Monday, August 08, 2011

Another Chance for 2011 Ogden Muni Election Candidates to "Strut Their Stuff"

Send your active campaign online links to your WCF blogmeister right now, folks!

Greetings Ogden City Mayoral and City Council candidates and their friends, political supporters and campaign managers. As is our long-time tradition of Weber County Forum (six years, to be exact), we've once again set up a "2011 Ogden City Municipal Election" module in our right sidebar, in order to provide "one stop political candidate shopping," as our 11/8/11 Emerald City Municipal Election fast approaches.

In that connection, we'll once again issue our invitation to all the folks whose capacities are italicized above, (along with their other un-named candidate allies and fellow travellers) to submit any and all online candidate links, websites, social media links, etc., to highlight any and all 2011 Ogden Municipal Election efforts which may be out there in the webosphere ozone.

Here is the pertinent Weber County Forum campaign data which we have compiled so far. Click on these links to drill down to the individual candidate info which we so far have available for public display:
Please send your active campaign links to your WCF blogmeister, folks, via our "email us" submission link, which is also available in the upper right sidebar. We'll be delighted, of course, Ogden City Election Candidates, to augment these pages with your own carefully crafted campaign material.

Don't let the cat get yer tongues...

39 comments:

Curmudgeon said...

Goddard campaign hiccup:  came home today and found a flyer from Mr. Goddard, listing his campaign website as www.goddardformayor.com   Went to take a look and see if the bromides and very general statements on the flyer were fleshed out with specifics on the website... only to find merely a placeholder at the website address, promising that Goddardformayor would "coming soon."  

Leafleting loses some of its impact if the website it points people to isn't up and running when the leafleting is being done.  

blackrulon said...

Sound like a worthy successor to Matthew Godfrey. After all how many announcements has Godfrey made the last few years about something wonderful that will be happening soon. Details to follow at a later time. Did Scott Schwebke help write the campaign flyer?

rudizink said...

Great!  We've now added Mr. Goddard's material to his WCF Mayoral Candidate page.

Yeah, Curm.  It's partly under construction... but unlike the bulk of the current mayoral (and council) candidates, Mr. Goddard seems to be at least working on having a robust web presence.

Danny said...

Dow closed at 10,810 today, down 635 points.After market right now it's down to 10,464.Looks like we're still falling.  Thank goodness I shorted the market at 11,800.  I'd hate to be long right now. 

Danny said...

I meant to say I shorted at Dow 12,800.  It was a triple top on the Nasdaq 100.  I mean, come on.  Free money.

rudizink said...

The US economy is clearly in deep doo after yesterday's S&P downgrade, Danny.

We're now in uncharted territory, which is definitely something the markets DON'T & WON'T Like.

Get ready for the freefall, folks...

rudizink said...

So you're now cashed out, right?  Awesome move, Danny.

Disgusted said...

I know that these comments are out of context with the current posted article but I just had a chance to review the city council packets for this coming week and thought I’d share some observations.
 
First relative to the “THE JUNCTION” there was this following comment about the new hotel project.
 
“A ground breaking ceremony was held on July 20, 2011 on a 125 room Hilton
Garden Inn Hotel to officially recognize that construction has commenced on the
hotel. The developer has obtained the necessary financing for the project. Adding a
second level of parking has been tentatively agreed upon by the parties. The proposed
financing mechanism for the parking will be presented to the RDA/City Council on
August 2, 2011.”
 
Now as I recall this project wasn’t to come before the city council / RDA for final approval until August 2. August 2 was when the residents were to be able to voice their comments about this project but it would appear that the vote had already been cast prior to any input from the residents. I wonder which if any of the city council were at that ground breaking because that would tell me who really doesn’t care what I or anyone else in this city really think about this deal.
 
Second relative to the river project the recent packet makes the following comment,
 
“An Ogden Bend Neighborhood is expected to commence in August by the Salt Lake City developer SouthRiver, LLC. Stretching across 6.17 acres, SouthRiver will offer over 70 uniquely designed townhomes, ranging from $140,000 to $180,000, and approximately 125 units nestled close to the river attached to 25,000 square feet of ground floor retail. As the cornerstone and inaugural phase of the 60 acre master planned Ogden Bend, SouthRiver will be well connected to other future neighborhoods via itsintegrated trail system and expansive 57,000 square foot open space area. With home styles reflecting the original Victorian, Arts & Crafts, and Traditional / Modern vernacular of historic Ogden, SouthRiver is uniquely positioned to attract those who desire upscale living in a downtown urban experience, while enjoying the recreational and aesthetic benefits of the historic Ogden River.”
 
Now I can’t tell for sure whether the above mentioned open space is just for this project or if it’s for the entire 60 acre river project. Wow, I sure hope that is just for the 70 townhomes and 125 (rental) units (that were lightly glossed over) because that expansive number of 57,000 sq. feet only represents 1.31 acres! Assuming two people per unit that means 390 people get to share 1.31 acres (less the credits for the sidewalks that are most likely counted in the open space number as trails).  
 
The third observation has to do with one of our city planning commissioner, Iain Hueton. Seems he is not only a planning commissioner but is also going to be selling his services to the city as a consultant to develop our city’s new open space ordinance. Of course you would know that he is a FOM and he will provide his findings to the administration and a select few who will finalize the version of our open space ordinance that will be put to a vote. I guess we must understand the need to refine all of the work of the residents that participated in the various community committees to craft this ordinance. I mean open meetings to reach a consensus must be marginalized if the various citizen groups don’t come up with what the administration wants.
 
Now is it only me that thinks this committee really is for only one purpose? Should a seated planning commissioner be selling his services to the city, especially relative to an issue he has voted and may be called on to vote on again in the future as a planning commissioner? BTW no mention that I saw of what the city is going to pay him. Does this not put the other planning commissioners in an uncomfortable position? Also as I recall this is not his area of expertise.

Danny said...

Chinese CPI just came in at 6.5% - which is probably jiggered down by the Chinese apparatchiks from what it really is.  Food inflation came in at 15%.  This is what happens when the government tries to fix things by throwing trillions around.  Some here have said that the Fed saved the economy.  We shall see what they actually have wrought.  My guess is these kind of inflation numbers will make it very difficult to throw more money around, unless they want rioting in the streets.

BTW, I'm not saying I'd short the market here.  I'm just saying I'm short.  I don't know what I'm going to do until I do it.  But it's looking like 2008, except with more leverage.  Maybe this is the endgame, maybe not.  Interesting to watch though.

rudizink said...

"Interesting to watch though."

Fascinating to watch, especially if you're already short, eh Danny?

These are the kinds of market movements that will keep you up all night, heheheh.

Danny said...

Disgusted,

Many voiced dismay that single family homes along the river were bulldozed for what ended up being high density housing.  The council ignored those concerns.  The only saving grace is they are doing it in phases so when they see the pisshole they have created they can change course.

On the open space thing, I thought the city passed the new ordnance already.  I wonder what Iain is up to.  In  years past, he was an honest guy.  But it years past, so was Matt Godfrey.

Lastly, the market is now down after hours 256 more points, with Italy looking like it will follow Greece into the financial abyss, and now with France starting to teeter.  Hey Germany, how about bailing out all of Europe?  What a fiasco.  I'm short the market and making money off it, yet even so, this scares me.

Danny said...

Heck no I'm not out.  Not tonight.  The fires are still burning.  Let's see what the night brings.

Danny said...

I always hate myself afterwards, for talking the market.  But I never learn.  Maybe this time I will.  Dumb.  Keep mouth shut dummy.

rudizink said...

Talkin' now is OK, AFAIC.  The current market situation is absolutely unprecedented.

As an experienced trader, btw, Danny, I don't think its unreasonable to expect much bigger unprecedented downside.

That's just my own take, of course.

Curmudgeon said...

Aw, c'mon BR. That's a stretch. Campaign hiccup, but hardly more than that.   

Little Bobby Zimmerman said...

"The US economy is clearly in deep doo after yesterday's S&P downgrade, Danny."



Oh yes it is:


A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

rudizink said...

Well, you mentioned "free money."  Of course it's all "theoretical" until you cash out, right?

Danny said...

Night owl?  I went to bed.  Futures are up now.

Jennifer Neil said...

Where does one find the agenda packets? I looked on the website and the latest ones are for the 8-2 meeting ... I thought they were usually out by the previous Friday ... I like to read them when I can

TLJ

Danny said...

I'm out. 

blackrulon said...

Thanks for correcting me.  I will learn soon enough to my ideas and impressions of what something means only are valid when verified by Curmudgeon,

Dvs1444 said...

The Junction hotel was approved earlier. The parking garage was approved August 2. What would have happened to the hotel, had the garage not been approved, I'm not sure.

rudizink said...

Here's the page, Jennifer...

http://www.ogdencity.com/en/government/city_council/meetings/agendas_documents_recordings.aspx

rudizink said...

Good goin', Danny.  Always lock in profits when you can.

rudizink said...

Gotta love the cranky Curmudgeon, right?  With a whole lifetime devoted
to bein' a college perfessor, he sometimes can't distinguish between
correcting his students' papers, and goin' off reservation, correcting
folks who've never enrolled in any of his classes, we guess.



That obviously doesn't make him a bad guy, though.

Curmudgeon said...

Reply to yr comment below:  anyone who posts on a public blog should know going in that  when you post  on a blog, it's likely some may disagree with what you say, and if they do, it's likely they will say so.  On the same blog. Kind of comes with the territory, que no?  

Gonna post much, you have to be able to hack people having the effrontery to say they think you're wrong.  You're free of course to reply to those who disagree with you with snarkery.  It's a convenient way I guess to avoid the substance of their disagreement. 

Curmudgeon said...

I think the Council had pretty much committed to the garage at the time the hotel was approved.  Memorandum of understanding or something like that.    Commitment already made.  

Jennifer Neil said...

I missed that page ... did they make it hard to get to?

Thanks

BikerBabe said...

in other words, business as usual ... meeting just a formality

js

BB

rudizink said...

My advice?  Bookmark it now that you've got it ;-)>

blackrulon said...

Thanks for setting me straight. I was under the foolish idea that ideas and opinions that sometimes differ from yours are valid enough without being corrected. However I see to remember you often commenting on Godfrey proclaiming something without following through or making further clarification. Again forgive me. I sense that you need to always have the last word in any conversation. similar to Matthew Godfrey being allowed final comment at the city council meetings with no time limit.
But I am certain that that is just a mere coincidence. Please take pity on me and don't place my contradicting you in the permanent record.

Ozboy said...

I just spent a little while on Steve Van Waggoner's web site and I gotta tell you he reminds me a whole lot of the Phipps kid of a couple of years ago who came to town fresh, eager and full of BS, seized up the local situation in ten minutes or less and came to the conclusion that he was God sent to save Ogden and it's citizens from their own unknowing rube selves!

What also really struck me was how Van Waggoner's web site introduction page picture shows him as a very young marine corps recruit, lists "US Marines" as his education and claims his incredible biz wizardry is a result of being a Marine!  The opening sentence is:

"In 1997 Steven completed a tour in the United State Marine Corps which
has supported an honor driven disciplined edge for business with
emphasis on integrity and ethics." 

whatever the hell that is supposed to mean!

He follows that up with lots of bragging about his biz successes with very little actual definition and detail about size, scope, position in industry, financial success, etc.  Stuff that any successful entrepreneur running for office would gladly lay out as proof of success claims.

By the way, Bobby Geiger also made a lot about how he was an ex Marine and you know how he worked out for Ogden! 

Bob Becker said...

Well, we had a "CEO president" who "knew how to meet a payroll!"  His name was G. W. Bush.  And we had a Mayor of Ogden who touted his small businessman experience as a qualification for office.  His name was Matt Godfrey.

So the candidates this time round will have to forgive me for being skeptical that business experience is necessarily a good qualification for election to executive office [any level].  Nor is a promise to "run Ogden like a business" likely to convince  me, by itself,  that the person making the claim is the right one for the job.   

Being mayor of a city is not the same as being CEO of a company.  Running a city is not the same as running a business, any more than handling a nation's economy is akin to running a family's finances.

I'll need a lot more specifics than "I'm a businessman and I'll run Ogden like a business!" to take a candidate seriously as a possible Mayor.  I want to know what they intend to do in office, not what they've done running the corner drug store, or whatever.  I want a clear idea of what they'd do differently than the existing administration, what they thought worked, etc.   

"I'm a business man!" by itself just isn't going to cut it. So was Bush, so was Godfrey, so was the head of Lehman Brothers. 

Naysayer said...

Agreed.  Van Wagoner's website is a little over the top with cliches, vaguery, and some poorly constructed writing. 

Curmudgeon said...

SL Trib has a story up tonight reporting that five of the candidates for mayor will not attend the candidate forum organized by Candidate Waggoner.     Who will be there? From the story:

Ogden resident John Thompson, along with former state Rep. Neil Hansen, plans to join Van Wagoner for Thursday’s forum. "Regardless of who’s sponsoring the forum, we have an obligation to be there and speak to the voters," Hansen said.

Link here: http://wcforum.blogspot.com/2011/08/another-chance-for-2011-election.html#disqus_thread

Curmudgeon said...

And in more Ogden news for insomniacs, the SE just posted a story on the City Council's plan to hire consultants to develop a recreation master plan for the city.  Link here:  http://www.standard.net/stories/2011/08/09/ogden-updated-hire-recreation-master-plan-consultants

Patn4cats said...

It sure makes him a pain in the ass, though.

ogden_concerned said...

His site's up now. He has some good ideas and thoughts.

ogden_concerned said...

Looks like most of the Mayoral candidates are just full of empty promises.  Goddard has some good ideas and thoughts though . . .

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