We got a good chuckle out of this morning's Scott Schwebke story, which we thought to reveal a not-so-subtle note of Godfrey administration desperation. Maybe that's just us, however. Check it out for yourselves however, gentle readers, and let us know what you think:
• Big Ogden retail projects on trackIn the wake of the Godfrey administration's latest disappointment, in what's working out to be a long parade of administration disappointments, we suppose it's reasonable that Godfrey and his "A" team would try to polish up its public relations image, and cast about for a list of projects that aren't quite yet DOA. In this connection, it would appear that Godfrey and his henchmen have done just that, and accordingly issued a press release to Mr. Schwebke, concerning projects which still have a discernible pulse. Sure enough, there are still two of them that Godfrey hasn't yet botched up, which just goes to show, that contrary to overwhelming public perception, Godfrey is not a complete screw-up.
Reader comments are invited, as always.
14 comments:
The Boss is only attempting to take the focus off the Envision Ogden/FNURE.
Fess up Godfrey, who gave the keys to City property to raise money for your lap dogs?
We want to know.
Andy Howell and Doug Gibson have alot of work to do to clean up BOSS GODFREYS image.
Very good View Point in the Standard Examiner today.
Maybe Howell and Gibson are redeeming themselves; maybe I have been too harsh on them.
May God bless the Jasper and Strebel families, the victims of a high speed crash.
Ahem.
Given the collapse of several highly touted Godfrey-endorsed development projects of late, I was wondering how others were doing. Seems to me the article answers a question or two that logically would have risen in readers' minds following the news that Mr. Lesham couldn't raise the money needed to demolish his River Project properties, and that the city had not been able to find him a partner in five months of looking, and that Ernest couldn't raise the funds to close on their River Project land either. And so the article served a reasonable purpose other than Godfrey reputation rehab: answering questions the news editors might reasonably presume had been raised by other stories they did recently.
It's worth recalling, I think, what is now and then said of Freud: "Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar."
I'm relatively new to Ogden and have a hard time keeping track of what we as taxpayers are on the hook for in regards to development plans.
Is there a central location that lists what risk we have in regards to all of the development project, Junction, Riverfront area, BDO and whatenver else there may be.
Peterball...
The total amount that you are looking for is in the 100 million range. Heaven forbid those republican are out of the white house or we would be making a tent city in down town. Oh I forgot down town is already a tent city.
PB:
I don't think there is one easily accessible on-line site that has, collected, the current information you want. Probably should be, but I don't think there is. If there is, I'd like to know about it too.
PB,
The City Administration is very busy to make such information just about impossible to get. Funds are taken from one project to pay for another. It's a combo of robbing Peter to pay Paul and a game of hide the salami. And those are only the projects we know about!
Make sure you register to vote in the next Council election in November. Unfortunately, it's another 2 years until the next Mayor election.
Off topic, but things are slow so....
Took the bus downtown this sunny spring morning to get coffee and a slice at Great Harvest, to sit outside at one of their sidewalk tables, read a bit and watch the city wake up for the day. Noticed three things [one good, two not so].
1. The new banners are nice. Look good. I saw them a block away marching down the street toward Union Station. If I were a stranger to Ogden and I saw them from a few blocks away, I'd walk down to see what the street was all about. Good idea, nicely executed.
2. Now, about those loudspeakers on lamp posts piping music constantly onto the sidewalks of Historic 25th Street.... Why? And if at all, certainly not in the mornings. No one I noticed seemed to be listening [except me, who didn't want to.] Young folk on the street had their earphones on listening to music they choose. Adults were carrying on conversations, or opening their stores. Not many/any strolling shoppers at 9:30 AM. What I wanted to hear as I sipped my coffee and read in the sun was the sounds of the city: sparrows chirping hunting for bread crumbs; shopkeepers opening up; windows being squeegeed; snatches of conversation as couples walked by; kids laughing as Mom came out of
Great Harvest with loaves of bread. How does piped in music someone else picked enhance all that? Can we turn 'em off, guys, at least until noon?
3. Worst looking thing on upper 25th Street: the facade [actually sub-surface] of the old Star Noodle Parlor. It looks awful. Looks like the building is crumbling. I'm puzzled as to why the owners took the old facade down before a tenant was ready to put a new one up. Can't some kind of temporary facade be put up until the building leases? It really looks god-awful.
Other than that, a pleasant spring morning on Historic 25th Street. If your work commitments permit, it's not a bad way to start a day.
Mr. Curmudgeon
Common now, fess up, didn't you sorta kinda miss Bruce Edward's dumb assed signs - just a little bit?
Ozboy:
Sorry, Oz. Not a bit. I would, however, like him to get busy and rehab the "Becker Beer" sign atop his building, now that he has permission to. That would be, definitely, a positive contribution to the ambiance of Historic 25th Street.
I just wonder how many of those writers who wrote about Ogden has really been here. Remember the DVDs that Godfrey gave to businesses in an effort to get them to relocate to Ogden? You received the impression that Ogden had a gondola and a 4-season resort at Malan's Basin. My point is that Godfrey can tell people anything he wants and unless they come to Ogden to actually see what is really happening, they would write their glowing articles about Ogden. A big farce just like Godfrey! No matter what the suits of Sandusky think!
If WSU's semester has just wrapped, you can be sure 1) Curmudgeon will make his annual trek to D.C., and 2) Curmudgeon will hotfoot it down to Great Harvests. Curm, you ought to try mixing it up with the regulars at GFC 25th Street on one of your expeditions. (They do tend to foregather on the early side.) Hell, there are even WSU perfessers who hang there. A rather intelligent and engaging crowd, hard as it is for GFC-Harrison die-hards to believe it.
Confidential to Curm: Your comments to the SLT's article on UTA ridership were much appreciated.
MM:
DC is not an annual trip. Only happens when I'm invited to sit on a grants panel and the taxpayers buy me a plane ticket and spring for a room. Works out about once every two or three years or so.
25th Street GFC is one of Mrs. Curmudgeon's regular drink-and-read spots. I prefer the riff-raff who frequent the Harrison shop. I seem to fit right in. [Shut up.] But I do the 25th Street shop too now and then. And Karen's [mostly when it's cold and a substantial breakfast is called for]. The problem early AM is, the 25th Street GFC is not on the sun side of the street. That'll be an advantage come July and August, but not now. My approaching-middle-age bones prefer sunshine on Spring mornings....
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