By Bill C.
One very intriguing city council budget session at City Hall. Turned into a showdown; and this time the Council didn't even blink.
As we all know, the Marshall White Center was at the center of all this; and I must say the Council truly shined.
The budget portion opened with Bill Cook giving a presentation that clearly defined the roles of the Mayor and Council in our form of government, with emphasis on the the Council's duty to set City policy. He then explained that the Mayor is obligated to follow all City policy, by statute. Since the budget is an ordinance, the Council included a clear statement of City policy with regards to the funding of the Marshall White Center, including intentions of providing a pool as well as all current levels of service.
As the discussion progressed, the mayor began to filibuster. This included of course his usual assault on Jesse with his claim that the Council had been informed all along the way, for about 20 minutes. Finally Amy impressed on him that in order to get anywhere they must move on. After a couple more interruptions by the mayor the discussion progressed. When the mayor next interrupted, he again made threats and warnings that the Council was heading for a train wreck.
Finally, when the discussion was clearly focused on the legality of what was being discussed, the Council's own lawyer, Craig Hall, came to the podium. Not only did he explain the law regarding the Council's proposed action, he questioned the legality of how the mayor conducted this contract, pointed out how the mayor didn't follow proper procedure and that the city attorney Buck Froerer made mistakes with the contract. Gary Williams couldn't counter, so he proceeded to ask for an opinion on the hypothetical assumption that had everything been done properly, and due to the fact that the contract had already been signed, what takes precedent. "Policy," said the council's attorney... "the mayor is obligated to follow City Council policy."
After more discussion, in which Brandon Stevenson made a complete lackey of himself, the Council voted on the amendment which earmarked full funding to the MWC for the fiscal year 2010. The amendment passed.
For good measure, Caitlin offered another amendment along the same lines for the Lorin Farr pool, also earmarking funds as a matter of policy... it also passed.
You can be very proud of your Council tonight folks.
Two other things of note: Gary Neilson (Golds Gym) spoke about how the city should not compete with the private sector when it come to non essential services. Funny he never offered to extend a deal at a reduced rate to the affected seniors or poor that make up a significant portion of the clientele of the MWC.
And last but not least, I rather doubt Schwebke will mention that the mayor included in his threats, on more than one occasion, how much this will "cost the residents" if the Council goes through with this.
In his narcissistic, egocentric and petulant state of being, he went after the people of Ogden. They'll pay for this, he said.
Sweet.
Update 6/17/09 7:15 a.m. MT: Don't miss Scott Schwebke's own post-meeting writeup over on the Std-Ex live website, which gentle reader WACWB linked in the lower comments section during the wee hours:
• Godfrey: Council on collision course / OWCAP to manage Marshall White, to receive $337,450 from OgdenAll in all, we believe that Mr. Schwebke did a pretty good good job of laying out the facts and capturing Boss Godfrey's anger and angst, now that the council has drawn a firm line in the Emerald City political sand. Once again we hope our readers will also mosey on over there to lodge a few savvy remarks.
Update 6/17/09 9:27 a.m. MT: The Deseret News is following this story too:
• Ogden Council fully funds Marshall White Community Center, expects vetoHave at it, O Gentle Ones...
