Oops! E-Trade "Baby" (Boss Godfrey Lookalike) Loses Everything

Is your blogmeister the only one who conjures up an image of Boss Godfrey, every time he views the E-Trade Baby?

Anyone who even "dabbles" in securities trading has to love those ubiquitous E-Trade commercials, with the trading-savvy E-Trade baby putting everyone to shame with his online trading acumen. In light of this... and in observation of the slowest Emerald City news week in quite a spell... here's a little something more in line with how the market's been behaving for many traders lately:


Sodden thought... this (Godfrey) kid can invest any amount in ANYTHING! Boss Godfrey can essentially spend massive amounts of Ogden City money with a single "mouse click"... boom, boom, boom... "totally easy"...

Wait! Is your blogmeister the only one who conjures up a mental image of a completly spendthrift Boss Godfrey, every time he views these TeeVee commercials? Is life imitating art once again... or (shudder) vicey versey?

Don't let the cat get your tongues, O Gentle Ones...

Standard-Examiner: Harrison Boulevard Wide Enough for Now

We'll chalk this up as a victory for Ogden City self-determination, and a defeat for Utah's Stalinesque central planning transportation bureaucracy, we guess

Good news for Ogden East Bench neighborhood preservation activists this morning, as the Standard-Examiner announces the Wasatch Front Regional Council's abandonment of its knuckle-headed Harrison Boulevard widening plan. Here's the lead from this morning's Mitch Shaw story:

CLEARFIELD — The Wasatch Front Regional Council has made some changes to its 30-year regional transportation plan in the Top of Utah.
After receiving public comments from government officials and area residents, WFRC is no longer planning to widen Harrison Boulevard in Ogden from 20th Street to U.S. 89.
Now, the plan calls for only operational improvements on the road from 20th Street to Country Hills Drive in Ogden, and widening the road from four lanes to six from Country Hills Drive to U.S. 89

Read the full story here:

• Harrison Boulevard wide enough for now

We'll chalk this up as a victory for Ogden City self-determination, and a defeat for Utah's Stalinesque "car-culture enamored" central planning transportation bureaucracy, we guess.

Standard-Examiner: Potential Ogden River Project Developer Hopes Unfair Advantage Won't Go to Competition

Looks like rival developers of the River Project are spittin' and feudin' already, and not a spadeful of dirt turned yet

By: Curmudgeon

Uh oh. Looks like rival developers [or would be developers] of the River Project are spittin' and feudin' already, and not a spadeful of dirt turned yet. The SE has an interesting story up this morning reporting that the development company (Millrock Capital) associated with the troubled Mr. Lesham is worried that the city may be about to give an unfair advantage to another development company that wants to buy six acres of Ogden City owned land in the River Project Area, and the Lesham-associated company is definitely not happy about it. All this emerged at a City Council work session on the proposed sale of those six city owned acres for town house development.

And Mr. Lesham his own self showed up at the work session. He said he just stopped by to be neighborly, and say "hi" to the council members. About the issue under discussion, he had no comment. [Surprise, surprise.]

The SE story can be found here:

• Potential Ogden River Project developer hopes unfair advantage won't be given to competition

The world-wide webosphere is sitting on the edge of its seat, awaiting word from our savvy WCF readers about the true meaning of all this.

A Quick Heads-up About Tonight's Weber County Heritage Foundation Special Event

A lecture and slide show of local Colonial Revival and Neoclassical Revival Architecture

At the request of one of our regular WCF readers, we'll provide a quick heads-up about tonight's Weber County Heritage Foundation special event:

Historic Lecture Series, April 27, 7 p.m. @ Weber County Library, Main Branch, Auditorium

Modest & Grand: Weber County's Colonial Revival

and Neoclassical Revival Architecture

Want to know more about Weber County's historic buildings? Architectural historian Richa Wilson will discuss the popular Colonial Revival and Neoclassical Revival styles of the early 1900s. You will learn about their origins, development, and characteristics. By the end of the slide show, you will be able to identify these buildings in your neighborhood! This lecture is free to the public, and is the first in a series sponsored by WCHF.

Richa is a wonderful public speaker whose “day-job” is as the Regional Architectural Historian for the U.S. Forest Service. She has a great slide-show ready to accompany the lecture packed with local examples. The lecture is free.

The Foundation also has some of Richa's photos posted at their website, just to put you in the mood: www.WeberCountyHeritageFoundation.org.

We hope that you'll all mark your calenders and plan to attend.

Deseret News: State Liquor Stores to Stay Open After All

In addition, stores won't have to reduce operating hours as initially planned

By: Ray

News Flash...Gov. Herbert and legislative leaders get their collective heads out of their a**es.

The Deseret News has the story:

• State liquor stores to stay open after all

Here's the lede:

SALT LAKE CITY — Nine state liquor stores won't run dry after all — at least not this year.
Gov. Gary Herbert and legislative leaders worked out a way for the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to shift $1.4 million within the agency to keep the stores open until February 2012. About 100 full- and part-time jobs were saved as a result.
In addition, the money means stores won't have to reduce operating hours as initially planned. All locations will maintain current hours.
"That's a big deal to people," said Vickie Ashby, DABC spokeswoman.

The Tribune is carrying the story, too:

• Most Utah liquor stores to stay open

Don't let the cat get your tongues, O Gentle Ones.

Tuesday Morning Northern Utah News Roundup

Hopefully scofflaw Neal Humphrey's bold taunt won't land him in the slam

Nutritious Emerald City red meat news has been in exceedingly short supply over the past few days, so we'll offer our readers this Northern Utah News Roundup, just so's our readers will at least have something to chat about on WCF this morning:

1) There's good news on the Emerald City jobs front this morning, as The Standard-Examiner reports that Ogden entrepreneur and all-around good guy Alan Hall's "MarketStar Corp. will add 250 Internet advertising sales jobs in Ogden over the next few months to serve a major search engine client":

• 250 jobs coming to Ogden; fair this week for Internet advertising sales employees

And in a shocking "man-bites-dog" twist to this Ogden jobs story, hold onto your hats for this:

"The city did not offer MarketStar any incentives for the hiring initiatives."

Hard to imagine, no?

2) Amidst the scores of HB 477 stories which have appeared on northern Utah print media pages over the past few months, here's a SLTrib story which particularly caught our eye this morning, wherein Trib reporter Brooke Adams cites "[t]he case of Kevin Tolton versus the Town of Alta" [as a case which] "is widely known as the mother of all records requests — the incident that access advocates, government officials and lawmakers alike hold out as the example of why Utah’s open records law needs revision":

• Battle over Alta records ignited HB477  war

We'll go along with this savvy reader comment, which appears beneath the story:

Just as the Westboro Baptists test our commitment to free speech, Mr. Tolton tests our commitment to open government. Yes, the Town of Alta needs to do a better job managing its records to reduce the cost of complying with requests. At the same time, it's perfectly fair to charge requesters a reasonable fee for locating and retrieving large numbers of records. And GRAMA currently allows such charges, especially when the request benefits a person rather than the public.

3) And last but not least, we'll shine the spotlight on this sardonic Neil Humphrey SE guest commentary piece, which illustrates the sheer idiocy of the socialist liquor marketing monopoly, here in The People's Republic of Utah:

• A bootlegger's plea

In closing, scofflaw Rev. Humphrey offers this bold taunt:

"You can catch me at it every Sunday morning, so come and get me. Just be ready to repent."

Hopefully this won't land him in the slam.

That's it for now, O Gentle Ones.

Who will be the first to chime in with your own 2¢?

Standard-Examiner: Issue of Repeated Double-dipping at Ogden Police Department Leads to Grievance

Isn't the current system of "recycling" "retiring" OPD top brass just plain wrong?

The Standard-Examiner follows up on its March 27, 2011 story this morning, and reports that aggrieved OPD Sgt. Blaine Clifford, "[a]n Ogden police sergeant who contends he was unfairly passed over for promotion in 2007 because of a double-dipping system is again taking his grievance to the city's Civil Service Commission":

• Issue of repeated of double-dipping at Ogden Police Department leads to grievance

The commission is scheduled to hear Sgt. Clifford's complaint on May 11.

So what about it gentle readers? Isn't this system of "recycling" "retiring" OPD top brass, at the expense of up-and-coming rank-and-file police officers just plain wrong? And shouldn't this issue be resolved once and for all by our Ogden City Council?

Have at it, O Gentle Ones.

Who'll be the first to throw in their own 2¢ concerning this issue?

Standard-Examiner: And The Hunt Is On For Ogden Landmarks

Check out the Ogden City website, where you'll find more information, along with a downloadable contest entry form

Attention Emerald City architecture buffs! The Standard-Examiner provides a heads up this morning regarding a very unique competition, sponsored by a couple of highly-respected home town historic preservation entities.

Here's the lede:

OGDEN -- City officials are encouraging area residents to keep their eyes on local architecture during the municipality's annual historic scavenger hunt that runs through May 17.
The ninth annual hunt is being sponsored by the Ogden Landmarks Commission and Weber County Heritage Foundation and as part of National Historic Preservation Month.
The hunt is meant to get people out on the streets of Ogden to look at the city's unique historic buildings, said Sharon Smith, a city planning technician.

Read the full SE story here:

• And the hunt is on for Ogden landmarks

WCF regular contributor Dan S. participated in this competition last year; and his shared experience yielded us some very interesting results.

For those of you who'd like to follow Dan's example and participate of your own accord this year, check out this page from the Ogden City website, where you'll find more information, along with a downloadable contest entry form:

• Historic Preservation Scavenger Hunt

Happy hunting, O Gentle Ones...

Breaking: River Project Land Sale Under Negotiation

69 townhomes and commercial spaces as part of the long-awaited Ogden River Project

By: Curmudgeon

Breaking... The Standard-Examiner just put up a story detailing the latest River Project development proposal, which begins with a plan by the Ogden RDA to sell about 6 acres in the Project area to a SLC developer (SouthRiver LLC) to build town homes. Part of the purchase price will be in cash, part will rely on tax increment funding.

Full story here:

• Land sale under negotiation

Comments anyone?

Ogden Standard-Examiner Fails to Win Pulitzer Prize Again

This in spite of the extraordinary efforts on the part of Mayor Godfrey to hand it to them on a silver platter

By: Ozboy

Well it seems that for the tenth year in a row the Ogden Standard Examiner has failed to win a Pulitzer Prize for political investigative reporting. Here's the most recent news on this topic, a Salt Lake Tribune story, reporting on how the LA Times just won a Pulitzer for exposing political corruption in a small California town:

• L.A. Times wins Pulitzer for exposing big salaries

This in spite of the extraordinary efforts on the part of Mayor Godfrey to hand it to them on a silver platter.

The Mayor was overheard complaining to his sycophant in chief, John "Pure Heart" Patterson:

Jeeze Pure Heart, can't these losers ever get anything right? I give them endless lies, I give them FANURE, I give them practically every other sleazy political trick in the books and they still can't string together an article or two that connects the dots! I don't know what else I could do for them other than write the damn stories myself, but that wouldn't work because the Pulitzer selection committee has a rule against crooked politicians being awarded the prize for self reporting.

On a brighter note, The Standard's local political reporter, Incurious Scott Schwebke, (aka ISS) was awarded the Putzliker Prize for the reporter with his head the furthest up a sleazy politicians kiester. This award was for his body of non-work over an extended period of time in spite of being exposed to a daily diet of scamming, lying and blatant cronyism on the part of the corrupt political machine known as the Godfreyites.

Although the Standard missed out on the Big Pulitzer, they did share the Putzliker award with the aforementioned ISS, along with the lesser known "Asleep at the Press" award. This last award was given by the Putzliker Committee under the theory that no single reporter could be so utterly lame and incompetent without full support and encouragement from top management.

So congratulations to all you folks over at the Standard; you might not have been in the hunt for the Pulitzer, but ya did us all proud with your outstanding achievements with the Putzliker.

An Emerald City Tuesday Evening Council Meeting Heads-up

Godfrey is desperate to say he got something done on the river, but this latest development proposal is a poor last ditch effort and not in the best interests of the city

Editor's Introductory preface: In anticipation of tomorrow night's Emerald City Council work meeting, we're pleased to promote to the front page gentle reader Looks like we’ve been sold down the river again's Thursday comment, which alerts us to some serious and troubling Ogden River Project mission creep, which will be discussed at Tuesday's meeting:

By: Looks like we’ve been sold down the river again

The latest proposal being presented to the city council in the upcoming work session for the river development appears to no longer be a mixed use project with nicely laid out garden lined paths with small parks along the way that follow the meander of the river on one side and small boutique shops and restaurants lining the other side of the path... a show place in the city that would draw locals and non-locals alike to the downtown area and as an excursion for those people that come to Ogden for conventions. This concept has given way to a housing project disguised as a mixed use project.

Here's a link to tomorrow night's council packet, for those WCF readers who'd like to examine the original source documents:

• 04/19 City Council Work Session

The city council is first being asked to redefine the current language as to what is a mixed use area in the city ordinances. Specifically the current wording for mixed use states that no more than 60% of the area will be allowed to be used in any one specific type of use, such as residential, commercial, office building or retail. This is to ensure the area actually functions as a true mixed use area.

What is being proposed to the city council to change is the language that would define a mixed use area as an area where no more that 60% of any one HOUSING TYPE is used. With this change the river project can be 90+% housing. Defined in the latest river project development proposal as 28 carriage houses, 24cottage houses, 383 townhouses, 283 apartments, 23 (in 9 buildings) live/work residents and 9 mixed use (commercial with residential) buildings. Once the language is changed then the whole area becomes a housing project. Then the council will be asked to approve the river project development agreement and if they do, the whole concept of a true mixed use area within the city that would attract people from all over to enjoy its beauty will have been lost.

Some of the concept drawings show large park areas along the river (being totally surrounded by residential complexes) rather than what most people envision as true mixed use and later in the presentation they show build outs of these same park areas into residential projects as the whole area gets completed.

One has to wonder to with all the effort put into restoring the river back to a natural state in anticipation of a true mixed use setting how the river will fare with the new pressures of some additional 1500 plus people living in close proximity to the river. Council should seriously review the changes being proposed to the mixed use ordinance and council should seriously review the current development proposal to see if a housing project is really what they envisioned for the river project.

In MHO, Godfrey is desperate to say he got something done on the river, but this latest development proposal is a poor last ditch effort and not in the best interests of the city. This is just too valuable an asset to the city to simply turn this area into a housing project.

Editor's Addendum: For those readers who'd like to voice their objections to the administration's desperate proposal to abandon Ogden City's carefully crafted, original mixed use development intent, and to swap it (bait and switch-style) for high density housing project parameters, which will inevitably lead to the "instant ghettoising" of Ogden's River Project Area...

Imagine something like this along the Ogden River. This is what cheap, high density residential rental property looks like:

Here's what cheap and developer-profitable
high density residential housing looks like, People!

Here's your Ogden City Council contact information. Need we say more? AHEM!:

• Contact Local Officials - Ogden City

Remember, your Ogden City Council representatives love to hear from you, their constituents, even when you're only writing to gripe.

Standard-Examiner: OPD Awaits New Crime-fighting Tools

A crime fighting, aerial surveilance blimp for Ogden? Oh the Huge Manatee!

Despite the fact that Boss Godfrey's aerial survellance blimp has become a side-splitting punchline on both the local and national levels, The Standard-Examiner still continues this morning, (with an apparent completely straight face), to assist the administration in flogging this idea as a legitimate crime-fighting tool:

• OPD awaits new crime-fighting tools

Interesting crime statistics side-story emerges from this morning's Scott Schwebke writeup, too:

In 2010, violent crime incidents, including homicide, rape, robbery and assault, in east-central Ogden decreased 24 percent. Property crimes, such as burglary and auto theft rose by 20 percent over those recorded in 2009, according to a newly issued CRU report.

A crime fighting, aerial surveilance blimp for Ogden, to respond to the disturbing 2010 uptick in property crimes?

The "Ogdenburg"

Please feel free to continue to discuss this topic, or alternatively to consider this an open-topic thread.

Salt Lake Tribune: VesCor Investment Scam Associate Gets Year in Jail

Still surprised that Hammons has people telling the judge what an honorable man he is

By: What will it cost us

William J. Hammons, 67, was sentenced on Friday after being convicted in February of seven counts of felony fraud. Hammons worked with Boss Godfrey crony Val E. Southwick, an Ogden businessman now in prison for a real estate investment scheme that bilked hundreds of investors out of more than $180 million. He received a year in jail and was ordered to pay restitution.

• VesCor investment scam associate gets year in jail

Still surprised that he has people telling the judge what an honorable man he is; but his victims wanted more jail time.

Salt Lake Tribune: Fire Waddoups

Members of the Senate majority might be well-advised to put out a help wanted sign for a new president

Hmmm... It's not just the Standard-Examiner who believes state senator Mike Waddoups is clueless. The Salt Lake Tribune also lays into "the incredibly callous" Utah Senate President this morning:

• Fire Waddoups

The Trib editors sum it all up thusly:

It is that cluelessness about those in circumstances less favorable than his own that should clue other members of the Senate majority that they might be well-advised to put out a help wanted sign for a new president.

Are you listening, Weber County Senators Christensen, Jenkins and Reid?

Breaking News: Godfrey Releases List of Potential Fieldhouse Donors - UPDATED

Now we know why Godfrey worked so hard to keep the list of potential donors secret

By Curmudgeon

Hizzonah, Mayor Matthew Godfrey has turned over the list of donors the city's GRAMA review committee told him was a public record to the Standard Examiner, which just put the story up on its website:

• Godfrey releases list of potential donors

The story's most telling sentence: "None of the donors the newspaper talked with agreed to provide money for the field house."

Now we know why he worked so hard to keep the list of potential donors secret. It seems most of them had not committed a dime.

Update 4/14/11 9:58 p.m.: The SL Trib has the story too:

• Ogden mayor’s hoped-for Field House donors lukewarm.

Update 4/14/11 11:44 p.m.: Dan Schroeder has just transmitted to us a scan of the original Boss Godfrey patsy donor list received from Ogden City in the mail on Monday:

Salt Lake Tribune: Waddoups Backtracks on Jobless Remark

How dumb is Mike Waddoups? VERY DUMB??? Or Worse???

Here's the latest from the Tribune's Robert Gehrke, regarding one of the Utah Senate's most powerful Single Digit IQ corporatist legislative overlords, regarding another idiotic statement issued during his hopelessly botched Senate Presidency tenure:

• Waddoups backtracks on jobless remark

We swear... NOBODY could make this shite up!

How dumb is Mike Waddoups? VERY DUMB?... Or worse?

Standard-Examiner: Ogden Council Rejects River Project Agreement

Anyone want to lay odds on whether a groundbreaking will occur for this project prior to Godfrey's departure from the mayoral office in January 2012?

Whoa, people! Seems like only yesterday that the Godfrey administration was crowing about the selection of Marina del Rey-based Lee Homes as developer for the moribund Ogden River project; and now we learn from the Standard-Examiner this morning that this once highly-touted California company is out on its ear:

• Ogden council rejects River Project agreement

Anyone want to lay odds on whether a groundbreaking will occur for this project prior to Godfrey's departure from the mayor's office in January 2012?

Get the Real Poop!

I am changing my list of required financial publications so I will get the real poop!

By: Dorothy Littrell

No more Wall Street Journals for me!

Read this, from the Rolling Stone e-magazine, no less!

• Why Isn't Wall Street in Jail?

Read up!

Dorothy

Liberal vs. Conservative: Does the Difference Lie in the Brain?

Larger than normal brain parts (anterior cingulate cortices and/or amygdalae)... neuroscientific reasons you may or may or may not be a political "fraidy cat"

By Ozboy

I just read an article on the Time magazine site about a study that identified some differences in the brain structure between liberals and conservatives.

One interesting paragraph reads:

In the study, led by Ryota Kanai of the University College London, people who identified themselves as liberals generally had a larger anterior cingulate cortex — a comma-shaped region near the front of the brain that is involved in decision-making. By contrast, those who identified as conservatives had larger amygdalas — almond-shaped structures that are linked with emotional learning and the processing of fear.

This seems to explain why "liberals" when confronted with a situation will think it through and come to an intelligent understanding of it, while "conservatives" usually just react in fear and circle the wagons - ala the current Tea Party Tin Hat crowd.

Read more:

• Liberal vs. Conservative: Does the Difference Lie in the Brain?

Liberal or conservative... "size" may actually mean something.

Don't let the cat get your tongues!

Standard-Examiner Guest Commentary: GRAMA Request Reveals Details of "Sweetheart" 21st Street Pond Deal

Ogden City activist David Smith nabs the mayor

By: TLJ

Ogden City activist David Smith nabs the mayor:

21st Street Pond is deeded to the city of Ogden, but we the citizens can't use it until 2058! Two someones named Matthew Godfrey and David Goode signed a memorandum of general intent, stating that Goode's company would have exclusive use of the pond for its watercraft until 2058. All in exchange for a $5,000 campaign contribution to the mayor.

Do the math? That works out to about $92.50 per year to keep the good citizens of Ogden out of Goode Ski Lake. Yes, David Goode even got naming rights in the memo.

Read all about it in this morning's SE guest commentary, (which also has more details and information of where the GRAMA'd documents can be found):

• GRAMA request reveals details of 21st Street Pond deal

No new news on Goode's website for 7 months ... the last one being about some water ski event in Florida.

One wonders if they are even using the 21st street pond.

TLJ

Standard-Examiner: Ogden Lawmaker to Introduce Bill, Saying State-run Liquor Stores 'Anti-capitalist and Anti-free Market'

Reader query: Is it reasonable to expect that the Utah liquor market could achieve free market efficiency, while a state monopoly is preserved at the supply chain apex?

Tantalizing front page story (for civil libertarians at least) in this morning's Standard-Examiner, announcing that one Mormon Weber County legislator, House District 7 Representative Ryan Wilcox, is proposing... get this... the privatization of "the retail sale of liquor in Utah":

• Ogden lawmaker to introduce bill, saying state-run liquor stores 'anti-capitalist and anti-free market'

Gotta say we were gobsmacked by the headline, wondering how this relatively inexperienced "Mo-Mo" Wilcox kid would have summoned up the audacity to present a bill like this before a decidedly "Mormon" Legislature"... until we got down to the "fine print" contained in the last paragraph of today's Loretta Park story:

Wilcox said his proposal would include maintaining the same standards and control the state currently has over the sale of liquor, but with private businesses operating the liquor stores.

It thus becomes even more explicit when you read this language from today's SLTrib story on this topic, which basically, although more thoroughly than the Standard-Examiner, covers the same ground:

Wilcox said Utah’s model for privately run stores could come from so-called package agencies, run by private individuals. The agencies, which date back to the 1930s, are in small towns and rural areas where it’s not economically feasible to open a large, state-controlled store. [Emphasis added.]

Too funny people. Looks to us like this Wilcox kid is playing fast and loose with the facts, when he characterizes his new bill as a move toward "free market capitalism." It looks more like Soviet-style communism to us, with his bill preserving the state liquor monopoly right down through wholesaling/buying/warehousing/ distributing... to the "state package store" level, where private contractors would handle the retail marketing. Here's what this Wilcox fella is proposing people... The way it is set up by Wilcox, private business will pay all the retail costs and overhead and the state will still have all the control and reap all the spoils.

A "move toward free market capitalism?" That's so funny that your blogmeister forgot to laugh.

Seems to us that if representatives Wilcox and Richardson were really serious about adhering to the principles of free market economics (rather than engaging in mere sloganeering), they'd be sponsoring a bill to get the state government out of the liquor business altogether.

So what about it O Gentle Ones? Is it reasonable to expect that the Utah liquor market could achieve free market efficiency, while a state monopoly is preserved at the supply chain apex?

RIP Bill Critchlow! Sad to SeeYou Go

Dang! Bill C... he had a stroke and passed within the last couple of hours

Got this missive from one of WCF juggernaut Bill Critchlow's pals earlier today, which has even put your hard core jaded blogmeister into the deep emotional dumps:

Rudi:

Though you may have heard, just thought your forum would like to know our beloved Bill C. passed away this morning. Been battling cancer. Heard he had a stroke and passed within the last couple of hours. Details on arrangements to follow.

He was family to me, and a friend to countless.

Thanks,

Beaver

Rest In Peace, Bill Critchlow, my dear friend.

Needless to say, words are hopelessly insufficient.

[Sniffle]

Bill Critchlow (1955-2011)

Update 4/10/11 9:02 a.m.: Bill's obit is in today's Standard-Examiner:

• Bill Critchlow Obituary

Funeral will be Tuesday at 1 pm at Myers Mortuary, 845 Washington. Viewing Monday night 6 to 8 and Tuesday 11:40 to 12:40.

Standard-Examiner Editorial: OUR VIEW: Fix Liquor Stores Fiasco

Daily Utah Chronicle: Voting on autopilot hurt citizens’ rights

We have no doubt that it gives the overwhelmingly Republican Legislature a lot of satisfaction to include the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control in its budget-trimming. But even the most "moral" budget cut needs to make sense. No matter how many times you figure it out, it is not thrifty to save $2 million and lose potentially $18 million.

Standard-Examiner Editorial
OUR VIEW: Fix liquor stores fiasco
April 8, 2011

I've referred to the political principles of the Utah Republican Party before as "Big Brother Republicanism." In light of this session, a better term fits—feudalistic Republicanism. The term captures the Utah Republican Party's disdain for public oversight, input, checks and balances of and to its government. It captures the spirit of expanding the power of the government and rich lobbyists (the noble families) and shrinks the power of the public (the serfs). It also captures the feudalistic spirit of contempt and condescension that the Utah Republican Party has for the voting public.

Stewart Thorpe, The Daily Utah Chronicle
Voting on autopilot hurt citizens’ rights
April 5, 2011

Top notch Standard-Examiner editorial this morning, exposing yet another legislative blunder which needs to be fixed, flowing from this year's wacked-out 2011 legislative session:

• OUR VIEW: Fix liquor stores fiasco

And over at the Utah Daily Chronicle, columnist Stewart Thorpe has another great idea. After the legislature gets done fixing this year's bad legislation, maybe it's time for knee-jerk GOP voters to help fix up the Utah legislature itself:

• Voting on autopilot hurt citizens’ rights

Seems our Utah legislature gets loonier with each passing year. Perhaps the time has come, even for GOP loyalists, to turn off the autopilot and "cull the herd."

Just a thought.

Standard-Examiner: Hansen Announces Run for Mayor of Ogden

One of the very few honest and sincere politicians in the whole damn state

By Ozboy

I see on the Standard site that Neil Hansen has thrown his hat in the mayoral ring today:

• Hansen announces run for mayor of Ogden

I wish him well, he is one of the very few honest and sincere politicians in the whole damn state. Hopefully he will find the keys to the east side this time around.

Standard-Examiner Editorial: OUR VIEW: Waddoups is Clueless

Kudos to the Standard for tellin' it like it is

Spot-on editorial in this morning's Standard-Examiner, dealing with the state legislature's misguided failure and refusal "to accept almost $100 million from the federal government to extend unemployment benefits to 23,432 Utahns for 13 more weeks." This morning's editorial bears this concise and accurate headline, which, (now that we think about it,) pretty much summarizes the whole story of the Utah legislature this year:

• OUR VIEW: Waddoups is clueless

Loved the scatological reference, a drastic departure from the SE Editorial Board's usual staid and Sunday school-style delivery:

We've had to deal with a lot of horse manure coming from the Utah Legislature this year and unfortunately the piles continue to emanate from its leadership.

And speaking of reeking barnyard "cluelessness" "emanating in piles from legislative leadership," check out this morning's ABC4 story, which deals with yet another legislative "false economy," i.e., the legislature's genius attempt (another Waddoups brain-child) to "save just about $2 million" by closing down "nearly a dozen" state liquor outlets this summer:

• Closing Utah liquor stores will cost millions

Thanks to folks like Mike Waddoups, cluelessness abounds in the Utah legislature, no?

Kudos to the Standard for tellin' it like it is. And watch your step... so's you don't trip over Sen. Waddoups' "road apples," which are scattered everywhere from Logan to St. George.

Update4/6/11 12:00 p.m.: Per the Ever-Gentle Curmudgeon:

The SL Trib this morning has a story up about "Last Minute Lockhart," who conceded that "the audit" the legislature did on the state liquor store monopoly's budget "may not have been" quite as thorough as it should have been:

• Liquor store outcry: Utah lawmakers having second thoughts

And another story on a bill to allow health insurance companies to raise premiums for old folk and large families which Speaker of the House "Last Minute Lockhart" got introduced in the closing moments of the session and rushed to adoption without debate [sound familiar] which the Guv vetoed. Last Minute Lockhart and the boys are of course planning a veto-override session:

• Lawmakers may be in mood to reverse governor

Clueless Waddoups, Last Minute Lockhart and Free Lunch for Me Dee are beginning to look like they're trying out for the part of Steve Urqel by repeating the line: " Did I do that?"

Tuesday Morning Emerald City News Roundup

Plenty of Ogden-centric news in the Standard-Examiner and Tribune this morning

Quipping that "[m]y transmission doesn't have a neutral," Boss Godfrey announces his ambitious plan for the final nine months in office, adding that he will step up his workload over the next nine months, leaving us all to wonder if you're going in the wrong direction and you step up your workload, where, exactly, do you wind up?

• Ogden mayor sets goals before leaving office

Eight long years since the commencement of the Ogden River Project, the Ogden Planning Commission will finally get around to considering on Wednesday whether to recommend that the city's Redevelopment Agency Board adopt a proposed project master plan:

• Commission to consider $50,000 proposal for Ogden River Project

Odd editorial in this morning's Standard, heralding the beginning of the 2011 Ogden Mayoral race, and touting outgoing mayor Godfrey's chief weakness, self-centered hubris, as if it were a positive trait:

• OUR VIEW: The race for mayor begins

And speaking of the mayoral race, we learn from the Standard this morning that former Weber County Commissioner Ken Bischoff has thrown his hat into the ring:

• Bischoff ready to run for mayor of Ogden

And last but not least, Ogden based Senator Stuart Reid tells the Salt Lake Tribune "he voted against repealing a controversial open records law for one reason: To protect private communication that staff attorneys warned was subject to public disclosure," leaving us to wonder whether he missed Paul Rolly's Saturday column:

• Lawmaker says privacy rights ‘core issue’ in HB477

That's it for now, O Gentle Ones...

Time to throw in your own 2¢.

Charlie Trentelman: Custom Ordered For a Slow News Day

How evil is Boss Godfrey, actually?

By: Curmudgeon

Charlie Trentelman has a blog column up over at the Standard-Examiner website entitled:

• Is Mayor Godfrey Really That Evil?

And he's drawn some replies. Some of them interesting.

Just FYI, hehehh.

Big Emerald City Council Meeting Tomorrow Night

Proposed CIP ordinance amendments would reduce Emerald City government transparency, hand Boss Godfrey even more discretionary power and much more...

On the heels of the 2/15/11 Ogden City Council meeting, we'll provide an additional heads-up concerning tomorrow night's Regular Council Session, wherein the Council will give further consideration to pending proposals to substantially (and detrimentally) amend Ogden City's Capital Improvement Project rules.

As we noted in our 2/14/11 article on this topic, these proposed amendments for the most part fall into two chief general classes:

1) Raising of Capital Improvement Project Limits. The Administration proposes to raise the threshold for discretionary Administration capital expenditures "from the current $10,000 to $30,000 before the administration is required to go to the City Council for permission to spend additional taxpayer dough." Raising this threshold would have the obvious effect of allowing more money to be spent by the Administration on projects without prior public knowledge, of course.

2) Establishment of "Slush Funds." The Administration proposes the establishment of an array of new self-administered "accounts":

• Contingency Fund (Cost overruns - $100k expenditure cap)
• Future Projects Account (No $ cap)
• Study Account ($60k cap)

We've of course taken the liberty of characterising these as "slush funds." But given Mayor Godfrey's cavalier disregard for the boundaries of various departmental accounts over the years, we believe such characterization is apt. We contend the establishment of such accounts is a very bad idea... "a frightening proposition, given the Little Lord's well demonstrated "spending propensities."

For those readers who'd like to consult the Council Packet for tomorrow night's meeting, click the link below:

• 04/05 City Council Regular Session

Once you've had a chance to check out these documents we're certain you'll agree that these ordinance changes would reduce transparency, allow more money to be spent on projects without prior public knowledge, substantially and detrimentally relinquish existing Council financial oversight and and unreasonably hand even more discretionary spending power over to Boss Godfrey.

We'll invite you all to throw in your 2¢; but before we do, here's a little something extra, a query tossed into the CIP ordinance amendment discussion in one of our lower comments sections:

Currently as the CIP budget is now put together the projected expenditures are of some 2.25 mil for next year, with 1.0 mil of that amount being for the field house.
Why would we be committing this much money to the field house when we haven't even decided whether we're going to build it or not?"

Great question, Ogden Resident, BTW! How the hell DID $1 million in Fieldhouse Project funding wind up on the CIP list, actually?

The floor's open, O Gentle Ones.

Who will be the first to chime in?

Update 4/6/11 7:33 a.m.: Scott Schwebke reports that the Council bought the full proposed CIP amendment package, hook line and sinker, by a 6-1 vote:

• Ogden amends CIP ordinance

Fiscal prudence in Emerald City? Fuggedaboudit.

Sunday Morning Emerald City News Roundup

Plenty of interesting tidbits in this morning's S-E

By Dan Schroeder

Plenty of interesting tidbits in today's Standard-Examiner:

Trentelman tells us what a nice guy Sen. Knudson is even though he voted for HB477 twice. No sympathy for Sen. Reid, however:

• HB477 is dead; we can keep fighting or move forward

Schwebke tells us that there's an open space plan under consideration, but doesn't tell us much about it:

• Ogden may alter open space plan

Grondahl depicts our mayor running down a sports field in spiked shoes, trampling everyone in his wake:

• Grondahl Cartoon

Saal ridicules WCF (no such thing as bad publicity, right?), and speculates on the mayor's goals for his last nine months in office:

• Ogden City, we are at your disposal

And the fine-print agenda list includes a tiny item informing us that on Tuesday the council will voluntarily hand the mayor even more power to divert funds to his pet projects:

• Agendas

Update 4/3/11 8:30 a.m.: The SE editorial board slams the Ogden Police Department's "dysfunctional" "double-dipping culture":

• OUR VIEW: Double-dipping at the department

Paul Rolly: Legislators’ Privacy’ Argument for GRAMA Overhaul is a Ruse*

*English Translation: All BULLSHIT!!!

Paul Rolly this morning uncovers more unadulterated B.S. from the GOP Corporatist thug faction in the Utah legislature, who still cling to their paranoid pro HB477 lies and delusions, despite the stinging bitchslap they received from Utah civil libertarians and just plain ole regular Utah voters this week:

• Legislators’ privacy’ argument for GRAMA overhaul is a ruse

Full disclosure, folks. Your blogmeister is a life-long Republican who's sickened by the marked general deterioration in quality of Utah GOP office holders within the past ten years.

And no. And in spite of recent attempts by some Utah GOP "Leaders" (so called) to sway your blogmeister back onto the Utah GOP "straight and narrow," these highly paranoid GOP authoritarians will soon learn the hard way that they won't be able to bring your blogmeister to toe.

Wake up Utah Republicans! Our party has been captured by a claque of lying anti-liberty corporo-fascists, to whom we cordially invite to engage "old time Republicans" like us, so as to box their traitorous neoCON Cauliflower EARS!