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.
