between the school board and the Mayor to prompt such a letter of "clarification".
Absent that, it really does appear to be a complete and total straw man, as Curmudgeon indicated.
Maybe they're trying to fly under the radar of S-E's "simple endorsement" rule?
What a farce!
The letter by Wadman, Kier and Opeikens in today's SE is a prime example of the Standard's support for Mayor Godfrey as this is a free political advertisement for him.
Wadman got millions in histrical tax credits, Keir has made big, big bucks in all the low income housing arena and Opeikens has just made millions building the buildings at the Junction.
In fact, Opeikiens must have cost us so much that they are still adding up the figures.
The last I heard was that Bill Cook couldn't even get a figure on the total.
How dumb do they think we are to swallow this drivel!
fed up-
Don't forget the mystery surrounding the $10,000.00 check to MATTHEW GODFREY REELECTION shown as a donation which appeared on the Lt. Governor's website and then disappeared and reappeared as $2,500.00.
Why is there no endorsement on the back of the cancelled check for $2,500.00 which was cashed? Who cashed that check?
Why hasn't anyone seen the voided check for $10,000.00?
And why is the Ogden City Attorney Gary Williams ignoring the Ogden Municipal Code by failing to provide answers to my Complaints which now number nine(9) within the time frame provided by that Code?
Remember that John Gullo is a proud soldier in Wayne Peterson's famed Squirrel Patrol, a Lying Little Matty Gondola Godfrey sycophant, a self-made millionaire and philanthropist of the highest order. No word on his affinity for onions, although it can be rightfully concluded that he is a certified moron due to his fervent cheerleading for THE GONDOLA and the Malan's Basin castle -- replete with Wolfgang Puck eatery! -- built without roads and guarded by magical dwarves.
Googled Don Belnap, Ogden Publishing Corp. Digital Edition of the Standard Examinar.
Very Interesting......., is this a precurser to their full blown endorsement of lying little matty?
Does that conflict with their editorial policy?
He's also listed as an insurance guy.
Pigs a sloppin at Godfrey's public funded trough and praisin him to high heaven for the rolled oats they be eatin!
What song they gonna be singin when old Boss Godfrey gets a hankerin for
Pork Chops?
My Diagnosis: The patient is obviously nuts. That's my considered psychiatric opinion.
I recommend an immediate pre-frontal lobotomy.
Fed Up et al.:
Sigh. Yes, the Sycophant Three are lining their pockets with money from public contracts funneled their way by the Godfrey administration. Yes, they hope to continue doing so. That said, they have as much right as the rest of us to express their views on the Mayor's race in the public prints. And the SE was right to print it. I would have printed it too. It would be no more defensible for the SE to refuse to print pro-Godfrey op ed pieces than it would for the SE to refuse to print anti-Godfrey op ed pieces... and it has printed both.
The appearance of a pro-Godfrey letter to the editor, or op ed piece, no more indicates the paper is biased than the appearance of an anti-Godfrey letter to the editor or op-ed piece indicates the paper is biased against him. Opinions in letters to the editor and op-ed pieces are the opinions of those who write them, not the paper's editorial position.
You want to argue bias, there's a case to be made on the basis of what the paper covers in stories and what it doesn't. But there's no case to be made, as far as I can see, by focusing on the reader-contributed letters to the editor or reader-written op-ed pieces.
I get the impression, sometimes, that some here would like it if the SE printed only letters and op eds attacking Godfrey and refused to print any letters or op eds defending him. Any paper that did that would truly not be worth reading even if they gave it away free.
Bill C.-
The Standard is cleary already endorsing Godfrey. And although it was a foregone conclusion that they were going to fully endorse him, I was told last month by members of the Godfrey fan club that the paper would be officially doing so sometime in late October. I was really told this, and if it is indeed true what is the paper doing telling Godfrey's pals that they are going to endorse him?
And related to newspapers and Godfrey - it was mentioned to me that after the SL Tribune wrote an opinion piece on Ogden that an upset Godfrey went down there and talked to the Editors (to get them to apologize and repent and to change their opinion I suppose). Did he attempt this because he usually gets his way with other papers? That's my assumption.
As long as we're shrinking the little Dick Tater how about these qualities that the pro's use to determine a "sociopathic personality"
Pretty scary stuff when you look back at Godfrey's actions and attitude over the last few years!
Sociopaths exhibit three or more of the following attributes:
Glibness and Superficial Charm
Manipulative and Conning
They never recognize the rights of others and see their self-serving behaviors as permissible. They appear to be charming, yet are covertly hostile and domineering, seeing their victim as merely an instrument to be used. They may dominate and humiliate their victims.
Grandiose Sense of Self
Feels entitled to certain things as "their right."
Pathological Lying
Has no problem lying coolly and easily and it is almost impossible for them to be truthful on a consistent basis.
Lack of Remorse, Shame or Guilt
Does not see others around them as people, but only as targets and opportunities. Instead of friends, they have victims and accomplices who end up as victims. The end always justifies the means and they let nothing stand in their way.
Shallow Emotions
When they show what seems to be warmth and compassion it is more feigned than experienced and serves an ulterior motive. Since they are not genuine, neither are their promises.
Incapacity for Love
Callousness/Lack of Empathy
Unable to empathize with the pain of their victims, having only contempt for others' feelings of distress and readily taking advantage of them.
Poor Behavioral Controls/Impulsive Nature
Believe they are all-powerful, all-knowing, entitled to every wish, no sense of personal boundaries, no concern for their impact on others.
Irresponsibility/Unreliability
Not concerned about wrecking others' lives and dreams. Oblivious or indifferent to the devastation they cause. Does not accept blame themselves, but blames others, even for acts they obviously committed.
YIKES!!!
Curm:
I agree the three stooges had the right to submit the commentary. However, as I believe none of them actually live in Ogden, I don't find their opinions too f***ing relevant. And I imagine any slack-jawed, mouth-breathing moron could see how transparent, superficial, and utterly ridiculous their support of Verne Troyer is.
Speaking of the "Sun Rising in the East" news, this just in: jason w likes pounding reebs and dislikes gondolas.
Beaver:
Your point about none of them being Ogden residents is an interesting one. Feed from the public trough of Ogden taxes, but take the money home to someplace else. We have one consolation: being non-residents, none of them can vote for Godfrey.
At least one, if not all of them live in Ogden. Even if they don't, they have created and grown three of the largest general contractors in the state right here in Ogden. The taxes they pay to the city each year through their companies gives then the right to voice their opinions in Ogden. Because if nothing else, they "own property" in Ogden, right Litrell (or part of a piece of property) and Owens?
Note to Lemming above.
The blog administrator has posted your comment under an assigned name.
You originally used the "anonymous" handle, which is banned under our blog terms of service. We would suggest you read this document before you comment here again.
We stretched the rules because we believe you raised a valid point.
Nevertheless, this will be the first and last time we do this for you under these circumstances.
Ms. Littrell resides in Ogden, BTW, and has done so for about 2 years.
And Owens is a certified native homeboy, who doesn't need your permission to complain about the latest three Op-ed pigs who feed at the public trough, and, as you've made in your argument, both Owens and Littrell are Emerald City property owners..
Try to keep up.
We thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation.
I was out putting up some yard signs for the female candidates, and at one house there was an "Eccles" sign laying off to the side in the mud and a "Wicks" sign proudly displayed. It appeared the home had switched.
Another person I know took down their "Blaine Johnson" sign when they found out about him.
Information does matter.
Well, well, well:
I sat next to a ****** nest this afternoon, discussing downtown OTown development: Gadi Lehsem, his "Vegas" developer, and some other ******** with a bolo tie. Here's what I found out: Wal-Mart in the 80 acres the fraudster and Wayne Peterson, leader of the famed Squirrel Patrol, own; there is no THE GONDOLA, due to financial restraints ($55 million); and that the accused fraudster, G(od)i, stands to make dozens of millions. Does that piss you off, OTown?
We know you're a real writer, Jason.
Why not provide us a real detailed report?
Furthermore, Gadi's handlers said the following: "There is no retail at the Junction; that's where your development comes in. At the transit station...I'm trying to figure out how to make you money."
Godfreyite Lemming:
Thank you for the correction on the residence of at least one of the three. Anyone --- resident or not --- is free to express an opinion. Why, Godfreyistas have had retired grandmas living in other states send letters to the SE touting the Mayor's ideas and how wonderful they think they'd be for Ogden. You don't have to be a resident, or own property here, or do business here, to have and to express an opinion on the race.
However, when I read letters and op eds, I tend to give more weight to the opinions of Ogden residents and voters than I do to the opinions of those who don't live here. I choose to live in Ogden and so have given hostages to Ogden's fortunes, so to speak, and I take more seriously the opinions of others who have done the same.
Thank you again for the correction. If you learn all three live in Ogden, I'd like to know that too. I owe them an apology for the snarky comment I made if that's the case.
Curmudgeon
"Never complain and never explain" *
and I might add, never apologize for snarky comments made on snarky blogs!
* Henry Ford II
"We look forward to a detailed psychiatric analysis of Mayor Godfrey in future installments of the letter column."
And we're also wondering how a public high school dropout like Gullo wound up sitting on the Ogden City school board.
Mono:
Wonderful thread! thank you for a good chuckle today.
Ozboy...you fleshed out what we've been saying for a couple years now: Godfrey is a certified sociopathic and narcissistic personality.
Thank you for posting ALL the manifestations of Godfrey's disorders.
Couldn't you have easily written in an example for every single one?
Dr Freud: You are so right...the surgery is prepared and the scalpels at the ready!
sceptical:
In re: Gullo. If he is/was a HS dropout, that wouldn't necessarily, nor should it necessarily, bar him from the School Board. It's an elected position, isn't it?
In another life, several decades ago, a school board election was coming up in the town where I lived. "Tiger" Ben Peabody, who owned a service station in town --- was running for the school board. I'd heard him on the news before, fracturing English grammar at every turn. He sounded bone ignorant and wholly uneducated to me. Young and snotty freshly minted professor that I was, I resolved I was not going to vote for such an uneducated man for the school board.
Then I heard him interviewed. He talked, in fractured English, about how badly he'd been educated, how poor the shabby school he went to on the wrong side of town was, how he'd had to leave school to work, how he wanted the city's children to have a better education than he got "so they won't sound like me."
I voted for him. As I recall, he turned out to have more down home common sense in him that the rest of the blithering nincompoops running put together.
I'd want to know what kind of job Gullo has done on the Board. Not whether her graduated from HS a couple of decades ago.
If want it, we pay for it. Just as we pay for any other public institution or government service or function we may want as a society. We the People means we decide--we also pay.
Godfrey habbits are: I decide, you pay.
Dear Godfrey Lemming, aka Dustin "Zingers" Chapman: Kier just moved to Uintah; Wadman lives in Layton or Bountiful; R&O guy lives in North Ogden. Get your pile in order before you make an ass of yourself. And, Good Old (?) Curmudgeon, the three contractors who make money because of Lying Little Matty Gondola Godfrey's policies have no right to their commentary being published, as it directly contradict's the Gofrey Examiner's stated policy of direct endorsement, as does today's illiterate rambling by one Fasi Filiaga. Furthermore, it's curious that the three contractors' photos were run in color, when no other op-ed commentary author's likeness has. In addition, with the paper's wining and subsequent recognition of its own impotence (congrats, Rudi!) last Sunday, it puts the gondola rag in a precarious position when it indeed "recommends" Lying Little Matty Gondola Godfrey and Blain Johnson; its "balance" will be demonstrated in other "recommendations." And, Rudi, once I get my meds, drink six or seven reebs and eat four or five of Chapman's Zingers, I'll provide a complete reporting of the Gadi Leshem Squirrel Patrol huddle, which was very revealing as to Lying Little Matty Gondola Godfrey's downtown intentions.
THE SKI IS BEAUTIFUL BLUE
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