There's a top notch editorial in this morning's Standard-Examiner which we'll present for today's discussion, addressing the Junction Money Pit Dilemma, and the Godfrey administration's recent self-confessed request to the RDA Taxing Entity Committee, to provide Ogden City a taxpayer-borne bailout from the administration's back breaking Junction bond debt. The opening paragraphs provide the gist:
Although hampered by the same recession difficulties that have stalled economic development in many other communities, The Junction is still a big plus for Ogden city. It provides a safe place for Top of Utahns to shop, dine, play or be entertained. It has a great ambiance and environment. We can be proud that it has replaced a deserted mall in the heart of Ogden.In publishing this morning's editorial, the Std-Ex public joins the throngs of other Godfrey watchers who've painfully observed the now predictable process over the past 8-1/2 years, whereby Godfrey leaps from one ill-conceived multi-million dollar project to the next, without ever finishing any of those which were already underway.
There is a money pinch, however, that has prompted Richard McConkie, deputy director of community and economic development in Ogden, to request a 12-year extension, from 2014 to 2026, on The Junction tax increment district. This would provide some relief to the project's bond debt, which is $22.4 million.
If this is granted, it should come with the condition that the city focus on specific measures that have already moved ahead. We're talking about The Junction and, for example, the Ogden River Parkway project. It's time to put an end to efforts to build a hotel/golf facility, or an ice wall, or a velodrome, etc. The current economic situation requires continued focus and discipline from city administrators. [Emphasis added.]
Kudos to the Std-Ex for coming out publicly on this. If the RDA Taxing Entity Committee is persuaded to go along with Godfrey on this bailout proposal, it should explicitly make its cooperation contingent upon Godfrey's abandonment of any further crackpot schemes.
While Godfrey has amply demonstrated his capacity to cook up new projects, and to bully fiduciary decision makers into setting them in motion, he's also demonstrated near absolute managerial incompetence in shepherding such projects to completion.
Remember, folks, the still incomplete (and technically bankrupt) Junction project has been "in progress" for almost eight years; and for a full 44 months it looked like this. As for the River Project... here's its current status after a similar 8 years' dawdling. At the current juncture, the River Project situation actually appears to be deteriorating... Boss Godfrey now apparently doesn't even know the identities of the private investors who should be moving this project forward.
In truth, there's more that needs to be done with respect to both of these projects than even a competent manager could be expected to achieve in the 2-1/2 years which remain of Godfrey's quickly waning third mayoral term.
Godfrey is a like a narcissistic little kid who receives a new toy, plays with it for a few hours, then tires of it and asks mommy for a new one. It's time for the grownups in local government to administer a little "tough love," we think. Time for Taxing Entity Committee, if they're inclined to go along with this bailout, to set some firm conditional ground rules.
Added Bonus: Don't miss Cal Grondahl's spot-on editorial cartoon, by the way.
Comments, anyone?
