We find three very interesting items in this morning's Standard-Examiner, the most interesting of which by far is this morning's Ace Reporter Schwebke story, reporting that the Utah ACLU is in the process of preparing a GRAMA documents production request, in connection with its ongoing investigation of voting irregularities in last month's mayoral election. We incorporate here the lead paragraphs of this morning's story:
OGDEN — The ACLU says it will file a public records request in the next several days because its attempt to investigate complaints of voting irregularities in last month’s Ogden mayoral election has been rebuffed by the Weber County Clerk’s Office.Mr. Schwebke's article goes on to extract language from Mr. McEwan's November 20 press statement, which could lead the cynical among us to conclude that Mr. McEwan's office is stonewalling the ACLU:
The records request will be made to obtain information from Weber County Clerk/Auditor Alan D. McEwan, who has "refused" to meet with ACLU officials until mid-December, said Marina Lowe, staff attorney for the ACLU of Utah, based in Salt Lake City.
McEwan’s apparent unwillingness to talk with the ACLU about the integrity of the election is perplexing, Lowe said.
“I’m surprised he’s not willing to have a forthright discussion with us,” she said in a Tuesday phone interview.
McEwan could not be reached for comment.
However, in a written statement issued on issued last week, McEwan said his office doesn’t intend 'to expend further county resources and taxpayer dollars to appease a very few disgruntled people who have their own agendas or selfserving issues.'We live in a political climate, gentle readers, wherein it seems we're all inclined to project the most sinister possible motives upon any public official who doesn't immediately come forth to demonstrate a commitment to open and transparent government. We're usually well aboard that bandwagon ourselves. In this instance however, we'll urge our readers to avoid drawing negative conclusions regarding this story until all facts are out in the open -- which they will be very soon. All we can say at this time is that we are in possession of information, obtained confidentially, which will make Mr. McEwan's knee-jerk detractors feel pretty silly once the true facts are revealed. For now you'll have to take our word for it, and we therefore urge you all to try to avoid "getting your panties in a bunch."
We'll also briefly highlight a story from the Std-Ex "Outdoors" section, entitled "Ogden Ice Tower plans taking shape," wherein Robert Johnson reports "somebody" (the Std-Ex doesn't precisely specify whom) will soon be erecting a giant freezer building on the corner of 25th and Kiesel avenue, to enclose Jeff Lowe's giant one of a kind Ice Tower. From this article we get these perplexing and paradoxical quotes:
“On all sides, except for fundraising, things are going well,” Ogden Chief Administrative Officer John Patterson said.From the forgoing it seems quite clear to us that this project bears the stamp of the always-optimistic Boss Godfrey Administration. These jokers have no clear idea how much it will cost or where the funding will come from... yet people like John Patterson are confident it will "pay for itself." And we're also wondering aloud: How did $200,000 in RAMP funds get committed to this project?
The final cost for the tower is still to be determined, but is estimated to be just more than $1 million. RAMP funds will contribute $200,000, but must be used within one year of the date issued unless an extension is granted.
Private donations from Lowe total about $100,000, according to Patterson. Ogden City is contributing $50,000 and an unnamed foundation may offer $250,000, although the foundation has not yet committed, according to Patterson.
Patterson is not worried about the progress of the tower and is confident that it will be built.
“It is going to go up. It will be built,” Patterson said. “It has the ability to pay for itself.”
Hooboy.
Finally, we'll briefly put the spotlight on this morning's Std-Ex article, wherein Marshall Thompson reports that the Powder Mountain expansion project, a project designed to build out the largest ski area in America, has temporarily stalled. And while the folks in Weber and Cache counties debate the merits of another mega-ski area, we in Ogden City will soon be focused again on our own home town "rinky-dink" resort.
Yes gentle readers, we are informed this morning by several reliable sources that Boss Godfrey has put Chris Peterson's "Malan's Basin" project (and his accompanying gondola systems) "back on the table." According to reliable sources, Boss Godfrey broke this good news to council chairman Garcia earlier this week, and Garcia passed this information on the council last night.
Perhaps that would explain the helicopters which have been buzzing around Malan's Peak for the past couple of days, with a passenger, plainly identifiable in the passengers' seat, wearing a Patagonia vest.
Update 11/29/07 10:16 a.m. MT: Ace reporter Schwebke this morning corroborates yesterday's report, i.e., that Boss Godfrey's Malan's Basin Resort/Gondola obsession still remains on the table -- we think. Strangely, Boss Godfrey admits that "the gondola" is still "on the radar," but denies he ever had a conversation on the subject with council chair Garcia. Is Godfrey suggesting Garcia made the whole thing up? Weird -- even for the sometimes "reality-challenged" Boss Godfrey.
36 comments:
Does anyone know what the expected operating cost is for the ice climbing tower? And how much will they charge people to use it? You'd think they would have had to submit some sort of business plan to demonstrate feasibility, in order to get the RAMP funds.
I have nothing against the ice climbing tower and I hope it's a great success, but I just can't help being skeptical.
Rudi:
Hmmmmm.... Mr. McEwan tells the press and public, in writing, that he's not going to waste the public's money by looking into allegations of election problems at the last election. But you tell us he is in fact looking into those allegations, despite his on the record statement to the press and public that he is not.
Which raises a problem, seems to me. Does what you've been told mean that Mr. McEwan's snit-fit declaration to the citizenry that he won't waste any public time or money on this is [to use the phrase Richard Nixon's press secretary used when Nixon had been caught out in a lie] "no longer operable"? And I've yet to see from Mr. McEwan any clear, direct statement to the effect that he's going to find out what happened --- or didn't --- no matter who was involved and take whatever action is necessary to see that if something did go awry, it will not go awry again on his watch. Can't help but wondering why he hasn't said that. Or did he, to the little bird that apparently speaks only to you? What he's told the public is that he's not wasting his time looking into what happened.
Both messages... his to the public on the one hand, and his to you via the little bird on the other... cannot both be true, seems to me.
Maybe what residents of Ogden need to do is run out and join the Audubon Society, in hopes they too will be able to find the little bird that Mr. McEwan apparently speaks to in ways he does not speak to the public and the press.
Dan, I too have serious doubts about the wisdom, or lack of , with this ice thing.
I was under the impression that it was ramp funds that purchased the structure to begin with. Would that not make it County owned?
The article states Ogden City is giving $50,000 to it and Lowe has gathered up another $100,000. Who will own thius thing? If it's private, is this an appropriate use of the tax money?
From the body of the article one can only assume that operating costs will be huge, kepping well conditioned ice year round.
Is the Couty going to dedicate an annual subsidy from the ramp funds to keep this thing working and open? Is the City?
Typical, just like the history of the Can Building, more questions than answers.
We wish we could provide more at this time, Curm; but we can't.
Many times you've admonished the readers of this board to sit back and wait for the facts to come in, before leaping to conclusions.
From our viewpoint it's the same message now, delivered however by a different messenger.
Curm, relax, don't you know this whole election mess will fall into the capable hands of Mark Decaria?
He's the one that has convienently overlooked all of lying little matty's transgressions for the past 8 years. He always finds a way to dismiss the greivence despite the exact verbage of the laws.
It's alot like your dismissal of Dorothy Littrel's campaim lawsuit.
Just because by the letter of the law she was right, doesn't mean they have to accept it. How about lying little matty's paying postage for absentee ballot requests and having them sent to his campain headquarters instead of to the County? This set up a possibilty to screen and withhold them for the purpose of not allowing enough time to fully complete the proccess, resulting in a disqualified ballot for arriving too late. One of many irregularities produced this election cycle. Does decaria even have the will to see things right?
For its location, the ice tower looks hideous. Yes, it is going to be placed near the blazee Fed building, a parking structure, and a glass box, but the ice tower looks like something straight of Star Wars. Is this something we really want at the heart of our town? I hope the ice tower is a success, too, but not at this location. Big-D park does sound more ideal (or somewhere else outside of downtown). Since the climbing tower at the Salomon Center is a dud (and there is one nearby at WSU), can't it be converted to the ice tower? Also, is it just me, or does Patterson always seem to be talking out of his ass?
Thank you for the Squirrel Patrol alert!, Rudi.
It's not surprising, since the leader of his own famed Squirrel Patrol, Wayne Peterson, was spotted meeting with Lying Little Matty Gondola Godfrey and his forehead prior to the election. Further, it corraborates the whispers by abhorrent, self-serving, really, really, really dumb and evil lieutenants in that famed patrol -- such as THE SKI IS BEAUTIFUL BLUE and the forehead's addled father-in-law, who used testimony meeting to bear witness to the God-directed "momentum" driving our beloved OTown -- that "once the election is behind us," THE GONDOLA will rise from its ashes, it being burned by rational thinking and factual analysis not conducted by eighth graders, and zip along on its Divine Mission, bringing a new prosperity to OTown not seen since the heady days of post-WWII railroad halcyon. We will bow in gratitude to the deliverers of this great gift, who reek of onions and speak nothing but lies and fabrications! "How are these children going to raise the requisite $40 million?" you might ask. Well, THE SKI IS BEAUTIFUL BLUE and Homer and Phidia Cutrubus have raised gondola-car sponsorships -- replete with numerous decals and, if one were to pony up enough dough, a bright zymotic yellow -- to $70K per. Total it up, ladies and gentelmen! In the words of the midget forehead's evil number-one henchman: "It's going to be built ... we're just a phone call away."
Ha! Ha! Ha!
Courage.
Rudi:
You wrote: Many times you've admonished the readers of this board to sit back and wait for the facts to come in, before leaping to conclusions.
True. And what has me concerned in this case is Mr. McEwan's declaration, on the record, that he's not going to spend his or his staff's time looking into the matter. If he means that, then the facts will not come out, at least not from his office, as they should. Sorry, Rudi, but private assurances [un-sourced] that a public official really didn't mean what he told the public, in writing, on the record, is not sufficient for me to sit back and relax. It shouldn't be sufficient for you either.
Part of what open government requires of a public official is open communication with the public. Mr. McEwan did communicate. He said he wasn't going to waste time looking into this. If he's now backed off that, retracted it and thinks differently, he needs to tell the public that, as openly and as on the record as he told us he was not going to investigate what happened. He may have told the little bird that then told you. That's not nearly enough to fulfill the minimal requirements of open government and public communication. Not by a long shot.
It's wrong when Godfrey does it. It's wrong when McEwan does it. It's wrong when Zogmeister says it's ok that he does it.
Hey Rossini, due to a strange anatomical querck, Patterson's vocal chords are located in his ass. That's why whenever he secretly whispers to his boss, lying little matty, it looks like matty's head his affixed to Patterson's deriere. Over the last 4 years this has become quite problematic however, as due to the rappid growth of lying little matty's nose because of his clinically diagnosed pinnoccio syndrome and his propensity to tell falsehoods, his nose now pokes too far into Patterson's behind. This causes Ptterson to have to turn up the volume alittle bit and allows close onlookers the ability to eavesdrop.
One solution they tried was to have Cavendish act as a go between and do the listening for lying little matty. They had to abandon this stategy due to the euphoria this posture caused Tom, I mean Cavendish to experience thus making his communications un-intelligable.
Word is they are now looking to forms of electronic media to rectify the problem.(no pun intended)
Discretion is the better part of valor, gentle Curnudgeon.I'd suggest you bottle up your "yellow dog democrat" schpiel, and await the revelation of the facts as they're revealed.
Soon, we think, both the ACLU and Weber County election officials will be marching in lockstep, drilling down on the abuses that the Godfrey campaign inflicted upon the 2007 Emerald City election campaign.
This will inevitably happen AFTER December 19, 2007, for reasons we are not presently authorized to disclose.
Sorry Rudi, I've got to side with Curm on this one. I'm not accusing, nor do I believe has Curm accused, anyone of sinister motives in this. But the ACLU should not have to file a public records request to get information necessary to conduct an investigation into "election irregularities." The County clerk's office should be willing and able to provide any and all public records (the key word being PUBLIC). The fact that you say you know something which will be revealed after Dec 19 which will explain everything does not let McEwan and the County clerk's office off the hook for shirking its public responsibility yesterday, or today. At the least Mr McEwan should make some public statement to the effect that he cannot provide the relevant information at this time but that it will be forthcoming soon.
I hate to say it Rudi, but your posts on this read an awful lot like those from the Geigers, et al - if you only knew what we know you wouldn't criticize. I wonder if you will heed your "discretion is the better part of valor" advice the next time Godfrey "refuses" to release relevant information to the public on some issue, but promises that such info will be forthcoming at which time all will be happy.
On the subject of the Ice Tower, why did the city cough up $50K? That money might be better used for fire engine repair, might it not?
Also, the bank is selling the ice tower's land for a nominal sum because they were concerned about liability. So the City will own the land and be liable if/when an accident happens? Yes, their are waivers, but a good lawyer never let a waiver stop them from suing.
Regarding the structure and placement of the affore mentioned holographic ice contraption, I would propose it be place in the nolonger used section of Farr's Ice Cream Building. They no longer make ice in the facility and alot of the hardware is there. This facility is famous for it's ice and has a long history in western ice lore.
Not only would it save alot of money by recycling the property for it's intended purpose, but it would also be strategically located next to the American Can Jackass sports building that the taxpayers have so heavily invested in. In fact it would provide an opportunity for the public to use their new $4 million parking structure.
It would also be in close proximity of gadi's high adventure walmart, which could provide the much needed foot traffic so crucial to it's success.
Why waste time and materials when there's such a workable solution just waiting to be utilized?
Reduce, re-use, recycle.
On location of ice tower:
Well, if it draws foot traffic to that block after 4:30 on week days or anytime on weekends, maybe it's not too bad a location. The two blocks [fed building/bank parking skirt and bank bldg] are stone dead as far as pedestrian traffic goes once the work day is over. If the goal is to promote a walking downtown, be nice to have an "alive" block between the revived blocks of 25th Street and Washington [which they tell us will soon be revived as well].
If it draws some significant foot traffic. The tower I mean.
Why would the world's only high-adventure recreation holographic ice tower be erected next to a bank and a fed building? Why not erect it in conjunction with the world's first high-adventure skee-ball and Whack-A-Geiger apparatuses that are being planned for the median on 12th Street and Monroe? Sure, there will be traffic issues, but THE GONDOLA will have a spur down there from 23rd and Harrison, and Lying Little Matty Gondola Godfrey and his Divining Rod, his forehead, are only asking us to sell our trees for this "project." Everyone fears change, but sometimes, when a community is near death and needs an economic engine that's been lacking since the railroad, we have to embrace a particular vision and allow our publicly owned trees to be harvested by a joker, squirrel-hating gravytrainer in a Patagonia vest who has a tangential relationship with a billionaire to rape our natural resources in order to build two of the world's most coveted high-adventure recreation games: skee-ball with bowling-sized sphere sent up a 50-meter ramp using jet propulsion; and Whack-A-Geiger games that will draw celebutantes from around the globe and 10 percent of the 3,000,000 travelers who pass by OTown on their way to Jackson Hole.
You can be heroes or zeroes; get on board the WAGSBGtrain. We will no longer allow the vocal minority to speak; we will shout about our skee-ball and Whack-A-Geiger dreams until they are realized and save us all! Plus, we love GONDOLAS!
Pancake batter.
How many people in Ogden give a wiz about climbing ice towers? I mean it must be an incredibly small number that do this. Is there even a hundred in the whole area that are drawn to this type of activity? If there were a hundred, it would be a small fraction of one percent. Yet here we go again with this bull shit of Godfrey dolling out lots of public money to support the activities of a miniscule number of the population - all friends of Matt no doubt.
As to the now obviously failed climbing wall that the tax payers of Ogden own, I was down there the other day and checking it out. One thing I noticed is that for every numb skull hanging on, or climbing the wall, it required an employee to man the safety rope that keeps the idiots from falling and killing themselves. It doesn't seem to me that with the cost of these employees and the cost of the ride, there is any way in hell the damn thing could possibly make any money even if it were a popular attraction.
Also while I was there I went up to the wind tunnel ride. There were half a dozen people there watching as a small boy was being instructed by none other than the fat guy from Golds Gym. After the kids family blew off a pile of money for his ever so brief encounter with the wind, they all left and the place was once again empty except for the half a dozen or so employees. I have been down there about half a dozen times so far, and each time there was a lot of hired help standing around and no customers (except the one this time). At no time while I have been there observing this colossal waste of over a million tax payer dollars have I ever been approached by one of the employees pitching me for a ride! None of them seem to give a hoot if any one is paying and riding or not. It seems that if they had even a hint of marketing or salesmanship with these people that they might at least stir up a rider or two on occasion. But hey, its gummint money so why should they give a squat?
I found it interesting that the fat guy named Nielson, you know the one that gets a hundred and forty thousand dollar a month subsidy from the tax payers of Ogden, was very expert at the wind tunnel ride himself! After he blew the paying kid off when his 6 minutes were up, the fat wizard jumped in hisself and rode the wind. He was very good at it, which I assume is a result of many hours of practice, on our tax paying dime of course. It is pretty amazing how graceful an old fat guy can look while pirouetting on a blast of air fueled by the dollars stolen from the poor abused citizens of Emerald City.
This trip to PeeWee's playhouse was starkly different than my other visits. I was there on Wed late afternoon and there was actually some customers milling around! The Mexican joint that serves its first class meals on very classy tin foil containers had four people in line and seven people sitting around eating! I had never seen any one eating in there over my past six visits!! Also saw six bowling lanes in use and three people playing the arcade games. The bumper cars were dark - I have never seen them moving - and the glow in the dark golfing was deserted as well. I went in the bar, which was completely empty, hung around for about five minutes, and nobody ever came in to try and sell me a cold one. I guess I could have pored my own ifn I were a drinkin man.
I'm telling you this twenty five million dollar investment of ours looks like a real turkey, a total flop, a sad joke on all of us. If it only had a nifty amusement park ride for the college kids to get there on, I'm sure it would all be a great success.
I am holding my breath for the June 30, 2007 Ogden City Audit to be opened up for public scrutiny.
I think this is when the s--- hits the fan when the taxpayers of Ogden get some numbers to chew on and we finally know what we are on the hook for financially.
that is, of course, assuming the figures have not been doctored.
Back to the controversy over what the County clerk's position is on the last election process in Ogden--
Read the current issue of the City Weekly printed in Salt Lake on their take of the problem --
It makes Utah look bad in general on the election process -- where is the Utah Attorney General on this issue ????????
How come the women are the ones speaking up about the election problems? Don't the men give a hoot?
Ironically, the people who are supposed to straighten out the problem happen to all be men.
I think we need to get some strong-willed women elected to state office and also to County Attorney positions. The guys just aren't doing the job.
The Lt. Governor being one of the top big guys who doesn't give a hoot --
The SL Weekly article Bring On Some Strong Minded Women talks about above can be found here. It is entitled Smells like 2000: Voting was supposed to have changed after the 2000 election fiasco. What happened? and it discusses election mishaps [unquestioned and alleged] in several places, but the main focus is on election matters in Ogden.
The city's $50k contribution to the ice tower is presumably the price that Godfrey had to pay to get Jeff Lowe's endorsement.
Dot connector and others:
OK, first, I am not an ice climber. I have no idea whether this will be a viable venue or not. That said, it does occur to me that it will be, if it goes up, something unique, and so something that may work as a "draw" for Ogden downtown. Not just of ice climbers, but of spectators. Yeah, I'll probably be among them, watching the crazy people climbing ice walls and columns. [No offense meant, Ice Climbers. It just seems painfully evident to me that anyone who thinks climbing a wall of ice in the freezing cold of midwinter is certifiably nuts. Not as nuts as base jumpers, of course, and only slightly less nuts than skydivers. But nuts none the less.]
Downtown Ogden need places, venues, stores, things that you cannot find in the Riverdale strip or the Mall or in every damn town shopping strip between here and Spanish Fork. Whatever else it may be, the ice climbing venue will be unique. [No, that does not mean it will necessarily be economically viable.] But if it turns out to be, it could be a plus worth having. And yes, I know the same argument was made for the wind tunnel ride and the surf ride, but for the former at least, pricing all but made it a sure loser over time, seems to me.
I don't know how the ice tower will be priced. Nor do I know its operating costs [power bill would be fairly high I imagine]. But the land seems to have been acquired at nominal cost. All I'm saying is that if the business plan is good and it turns out to be a viable venue, it could be a good thing for downtown Ogden.
And as for the RAMP funds contribution, I don't think the decision on what gets RAMP funds is exclusively the Mayor's to make. If I'm wrong about that, somebody let me know. But I think the approval process is a bit more involved than only the Mayor's say so.
I think there is a RAMP committee that decides who gets what.
I do not know who or how the committee members are chosen.
Someone - please enlighten us.
I strolled through the Junction last Sat. morning -- admittedly not peak time for its venues, but I was seriously put off by the pitch black of the desereted [Freudian slip] arcade compared with the brilliant sunny day outside. (Yes, Jason, the SKI WAS BEAUTIFUL BLUE.) "Who the hell would choose to be in here on 'this short day of frost and sun?'" I thought.
On the other hand, an out-of-state Gold's Gym member commented to me that he'd never seen a Gold's location anywhere that comes close to being as spiffy. Whether the gym is holding its own financially, I'm clueless. So yes, Ozboy, I share your serious reservations about the overall viability of the Junction. Will its fate be any different than the old mall?
And if it's true that Ed Allen was bearing testimony to the mayor's divine calling two days before the election, shame, shame. Ed knows perfectly well it's wrong; everyone listening to him knows it's wrong; but wink-wink, this is Utah. This is precisely why Mitt Romney is lying to claim he could bring himself to rebuff orders from Salt Lake City.
Hot off the press - Utah is the most depressed state in America!
Read about it in the DNews here:
Study: Utah most depressed state in the country
For some strange reason I do not find this surprising given our NeoCon State Legislature and especially our esteemed mayor Matt Godfrey LLB*.
There is about half of the population depressed because of the nutty voting patterns of the other half who keep re-electing these arrogant self centered Republicans. Who wouldn't be depressed when the voters keep putting that Coffin Model Orrin Hatch back in office time after time, or re-electing the most disingenuous scummy bastard imaginable to be Ogden's mayor? Hell I'm pretty depressed just thinkin about it!
* LLB - Lyin Lil Bastard
Curmudgeon: Pay attention. The $50k from the city (Godfrey) is on top of the $200k from RAMP.
Dot:
Ah. OK. I stand corrected... maybe. Did the City Council have to endorse that 50K grant? Or does the Mayor have a personal slush fund that large? [If he does, he shouldn't have. No Mayor should.] If the Council approved it, then responsibility for the grant... or blame if you prefer... has to be shared.
Curmudgeon: I don't know the answers to your questions, but it doesn't matter. One way or another, Godfrey got the $50k for Lowe and Lowe endorsed Godfrey.
I heard some utility bills could go up as much as 60 or 70 percent next year. Anybody else headed to the town meeting at 6? I guess as long as it fixes my gross water, I won't mind paying a few extra bucks. Still, I'd like to hear exactly what the Council is going to fix.
Cookie:
The proposed new rate structure will be revealed in full at the Thursday night meeting. But it's not likely to affect your "gross water." The money being raised does not include the millions necessary to build a new water treatment plant, or so the SE reported.
Speaking of water projects for Ogden, here's some cheery news:
Municipal Bond Deals Squeezed By Credit Crisis
By David Cho
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 29, 2007
The widening credit crunch is making it harder for cities and school systems to get money for buildings, ballparks and other vital projects from the $2.5 trillion market for municipal bonds, a sector of Wall Street that rarely sees trouble.
That is leaving them with a tough choice: either put off the projects, or pay higher interest rates on their bonds, a cost that ultimately would fall on the backs of taxpayers.
Hmmmm... and Ogden is about to go into the muni market to float a megamillions bond for water and sewer repairs. Uh oh....
The story does go on to report, though, that this affects mostly cities with poor credit ratings, which I don't think includes Ogden... yet. The NY Times did a story yesterday on how the collapse of housing prices [now estimated to reach in the end as much as 25% decline in housing values over the peak in some formerly "hot" real estate markets] is putting the crunch on municipal governments. As values fall and properties go into foreclosure, municipal property tax and sales tax revenues are starting to tank, leaving cities with the choice of bumping taxes or cutting services. From the NY Times story:
Across the country, local governments are feeling a financial strain driven largely by the nation’s real estate downturn. City finance officers predict slowing revenue even as they remain under pressure to keep spending, especially in areas like health care and pensions, according to an annual survey by the National League of Cities.
To handle budget deficits they now expect, many cities are increasing fees for services, and some are considering raising property taxes, said the report, to be released Thursday.
“We know what’s coming here,” said one author, Christopher W. Hoene, director of policy and research for the National League of Cities. “If the housing market continues to flatten out or even decline, we’re in for some tough times for cities.”
The signs are all around, in flattening property assessments (which mean flattening property tax revenue) as well as rising mortgage foreclosures, which also bode poorly for revenue collections.
According to some reports, though, the problem will impact most cities in places like south Florida and and California which saw huge run-ups in home prices/values during the boom. When I read that, I recalled the Geigers' argument that Ogden had missed out on the real estate boom, and that if only we'd sit still for the park sale and gondola charade, we would finally catch the real estate boom wave. Now, in retrospect, it seems a good thing that we didn't see here the kind of bubble real estate price boom we were told we ought to encourage. As a result, Ogden will probably not suffer the same revenue crisis the formerly boom towns are beginning to suffer now.
The Washington Post story can be found here . The NYT story can be found here. Both make interesting pre-Water Horizons Meeting reading I think.
Mathew Godfrey, LLB got so tired of hearing people say that he and his ideas didn't pass the smell test that he decided to do something about it. One day he saw an ad on TV for Odor Eaters and decided to give them a try. He bought a pair, stuck them in his shoes and suddenly disappeared.
Different Subject but incredible1
Today's Sub-Standard has another Schwebke article "Gondola still on the radar" (C-1) which gives further proof that Mayor Godfrey has to be a schizophrenic because I do not personally believe that Jesse Garcia hallucinates.
Garcia is quoted as saying that over lunch two weeks ago with Mayor Godfrey, the Mayor stated that the Malan's Basin gondola "has never been taken off the radar".
BUT ACCORDING TO SCHWEBKE, GODFREY SAID THAT "that" CONVERSATION WITH GARCIA DID NOT TAKE PLACE.
So did Schwebke just dream this up in order to write another piece about the Gondola; did Jesse Garcia just dream that it happened;
or
do we now have the final proof that Matthew Godfrey is the liar that we all have come to believe that he is?
take your pick -
Interesting points you bring up.
The bottom line of the Schwebke article is that you have the Mayor of Ogden calling the Chair of the Ogden City Council a liar in a news article that will be distributed in Utah and who knows where else.
That doesn't enhance Ogden's image as a place to live in and/or do business in.
It really is incredible behaviour for the Mayor of a city that the Mayor touts as being such a business friendly environment..
Take Your Pick:
Godfrey never took the gondola off the table in the campaign... though he did pull off [with Standard Examiner assistance] his Incredible Disappearing Gondola Act by avoiding talking about it during the campaign.
The real news in the story is Godfrey's saying that he's waiting for Mr. Chris Peterson to bring forth new plans for Malan's Basin and an up-mountain gondola, which the Mayor expects him to do sometime between "two months" to "two years" from now. That's right. After assuring us all that Mr. Peterson was just weeks or months away from presenting his finalized "Peterson Proposal" to the city over the previous two years, Peterson's Poodle [aka Mayor Godfrey] now says he's willing to wait for another to years to see if Peterson will produce a plan after all.
And while he dithers for another two years, perhaps as he says he is willing to do, he will continue to oppose the transit route between downtown, WSU and McKay Dee Hospital that the Wasatch Front Regional Council identified as the one Ogden needs most and would be most successful. He will oppose that to "save" that route for his gondola obsession. And so the improved Ogden transit line that would most benefit Ogden --- street car or bus rapid transit --- will be stalled again [as costs continue to rise], federal subsidies will not be applied for, all to services the Mayor's dwindling hopes for his gondola obsession that rests upon Mr. Peterson actually producing, maybe, over the next two years, the oft-promised [by the Mayor] Peterson proposal he failed to produce over the previous two years. Provided the plan, should it ever actually appear, is economically viable and can find investors to support Mr. Peterson's Malan's Basin World Class Vest Pocket Ski Resort.
And the beat goes on....
Oh, one more thing. Mr. Schwebke's story includes this line: However, Godfrey has refused to sell the golf course and adjoining property to Peterson because of concerns from residents who fear the city’s trail system in the foothills along the East Bench would be adversely affected.
That line has got to make Mr. Schwebke a contender for the Credulous Reporter of the Month award. That line means the Standard Examiner has accepted the Mayor's mid-campaign explanation of why he took the park sale off the table. Nothing to do with its polling badly for him. Nothing to do with the park sale creating voter problems for him on the east bench, aka his "base." At the very least, the next time Mr. Schweke trots this one out, he could add two simple words to the sentence: "he said." E.g.:
However, Godfrey has refused to sell the golf course and adjoining property to Peterson because, he said, of concerns from residents who fear the city’s trail system in the foothills along the East Bench would be adversely affected.
That way, Mr. Schwebke will be simply reporting the Mayor's claim, rather than rendering a silent
Rudi:
As a Cop, I can't go home from my shift, until I account of the facts and my actions!
How come the Republicans don't have to account of the facts and their actions?
I am just curious about the information that was supposed to come forth regarding the Elections and Weber County's vindication. Has there been any new information on that?
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