Monday, June 08, 2009

Two "Backburner" Items For Morning Discussion

A "soft" Standard-Examiner editorial; and a story from last week gains new legs

We took most of the weekend off; but now it's time to get back in gear, we guess. So to kick off this morning's discussion, we'll highlight two back-burner items, both of which relate to Weber County Forum topical themes.

First, we'll put the spotlight on yesterday's Standard-Examiner editorial, arguably the least hard-hitting Ogden political writeup during editorial page editor Doug Gibson's short tenure. Rather than lambasting Boss Godfrey for unilaterally entering into a lease and management agreement which gives OWCAP the contractual right to "[r]emodel and construct classrooms and [a] basement storage area in [the] existing pool area," [see Paragraph 5b] the SE editorial board takes a soft approach, although these words are somewhat encouraging, we suppose:
There's been a lot of rancor over the future of Marshall White Center. Now is the time for everyone to hold everyone else's feet to the fire. Public pool access is critical for Ogden's future.
Will Godfrey succeed in setting up alternate aquatics programs at other sites which are acceptable to current MWC patrons, during the six-month period prior to the pool's inevitable closure? Given Godfrey's long-demonstrated failure to attend to details like this, we can't say we're brimming with optimism about this. And if Godfrey fails to abide by these promises, will the SE actually have the guts to put his feet to the fire? Looking at past performance, we're not optimistic about this prospect either. And looking beyond the pool closure issue to the greater issues surrounding the OWCAP management agreement itself, what happens if OWCAP falls short on its hoped for grants? Looks like more of Godfrey's half-ass "count your chickens before they are hatched" municipal government management "style," to us.

Next, we'd like to re-link and reprise this 6/3/09 SE story, wherein Scott Schwebke reports on Godfrey's unfortunate 6/2/09 council meeting meltdown. The story has developed new legs in the comments section, with 38 reader remarks as of this posting, and has earned placement in the SE's most commented section at the top of the SE home page. It seems that a dispute has arisen over whether Godfrey is a serial liar or not. Perhaps its time for a few of our readers to mosey over there to set the record straight.

Reader comments are invited, as always.

9 comments:

$750,000 in the hole said...

Spent several hours at the Junction today-the iFly didn't get fired up once-maybe this space should get converted into a classroom.

Ozboy said...

What about the pool at the old Weber College gym on 25th & Adams? You know, the one that the Golds mooches were using before the tax payers of Ogden built them a brand new deluxe one. A lot closer to central Ogden than Ben Lomond or Lauren Farr.

RudiZink said...

One commenter under the SE article definitely got it right:

Gee, the Standard Examiner Editor could have saved a lot of typing had he just said,

"Godfrey lied about closing the pool. We think he should keep it open. We hope the city council can do so, and refrain from lying like Godfrey."

Brevity is a lost art.

better off said...

Just throw Garcia and Godfrey into that Marshall White CTR pool...

Anonymous said...

Weber Gym? Great idea!

Although we thought it would make an excellent Explorers Club Lodge, complete with monthly dues, Cigar Bar, Bangkok Bathouse, and Adventurer Hostel.

For a renovation fee of 10 million dollars.

sad very sad said...

I still remain amazed at the Standard-Examiner, which still continues to fail to criticize Godfrey's abundant faults.

What's wrong with Andy, Doug and Ron, anyway, journalists who've dedicated their careers to informing the public, and have now turned into hucksters for the little lying twerp?

Sad, very sad.

I wonder how these people sleep at night.

Oh that's right. The Standard no longer regards itself as a mere newpaper. It's now a multimediaa marketing company.

Bob Becker said...

It was indeed a pretty wimpy editorial. And it relies on information the editorial board has --- or thinks it does --- that no one else has: information the mayor offered at a private meeting with the SE. How cozy.

Let us hope the editorial board is not as... well, gullible... as the editorial suggests it may be. Taking Mayor Godfrey at his word is always a dicey proposition.

Look for example at the following from the editorial:

"Godfrey said that he has talked with the Ogden School District and they are interested in having pools at Ogden High School and Ben Lomond High School replace the water programs offered at the center. Similar plans are in store for the city's Lorin Farr Park pool."


Note the phrases "are interested in" and "plans are in store." Sadly, we have come to learn, the hard way, that such phrases from Ogden's Mayor all too often do not actually produce results --- at least not the ones anticipated. Remember the investors who were "interested in" bringing a 5 star hotel and indoor water park to downtown Ogden? And the plans that were "in store" for the all-year outdoor ice climbing tower. And of course many, we were told, were the parties "interested in" investing in the River Project [now mostly an oft-ignited slum and vacant lot complex], and oh the plans that were "in store" for it!

There's an old folk saying that the SE editorial board might keep in mind the next time it holds a closed-door session with Ogden's Mayor Godfrey and is impressed by his "interested ins" and "in stores." It goes like this:

"If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride."

Ozboy said...

Interesting Svengali, your metamorphose from the older portly criminal G. Gordon Liddy to the younger svelte hoodlum Frank Sinatra. You seem to have an infinity for bad boys. Nothing boring about that! What's next? Mayor Godfrey could be an interesting progression. But that might be too predictable for a California maverick.

Curmudgeon said...

Comment bumped to top shelf

Post a Comment

© 2005 - 2014 Weber County Forum™ -- All Rights Reserved