Don't Get Your Panties in a Bunch

An admonition against knee-jerk reactions

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.
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.

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:

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.
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.”

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?

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.