My purpose on Tuesday was to let the city council and the community know that Councilman Garcia has not been honest. For some reason he is trying to "play both sides" by being publicly outraged while privately supportive. It is not right or ethical for an elected official to play these kinds of games. In the past, we have sat quietly while this kind of thing transpires. We have now decided that we have a responsibility to the public to let them know when these kinds of things are taking place. I will face the wrath of some of the city council members for exposing this kind of behavior but the people of Ogden deserve to know the truth.
Mayor Matthew Godfrey
Garcia playing both sides of the Marshall White Center issue
June 6, 2009
My position on the involvement of the Ogden Weber Community Action Partnership (OWCAP) with the Marshall White Center has been repeated and consistent: I am supportive in concept, but my support has always been contingent on funding for the services provided at the center.
If funding from the city and other grant sources was to be in place, I committed to express my support to the rest of the council, but I would never promise to “ensure...other council members are persuaded” to give their support.
This administration knows full well that my attendance at private meetings does not constitute notification to the city council at large. [...]
In this case, I was never told that the administration had no intention of providing any funding for the center. That came as a complete surprise and obviously affected my view of the future success of the management of the center by OWCAP.
It was not me, but rather the administration that kept the council and the public out of the process. The council didn’t even receive a draft of the agreement until nine days ago.
Councilman Jesse Garcia
Council not told city wouldn’t fund Marshall White Center
June 14, 2009
On June 6, 2009, the Standard-Examiner provided Boss Godfrey his own private editorial page soapbox, where he inelegantly regurgitated this odoriferous and petty screed. Fair is fair; and this morning's Std-Ex carries Councilman Garcia's firm but gentlemanly retort:
• Council not told city wouldn’t fund Marshall White Center...A more striking contrast in style and demeanor would be difficult to imagine. Notably, Garcia never actually comes out and says what the rest of us know to be true: Godfrey is a liar.
Or... Kindly Councilman Garcia duels it out with Lord Torquemada.
Who will be the first to comment?
11 comments:
I'm not sure that we can call Godfrey a liar in this instance. I think he's merely incapable of grasping the idea that someone can be in favor of a broad "concept," and yet stand in opposition when it's transformed in detail into an unpalatable "plan."
"Devil's in the details," as Garcia says.
Godfrey demonstrated this same blind spot 1n 2005-06, when he was rounding up supporters for his "Gondola concept," even in the absense of an actual detailed "plan."
Most of his "support" fell apart, of course, when it became apparent that he intended to finance that knuckleheaded boondoggle on the taxpayers' backs, through the bargain basement sale of our "crown jewel," Mount Ogden Park.
Rudi:
Interesting contrast in tone and demeanor evident in the two statements. And interesting the number of times Hizzonah and his chief aider-and-abettor, Pureheart Patterson, have been losing their tempers letely and restorting to name-calling rants at Council meetings. This never used to happen.
I know some disagree, but it seems to me a sign that the Administration is in trouble, is failing on a number of fronts, knows it can not much longer keep a growing number of citizens from recognizing those failures [and the rising cost to Ogden city's ordinary people --- that is, not Charter Members of the "Friends of Matt" enrichment club].
And so Mayor Godfrey and CAO Pureheart Patterson are beginning to panic. The shouting, and name-calling rants are one sign of it.
"Godfrey is a Liar"
Ah common Rudi, it ain't lyin and you know it. It is known as "flexible truths" and our Dear Leader Godfrey is a master of the art. When he isn't flexing the truth he is lyin for the Lord, something he is also darn good at. As you well know, being the good Mormon boy that you are, Lyin for the lord isn't really lyin at all if you have a pureheart, and we now know that our blessed leader does indeed have a pureheart as the equally purehearted Patterson, he of West Valley fame, told us so hisself, and we all know he don't lie, don't we?
It's very clear that Godfrey lead Garcia along with the idea of somebody else "managing" Marshall White - the goal being to get Garcia's "buy in." Godfrey knew there was no reason anybody would object to a simple "management change."
But all the while, Godfrey knew his true purpose was to turn a recreation center into a welfare office only, and one that would be off the city's books - no pool, no recreation, no nothing.
Godfrey conned and manipulated Garcia. That is lying. And Godfrey led the public to think there would be no changes to the programs at the center. That too was a lie.
Deception is lying.
In the city council tape recording, we hear Godfrey, blithely assuming his con was airtight, pretending Garcia knew what Godfrey knew Garcia had not known. Pure lying. Pure and simple.
Lies from a liar.
The only reason it didn't work is Garcia's COURAGE. Garcia didn't sit still for it. He stood for something. He stood for his own character and told what actually happened.
It is so obvious. What is going on at the Standard E that they can't see this?
Jesse, please run again. Can't you see your value, and that the people need you?
When is the council going to understand that they have the power to undo what the little man has done by a simple resolution and tie the hands of the lord mayor. They have the power and don't know how to use it. I guess that we not only need a new mayor but a new city council also.
Candy,
It's not quite as simple as you say. A resolution never has teeth. An ordinance does, but even ordinances are limited in various ways by state law.
In practice, the council's biggest problem is that they don't trust themselves or their staff to draft ordinances; instead they depend on the city attorney, who answers to Godfrey. This effectively allows Godfrey to kill any proposed ordinance before it ever comes up for a vote.
At this point the Marshall White contract is a done deal. The only thing that the Council can do about it is threaten litigation and that won't happen because it is much too costly and time consuming. At the meeting they were asking for the mayor to amend or re-write the contract and Patterson made it clear that they have no intention of doing so. The council went to OWCAP and nicely asked them to change it and they replied saying if you want any changes see the Mayor. OWCAP has screwed themselves and now they are the enemy to the Marshall White community by doing closed-door deals with the shady mayor.
Interesting Jesse Garcia letter to Editor of SE published today:
Council not told city wouldn't fund Marshall White Center
http://www.standard.net/live/news/176020
Grab The Popcorn:
Seems to me the Council still has to approve the budget for it --- the $30K a month subsidy through December. Hizzonah has no independent authority to commit that money, the way I understand it, without the Council putting it in the budget.
Presuming the Mayor can not commit the city to expend that money without Council approval, what options does that leave on the table? The Council can refuse to allocate the money, but in that case, the MWC will have no budget, no contract with an outside manager, and so will have to shut down on 1 July --- start of the new fiscal year. Right? That's no good as a solution, clearly.
So, could the Council in its budget fully fund the MWC for the entire fiscal year, but stipulate that the money must be spent on a city-operated MWC, and may not be used to provide subsidies for the leaseholder as the Mayor wants? I don't know.
But these look like the only three options left to the Council: (a)fund the mayor's six month subsidy [i.e. endorse the contract arrangement] (b) refuse to fund the contract subsidy, which would void the contract but also end all funds for MWC on 1 July.(c) fully fund the MWC for the entire fiscal year, but in such a way that the money cannot be used to pay a thirdy-party NGO to manage the MWC. Not sure that's possible.
The sad thing is, it did not have to come to this. With the Council and MWC community fully involved in the leasing negotiations from the start, some cooperative arrangement might well have been worked out that benefit the community, the city and the NGO. But Mayor Matthew "Pureheart" Godfrey chose, yet again, to work behind closed doors, to stiff other stakeholders in the community, and to strong-arm the arrangement he wanted made.
The most effective authority the Council has to rein in a runaway mayor is its power over the budget. If it cannot or will not use that power, there is no way our spendthrift "the people be damned" Mayor can be reined in and forced to govern in concert with the Council --- and the Matthew Godfrey "Cult of Personality" mayoralty will continue on unabated.
Curm:
You bring up very good points about the bugdet...one aspect I had forgotten about. It seems right now some, if not most, of the council members are thinking that turning the center over to OWCAP is not such a bad idea since even if they "fully fund" the center, it does not actually cover all the bills and necessary maintanence for that building. It seems they might be willing to budget the six-month subsidies and all major repairs if the mayor would excluded the clause about the swimming pool. That is the biggest hang-up right now and neither OWCAP nor the mayor want to budge on that!
I also think that it didn't have to come to this. I don't understand how they (mayor and OWCAP) think that making deals behind closed doors that will directly impact the community is a good idea. And Patterson trying to justify it at Thursdays meeting by saying a lot of contracts start behind closed doors (translation "we do it all the time") just slays me! Vacant property swapping is one thing, COMMUNITY centers are totally different.
I think the main thing the council can do at this point is to put some thought and effort into the types of costumes they will be wearing when they officially become the Mayor's porters. They also will have to decide which one of them will be the official palms waiver to keep the Mayor cool on those hot and muggy daze that are coming up.
Post a Comment