Uplifting Scott Schwebke story in this morning's Standard-Examiner, wherein a number of city officials (Boss Godfrey included) pay well-deserved tribute to Ogden City political heavyweight Jesse Garcia, who's now departing the city council, after sixteen years' dedicated service, zealously representing the interests of the citizens of Ogden City's Municipal Ward 1:
• Garcia pledges to remain advocate for minoritiesIn addition to a series of stirring tributes, Mr. Schwebke also significantly devotes two brief paragraphs to at least one "striking" instance where Councilman Garcia had been seriously "at odds" with the now-complimentary Mayor Godfrey:
Regular readers will recall the developing story in 2007, all of which we've assembled here in our Weber County Forum Secret Gondola Study Collection.A striking example of Garcia's differences with Godfrey came in 2007 when he opposed efforts by the mayor's administration to have Utah Transit Authority earmark $247,500 in federal grant funds for engineering, planning and other studies for an urban gondola system.
Those funds have been designated to the city for a street car transit alternative analysis but the gondola project aimed at linking downtown and Weber State University has not come to fruition.
To refresh our readers' recollection, and for a little trip down memory lane, here's the Secret Gondola Study story story in a nutshell:
At some point in 2006, Mayor Godfrey's Washington lobbyist finessed a $247 federal public transportation grant, which, as per custom, was turned over to the Utah Transit Authority, as local funds administrator. Godfrey did not report to the council the allocation of these funds; and they were only inadvertently revealed to the council months later.
Although these funds were designated with Ogden City as the intended beneficiary, Boss Godfrey adopted the preposterous position that these funds did not belong to Emerald City, that they were not subject to the authority of the Ogden City Council, but that they were instead placed at UTA's sole disposal, and for disposition at its sole discretion, toward a previously commissioned gondola engineering study.
Godfrey's mendacious words still ring in our ears: "It's not our money!" said Boss Godfrey, (with his fingers crossed behind his back, and his toes crossed inside his shoes). Ultimately, when the smoke cleared, after at least one citizen GRAMA request, a blistering Std-Ex article... or two, and the public release of a series of incriminating emails establishing that the Godfrey Administration (and possibly the UTA) had attempted (and colluded) to hide the true material facts from the city council, it turned out that these funds were indeed subject to disposition by the Ogden City; and (thanks in large part to Councilman Garcia's efforts), Godfrey and the UTA quietly backed down, and the heretofore disputed funds were ultimately earmarked by the council for the now ongoing street car transit alternative analysis, (as the Standard now reports with undue modesty).
(For the full un-abridged story, we again urge our readers again to check out our previously linked Secret Gondola Study Collection.)
As Councilman Garcia vacates his Ward 1 Council seat, we join in his tribute. As Councilwoman Gochnour says, "He will be missed."
"Sorely missed" we'll add: "Don't it always seem to go... you don't know what you got til it's gone?"
