Eight days after Emerald City municipal election polling, the election post-mortem examination finally begins in the Standard-Examiner. According the the official results, published on the Weber County Website late yesterday afternoon, Boss Godfrey escaped the political hangman by a 449 votes, with a mere 51.40% of the 14,043 valid ballots cast.
As our gentle readers have observed in our lower threads, Godfrey's slim margin of victory hardly qualifies as a voter mandate. Judging from this morning's Std-Ex editorial, our home-town newspaper agrees with us:
It wasn’t exactly by the hair of his chinny-chin-chin, but incumbent Ogden Mayor Matthew Godfrey won a narrow victory when provisional and absentee ballots were finally counted Tuesday. By anyone’s definition, it was not a mandate.The gist of the editorial is that our beloved Emerald City remains bitterly split down the middle, and that we should now all kiss and make up. Whether that's possible is anybody's guess, given the harshness that's characterized Emerald City politics over the past two years. Some folks, we're sure, believe there are scores still to be settled.
Significantly, the editorial drills down to the single issue which has placed our citizens at each others' throats. You got it, folks: the Std-Ex editors opine that it's the Gondola/Peterson Landgrab debacle is the problem which nearly cost Godfrey his re-election:
As for the Malan’s Basin resort and associated land sale proposals, it can be better analyzed by splitting the issue in two. Most people are generally supportive of landowner Chris Peterson’s right to build a four-season resort on his property. If he can obtain the permits from county or city planning commissions, he should be able to pursue his dream.We think the Standard-Examiner properly identifies Godfrey's key policy gaffe in its above paragraphs; and we also agree that it's clearly time for Godfrey (and a few others) to mend fences. Whether our mayoral one-trick pony has the capacity to grasp this simple concept remains doubtful however, in view of today's Scott Schwebke piece.
But the mayor misjudged public animosity regarding his enthusiastic support for Peterson’s desire to purchase the Mount Ogden Golf Course and 150 acres of university land on which to build homes to finance construction of his resort. It placed Godfrey in the odd position of promoting Ogden as an outdoor “hub” close to open space and unsurpassed recreational opportunities, while at the same time advocating the building of more rooftops on some of that prime open space. That part of the plan never clicked with most Ogdenites, and Godfrey waited so long to bail on the plan that it nearly cost him re-election.
Even though Godfrey has since pledged not to sell the golf course and surrounding city-owned park lands and trails, there remains an oozing wound associated with the two-year battle over the Malan’s Basin resort and proposed downtown-to-Weber State gondola, which was to have been funded in part by the sale of the golf course. Critics of the project — and even those undecided — were attacked by a cadre of gondola/resort fans. Contrary to common sense and principles of free speech, they urged revocation of tenure for WSU professors who would not support the sale of land or the urban gondola, and accused others who withheld judgment until a detailed plan was offered of being anti-Ogden. It was ridiculous.
That, in turn, prompted gondola/resort opponents to respond in kind with all manner of accusations about conflicts of interest and corruption, none of which ever were substantiated.
It was an especially odd battle, since no detailed plan ever has been presented to the city or county — to this day. All the animosity and name-calling was for nothing, it turns out. But the damage was real, and repairing it will be a slow and difficult process.
That’s the considerable task now facing Godfrey and the Ogden City Council: To continue moving the city forward, but in a more harmonious fashion. What good will it do to finish resurrecting Ogden from its doldrums if the city’s residents are still at each other’s throats?
Examining his electoral close call, Boss Godfrey chalks it all up to this:
"Godfrey said he expected a slim margin of victory because he has made some controversial decisions to improve Ogden, such as stepped-up code enforcement."
Welcome to the twilight zone of MattGodfreyWorld, folks, where our newly re-elected mayor dwells in a universe of alternate reality, believing his massive unpopularity is the mere result of agressive code enforcement.
But who knows, folks, perhaps Boss Godfrey will soon come to his senses. And if he does, we have a few off the cuff suggestions about the manner by which Godfrey can help "Suture Ogden's Wounds."
1) Godfrey can begin by making a concerted effort to involve our elected city council in all future projects, from initial planning to final execution. While we believe the current council has been generally cooperative and compliant with respect to Godfrey's projects, he's gotten himself into serious trouble with council relations blunders, such as his Secret Gondola Study and Bootjack.
2) Godfrey should disband or disassociate himself from his Sturmentruppen, the unofficial unelected political arm of his administration. In our opinion these people bear major responsibility for the rancor that continues to divide our community. For the life of us, we can't imagine why any responsible elected official would provide these thugs keys to the executive washroom.
3) Godfrey should immediately settle the latest lawsuit, which is reported in this morning's Standard-Examiner. Godfrey should immediately release the documents that the Sierra Club has been requesting, and demonstrate a new commitment to open government.
4) And if Godfrey expects to get along with the 48.21% of angry citizens who showed up at the polls on Novermber 6, pitchforks and torches in hand, to choreograph his political demise, we think that Boss Godfrey should slide that obnoxious desktop engraved brass plaque clean off his desk and into the nearest trash can. (Click image to enlarge):
We're sure none of you will let the cat get your tongues, right?Update 11/15/07 3:53 a.m. MT: We have just received word from the South Ogden Justice Court, to the effect that Obersturmbannführer Bobby Geiger, of the Boss Godfrey lawn sign Sturmabteilung, has been charged with two counts of criminal mischief as a result of this campaign lawn sign vandalism incident... and this.
South Ogden Case #07-2271
Next appearance date: Pretrial conference - 1/07/07
Keep your eyes on this site, gentle readers. We'll definitely be following up on this.
72 comments:
Kristin Moulton has an article on the Sierra Club lawsuit in today's Trib.
Curm, your beloved paper is just plain clueless, or has total disregard of facts.
Porter and co. "suture Ogden's wounds" clearly points that out.
They seem to have all ready come to the conclusion that the Jackass Center is a total success, I quote," the high adventure Salomon Center is always crowded". Then they go on to claim that lying little matty was simply supporting Peterson's plan, forgetting totally how Peterson disappeared and it became the 100% lying little matty dog and pony show.
They also claim that almost all the folks of Ogden support Peterson's Malan's Basin plans for building a resort on his own dime. I for one don't cotton to that one, Ive seen enough of what he wants to do that I can conclude it would do no good for Ogden, and cost us a fortune, it can't be done without annexation. It also needs to be pointed out again I guess for all idiots,(editors included) that it can't be done without a road, which was part of the initial plan anyway, just disguised as a groomed ski trail.
They do mildly chastize potato nose, short deck and the amen chorus, something I concur with, though more than mildly.
Then they go on to defend lying little matty by claiming that all his detractors made nothing but unsubstantiated claims of conflicks of interest and corruption. Well, I guess if they didn't print them, they won't acknowlege them. But they have printed many of them, Bootjack and the whole series of e-mails produced from Dan's GRAMA.
So, in conclussion Porter calls for us to drop it, bury the hatchet and allow the healing to begin. We've lost, in his estimation, so forgive and forget. The irony to me is, as Porter takes this position that since we lost, give it up, his lying little matty endorsing comrade Doug Gibson has a column still advocating school vouchers.
Rudi:
Couple of points on your editorial concerning the SE's editorial:
1. I hereby propose we all take up a collection to pay the tuition so the SE Editorial Board can take a course or two in political science at Weber State University. And maybe an American History course or two as well. So they won't feel too uncomfortable, I will work to get them permission to wear their tin foil hats with the little propellers on top so the aliens or the federal government can't read their thoughts while attending. But any group that could say the following of the long struggle to stop the Mayor from selling off the golf course to fund his gondola/gondola obsession is badly in need of education. Here's the sentence: "All the animosity and name-calling was for nothing, it turns out."
Really? Does the board read its own paper? Did it not notice Mr. Peterson, via his attorney, submitted significant changes to Ogden's zoning ordinances to accommodate his resort-on-the-golf-course plans, which changes the Administration actively supported? Which changes where stopped or significant changed [for the better] only by concerted opposition by many citizens, speaking out and organizing and lobbying the planning commission and council --- and by the way keeping the SE informed, or trying to, about what was happening? Did it even occur to the tin-foil-and-propeller-cap SE editorial board that the reason, or at least a reason no plan was ever produced was because of the grass roots opposition to the plan that organized to stop what the Mayor assured us was coming [a plan] within a few weeks? Over two years? "All for nothing it turns out?" Jaysus, these guys are running the paper? And setting its policy? They seem not to have a clue how American politics, particular urban and municipal politics, works. Do they read their own paper? Not so much, it seems.
2. Now, that said, you're a little off when you say the SE editorial advocates simply that "we should now all kiss and make up." Not really. It's advice was much more pointed than that, and aimed primarily at the Mayor:
"Given the close vote, though, we believe it's also an opportunity for Godfrey to do some fence-mending with his critics. The mayor should view this near-political-death experience as motivation to work more closely with the city council over the next four years."
Yes, it goes on to urge cooperation on the Council as well --- extending its "he said/she said" reporting style to the editorial columns as well. But the Mayor does seem to be the main focus of its advice on this matter. And it's good advice. It's not "kiss and make up," but advice to the Mayor to recognize that he has not won a mandate, that his policies have split the city down the middle and resulted in a great deal of acrimony [involving both of the resulting sides]in the city and that... if he is smart... he will take the opportunity provided by his narrow re-election to begin mending fences, to establish a new an more cooperative relationship with the Council and with those citizens who opposed his re-election. It is very good advice.
Whether the Mayor is in fact capable of learning, or will take his thin reelection as license to continue his bull-in-the-china-shop" and "L'etat, c'est moi!" approach to city governance remains to be seen. The signs are not good. Yesterday, in his first post-victory interview, he indicated he intended to change nothing about the way he runs the city. And today's astonishing claim that he=is "hard decision" to enforce city codes is what explains the narrowness of his victory suggests, sadly, that he may in fact have learned nothing. We shall see.
But the SE's editorial did not advise anything as sappy and simple minded as "kiss and make up" on the mayor. Or the city.
Standard-Examiner editorial board please take note:
IT'S THE INTEGRITY, STUPID!
I'm sorry to be so blunt, and I don't actually believe that you guys (are there any gals?) are stupid. But you really are missing the point.
Yeah, Godfrey has proposed some controversial projects. Yeah, Godfrey underestimated the opposition to his proposed sale of public park lands. But our political system is set up to deal with these kinds of disagreements, and there's no reason they have to engender such bitterness toward the government and toward our neighbors.
The real problem with Mayor Godfrey is integrity. He operates through secrecy, deception, personal attacks, and outright threats. The examples go on and on, from the secret gondola study to the sale of the Bloom's property to the accusations against Jesse Garcia to the phone call to Kent Jorgenson's boss.
It's heartening that 48.6% of the voters care enough about integrity to vote against a two-term incumbent mayor during good economic times. It's also clear that many of those who did vote for Godfrey held their noses at the time, rationalizing that in this case, the end justifies the means. Godfrey's lack of integrity is no secret in this town. What I don't understand is how the S-E editors can continue to keep their heads in the sand.
Dan,
The SE editorial board still(and will always in their present mind-set)has to worry about loss of advertising revenue. Offend the Chamber of Commerce, and no more ads. Apparently they don't care about deeply offending 48.6% (roughly) of their subscribers by simnply not doing their jobs..
On balance I thought the editorial was pretty good and on point. I also agree with Curmudgeon and Dan in their evaluations.
The one very most bazzarro element was the line "...the high-adventure Salomon Center is always crowded."
I mean really! Are these guys totally blind? Have any of them gone down there and moseyed around at virtually any time of the week beside Friday PM and Saturday?
From all appearances the Rec center is a total Wreck. It has about 18 hours of any given week when it is producing income. All other times, day and night, it has all the hall marks of a mausoleum!
So I can only conclude that on at least this point the Standard Editorial board is either clueless or lying bastards.
Since the general theme seems to be government in Utah and how it works... or doesn't... I can't resist posting Sen. Buttars' latest expounding on the importance of legislative ignorance in passing good laws.
Various legislative committees here in Zion are now in session, and Sen. Buttars is on one joint committee considering legislation to "ensure that none of the Utah State Retirement System's nearly $20 billion in assets are invested in foreign companies that do business in Iran. "
Some on the committee objected that the members had not examined, and certainly did not understand, the consequences of such a broad ban, particularly possible unintended consequences, and that they should therefor take the time to examine the probable outcomes of what was being recommended first.
Enter Sen. Buttars:
Buttars said in response to a call by Sen. Carlene Walker,
R-Cottonwood Heights, for a more complete analysis of the bill before the committee's endorsement. "Well, there's a lot of things we vote on that we don't understand, but I would rather stand on the principle of 'let's go for it.' "
Buttars and his Republican colleagues, he says, vote on lots of things they don't understand, but rather than trying to understand them first, Buttars favors the "principle" [?] of "let's go for it."
Naturally, the proposal passed the committee with only Sen Flowers and one lone Democrat voting no. And who was that lone Democrat, you ask? [Oh, go ahead. Ask.] Rep. Neil Hansen, D-Ogden, standing up for the radical [in Utah] Democratic position that legislators ought to understand what they are doing before they do it.
Come to think of it, Rep. Hansen took that same radical stand with regard to Republican Mayor Godfrey's arguing that the City should go ahead and sell off its parklands for the Peterson Proposal without even asking if the proposal was feasible at all [which the Mayor now says it wasn't]. Happily, the Ogden City Council did not agree with Republican Sen. Buttars that legislating in ignorance is wise public policy.
Ah, Utah....
The full story is in today's SL Trib here.
While we're talking about our legislature, maybe it's time they passed some laws enabling cities to get rid of Mayors for malfeasance and unethical behavior. Having to wait 4 years or wait for the law to drag the Mayor off to the slammer is just too difficult.
I realize Godfrey is the legally-elected office holder, but he still has done (and will continue to do) grave damage to Ogden. Just think what could have been accomplished if we had had serious inquiries into public transit, if city property had been sold openly, etc.
I agree with what has been posted above, plus this.
For me, it was a chance to get some insight into the thought process of the editorial board. (Note that I'm not saying I'm right, just that this is how it appears to me.)
What I'm seeing here is, "we endorsed you, because we thought you could change. Now show us what you're made of."
Their faith in Mayor Godfrey is touching.
As has been pointed out, the editorial pages, filtered as they are, tell a different story. The Mayor first says it's the Junction, then code enforcement, that has made his administration controversial. That's funny, because in an extended phone conversation with him, I told him what has made his administration controversial. This blog is telling him the same thing. The S-E, for pity's sake, is telling him the same thing.
It's not code enforcement, stupid.
It's the "Neener, Neener Boo Boo, You Can't Catch Me, I Can Do What I Want, Ollie Ollie In Come Free, La La La La My Fingers Are In My Ears and I Can't HEAR You" school of administration (as Curm would say, politely so called) that is getting people upset. Not quite half of us voted for more open government.
Let me be more blunt. Look, Mr. Mayor and S-E editorial board, it wasn't the Gondola non-proposal itself that split the community. (It was painfully dumb, but that's beside the point.)
I am going to shout now.
IT WAS THE WAY THE GONDOLA PROPOSAL WAS HANDLED.
It was the way everything in this city has been handled the past eight years, but increasingly in the last two.
Commit yourself to open and honest goverment, Mr. Mayor. If you can't do both, then we'll settle for open.
Hey, everyone, the mayor doesn't make decisions based on how many votes he gets. he makes decisions based on what's best for ogden. and what's best for ogden often requires him to act in secret, because if he would publicize everything he plans on doing folks like you on the forum would try to poke holes in it for your own benefit, when he's just trying to do right by ogden. While the actions may accuse, the results will excuse. Or so I said in my little book the Prince.
I agree, Prince, and here's more.
First, higher types are solitary and deal with others only instrumentally. Every choice human being strives instinctively for a citadel and a secrecy where he is saved from the crowd, the many, the great majority…. The concept of greatness enatils being noble, wanting to be by oneself, being able to be different, standing alone and having to live independently. Indeed, the higher type pursues solitude with something of a vengeance, for he knows how to make enemies everywhere,… he constantly contradicts the great majority not through words but through deeds. Unsurprisingly, then, the great or higher man lacks the “congeniality” and “good-naturedness” so often celebrated in contemporary popular culture. A great man… is incommunicable: he finds it tasteless to be familiar…. More than that, though, the higher type deals with others, when he has to, in a rather distinctive way: A human being who strives for something great considers everyone he meets on his way either as a means or as a delay and obstacle — or as a temporary resting place. Thus, a great man…wants no ‘sympathetic’ heart, but servants, tools; in his intercourse with men, he is always intent on making something out of them. The great man approaches others instrumentally not only because of his fundamental proclivity for solitude, but because of another distinguishing characteristic: he is consumed by his work, his responsibilities, his projects.
On the S-E's risible editorial today:
To characterize The Junction as brimming with "commerce and vibrancy" is absurd on its face. Plus the S-E conveniently forgets that this most unprofessional mayor could have begun the rebuilding three years earlier if he'd allowed the CitiVenture proposal to move forward. Whatever CitiVenture's shortcomings, it could be no sillier than what's there now. For those who love Ogden, this was three criminally wasted years.
If I can discern this mayor's egregious (and daily) ethical lapses, so can everyone else. And, in fact, they do. The elephant in the room, folks, is that a critical segment of Ogden's electorate will not stand for a female or non-Mormon mayor. That is the essence of the election just past.
So welcome to four more years of even bigger and better Vangates, Greiners, Petersons, Geigers, Leshems, Khashoggis, Reids, Harmers, Bootjacks, Shupe-Williams conflagrations, Union Station kiss-offs, stinking water, atrophying public services, empty horse stables, and GRAMA tramplings. All in the name of having a mayor with that divine seal of approval.
Godfrey will "mend fences" when Shelley Winters dies of anorexia. Oops, she's dead already ... let's try when Angie Dickinson combs her hair.
Wonderful posts. Bobby Geiger sent Porter a 'love letter' today and to everyone on his mailing list... also nearly evryone in the city.....where DOES he get these addresses?
The gist was that he denigrated, Jeske, me, Littrell , Dan and anyone else who has dared to speak up.
The SE editorial just misses the mark.
THEY have helped cause the rift in this town by constantly shoring up Godfrey, endorsing him in spite of KNOWING his misdeeds, so many people wrote letters and commentaries that were never accepted. You can bet they were read by the Board...so no excuse to keep that info from the public.
Godfrey has committd so many egregious acts against the citizens, individually and collectively.
He has stated in print that he has no intention of changing himself for the better.
"If you don't like me...lump it"...or as he told a cop who brot up some issues in a meeting.."If you don't like working here...leave!"
Well, we can get used to 4 more years of verbal abuse, threats, firings, at his whim, lies, abuse of power, and the list goes on and on.
Gadi Lesham, his indicted thug friend, has been allowed to purcahse Riverfront properties. Will he be an absentee landlord....guess so if the tile king actually goes to the slammer in CA.
Peterson has never publicly declared what he will do with the Wall Ave properties.
We know, tho, that Godfrey wants a WalMart there.
Sheesh. First ugly gondola towers and now a WalMart.
He has Miller's Theatre in direct competition with Tinseltown. What will WalMart do to enhance commerce?
I'm just sickened when I see ALL the building, new restaurants, stores, etc in Riverdale, and nothing new here!''WE should have had Penney's back in Ogden. People love Penney's. It was an Ogden fixture for decades. WE could have TJ Maxx, and the better retaurants in Ogden.
Two years of gondola pushing instead of real economic development.
Two years of divisiveness because of a massive ego running amok.
Susie brot up a good point at the CC mtg Tu nite. Trucks are driving on that lousy repair job on Country Hills. The one that was repaired using $43,000. of our snow removal money. (Isn't that the sum Reid was slipped under the table?)
The road is in bad shape, and some homeowners near there have swampland where their yards used to be.
I think we have to very vigilant. Godfrey made a covenant with himself on Mount Ogden. HE'S the owner. That's a bogus 'covenant' and we better watch him like a hawk.
Have any of you taken the 'toll road' south from Ogden Regional? A very pretty drive out to 89...but there are massive homes going up on the hillside above the road. It occured to me that that is where Peterson should build his million dollar gated community.
Would someone pls explain why a good portion of the &247,000. that Godfrey earmarked for another gondola study...(how redundant can this guy be?) is to reimburse Peterson for costs associated with his non-existent plan? If Godfrey wants another gondola study, and I think Blain Johnson is on record as agreeing, then the gondola issue really isn't dead is it?
What monies did Peterson ever sink into any planning? He wanted the city to pay for all preliminaries.
Oh, I get it...was that money earmarked for Ellison's fees?
Well, since Sharon above re-rasied the topic of building on steeply sloped lands again [however tangentially], thought I'd mention that there's an editorial in today's SL Trib strongly supporting Draper's proposed regulation of developers on such lands. Here is the headline...
Grabbing hold: Draper should get tough on hillside development
... and the opening graphs:
Draper is wisely considering putting some teeth into its geologic-hazards ordinance, not to bite developers but to help protect and educate home buyers while guarding the city against liability. It's a no-brainer; the city should act. Nevertheless, some developers strongly oppose the changes. It's easy to see why: It would undoubtedly cost them money. It would require them to foot the bill for more thorough geologic studies by qualified professionals and to shore up sites near slide-prone hillsides.
It could also prevent some development within potentially hazardous areas. That's particularly onerous to certain developers, since some prime-view lots - the most lucrative ones - lie on those slippery slopes. Developers, especially unscrupulous ones, defend the status quo, in which they provide a cursory engineering study, get a permit to build homes on slide-prone hillsides and skedaddle before gravity starts pushing the homeowners, their homes and their belongings downhill. The city, which has been complicit because it allowed the homes to be built on unstable land, is left holding the bag and often a lawsuit.
The whole editorial makes a good deal of sense to me and is worth the reading.
For those who want more information about the lawsuit, here's the press release that the Sierra Club sent out yesterday:
For Immediate Release -- 14 November 2007
SIERRA CLUB SUES OGDEN OVER OPEN RECORDS VIOLATIONS
The Sierra Club has filed suit in Second Judicial District Court to compel Ogden City to better comply with Utah's Government Records Access Management Act (GRAMA).
On several occasions over the last two years, Ogden City has responded inadequately to the Sierra Club's requests for records under GRAMA. In various instances the city has failed to provide requested public records, failed to adequately describe withheld records, failed to disclose the existence of certain records, and failed to locate certain records that were later found. This lawsuit is intended to bring the city's responses to two recent requests into compliance with the law, and to set a precedent to improve the public's access to Ogden City records in the future.
The lawsuit was filed on October 30, regarding GRAMA requests originally made in June and July. Both requests were for records related to the so-called "gondola" project proposed by Mayor Matthew Godfrey and would-be developer Chris Peterson. The Sierra Club has made every effort to resolve this matter informally and through formal administrative appeals to the city. At this point the only remaining remedy is to go to court.
The Sierra Club filed these two GRAMA requests, and earlier ones, because of the secretive nature of Ogden City's planning in relation to the gondola proposal. In June the Sierra Club requested records of communication between the city and UTA, as well as other records pertaining to gondola-related studies. In July the Sierra Club requested records of communication between the city and Peterson.
In both cases the city provided certain records to the Sierra Club, but withheld other, unspecified records as "protected," allegedly because they are either in draft form, they include attorney-client communications, they contain confidential bid information on contracts, or they contain confidential information on incentives offered to businesses.
The Sierra Club's lawsuit centers on the fact that the city has not provided sufficient information to justify the protected status of the withheld records. The city has described the records only in broad categories such as "draft agreements" and "correspondence". The city has not disclosed the number of withheld records or provided a specific justification for withholding each record. Yet the GRAMA statute requires that the government provide a description of each withheld "record" (singular), and the State Records Committee has ruled in the past that withheld records must be "definitively identified . . . with reasonable specificity." Mark Haik v. Town of Alta, 07-08. Although Utah's GRAMA statute has not yet been fully interpreted by the courts, similar laws in other states and at the federal level have been interpreted to require the government to provide an itemized list of withheld records, with sufficient description to give the requester a "meaningful opportunity to contest" each record's protected status. Fiduccia v. United States DOJ, 185 F.3d 1035, 1043 (9th Cir.1999).
In addition, the Sierra Club has appealed the protected status of one record whose existence is not a secret: an early draft version of the agreement signed in August between Ogden City and UTA, regarding the exchange of a $247,500 federal bus facilities grant for other funds to be spent on studies of the proposed gondola project. Emails already obtained by the Sierra Club indicate that the Ogden City Administration hoped to use most of this exchanged money to reimburse Peterson for his expenses related to the gondola proposal. The emails also hint that the draft agreement may contain an itemized budget that lists these expenses. Such a budget could shed a great deal of light on aspects of the proposal that have been kept under wraps by the city. Significantly, the emails also indicate that the draft agreement was circulated to Peterson. According to GRAMA, a draft document that is circulated outside the government is a public record and must be disclosed.
The Sierra Club hopes to recover its costs from this litigation, because the GRAMA statute encourages the court to award attorneys' fees to a requester who substantially prevails in a judicial appeal.
Perhaps I should also comment on the timing of the lawsuit. The city's GRAMA ordinance provides some very strict--and short--time limits for filing administrative and judicial appeals. After the October 1 decision on our first administrative appeal, we had only 30 days to appeal to District Court. So the timing of the lawsuit had nothing to do with the election. In fact, we intentionally decided to keep the lawsuit quiet until after the election, so people wouldn't think it was some kind of election-related ploy.
Rudi:
Regarding the alleged Bib Geiger prosecution, how in the world to do you suppose he is being prosecuted in South Ogden for actions you allege happened in Ogden City? Huh?
Explain:
Captain Short-deck Geiger's case was shipped to South Ogden because his buddies in the Weber County and OTown legal jurisdiction wouldn't touch it, as they all eat onions and rave about gondolas together, that being a conflict of interest. This is a common occurrence. Furthermore, it is known that Lying Little Matty Gondola Godfrey would like to take a trip to Europe with Short-deck to view their adjudication of criminal mischief cases involving gondolas. We will pay for the airfare, but the European courts will pay for lodging and food. Lying Little Matty will cough up the $950 for his wife's plane ticket. How could OTown forget? Christ Almighty: 449 votes.
THE SKI IS DRAPED IN A DENSE BLACK SHROUD
Explain:
Fair question. Don't know the answer, but will be interested to learn it. I'd speculate that to avoid appearance of favoritism, it might be being handled by a court the magistrates of which have no connection to the Ogden City administration. But that's just a guess. [Is there such a thing as a change of venue in a Justice Court? I don't know.]
I feel great. I have cancelled my subscription to the SE and I am moving up to the Tribune.
Liberated.
I hope you are also avoiding businesses that supported the Godfrey Machine during the campaign.
I have. Just another form of political action.
Yes! Unify Unify Unify. Boycott Boycott Boycott.
Insincerity justified as political action is still insincere. Within your rights obviously, but it makes supporters of the campaign Van Hooser ran look pissy and bitter-rather than the positive community minded people they wanted to present themselves as.
If Van Hooser had won I would continue to support the members of the community that make this place the place it is-regardess of who they voted for. Just as I will do with Godfrey as the winner.
Now excuse me while I go egg my neighbors house...his sign was different than mine.
Liberated and Tit For Tat:
Liberated: sorry to hear you've dropped the SE. You're going to miss a great deal of what happens in Ogden, because however good the SL Trib stories might be on Ogden, the paper covers events in this city only intermittently. Very intermittently.
Tit for Tat: Well, here's the problem with such boycotts. It is generally unwise as a political tactic to call one unless you are damn sure you can significantly affect the boycotted's bottom line. That's why the calls to boycott Descente products that were common here a while back struck me as not wise. I doubt Descente even noticed the handful of people who had previously bought Descente products who said they were stopping. And an announced boycott by people --- like me --- who don't buy ski sweaters and such like anyway --- is absolutely pointless.
Such personal boycotts serve only, as a rule, to make the boycotter feel better. Fine if it works for you, but I wouldn't expect it to have any measurable impact.
There really are only two possible outcomes to a call for personal boycotts of businesses owned by people who supported a candidate you did not. They will have no effect the business owner will notice [most likely], or they'll work, in which case a formerly successful business in Ogden will suffer, people may lose jobs, and --- unlikely but we're talking hypotheticals here --- a business in Ogden may close.
Neither outcome seems desirable to me. And generally, I think it's a bad idea, bordering un-American, to try to punish people for how they voted. I'd be incensed... I think many of us here would... if the Mayor tried to punish someone who voted for his opponent in the race by cutting of business, etc. And rightly so. Those of us on the other side, seems to me, shouldn't be looking for ways to do the same.
Rise Above:
Generally agree, except for your attributing actions/plans of one or some here who opposed Godfrey to the broader category of those who supported SVH. But, to be fair [however annoying some find it], I'll grant that some here made the same broadening assumptions about what some of Godfrey's more rabid supporters did during the election, implying all of those who supported his re-election were similarly ethically challenged.
Not wise when anyone does it, from either side.
In the end, the morning after election day, we all woke up --- or most of us did --- in Ogden. Winners and losers alike, those happy with how the mayors race and each of the Council races came out, and those not, still residents of the city, still looking [I hope] for ways to make it work better over the next four years than it has over the previous four. Or we should be.
Enough. While you're egging your neighbor's house, I'll be donning my flak jacket....
what is the bobby geiger lawsuit about?
anyone else notice that the wife killer cop in IL...# 3 is dead, # 4 is missing bears a striking resemblance and demeanor to Greiner?
I just reread that sign on Godfrey's desk...the one that says 'the fear of the next election is the beginning of bad government'
What a laugh! So, now we know why the last 8 years have been so unbearable with this despot. He's been scared. ooohhhhh
Curm, it's South Ogden because short deck, as you may recall was operating as lying little matty's campain agent when dicovered by Neil Hanson, removing one of his signs. The Ogden City prosecutor works for the mayor. As to boycotting descente, there are 2 very good reasons, the first, their behavior thru-out the last 3 years was more than an adequate justification. They harrased anyone opposed and tried to get some fired from their livelyhoods.
The second, somewhat self serving, but maybe the best. They sell nothing but cheeply made, ugly, overpriced chinese manufactured junk, not worth a fraction of what you pay for it. There are much better functional and stylish options available. Plus, who wants to benefit the loudest most stupid cheerleaders for the land scam involving our most cherished assets? They have no retail, generate no tax revenue, who wants or needs them.
They are nothing but pariahs, and its from their own behavior.
Thank you, Bill. So, Bob is going to court over stealing signs while working for Godfrey?
There is a Santa Claus after all...his name is Justice.
Curm, if you want to know, I am not organising a boycott of businesses.
I am however being cognizant of where I spend my money, and which businesses supported Godfrey.
I dont like the guy, he's created so much hate in this city, he has used tactics on business owners, and employees that I dont agree with.
Yea, I may not make a dent on the bottom line of those businesses, but it is my money, and will not spend it in places that support the actions and vision of Godfrey.
I am not a sore looser, I just do not like Godfrey.
Oh, one other thing, maybe those businesses will only be able to contribute $4990.00 to the next Godfrey campaign if is pend my money else where.
tit for tat,
Just keep in mind that not every business that displayed a Godfrey sign was a Godfrey supporter. I have it on good authority that some (I don't know how many) of those signs were put up without the permission of the business owners, but they were afraid to take the signs down.
Personally I think carrots work better than sticks in these situations. Try to go out of your way to support businesses whose politics you agree with, and thank them while you're at it.
And remember, as Rise Above says, that businesses usually affect the community in a lot of other more important ways than by supporting this or that candidate.
If one truly wants to mend fences and contribute to our community moving onward and upward together, it would be wise to stop the demeaning name calling i.e. "little matty", references to Nazi leadership (Obersturmanbannfuhrer & Sturmabteilung) and poking fun and degrading whomever doesn't share the same opinion. These tactics only lessen the name caller's credibility and character. We can do better.
Bill:
You gave as a reason to boycott Descente, this: The second, somewhat self serving, but maybe the best. They sell nothing but cheaply made, ugly, overpriced Chineese manufactured junk, not worth a fraction of what you pay for it. There are much better functional and stylish options available.
Bill, if you're buying other stuff because you think its better value, that's not a boycott. That's the market at work. You find competing products a better buy, so you buy them. Nothing remotely approaching a boycott, that.
Mending:
With due allowance for the occasional use of sarcasm and irony in political posts, I think you're right.
TFT:
Didn't mean to read more into your first post than you intended, if I did. There were others here who have called for a boycott of Godfrey-signed businesses in the past, and your post provided an opportunity to discuss the topic post-election. My apologies if I implied you were advocating something you were not.
Oh Curm, I know.
Turns out I was out of eggs.
So I just poured a glass of scotch and toasted him for helping me out with my leaves last week.
On he said/she said journalism:
Well, it's not just frequenters of WCF who are complaining. This from an entry on Dispatches from the Culture Wars, Ed Brayton's science blog:
This is the same moronic definition of "objective" that we see from people who think journalists should present both sides of an argument without comment, even if one side is clearly lying or wrong. That's not objectivity, it's stupidity.
Neil Hansen told me that Godfrey wanted him to be a team player. This meant bringing Neil on board for the projects that happen in the downtown area that Neil represents. I guess that we will see just how much of a team player the mayor is, or where exactly Godfrey's honesty lies. Or was this just a bribe to get Neil to endorse his campaign? I guess that only time will tell.
Bill,
I'd probably not buy Descente. Bob and Curt have been extremely unfriendly and non-negotiable over this whole thing. The crazy thing is that it is mostly over the opposition to the town gondola which, if anyone of the LiftOgden loyalists took their head out of their ass long enough to research gondola systems would find them to be stupidly impractical as an urban transit conveyance. In the 2 years of hot Ogden gondola push not a single other one has been proposed elsewhere in the world for such an urban use.
Descente is also a Japanese owned company. For sake of supporting, at the very least, American ownership, I'll buy Burton, Sessions, Quicksilver, 32, DC, when I can. I'd have to disagree with you about quality of Chinese made snow gear. These contract manufacturers deliver amazing quality, consistency, and details that American manufacturers simply don't have the tooling or work force to match. Note that you can buy sneakers at WalMart for under 20 dollars that are indistinguishable in material and detailing and likely made in the same contract factory as the logo infested American overpriced brands. My tolerance for overpriced American branded, Chinese manufactured goods is thin. In some instances, the functional design and R/D are worth paying for, like in the case of Burton. At some price point, I won't care at all who owns the label and logo or where it is manufactured. I want more for my dollar and to China it may go. I'd rather my dollar go to a completely Chinese firm than to a firm whose principals disrupt local politics and push for the sale of public lands for an ill-concieved non-proposal and call opponents who live in the same neighborhood names. These guys will never swallow their gondola obsession. If the head engineer for Doppelmayer told him straight to his face that it was a stupid idea they may not flinch. Of course Doppelmayer is in the business of selling gondolas, not passing judgment on how foolish is the installation. It would be bad business for them to get involved either way. They will gladly sell these nincompoops from Ogden an urban gondola if they can cough up the cash. UTA is simply trying to be nice even entertaining the possibility. I am shocked that they do not take a stronger stance and tell these gondola jockeys to get off the urban gondola high horse. They are simply not going serve the city well and they won't hear it.
It's rather plain to see that if the SE practiced anything close to real journalism, they could never have endorsed lying little matty.
Instead of accusing them of stupidity, I'll accuse them of knowingly performing the way they have to accomplish a desired outcome.
And to those that don't like calling a spade a spade,(lying little matty), even after victory he continues lying. You've heard him thru out the last week, he just can't bring himself to tell the truth.
On another note, I'm not too suprised to see that Don Porter and the charged criminally mischeivious, short deck geiger are pen pals. His latest e-mail offering should serve to show that they have no intention of coming together with any opposing entities. What is it with Dorene that causes him to draw conclusions, based on his own fantasies, that she has done anything but protect what she feels is in the best interests of the people. Is short deck a deamon possessed?
Tec, I agree that it's hard to find any US made anything, and I will never don anything made for descente. On a lighter note, our dollar is sinking at a pretty rapid pace, Canada has caught up to us and will probably pass us. It may not be too long before some of our old American manufacturers that fled to Mexico concider the merrits of returning.
As for the Mayor kissing and making up with the people who he has offended over the past years while in office.
I dont think he is going to kiss the asses that are connected to the toes he has stepped on.
Just Another....
Sigh. It's not a matter of "kissing and making up," or "kissing ass" either. It's a matter of the Mayor realizing that both his own interests as a politician and the best interests of the city would be served by the city's chief executive officer being a lot less secretive, a lot less confrontational, and a lot less cavalierly dismissive of those who think differently than he does on various matters. That Ogden needs to be governed well, that the form of government the people of the city have chosen is the Mayor/Council form of government, and that to be governed well, a respectful, cooperative relationship between the Council [as the city's legislative body] and the Mayor [as the city's executive] is essential. None of that involves "kissing ass" -- by the Mayor or the Council.
Constant war and kissing ass are not the only options on the table, post-election, for either the Mayor or the Council. That the Mayor understands this, or is capable of understanding it and acting accordingly, I am not optimistic, given his past performance. But the two polar opposites you offer are not the only choices available.
Curm:
Thank you for bringing our attention to that false dichotomy. Along the same lines, I've recently heard one of the mayor's supporters suggest that "unity" pretty much requires putting an end to all disagreement.
Once again, with feeling: The problem isn't that people sometimes disagree. The problem is when they treat their opponents disrespectfully through deception, name calling, and coercion.
I put most of the blame on the mayor because, well, he's the mayor and it's his job, among other things, to set an example of the tone in which the city's business should be conducted. But that's no excuse for the inappropriate tone that some people use on this blog. Yeah, I'm talking about you, Bill. And you, Rudi. Lay off the Nazi jokes, ok?
I'll second that Dan, on the Nazi references. Glenn Greenwald has a great writeup on the neocon use of the Nazi card and constant references to appeasements pre-WWII as we now fight WOT.
Using those references diminishes awareness of the comprehensive terror wrought by the Nazis. When used for sake of getting the attention of the opposing party it fails as it falls into the category of name calling as some compete to put out more misrepresentative characterizations.
Usually these days when people refer to Nazis, they refer to the regimentation by force and unswerving allegiance enforced by death or banishment. "The Soup Nazi" on Seinfeld portrays the reference perfectly. While that picture has some accuracy it was the death camps that was the true terror of the Nazis after using Jews as source of societal ills as reason for confinement. The extermination and starvation was largely as result of the inability to maintain confinement for millions. Expediency of management forced the end result. Clever Nazis.
The soft Nazi picture, popularized by Hogan's Heroes is largely responsible for the common picture of a "Nazi" In all the hyper energetic "Seig Heils" and and security oversight by the SS and threats of assignment to the Russian Front they never mentioned the holocaust. America and the baby boomer generation and their offspring get their world view from TV.
Was ist dieses? Herr Schroeder mag nicht nazi Hinweise? Und er denkt, daß Rudi dies als Witz tut?
Not to worry, nazi reference police. Neither professor Schroeder nor Tec Jonson were old enough to remember WWII. Neither or either of them able to remember the lead-up, which pushed Adolph Hitler to the politial forefront during the 'thirties.
Startling, Tec Jonson (what a surprise) reduces the world experience since the end off WWII to Teevee Shows his generation has watched on TeeVee.
Please give us a break here.
Your blogmeister believes ALL Americans need to look to history, now that the Right Wing Socialists have absorbed the Utah Republican Party into its giant right-wing socialist net.
Nazi references will continure here on WCF.
As for you politically-correct panty-waists... your posting rights will never be banned, although we do confess we like laughing at Political Pantywaists.
Rudi:
Ah, Rudi.... Two points:
1) Sad though I am to have to say it, I suspect [from my students] that an appalling number of Americans do get their understanding of history [such as it is] from films and TV. Yes, as you say, all Americans should be familiar with history red in tooth and claw, and based on reasonable correspondence with the evidence. But sadly, I think Tec is right that many of them are not.
2) "Panty-waists." Oh, lord.... Thinking that effectiveness matters more than self-indulgence in politics, and that over-claiming undermines political effectiveness rather than enhances it, does not make people who think that way "panty-waists." Once again, in any political contest, the only people in play, really, are the undecideds. They are the one's you need to bring over to your point of view, because they are still movable. The fully committed on both sides are not. And when you over-claim ---- by, say, likening Ogden's Mayor [who, Lord knows, has his problems] to a Nazi --- it tends to make the uncommitted dismiss all of what you say as unreliable, because the Nazi claim is so over the top. It's the of a piece with people who try to tell me "Hillary Clinton is a comunnist!" From that point on, pretty nearly everything they have to say on political matters goes in one ear and out the other as not worth taking seriously. I suspect, Rudi, that the same happens with "Godfrey is a Nazi" claims.
Yup, compadre, looks like yet another topic on which we'll have to agree to disagree.
Thank goodness for citizens like Wicks and Hansen who will see Geiger in court for his vandalism.
Now, Huntsman needs to step up as a moral leader and slap down Godfrey for using the Governor's voice in the phone dialer, the radio ad, the mailer, and being quoted in newspapers that he's "grateful for any support the Governor gives me."....when he knows the Governor does not endorse any candidate....nor did Godfrey have Hunstman's permission to mislead the people as he did.
I'm disappointed in Huntsman for stepping back from this. That kind of flabby 'leadership' only encourages the Godfrey's of the world. Ooops, are there any others as egotistical and grandiose in their own legends as Godfrey?
Have you actually read any of Hillary's writings, starting with her college essays?
I'd say she's a communist.
Huntsman is not dumb Sharon! He knows that Godfrey is an asshole. Huntsman repeats this theme to his friends and supporters many times a day.
Sharon-
Get a clue and get out once in a while. Why would Huntsman go after Godfrey? He has much bigger fish to fry. Although it is clear Huntsman is no fan of the little gadfly, it would do him absolutely no good to go after him.
Fascinating isn't it, how even the so-called liberal acedamics refuse to take a rear mirror view of the rise of Hitler's national socialism, in comparison to our modernly rising American right-wing corporo-fascist socialist state.
If you mention German Nazis, our dumbed down population thinks of Colonel Klink. If you have the audacity to compare Matthew Godfrey's thuggish methods to Adolf Hitler's in his early days, our tenured university professors shout you down because -- OH MY! -- you used the "N" (nazi) word. God save us from the politically correct!
Screw the professors. Keep on speaking the truth, Rudy!
Carl:
Good Lore, Carl... if you have to go back to the college essays of a Senator in her late 50s is it, to find evidence of "communist" leanings, you're on pretty thin ice. I've been reading college essays for 35 plus years now, and I'd venture to say damn few of the people who wrote them would, thirty years down the road, hold the same ideas anything close to them. Which is a good thing. People grow, learn from experience, change. Coupled with college essays are generally written with a specific assignment, and professor, in mind, which --- though it shouldn't --- sadly often affects the line taken in the essay. Here college essays are proof she's a communist? Give me a break....
The claim that Senator Clinton is a communist is not worth taking seriously. By anybody.
Correct, Curmudgeon.
Hillary Clinton is not a Communist. She is merely a Marxist Socialist.
Hooo boy.... Hillary a communist or, on a good day, a Marxist Socialist. Godfrey a Nazi.
I think I'll check out for a while on this discussion. Somebody send me an email if it touches down in the real world anytime soon...
Ciao, paisans.
Dan, I have never refered to any of the current administration or their supporters as nazis, and you quite well that I have obstained, as hard as it's been, from resorting to profanity. As to the tone, well, I mad as hell, the lies continue and the deceit has never stopped. The whole gondola plan is just sitting there, waiting for better timing and nuance. Please be preparred for having to do so much of this all over again.
We'll need new material, as they know what valid points they were beaten with, so there will be a whole new approach, for the same thing.
Yep. She hasn't changed her views since those days of the '50's as you say, Professor.
So many of our colleges are leftist play grounds with the same mindset professors, that perhaps you can't see what's in front of you.
You're such a vociferous Democrat, Curm....are you ever listening to that woman?
Welfare from cradle to grave...barely out of the womb! And, take from the rich...give to the poor...the welfare takers, take profits from corporations...it goes on and on.
You need to take off your blinders.
Jeez, you egghead dorks are easy. Here it is (and please try to keep up):
Lying Little Matty Gondola Godfrey is a modern-day national socialist, in other words, a Nazi, OK, beloved Dan S.?
His paramilitary Eichmann is Bob Geiger.
Any questions?
Don't feed me that shit, Curmudgeon and Dan, and don't misappropriate your own animus for these clowns and shove it on me and Bill; say what you will about our methods and our articulation of such, but we are right and honest. And your attempts to prove us contrary to common aims are only exacerbating the situation, in re: Geigers love you panty-waist thinkers being soft.
That is all.
/Colonel Klink
Rudi,
You note that the sign stealer goes to court on "1/7/07"....don't you mean '08???
Be sure to post the court time....many of us will want to be there.
BTW Zues and Ogden Rebirth
My point is that Huntsman being GOVERNOR of the state, and should hold himself above such shenanigans and duplicity (ahem)....therefore needs to say in some publication or other that Godfrey was wrong, and he does not condone that behavior. He could also reiterate that he does not endorse candidates, and he hopes (but he won't say it) that voters were not mislead by Godfrey's actions. LOL
Hey Carl,
Why is that every time a republican prays, they pray for the democratic platform. In such that they say bless the poor and the needy and yet do nothing for them. They pray for the elderly yet do nothing for them. They pray for the starving but do nothing for the hungry. I think that it is you that needs to open your eyes.
Wow! What hubris...can only be a democrat who takes from the rich and keeps the poor poorer with all your welfare programs.
The democrats I hear on TV don't appear to pray....they want God out of schools, agree that "One nation, under God" should be deleted from the Pledge, Obama didn't put his hand over his heart during the Pledge! Who isn't scared of a predident named Barack Obama????
If Hillary doesn't scare you, I suppose he can't either. Maybe Dodd? Edwards?
But you keep praying for a democrat in the White House....you won't have to mate your socks because you'll be recruited as a suicide bomber and your feet will be blown off and your wife will be wearing a burka.
Mother, baseball......can't believe you would be so nasty about republicans.....there are a few democrats who would qualify as republicans because they have their heads on straight....but most are like Godfrey and his democrat father-in-law...
Good old Curm will chime in now and tell us that Godfrey is a republican, and he knows better, but he can't let a day go by without blaming something bad on republicans. Allen would never defend his 'precious character' son-in-law if Matt were truly a republican.
Carl...
When we pledge to the flag, just which god is we are a nation under? is god in heaven? Is it the budda god? or how about the Hindu god? or is it ala? how about the sun god? and the list can go on and on. So are we in a republic or a church? just how do we separate church from state? and is mitt running for prophet or the president of the U.S.? tell me how we can separate all this?
Can't you know, that George Bush is the appointed, I mean the elected prophet, I mean president of the Junited States of Mexico, I mean America.
The primary goal of communism and Marxism (if one is to believe Marx and Engels' Communist Manifesto) is the elimination of "bourgeois property," which is property generated by the owners of companies by exploiting the labor of those who work for them. We're basically talking about "profit" here. And how did ol Marx and Engels and their communist league buddies propose to do this? Make the workers the owners of the companies. You see, if the workers own the companies then any money the company makes off their labor still belongs to them. Since they thought it was unlikely that such a thing would happen in the private arena, they thought that the working class would have to stage a revolution, overthrow the state - which was simply a tool of the owners of industry - and use the power of the state to make the workers the owners of industry.
On the ill-informed/educated nature of [sadly] much of the American public: The SL Trib today has an interesting discussion in its Readers Advocate Column. Earlier this week, the paper ran a feature on how to spruce up Thanksgiving dinner. Nothing wrong with that, except the Trib ran it under the headline "Pimp My Feast".
You can imagine what happen. The Reader's Advocate's phone line lit up like a Christmas tree. Complaints poured in, objecting [rightly] that the headline was in poor taste and out of line for a newspaper story about new recipes for Turkey Day. [I agree; I would not have run that headline.] But one of the complainers' emails was, I think, profoundly depressing:
"My 16-year-old was shocked to see that published in the paper. 'If we're not allowed to say that at school, are they really allowed to say that in the paper?' was his question. He told me that a speaker recently came to their high school to further the students' understanding of the word and its derogatory origins. The word now disgusts him, his friends and the girls they know."
A high school student in Utah apparently believes that newspapers should not be allowed to use words in print that minors are not permitted to say while in school. Think about that: that papers should not be allowed to use words or terms that offend readers. Not be allowed.
Not be allowed by who? The government? [State? Federal? Local?] Which raises the question of whether the middle and high schools in Utah spend any time educating students about the bill of rights? About free speech and what that means? About that fact there there is not, anywhere, in the US Constitution [or the Utah constitution] an enforceable right not to be offended?
Truly sad. Sad also that the complaining parent... an adult we must presume... apparently saw nothing wrong in his or her child's belief that newspapers should "not be allowed" to offend readers by using words students aren't allowed to use in school.
The proper response to the Trib's ham-fisted headline was to lambaste the paper by phone, mail and email for its bad taste. Which many did. But arguing that bad taste in the press should "not be allowed" is a very different thing.
Pretty depressing, I thought, and a sadly typical indication of the sadly widespread weakness of American history and American civics education in the US generally.
Real Journalism --- or What the SE Should Be Doing And Too Often Isn't
Interesting piece this morning on www.cnn.com. It's from New Orleans. Here are the opening graphs:
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- A system of floodgates and pumps built since Hurricane Katrina to help alleviate flooding in several New Orleans neighborhoods may not be as much help as authorities first said.
The Army Corps of Engineers test canal pumps in New Orleans in August.
The Army Corps of Engineers released flood risk maps on a block-by-block basis on June 20, but didn't include some technical data, preventing independent assessments of the accuracy of the maps.
The maps showed that the improvements made to the city canals' drainage systems would reduce flooding during a major storm by about 5.5 feet in Lakeview and nearby neighborhoods. The maps were based on a storm that has the likelihood of occurring at least once in 100 years.
But in a report released November 7, Corps scientists estimated that the actual benefit the system would provide would be just 6 inches.
The discrepancy was tucked into the voluminous report's appendices, and neither the Corps nor the scientists hired to conduct the study brought the changes to the public's attention when the report was released. It wasn't until New Orleans television station WWL-TV asked an engineer involved in the assessment about the discrepancy that it became known.
Note: A government agency issued a report, and WWL-TV decided to check it accuracy rather than merely accept the blizzard of numbers as graven in stone and handed down from the mount. And lo and behold, WWL unearthed a major story: the Army Corps of Engineers report claiming new floodgates and pumps would reduce flooding by 5.5 feet got it wrong. All those millions of dollars worth of new floodgates and pumps would only reduce flooding by six inches.
Now, had that report been issued here in Ogden, odds are the SE would have [given past performance] printed it straight and unexamined. Congratulations to WWL-TV, New Orleans for committing journalism. And I hope the news editors of the SE notice that not only did WWL get a major story out of doing what the press is supposed to do, it also in the end served the public interest.
Here is a link to the full story in hopes the SE's news editors will read it. And take notes.
Did they mean "plump" my turkey, ???? hmmmm?
Pimp my turkey makes me wonder if the turkey was put out on 4th S and 2nd W to bring in a little cash for the sweet potatoes and cranberries.
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