By Curmudgeon
Two interesting front page stories this morning in the Standard-Examiner. First, this:
SALT LAKE CITY — Rep. Neil Hansen hopes to pass legislation that would allow Utah voters to register on Election Day, limit the power of poll challengers and increase transparency in the election auditing process. Hansen, D-Ogden, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah organized a meeting last week with county clerks, state election officials and outside experts to discuss the election reform measures.Several things worth noting. First, that the Weber County Clerk/Auditor, whose first response to the complaints about the polling place problems in the last election was to stonewall the press and public and ACLU and to deny, deny, deny, has now apparently awakened, smelled the coffee and is attending meetings with Hansen and the ACLU to look for ways to improve things. My my my. Imagine that.
The Election Day registration bill would allow unregistered voters to show up at the polls, provide identification and proof of residency, and then cast a regular ballot that can’t be thrown out later, Hansen said.... Weber County officials threw out more than 500 provisional ballots in November, some because poll workers filled out the forms incorrectly.
Marina Lowe, a staff attorney for the ACLU, said its investigation into voter complaints about the Weber elections was part of the impetus for the meeting Thursday. Weber County Clerk/Auditor Alan McEwan, who attended the meeting, said Election Day registration could help alleviate provisional ballot complications, which other counties in the state also experienced. “It could help, but it’s not problem-free either,” he said.
One of the concerns with same-day registration is the possibility of people using fake identification to commit voter fraud, Lowe said. However, she added, the states that use Election Day registration have not reported any fraud....
Hansen has another bill that would require poll checkers to register in advance and wear some identification so that voters don’t mistake them for election officials. He is also putting forward a bill to allow independent audits of election results.... McEwan said allowing for independent audits instead of state-run audits makes a lot of sense — if done correctly.
Second, worth noting that the ACLU and Hansen have done their homework, apparently, and done what simple common sense would suggest: ask states that have done the reforms Hansen is proposing how they've worked out, whether the predictions of massive vote fraud [the Republican's favorite tactic for stopping election reform] have in fact developed from the reforms. Turns out, they haven't. Imagine that.
Kudos to Rep. Hansen and the ACLU [full disclosure: I am a proud card-carrying ACLU member] for their looking into the Weber mess in the last election and for working to propose reforms to make sure things are handled better in the future. And belated kudoes to Clerk/Auditor McEwan for, finally, emerging into the light of public scrutiny and dropping the stonewalling. Took a while, but nice that it finally happened.
Second item is this:
OGDEN — The Ben Lomond Hotel has been sold to a Nevada company, paving the way for a long-anticipated $50 million renovation project, according to the new owner.Again, a couple of points worth mentioning. First, the Std-Ex ran a long and enthusiastic piece about the renovations to the Ben Lomond sometime last year. Much enthusiasm about the return of the grand hotel. But the owners ran out of money to finish the project. Just a cautionary tale regarding grand plans and projects: many a slip twixt cup and lip. Wishin' an' hopin' an' dreamin' do not necessarily mean they'll all come true.
UIG Resorts, based in Las Vegas, has purchased the 81-year-old hotel from Dan Tabish and his partner, Jeff Van Dyke. Tabish declined to disclose the sale price of the hotel, 2510 Washington Blvd. He said he and Van Dyke sold the Ben Lomond because they are unable to undertake renovations to restore the hotel to its original grandeur. “We ran out of capital to bring the project to fruition.
Work to renovate the Ben Lomond’s lobby will begin next month, and an upscale restaurant named Capone’s is expected to open in about three months in the hotel’s Oak Room, Dixon said. Plans also call for the conversion of some commercial space at the hotel into 147 condominiums, Dixon said, adding that UIG also plans to eventually seek approval from the city to build a 200-room tower near the hotel’s parking garage.
Once renovations are complete, the Ben Lomond would operate under the flag of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, he said.
Glad new owners with [it is to be hoped] sufficient capital to see the project through have been found. But again, it would be wise, while wishing them all the best, to restrain the jubilation and celebration until the newly restored Wyndam Grand Ben Lomand actually opens its doors. Ditto for the planned new tower block of 200 rooms.
The mix seems to be the same as is planned for the mega-hotel at the mall redevelopment site. Condos plus hotel rooms plus "upscale" eatery. That's an awful lot of capacity coming on line in Ogden more of less simultaneously. Hope they've done their homework regarding the potential market. Be wonderful if it all succeeds as planned. But again, we'll have to wait an see. And hope the developers don't want public money to do what they plan.
Finally, let me encourage the new owners to look into refurbishing and reopening the old roof top restaurant/bar at the Ben Lomond. One of Ogden's great assets is its magnificent view of the mountains, and very nearly none of the city's eateries or drinkeries take advantage of it. Hard to see how a "Top of the Ben" wouldn't have a lot going for it as a place to meet friends, and business associates for a dram or two. [Mrs. Curmudgeon and I would be happy to provide a review of a rooftop lounge at the Ben Lomand as part of our continuing research on "Rooftop Bars of the Mountain West." It's a book, we think, crying to be written. We plan the definitive work, though much research remains. We know, we know, it's a grueling job, but somebody has to do it.]
55 comments:
I am glad to see out of town money from Las Vegas coming in to return the Ben Lomond Hotel to all its grandeur.
Those of us who have lived in Ogden for many years remember when local people coughed up big dollars to pay for the last renovation in order to get income tax write offs and the project fell flat on its face and I MEAN FLAT.
What I see happening in Ogden is that promoters get wind of the big renovation that is supposed to be happening in Ogden and they come looking like moths to a flame to make their fortune.
Are any of you old enough to remember when a gasoline station was the up and coming place to get rich. And so what happened - we soon got a service station on every corner and over the years they all went broke.
You can see the remains of some if you drive Ogden streets.
The greedy promoters only create new problems.
If all the condos that are supposed to be built downtown really are built and sold then we have lost our way of life that we all love.
Sorry for my pessimism but, just who is going to be coming to these hotels? An honest evaluation of the U.S. economic picture shows disposable income for most is rappidly disappearing.
Last year just the cost of fuel resulted in a poor summer for very well established western tourist meccas. Ogden would hardly be concidered one of these great tour stops. What could possibly compel a young family to load up the diaper bucket (mini van) and come to Ogden for a vacation? Would a slip and slide actually lure them away from Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Zions, Canyonlands Arches or the Grand Canyon? Is the real target filthy rich jet setters? What could they possibly want to do in Ogden? I fly?
We get some touism, but it's not going to be the salvation of our City. Isn't it about time for our economic development folks to cease this pie in the sky approach and focus on bringing the amenities that the residents so desperately need?
Curm:
The correct local designation isn't "Top of the Ben"
"Top O' the Town" is what it always was and always will be in Ogden, regrdless of the proposed 16-story hotel... at the Junction.
The Ben Lomond Hotel is an architechtural treasure, modeled in "the railroad days" as a San Francisco Sheraton Palace knockoff.
When is the little guy on the 9th floor going to take care of the hotels already here and are at about 10% usage rate. Lets built a new one a kill the ones already here. Great Idea! NOT. There is no need of a new one and by the way the Newgate mall had a indoor slip and slide and after about 6 months it dried up. sorry for the pun but it is true. I guess that the mayor was to little to remember that one.
The election reform wouldn't be necessary of Godfrey hadn't screwed it up.
I respect Democrat Rep. Neil Hansen for trying to solve some of the voting problems encountered in Ogden this last election.
I didn't see a single Republican legislator concerned about the problems we encountered.
I am going to remember that the next election when I see the name of Republican candidates who sat on their duff and failed to acknowledge that we have voting problems in this County and in this State.
I also don't expect any support from Lt. Governor Herbert's office for election reform.
Herbert's staff refused to acknowledge there were any problems.
I hope Huntsman has opposition the next go-round so I can vent my spleen at the voting booth.
Actually there is some reasonable rationale to the idea of building more hotel rooms in Ogden even though existing hotels may not be doing so well. At least as it pertains to convention biz.
Incidentally, how do we really know how well the existing hotels are doing? Is there any definitive and trustworthy numbers floating around about Ogden hotel vacancy rates?
The idea is that conventions of a certain size cannot come to Ogden because there is not enough hotel rooms to serve the anticipated audience. Perhaps Layton gets some of these conventions at Ogden's expense because they have more rooms? I don't know that, just speculating. Does Layton have more rooms than down town Ogden?
If this is the case, and if these hotel guru's want to build another hotel in Ogden - WITHOUT MAKING OUR TAX PAYERS FINANCIALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR CHOICES - then I say "what the hell - go for it"
It does seem however that Layton still has Ogden beat in this convention biz. Hey, in Layton you can go to anyone of a dozen restaurants that actually use real plates and silverware. Contrast that with Ogden's new almost mall wherein there aint a plate or piece of real metal flatware anywhere on the premises.
Layton also of course has a real mall with a whole shit load of choices for shopping.
As I recall, Godfrey and Boyer have not signed up one significant retail outfit for the Ogden Mall. It is all about video games, day glow bowling, out of the question financially skydiving ride, and greasy Mexican grub off tin foil.
My guess is that folks who book conventions look at stuff like that.
Germ:
Thanks. I haven't been here long enough to remember a rooftop lounge at the Ben Lomond personally. Only heard tell. Was kind of playing off "Top of the Mark" --- the fine and historic club atop the Mark Hopkins in San Francisco where many WWII vets had their last drink before embarking and their first one coming home. But "Top O' the Town" works for me, particularly if its a historic name for a historic lounge at a historic hotel. What's not to like? Dare we hope?
Thanks again.
I tend to agree with Lionel, as long as it's not my money, I don't have a problem with somebody investing it downtown if they want. In fact, it sounds good to me.
I also don't see (re: been there done that) how condos or hotels downtown ruins our way of life. Let them go in downtown and stay off the benches.
Sharon and others, I wish you would stop knocking Godfrey about the gondola. In the article, he said the city isn't paying for it. If the new hotel wants an exclusive right for the gondola, what does it matter? Without city funding it won't be built, and Godfrey seems to be sticking to his promise. Let's encourage him.
Really, I have a hard time seeing a problem with all this money going into downtown. If the projects prove to be non-viable (which I think some are) then we will have nice shiny buildings with Available signs on them. Is that so bad? Isn’t it better than dilapidated buildings with Available signs?
After the coming depression, someone will buy those remodeled buildings and make a bundle – maybe one of us. As for me, I haven’t been downtown in years, but I’ve been to Costa Vida twice now.
And let me remind some of you, who say what kind of development you want, remember to ask yourself the question: “Who do you think you are?” If you’ve got some bucks to back it up, then go ahead and turn your ideas into reality. Otherwise, put forward your ideas, but don’t get in the way of those who have both ideas as well as the bucks to do something with those ideas. As long as they stay off the benches that is.
Danny:
Agreed on the "it's their money" point and that downtown condos won't ruin Ogden.
Can't agree on the gondola matter, because Hizzonah has been blocking transit improvement over the downtown to WSU/McKay Dee corridor... the one recommended as the most viable one for transit up grade by WFRC... for two years, and will continue to so long as the gondola project remains, even in his mind only, viable.
As for "Who do you think you are?" Answer: citizens of Ogden. Who, seems to me, are entitled to a say in what they think wise development in the city would be, and what unwise development would be. And since all of it requires action by elected officials [zoning changes, street alignment matters, etc. and as we have seen, often taxpayer funding], I see nothing wrong with those who want things to go in a particular way, and not another, saying so in the public prints, and to their elected officials. Who do we think we are? Citizens of the city. That's not only enough, it's more than enough, seems to me.
Glad you're enjoying Costa Vida. Sorry you haven't been downtown previously for years. I've only been here five and a half years, and we go downtown dozens of times a year and have since day one. In fact, Historic 25th Street was one of the reasons we found Ogden attractive. Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks, I guess.
As for telling people who don't particularly like Hizzonah's development plans "don't get in the way of those who have both ideas as well as the bucks to do something with those ideas." Sorry, Danny, but a "bold idea," even a well-funded one, is not a benefit to the city if it is a bad idea whose impact on the city would have a larger downside than upside. Asking serious questions of serious proposals is not "getting in the way" in a well-run city.
Will grant you that some of the opposition to new proposals has a slight knee-jerk quality to it, and seems to be based on the theory that "if Godfrey is for it, it cannot be a good idea." I figure any serious proposal, regardless of the source, deserves a serious look, following which we can draw conclusions about its merit, or lack thereof. What irks me is the assumption by Godfreyistas, often loudly asserted, that any questioning of administration proposals, any asking of questions and requests for facts, constitutes "naysaying" and "opposing everything." Makes no more sense to me to reject out of hand and without examination a proposal from the Mayor than it makes to adopt the Chamber of Commerce approach and applaud such a proposal unexamined and without thorough examination first.
When companies book for conventions they are looking at many aspects, not just hotel rooms.
First off, the Eccles Conference Center is not large enough.
For instance, I know that the outdoor vehicles people looked into holding some shows there but it was not workable because of size.
And for instance, the Egyptian Theater is not large enough to accommodate a crowd that has to be big enough to make money on Broadway plays.
Having excess hotel rooms is not going to bring in conventions.
There was a bar (private club) in the Ben Lomand just a few years back on the 12 or 13 floor. Nice views, good food and was closed down by DABC. The hotel manager didn't like the clientele and worked with the DABC to shut it down. It was a great place for the views and to unwind. I would support a nice restaurant there again. I tend to spend my money downtown when I can. I would hope since the restaurant is in a hotel it would be open on Sunday. Too bad Gastronomy Group can't be persuaded to come north.
Maybe I'm paranoid, but I wondered why Schwebke's byline was on today's Ben Lomond Hotel article.
It seems like it would belong to the business beat, unless it was a reprint of a press release out of the Mayor's office.
Since that's all Mr. Schwebke publishes, then I imagine hearing it on the 9th floor would be enough to justify printing it.
Someone please correct me if I'm mistaken.
Curm, We agree almost entirely on broad strokes. But here's the problem. To be honest, somebody like you, or me probably, does not have the money to really do much of anything. That leaves us in the position, basically, of saying "no". Indeed, when you talk about the community and codes and so on, that's about all codes can do, is say, "no". The problem with Ogden is there has been too much saying "no" and not enough saying "It's your property, do what you want with it."
Interestingly, you say "different strokes for different strokes," then you talk about an idea as being "bad" as if you can objectively say it's bad. Better to say "If I think and idea is bad, I can say so."
Please do. My two cents is Ogden has hundreds of pages of codes all for what - to tell property owners downtown what they can do with their property. Residential is one thing - should be as restrictive as folks want. But commercial I tend to be much more lasse faire.
On the gondola my sense is the mayor favors the tram downtown, and a gondola on the hill if somebody else will pay for it. But since it's a dumb idea, no one will so it's a moot point. Forgive the grammer. Typing fast before shower.
Did anyone go to either of the web sites mentioned by Schwebke in his last two stories? The company that builds the water features or the web page of the new owners of the BL Hotel.
Both the water feature company and the hotel new ownership are relatively new companies, both been around less than two years and the latter one is a company looking to leverage and get involved in just about anything and any where that they think they can make money (not a recipe for success). More likely they will lock on the the first real winner they get their hands on and then bail on the rest.
In all cases including the people that want to build the new hotel, the city needs to consider the effects of these developments on the existing businesses in town that will both compete with these new operations and what synergies these new business bring to town, (i.e. what is the true benefit). Also need to know for sure that these d3evelopers are strong enough financially to pull it off, that they have a track record of doing it and that they will be accretive to the city.
City should have outside experts review the various aspects of the developers and the projects before they vote to let major project take place in this city. Not just what the administration presents. We need to know up front. We all win or lose by the success or failure of these projects.
I just checked out the UIGglobal site. Looks to me to be a mish mash of virtual fronts. Most interesting is UIG natural resources. Could it be just a coincidence that Chris Peterson was also delving in to importing tropical hardwoods. Peterson's gig was in Guatemala or Costa Rica I believe and these guys are in Paraguay so it is likely just coincidence but maybe this is his new front.
The rest of UIG global subsidiaries are fluff. Wow, they have 2.3 acres to develop in Las Vegas, They have 10 acres of beachfront in the Philipines, they have plans for all kinds of "stuff". They do web design, who the f&%k doesn't do web design. That's the red flag right there. Everyone who is doing nothing does web design. UIG technologies sounds so ...uh...hi-tech. they have a website full of web templates. woopee!!
I predict these guys do not have the kind of Nevada money we associate with Vegas and that this deal will fall through.
UIG supposedly has this Tranquility Bay resort in the Philippines. Try searching that one. There are Tranquility Bay's all over the world but this one is stuck in the virtual.
On the "About us" page there is a picture of an executive looking guy...BUT no friggin' name or background. This is a stock photo. What a laugh. This company is vaporware.
It's a Nevada corporation because Nevada has incorporation laws much like offshore.
Where do we get these opportunistas?
I'm glad to see something happening for the BL but I doubt this is the outfit to do it.
All of their "subsidiaries" were incorporated in Jan '07
There is no corporate news on their site and the site is cobbled together with public domain clip art including the people.
Ogden Resident, looks like you were the only one so far to see through this UIG manifesto. good for you.
Curm, have you seen it. I'm laughing my arse to the jon after reading through the UIG sites. They remind me of those generic sites that pop up when mistyping a url.
First, kudos indeed to Neil Hansen for pursuing election law reform; too bad, though, Hansen's democratic ideals fall on deaf ears in a State rich in Neo Con BS. As for the Ben Lomond Hotel, glad to see someone else has taken over ownership. The previous owners are the ones who stated that they would only do a good job renovating the building if a gondola were built through town. Too bad suckers.
Glad to see more investment in our downtown, unfortunately I can't help but be skeptical. It seems to me that a lot of what has been recently developed and what is being proposed is very shaky (as many investments are, but Ogden sure has more than its fair share). I sincerely hope these downtown investments pan out and become successful, though, because Ogden does have a real downtown and we need to protect, promote, and enhance it. (A real downtown is one of Ogden's true assets, something which its vanilla suburban bix-box mcmansion neighbors never will know.)
Tec:
Either they have the funding arranged to see the job to completion, or they don't. Settle back and see how it plays out. I hope they have the financing lined up and the BL reopens as a historically renovated Wyndham property. But I don't see much point in getting heartburn at this point over the new owners' bona fides since the sale was a private transaction, and [to date] the new owners haven't asked for public money to complete the project. Just going to have to wait and see, Tec.
Unless, of course, they ask for public funding, at which point assessing their ability to complete the project becomes part of the Mayor's and the Council's obligation to do due diligence before forking over the public's checkbook.
I googled this Ian Dixon guy, "president of UIG resorts"
nada, zilch, blanco,
Any dude who is 60 plus and calls himself an executive and wears a nice suit has to have something on google. My brother is a software exec and his googly pages are loaded with references. I have more google references than this dude. WTF
OMFG, you tube has this guy in a 1.5 minute video describing the decor for his future office...that's it! Ha!
Ogden does seem to attract the bottom feederz.
Curm,
I really hate to be so pessimistic. We will see. You must tour the various UIG sites for some laughs. I can almost guarantee these guys are floor 9 fluffers.
He actually looks more like 45-50 in the You Tube video rather than the 60ish in the exec photo on the site. He certainly does not have the air of a guy with big bucks necessary to renovate the BL. That hotel will take very deep pockets and serious assumption of risk.
SE this morning is running a story about a sports equipment show AMER sports ran recently in Ogden. Interesting piece. Here are the opening graphs:
OGDEN — Gov. Jon Huntsman made a joke about wearing a tie to ease the anticipation in a room full of ski industry dealers and magazine representatives wearing snow clothing and waiting for his speech to end so they could go and ski powder. “I’m in the most dangerous position of all — between you and the greatest snow on earth,” Huntsman said.
About 60 dealers from all over North America and several writers and editors from magazines such as Powder, Freeskier, Ski, Outside and Men’s Health were in Ogden last week for Amer Sports Winter Summit.
Huntsman spoke to the group as did Mayor Matthew Godfrey, Amer Sports Winter and Outdoor President Mike Dowse and Amer Sports CEO Roger Tolermo. “We’re tired of being an old railroad town,” Godfrey said to the group. “In two-and-a-half years after deciding what we wanted to do, we now have more ski companies in Ogden than any other town.”
Tolermo was visiting Ogden for the first time from Helsinki, Finland. He explained the company’s decision to move to Ogden. “I’m pretty convinced that this is the area where everything will be set,” Tolermo said. “For us, the biggest winter sports company in the world, we need to be here.”
Link to the full story is here.
From what I can tell UIG and this Ian Dixon guy are...Website Developers ONLY. And the roster of websites are their's only. My kid has done more sites than these guys.
The first move for any hustler is to develop a front. That used to mean getting some nice business cards, a letterhead, and a magnetic sign for the cadillac door.
Nowadays it's build a slew of websites to give the impression of a conglemerate with all kinds of worldwide operations..like Philippine resorts and Paraguayan forestry. This guarantees that snooping fact checkers cannot simply drop by the workshop to check on the projects. It all sounds so exotic, to the untrained eye.
Curm, are training an eye
They must have some kind of silent backing or hustled some mid level Philippine entrepreneur into bankrolling this BL deal. Ireally wonder what stage is the deal or if this Dixon guy was one of the private shareholders in the BL who fashioned some kind of restructuring for it.
see this link for the real sccop on this deal, shoulda known
blast from the past
Great sleuthing, Tec.
Thanks!
I wonder if it dawned on the past owners of the BL hotel that their cast of characters used in their promotion would have as negative an impact on the broader audience as these guys have had locally?
Lying little matty, potato nose, short deck ( alleged mischievious criminal), and Mr. squirrel patrol himself. WOW.
Thanks Tec.
I hope they didn't have to pay for that video.
Unity Investment Group (UIG) website
Tec:
In re: blast from the past link. Sorry, I don't see how the BL having that treacly embarrassingly over-produced [and now old] Ogden promo on its website bears in any way on the question of whether the new owners can or will carry the renovation project to completion. Or how it illustrates "the real deal" [which is presumably something different than the announced deal?] on the recent purchase of the BL. You've lost me on this one.
Curm,
It reveals that UIG development group, which is a website development group not a real estate developer, is related to the Ben Lomond in that they built the hotel's website. That's all and that they are likely part of the LO cheerleader group from way back. These cats likely are still lapping up the assurance that a gondola will be built. There is really no other significance beyond getting a good laugh and realizing that it is just a retread story.
Here's another unrelated tidbit. Alpentech who does worldwide resort planning has done a little prelim work for CP on Malan's. Dated 2004 and ongoing. It would be nice to see some of it but not likely. It is apparently not good enough to show the city either so the conclusions have to be mixed.
Alpentech
And the winner of the Best Keeping-a-Straight-Face-During-a-Snow-Job award is ... ohmigawd, it's a four-way tie. And dig the palpable chemistry between Elder Godfrey and Curt Geiger. If the mayor is his idea of a business savant, God save us.
Squirrel Patrol's Idaho accent, which you'd think he'd have shed after raking in his gazillions, is like a stubborn stain. "Hunderds" for hundreds, "termendous" for tremendous ... at least he puts the stress on the proper syllable in gondola, a rarity. Oh well, I guess that's local color.
"Website Development" Group is also a stretch. I can create better websites than that from home w/ my $599 laptop and miniscule understanding of web design.
Tec, take note of what Alpen Tech did for The squirrel patroller. Not much more than my buddy Don did.
Check some maps and line out possible runs, lifts etc. I think that what they weren't asked to do is much more telling.
Accessability, economic feasability and such.
They must have come to the same conclusion Don did, very early in their undertaking.
I wonder if John Arrington has one or two of their bills on his desk, or if it's been forwarded to UTA?
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We will remove posts in the following instances:
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Tec,
Nice catch on the Alpentech web site. I suspected they might be involved somehow in consulting for Malan's Basin, but never saw the hard evidence until now. They also produce a set of Wasatch Front topo maps for backcountry skiers and hikers.
Interesting that their work began in 2004. Peterson bought the Malan's Basin property in February 2005.
So now the question is: Who was Alpentech's client when it began this work in 2004? If the client was Peterson, then he was lying when he said he originally bought the property with the intent of trading it to the Forest Service. If the client was Ogden City, then there should be a record of payment to Alpentech, and the results of the studies should be public records.
Ex-lawmaker charged as terrorist conspirator
WASHINGTON - A former U.S. congressman and delegate to the United Nations was indicted Wednesday, accused of being part of a terrorist fundraising ring that allegedly sent more than $130,000 to an al-Qaida and Taliban supporter who has threatened U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan.
The former Republican congressman from Michigan, Mark Deli Siljander [R], was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstructing justice for allegedly lying about lobbying senators on behalf of an Islamic charity that authorities said was secretly sending funds to terrorists.
Voting issues:
Neil Hansen's biggest issue with the election is that he couldn't even make it past the primary.
One of the things that no one has noted, mainly because Mayor Godfrey didn't want to push the issue, was that his campaign went out and register 1,000 local voters. Because Mayor Godfrey stamped a return address on the back of the registration cards, the county dismissed well over 500 of those registered voters. These people were confirmed Ogden Residents. They were approached on their front step. They filled out their forms, and their registration was dismissed on a technicality. Mayor Godfrey didn't wine or boob about it though. He simply went about the work of winning the election. He knew that if he challenged the county to enforce the registration of the 500 voters, then Neil Hansen would say that Godfrey's campaign was tampering and electioneering. So, he didn't give Neil the chance, and he simply focused on winning. And...He won.
All the while, Neil Hansen got caught up in an effort to politicize an honest misuderstanding over one campaign sign, and lost site of his goal... He lost the primary.
Boy did we elect the right guy.
More True Than You Know:
You have revealed more that you intended, I'm afraid. If the Mayor got 1000 people to register as voters who were not registered, good for him. And if 500 of those registration cards, from legitimate potential voters, were thrown out perhaps unjustly, then the Mayor damn well should have thrown a first class and very public fit and focused as much light on the denial of legitimate voting rights to hundreds of Ogden citizens as he could. He did not, you say, because he concluded his campaign would benefit more by his quietly acquiescing in the denial of voting rights to hundreds of citizens he had gotten to register.
And you're proud of that? That your guy allowed the possibly unjust disenfranchising of hundreds because standing quietly by benefited him politically?
If my candidate did that, I'd be mortified. Speaks volumes that you're proud of it.
More True ......
You wrote: "All the while, Neil Hansen got caught up in an effort to politicize an honest misuderstanding over one campaign sign, and lost site of his goal... He lost the primary"
Are you saying that this little tussle Neil got into with the loose cannon on the deck Geiger cost him the election?
Is this another example of bizzar godfreyite thinking - or what?
It sounds like delusional self justification to me. One little person's attempt to glorify themselves and take credit for the mayor's victory.
The only reason Godfrey won again was because just slightly more than 50% of the voters hadn't got the word yet about his complete lack of moral compass, integrity and ethics. It was a missed opportunity to educate the voters about the true nature of a very evil little man that lost it for Hansen and VanHooser. That and the fact that Godfrey ran a very smart and well financed campaign of lies and omissions.
Curm-
I'm glad you posted. What I didn't tell you was that the Mayor rallied his troops on the day of the voter registration deadline, and everyone worked until midnight re-registering all 500 voters. We thought that we would probably only get 50% of these voters if we were lucky...not home, out of town, at work, etc. It was crazy, but we found 496 of these voters, and got them re-registered by midnight. Granted, we had to hunt them down at work and at soccer games and kids' music lessons...but we did it. It was a triumphant night for the campaign, and it inspired all of us.
The Mayor asked a lot of us, but inspired everyone to do their best and go back after it. This was especially difficult at first because we were day down given that 50% of our hard work got dismissed the day before the registration deadline.
We did it anyway, and it was great. We all had pizza that night, and it was quite a party.
The Mayor didn't complain or fuss. He didn't file law suits or run down some staffer with the county. He simply said..."Let's go to work and fix this."
We did! The voters voted.
What an inspirational effort.
The biggest let downs and challenges often result in the greatest team building experiences when there is a good leader at the helm.
By the way, over 75 people showed up that night to hunt down those 500 voters. All 75 people were still there for pizza and laughs at midnight. A good group of us went over to the I-hop and shared the tales of our evening.
I can remember one voter that we couldn't find at home. We called one of the other "Jacksons" in the phone book, and it turned out to be her uncle. He told us that she was at work at the Harmons at 4-points. We drove down there, found her, and re-registered her to vote. Fun thing was though, that all of the other ladies working at the cash registers and other departments came out and registered as well. Going back out for this one voter resulted in another 25 registered voters....ALL FOR GODFREY!
Story after story was told.
Inspiring! I'm glad Mayor Godfrey kept focus on the goal and didn't slip into the kind of groveling and letigiousness that we often find in those who oppose him.
Again...We elected the right guy!
Neil Hansen's advisors would have said: Cry, Scream, Pound your Feet, File Law Suits, Fuss...
Neil would have missed their advise though because he would already be wailing too loud to hear them. Wow is me! I'm getting screwed! It's unfair! WA! WA! WA!
This is not our Mayor. And this is not our city. Mayor Godfrey did a spledid job.
Neil didn't make it past the primary election because his demeanor is more well known than he thinks.
There is a quiet majority out there who simply observes and takes postive action.
To both of you "Truer" and most righteous posters above:
Well said in the true tradition of Herr Goebels!
Your man Godfrey is petty, mean and evil and no amount of your blathering on about your grand victory will change that. So gloat on for now, but remember this - History is not on your side and the truth will prevail in the end.
Hey, he did win which ultimately is what counts in an election. However, given the state of electronic voting machines and the Godfreyite's known computer savvy, I would not be surprised in the least if it eventually came out that he rigged the election. He is immoral after all.
It is probably for the best that he did win. Now he gets to be in the pilot's seat when the good ship Ogden flies into the cliff. He will get full credit for the incredible string of stupid and loser deals that he has put together. The cracks are already showing in his false facade.
Had any one else won, they would inevitably taken the blame for the collapse and financial ruin that is in store for the Godfrey built Ogden, Inc.
History will correctly identify Godfrey for what he is - a lying, arrogant and incompetent ass of the first order.
to truer,
we can tell that your story is all fabrication by what you state. such as
"We drove down there, found her, and re-registered her to vote."
anyone that paid attention to the voting procedure knows that you had to be registered 30 days before the election to be eligible to vote.
and this comment
"Fun thing was though, that all of the other ladies working at the cash registers and other departments came out and registered as well."
likewise about this comment.
come back when you can tell the truth.
[Curmudgeon quietly notes that "Truer's" second version of the voter registration story flatly contradicts his first version of the story.]
Curm, it could have happened twice, with some sign stealing in between. I wonder if lying little matty ever let short deck ride his rented gyro cycle?
That is the truth. It was on the deadline for voter registration. The day of. We worked until midnight re-registering everyone that the county rejected over a technicality.
We re-registered 496 of the 500 they rejected, and we gobbled up even more new voters in our second effort.
It was a great time.
No crying. No fussing. No stomping of feet. Just a simple second effort that likely won the election.
500 votes!
By the way, I don't blame you for not believing me. I'm sure that such heroic efforts, inspiring leadership, and team work is unfathomable to many of you who worked on the campaigns that opposed Mayor Godfrey.
Who could blame you? Marry Hall's miscalulations, Ms. Van Hooser's debate failures, Neil Hansen's pouting, etc. When you are surrounded by such people and such activity, it becomes unbelievable that people would unite together with smiles on their faces to overcome a set back.
MAN-O...MAN-O...
just found this info today...we keep track of this Ian Dixon guy...And he is a scammer...wish someone there in Ogden did a full check of this butthead and his business...they would find out what we know...does’nt own 10 acres in philippines...lucky to have 2 hectres....scamming investors to invest in.
I can’t harm him yet...but, maybe one of these day....ohhhhhhhhhhhh....will meet him. I was born in Ogden and raised there...(Pleasant View)...so he’s picked a wrong town again. The Philippine Tranquility Bay area and now Ogden...must be Jesus’s plan for me to be his biggest nightmare.
Does anyone know of the latest news of the Hotel?
And/or Ian Dixon’s workings there on that project?
the tranquility bay resort is at present only a dream of UIG.The so called resort is located in Bacuag surigao Phil.they don't have nothing there but coconuts and the ocean with black beach,not white as it was advertised on their web site.no water supply and not easily accessible to bigger cities.
I know the place very well and I have photos to prove it.
Tec Jonson, I'm glad I'm not the only one on earth who thinks the same about Ian Dixon. His websites are not believable and if you saw the powerpoint presentation of Tranquility Bay, it needs an editor badly. If the guy has millions of dollars, he should at least make his website look better. I mean, check out their contact number on there
Tel.: (632) 123-4567
IAN...are you reading this...good....Have not forgotten You and Marilou Bowman...The Gods are conspiring against you both...would make sure Life Insurance policies are current and up-to-date.
The Philippines are waiting for you both to return.
Will have arms open, waiting for your arrivals.
Abu Sa Yap has your names.
Good Luck!
Mr Dixon president of UIG has a million ways of making his money.He planned in building resorts,renovating old hotels and doing lumber industry in paraquay.I wonder if he also plan to change the original color of the beach in Bacuag Surigao from black to white? UIG’s ad on their web site showed white beaches which I’m certain was taken elsewhere.Stop fooling people because sooner or later the truth will come out.
Obviously I know Mr Dixon he has vision and conception, diversified and willing to negotiate various projects, some are on hold some are moving forward, however, individuals not knowing the full story should contact the company before making none educational comment or threats, these people are more than likely working 9-5 and never tried to do any thing in there life.
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