We're informed by this morning's Standard-Examiner that a majority of the city council is apparently leaning toward the course of action which we recommended on May 24, i.e., cutting turncoat lobbyist Rob Jolley's $50 thousand salary allocation from the 2009 Ogden City budget. Scott Schwebke's lead paragraphs provide the essential facts:
OGDEN — A majority of city council members said during a Thursday night work session they won’t allocate $50,000 in the municipality’s fiscal 2009 budget for lobbyist Rob Jolley because the administration hasn’t kept them informed about legislative efforts at the state Capitol.Boss Godfrey, evidently anticipating this council development well in advance, admits through administration sock puppet Mark Johnson (Ogden City Management Services Director) that the administration has already entered into a $45 thousand contract with Mr. Jolley, to secure Jolley's continuing "services" during the 2009 legislative session. Johnson further informs the Standard-Examiner that Boss Godfrey will simply misappropriate Jolley's 2009 blood money from his "operating budget" -- hinting that the council can therefor be damned.
A formal vote wasn’t taken, but city council members Amy Wicks, Jesse M. Garcia, Dorrene Jeske, Caitlin K. Gochnour and Brandon Stephenson said they won’t include funding for Jolley in the budget that may be approved Tuesday.
Remaining council members Doug Stephens and Blain Johnson opposed eliminating funding for Jolley.
All council members agreed language should be included in the budget requesting that the administration present a proposal to keep them better informed regarding legislative issues.
The final straw prompting the elimination of funding for lobbying stems from the apparent failure of Jolley and Mark Johnson, the city’s management services director, to get permission from the council before securing a bill amendment giving Mayor Matthew Godfrey complete executive control over the Ogden Redevelopment Agency.
Godfrey of course "could not be reached for comment."
We'll note that it was only last Monday that the Std-Ex published a strong editorial condemning the "sneakiness" of Boss Godfrey's 2008 legislative session maneuver, warily predicting that the inevitable council payback could ultimately result in "sub par governance."
It appears that Ogden City government is now set upon that latter course, as Godfrey adopts further tactics revealing Godfrey's persistent and troubling bunker mentality. Over the course of the next few years Boss Godfrey will necessarily come before our new council seeking council cooperation and indulgence. Yet now, early in the 2008-09 council's new term, it's evident that he's already poisoned that well.
Kudos to the majority of the city council for their tentative hard-nosed stance, by the way. Godfrey threw down the gauntlet on this; and there's no other logical way the council can react. Even councilman Stevensen, usually a staunch Godfrey ally, is evidently appalled enough by Godfrey's juvenile conduct, that he's willing to join with the council grownups.
And make no mistake, Councilwoman Jeske is exactly right when she asserts that its Godfrey is to blame for what appears to be another rocky council-administration relationship. “What it boils down to is that the mayor doesn’t respect the council,” Jeske correctly observes.
And what say our gentle readers about this?
12 comments:
Nice editorial, Rudi. Right on target. And Stephenson's support for zeroing out the lobbyist's pay in the budget is not really that surprising. Recall he joined the rest in redoing the RDA rules so the mayor could no longer refuse to tell the Council who he wanted to sell RDA land to --- another example of the Mayor's contempt for the Council and its role in the Ogden City Plan of Government. Legislators, even strong administrative supporters, get their backs up when administrations [at all levels of government] display contempt for their roles as legislators.
That contempt was demonstrated again, as Mr. Schwebke's story noted, when the Council discovered --- the Mayor hadn't told them he was going to do it--- that he had already signed a new contract with his pet lobbyist [ostensibly the City's lobbyist] before the Council approved the budget for the coming year and money for that contract.
The Council's zeroing out the budget line won't stop the Mayor's arrogance, of course, but he will have to pay for the lobbyist out of his own office's discretionary funds. Provided the Council doesn't increase his discretionary funds by the amount of the lobbyist's pay --- and I don't see why the Council would do that --- the end result will be about a $45K reduction in the Mayor's discretionary funds.
Long term impact? Not at great deal perhaps, but as the Mayor continues to demonstrate, in incident after incident, his contempt for the Council, including his belief that he has no obligation to keep his word to them, his relations with the Council can be expected to deteriorate even further... which will make it more difficult to achieve his goals as Mayor. Much of executive governance --- including good governance ---necessarily involves making deals --- "agreements" if the word deals offends you --- with legislators and others. If it becomes clear that your word is not good, that your handshake is worthless, it becomes very difficult to govern effectively or to achieve your goals. And Godfrey has now made it painfully clear to the Council that his word is worthless.
Perhaps the council should also put out a press release, with copies to every legislator, explaining that Mr. Jolley represents only the mayor and his administration--not the city as a whole.
This is a very encouraging outcome.
Jeske, as usual, is right. The mayor does not respect the council. Unstated though, is that Godfrey respects no one, and such people as he must be brought to the point of respect by those deserving of his respect, such as the council.
Even Brandon Stephenson, a virtual acolyte of Godfrey's, seems to be coming to the understanding that his master cannot be trusted either for competence or honesty. Thus we may be learning Stephenson was an honest man all along who is coming slowly to a realization others have had for a long time.
Garcia's quote that since the mayor did the contract he can also find the money for it is also encouraging as long as the council does not slip him an equivalent amount somewhere else. Godfrey knows that money is money.
All in all a very encouraging outcome.
Better yet -
Eliminate the mayor's discretionary fund from the Ogden City Budget to be voted on.
Hooray for Mr. Stephenson.
If I were Mayor Godfrey, I would be worried. Losing Brandon Stephenson's vote indicates that something is very, very wrong with his moral compass.
Of course, I'm not the mayor -- note my use of the subjunctive mood, Jason -- and so I doubt whether this message has sunk in yet.
When he has to let go one of his office staff to pay for Mr. Jolley, then maybe he'll take up a position in the Clue Line. Or not.
Godfrey will never have to let go any of his office staff to pay Jolley.
Godfrey has more money stashed around that the Council knows nothing about. This action wont phase him in the slightest. Take away 50K and give him 100K for a popscicle? Thats punishment.Not
Dorothy and Fly:
Eliminating entirely the Mayor's discretionary funds budget would not be wise. Reducing it may well be a good idea, but it's a little late in the budget process to start examining that now. It might be a very good idea for the the Council to, once this budget is passed, begin looking at the Executive's budget in some detail, with the idea of trimming it where advisable in the next budget cycle. But that will take time and a lot of prep. This isn't the sort of thing that can be done on short notice, shooting from the hip. Or not done well that way at least.
Second, if the 100K for the ice tower passes, it will not be money going to Godfrey. It will be going to Ogden Climbing Parks and for one purpose only. It's not a slush fund balance the Mayor can divert to other uses, so far as I understand. If it passes at all.
Intriguing that you say Hizzonah has access to "more money stashed around that the Council knows nothing about." If they're public funds and are to be spent for public purposes [i.e. lobbyist pay], they have to be a matter of public record. If, as you seem to imply, he has access to secret [non-public] funds he can tap to pay the salaries of his appointees... I doubt that is possible to do, legally.
He may well have a slush fund of non- public funds, provided by grateful contractors, developers, Realtors and such like, which he uses for non-public purposes. Many mayors do, I think.
Yah, MG is only out for himself - just look how he touts jobs for the citizens of Ogden with all the High End Recreational Activities he's bringing to Ogden - those jobs will be servile and punile, not giving anyone a living wage, while catering to his rich cronies & families, etc. who venture into our fair city to partake of the expensive fun which none of us can enjoy. We spit on the Recreation Center, we spit on your lobbying for your own benefits (under the wire so no one can scritinize), we spit on your anything else that comes to mind.
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It was a good work meeting last night and the Council worked together and accomplished what needed to be done with the budget in record time (4 hours)! It was nice to go home with a good feeling instead of the usual feelings of frustration. Hey, Danny, thanks for the nice comments. They help tremendously to ease the frustrations of the job. Thanks also to those of you who give me support and encouragement now and then.
The Lovely Jennifer’s post made me want to post something positive that’s happening to Ogden. I wrote a post Tuesday night about the 21st St. Pond (Goode Ski Lake), but by the time I finished, I’d lost the connection and my post, so I’ll try to write it again.
I attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday at the 21st St. pond, now renamed “The Goode Ski Lake.”. Union Pacific did a fantastic job of cleaning the pond. During the program, Goode Ski had a pro water skier performing maneuvers on the pond. The pond was so clean and beautiful with the tree-covered hills in the background – it was extremely inviting even to me who has never been on water skis!
I also had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Ryan McEuen about his amphitheater plans. I was very excited about his proposal when he presented it to the Council a couple of years ago. He said that he plans to have concerts, Broadway shows, wedding receptions and meetings booked more than 300 days/nights of the year.. The meetings and receptions will be held in rooms on the east end of the amphitheater where glass walls look out on the lake. The amphitheater will be a year-round venue with retractable walls and roof so that in the summer and good weather, concerts will be held outdoors under the stars and get this – the sound system will be state-of-the art! Oh, I think I’ve died and gone to Heaven! It has been so disappointing to pay rather dearly to hear artists at either the E Center or whatever the Delta Center is called now on their horrible sound systems. The Top of Utah has needed such a place that will hold thousands of people with a state-of-the-art sound system. To put the icing on the cake, it is a beautiful setting and easily accessable – just a mile east of I-15 or a short walk from the FrontRunner Station. Mr. McEuen talked of even having a short spur of track run from the FrontRunner to the amphitheater for maybe one of usable trains. The FrontRunner will be available for those who want a stress-free ride from Provo, Salt Lake City and points along the way with no parking hassles.
What makes this project so exciting is that a good share of Ogden’s residents will be able to enjoy this facility! You don’t have to be young and athletic to spend an evening relaxing to beautiful music (for the older generation) or rock bands . Mr. McEuen is coming to Ogden because of the beauty of the area and the perfect location! He hasn’t asked for any incentives, taxpayer dollars or tax benefits in any way! What a unique concept!! It would be nice if the Administration would encourage more of this kind or development for Ogden. I can hardly wait!
Dorrene:
Thanks for the report. Good to have people reminded occasionally that the goal of our more conscientious Council members is not to be impediments to the Mayor, but to govern the city well, and that that the requires cooperation, collegiality and trust. When the Council members display that, the Council works well. Things would work a great deal better for us all if the Mayor more regularly showed the same qualities in dealing with the Council.
Since Ogden development is the general topic: tonight I did my first business with a Junction business. Went to dinner with Mrs. Curmudgeon at Sonora Grill. Enjoyed it a great. Really good food, we thought. If you delve into the "Entrees" menu, things get pricey. Generally prices above what we usually expect of a Mexican restaurant. But if the prices are a cut above, so is the food, we thought. And if you order largely off the "Tacos," "Ceviche," "Salad" and "Starters" menus, you end up with very good restaurant meal at a reasonable price. Or so we thought. Nice setting, nice room. Small bar, which Mrs. Curmudgeon and I intend to visit to split a taco plate [four small ones per plate], with a couple of cervezas or glasses of wine for a nice out-of-the-common-run downtown lunch at a good price. We liked the place and will be back.
Office building at the SE corner of The Junction still not all rented out [which makes me happy yet again that the Council did not approve building a fourth floor on the city's dime against Boyer Co. recommendations]. Still much construction underway. [Someone introduced as the owner of Sonora Grill apologized for the view just beyond our table of construction clutter and said, somewhat wistfully "they are six months behind but assure me all that will be done by 30 June." I offered to bet him. He politely declined.
Seems to me, the condos need to get finished, sold and occupied, the planned new ones need to go up and get sold and occupied --- fast, and the it seems hundreds of un-leased offices within a block of the Junction need to fill ---fast --- or Sonora and Iggy's may have rough days ahead. They will both need fairly large lunch crowds coming from the offices, and a larger reasonably well-heeled downtown resident population to do well I think... especially as the fallout from the Bush Republican botching of the dollar and the economy continues to spread. Otherwise what business the new places draw they will likely draw away from 25th Street, I think. We shall see.
Wandered over to the Salomon Center after dinner. Fat Cats doing good business it seemed, awash in kids. Costa Brava crowded as well, about fifteen people in line to get to the counter. Six kids playing in the wave pool. Didn't seem to be much action on the climbing wall, only two kids maybe eight or nine years old. But it was very hard to see in, so I could be wrong about that. And I'm still trying to figure out why they arranged things so that you have to go outside the building to watch the surfers. All you see from inside is a long... very long... blank wall. But things seemed pretty lively overall in the complex. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Two new buildings going up, one due S. of the movie theater, one due S. of Sonora Grill. I have no idea what they are going to be. If anyone does know, please post.
Architecture and design of Iggys/Sonora Grille and adjacent building [nearly finished, but no idea what it will be; looks like a retail space of some kind] is not bad. Sort of Gateway design, with a slightly older brick facade look.
Now if we could just manage to do something about the Flash Gordon On Steroids monstrosity of the Miller Theater, the whole Junction look and feel might actually come together....
Dear Mono:
Subjunctive is not a mood; rather, it is better construed as a condition.
THE SKI IS BEAUTIFUL BLUE
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