Friday, April 19, 2013

Ogden City Friday News Roundup

Ya gotta admire Mike's raw enthusiasm, don'tcha think?

A coupla Ogden City-related news items worthy of note this morning as we approach the weekend.

1) The boyz over in the Ogden City Business Development Department are whoopin' it up as they breathlessly announce, via their trusty Standard-Examiner mouthpiece, an encouraging new residential development project in Ogden. Here's the the nutsell nitty-gritty via S-E reporter Mitch Shaw:
OGDEN — Work will start this week on a housing development that city officials say will help change the face of the east-central area of downtown Ogden.
The project, dubbed Lincoln Cottages, sits on an undeveloped, vacant 2.5-acre lot at 27th Street and Lincoln Avenue and will feature fourteen 1,200-square-foot homes with three bedrooms and two bathrooms...
The entire project is expected to cost about $1.4 million, with the anticipated selling price for each home around $117,000.
And the beleaguered Ogden City lumpentaxpayers also have something to cheer about, we suppose inasmuch as we learn that not only will this project spruce up a badly dilapidated part of Ogden's Central City, but also that the bulk of project is to be financed on somebody else's dime:
Sponsored by Ogden city, the Utah Non-Profit Housing Corporation and Habitat for Humanity, the city will contribute $225,000 to the project, while UNHC, which owns much of the land and is acquiring more, will cover the balance.
We'll helpfully provide Mr. Shaw's full writeup here:
And nope. We checked. Neither the project contractor,  Stacey Enterprises itself, nor any of the contractor's key personnel appear on Mayor Mike's 2011 campaign donor "friends" lists. Happily, Mayor Mike seems to have ushered in a whole new (non-crony capitalist style) way of doing business in Ogden, we guess.

2) And as a followup to our earlier Weber County  Forum reporting on Mayor Mike's recent China Junket, we'll embed for your edification and viewing pleasure this informative video story obtained via ABC4 News, wherein our globe-trotting Ogden City mayor devotes almost seven minutes to explaining his trip motives, strategies and hopeful expectations:



Ya gotta admire Mike's raw enthusiasm, don'tcha think?

5 comments:

blackrulon said...

Before we get carried away with praise for the new housing project contrast it with the reality of the Riverfront project versus the hype of Matthew Godfrey and Gadi Leesham

Bob Becker said...

Ah... wouldn't that contrast be a reason to look well on the new project?

rudizink said...

I believe so, Bob. This Lincoln Avenue project is just about as far from a typical Godfrey/Leshem "buddies" deal as you can get.

blackrulon said...

The contrast would be comparing the flowery praise and promises of housing projects with the harsh reality, with all of the delays, revised plans and downsizing of projections, with the length of completion time and resulting benefits realized as to the promises given.

Danny said...

It sounds like Caldwell is settling into the mayor's job, which, like a city council seat, consists of:

1. Optimism that you will lead the city and make a difference in accordance with the wishes of the voters.

2. Realization that the well-paid bureaucrats run the city solely for their own benefit, and care nothing for anyone else, including newly elected people like you.

3. Recognizing that you don't have the cojones to stand up to them, you slowly devolve into doing what they tell you to do, as you sink slowly into depression. Soon, you view the voters as a nuisance, and your see the views you held when you ran for office, as naive.

4. The bureaucrats, seeing how pliable you are and recognizing the negatives to them personally if you were to commit suicide, suggest you take some junkets. This will help you put on a happy face, and will keep you away from them so they can loot the city with even greater ease.

5. The local media, as always, will report that your junket has something to do with business development. After all, don't all junkets have to do with that, even though they never accomplish anything at all?

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