This Morning's Std-Ex Election Story

As I walked across the municipal building parking lot around 10:20 last night after the final votes came in, the Standard-Examiner's John Wright sprinted by me at top speed, looked over his shoulder and yelled, "Drop dead deadline!"

He obviously filed his story late; and it thus failed to make the Std-Ex's website this morning.

For the benefit of our out-of-town readers, I'm providing John's story, which I've manually entered from the hard-copy edition.

Here's John Wright's take on yesterday's election results.

SWEEP!!!!

The Ogden Townsfolk have spoken.

They're tired of having grandiose and hare-brained projects shoved down their throats.

They're tired of city councilpersons who get elected, and then tell the voters "shove it," and then taunt the people who voted for them, based on their political lies.

They're tired of ego-maniacal mayors, whose idea of the constitutionally-guaranteed "republican form" of government is the same as the old one in the Roman Republic, when Rome was ruled by a dictator -- or the one that Plato, inventor of the "republican government form concept" had in mind when he made this memorable quote:

"Just as it would be madness to settle on medical treatment for the body of a person by taking an opinion poll of the neighbors, so it is irrational to prescribe for the body politic by polling the opinions of the people at large." —Plato

Mayor Godfrey says something like that constantly at almost every city council session.

Ogden citizens are tired of arrogant elected public servants who consider "the people" to be "rude" and uninformed.

The Ogden voters apparently got tired of even looking at the botched likes of Jorgenson & Burdett, and rejected Steve and Dori out of hand.

Why did they get rejected? Perhaps the Godfrey "taint."

Go figure.

Can you say "Referendum?

Anyway, here's the hand-carried rough vote, which I received tonight by from City Recorder Gloria Barret:

At Large "A"
Bill Glasmann -- 3,751 -- 56.05%
Kent Jorgenson -- 2,941 -- 43.95%

At Large "B"
Donna Burdett -- 2,906 -- 43.35%
Dorrene E. Jeske -- 3,786 -- 56.48%

Municipal Ward 1
Jesse M. Garcia -- 499 -- 59.05%
Dori Mosher -- 346 -- 40.95%

Municipal Ward 3
Steve Larsen -- 701 -- 41.19%
Doug Stephens -- 1,001 -- 58.81%

The People of Ogden 4; Gang o' Six 0.

There may remain a few uncounted votes.

The message remains the same though.

The voters decided to put FOUR COMMON SENSE ADULTS on the next city council.

I think the people have spoken; and I offer them my heartfelt congratulations for their Ogden common sense.

Let's hope the outgoing lame duck council doesn't do anything "really stupid" as their "last revenge."

And what say our gentle readers about this?

Tonight's Election Results

As our gentle readers will recall, we ran a real-time election results update the evening of last month's primary election, with Bill Glasmann graciously calling-in results from the Ogden council chambers as the vote tallies arrived from the counting room and were added to the council chamber tote-board.

I've received several queries today about this, from readers who wanted to know whether I'm planning to do the same tonight.

Although it was fun monitoring last month's vote count, and the experimental "project" generated lots of traffic here, I regret to announce that I'll be down in the council chambers myself tonight instead. I'll be sharing the excitement with all the council candidates, and will try to do some interviews, which I intend to post here later.

As an alternative, I'm posting a link to the Ogden City's own website, which is being set up to provide the very most current information. I'm told it will be updated straight from the counting room, and will thus eliminate the short "lag" that occured last time, when the tally was transmitted from the counting room, to the council chamber, and to me, through Bill Glasmann's cell phone.

Here's a link to the Ogden City Website. I hope it all works out. I just installed it and checked it out. It's refreshing away automatically, and seems to be working just fine, so far. It's VERY COOL, I think. Readers with low resolution video settings might want to view it their browser's full-screen mode. Kudos to the folks in the Ogden City IP department.

I'm also adding this link to the candidate information module in the right sidebar.

I'm further informed that you can monitor the results on Ogden City's Channel 17.

Don't hesitate to chime in here, as the final vote comes in.

Progress and Proverbs

"It's just a question of, again, if people are supportive of continued progress, or if they want to stop the momentum completely and start over again," Jorgenson said. "There would be more impasse. Is that to the benefit of progress?"

Standard-Examiner
Challengers against mayor's plans
November 6, 2005

"If you're motoring full-speed ahead in the wrong direction, where do you wind up?"

"If you're standing in a hole...first, quit digging."

Weber County Forum
Home Sweet Ogden -- the "Smell" of Success
September 19, 2005

Click to enlarge

VOTE!

Tonight's Meet the Candidates Event

I attended tonight's downtown "Meet the Candidates" event, at the Marshall White Center.

I'll give you my intitial impressions.

This was a first-time event for the downtown group, "Ogdenites In Search of Information;" and it went off without a hitch.

Unlike previous Ogden candidate events, this one was top-notch.

Cris Rodriguez, a newcomer to political event moderating, performed like a seasoned pro.

The League of Women Voters, who staged the last public format, and treated it like some kind of local comedy show, should cry in shame, and talk to Cris Rodriguez about how to run a legitimate political event.

Here are my initial impressions:

Steve Larson is a "rambling" sort of guy. You never know what he's going to say next as he waves his arms around and expands on whatever comes into his mind at any particular moment; and neither does he. It's all impromtu, and even he can't quite predict what's going to fly out of his mouth from any moment to the next.

By contrast, his opponent, Doug Stephens, is constantly on message, methodical, sensible and entirely businesslike.

Jesse Garcia displayed his deep knowledge of Ogden city business, while his opponent with the BIG RED PERMED HAIR punctuated her message many times on the microphone with "valley girl" ums and ahs, tediously demonstrating she had no idea at all what she was talking about.

Jeske came off great tonight, too, thanks to a decent microphone. Dorrene wasn't designed for public speaking, but her voice finally came through tonight, when she told the audience steadfastly what she stands for, unlike her rubber stamp, stern school-marm opponent.

Bill Glasmann scored a major KO, when he made an impassioned plea to support the Marshall White Center as a city institution, and the downtown families who rely upon it.

And tears welled up in my eyes when Mr. Glasmann mentioned his boxing promotion background, pointed to the blue curtain on the west side of the gymnasium, and referred to the boxing ring that's hidden there, amidst the cheers of the crowd of about 75. He mentioned the Ogden "Hepcats Club" fighters he'd promoted, like Cookie Valencia, Ricus Daniels, Terry Lasalle, and my old running-mate, Donny Greenfield. They were all Ogden friends of mine.

Meanwhile, the Davis County-reared Kent Jorgenson and Donna Burdett just sat at the table like a couple of dull lumps, blinking like a pair of wooden dolls. These people have no idea of Ogden culture and tradition. These two dopes are totally out of the Ogden loop!

Speaking of Burdett, she went totally haywire tonight. For some reason she got pissed off, and started launching on the crowd and the other candidates. People in the audience were open-mouthed, when her face suddenly contorted demonically, and turned beet-red and sneering. She berated the audience, and informed them that the 6,000 citizens who signed the spring anti-mall bond petition, seeking a vote on the mall project, didn't have any idea what they were signing. Donna knows best, says the halloween mask-faced, ranting neoCON Donna Burdett.

When one citizen from the crowd yelled, "We the people," Burdett just sneered, glared and hissed.

Another one in the crowd to my left whispered to me, "What a bitch." "Oh, Yeah, I said." It was really quite startling.

That was an impression shared by most of the crowd in attendence too, I'll venture. It really was quite ghastly.

Burdett pretty much shut her up after that, after finally realizing that she'd completely lost her composure, and had inadvertantly revealed her true evil and malignant self to the crowd.

The "Home Ec" major from BYU wife-of-a-dentist actually thinks she's smarter than everybody else. How scary is that, anyway?

So what you say, gentle readers?

Does anyone else have comments about tonight's most excellent political event?

Is there anyone who'd like to comment on tonight's downtown Meet the Candidates Night?

Pre-election Updates

Out of a sense of sheer civic obligation to our gentle readers, I'm continuing to follow John Wright's latest series of articles, profiling our 2005 Ogden city council candidates.

These articles are about as thin on facts as any you'll find, and they are certainly not the kind of information intelligent voters could rely upon to make an well-reasoned choice in this very important upcoming election; but you can read yesterday's article on the At-Large B race here, and today's article, on the At-large A race, here. This is not meant as a knock on John Wright. He's done about as well as any able reporter could, in distinguishing the competing candidates one from another, given the limited column space he's been afforded.

I've added these articles to the sidebar for your future reference, and will do the same tomorrow, upon publication of the anticipated final article.

If you have any questions or comments about any of the council candidates, feel free to offer them here.

And don't forget to check out the rest of the election information in our data-rich sidebar. Weber County Forum is by far the most complete information source for the 2005 Ogden council race, if I do say so myself.

Update 11/4/05 7:12 a.m. MT: This morning's John Wright article, profiling the candidates in Ogden's Ward 1 city council race, has been added to the sidebar.

Update 11/4/05 9:32 a.m. MT: For an excellemt summary of what the Ogden city council race is really all about, check out this morning's Salt Lake Tribune article, by Kristen Moulton.

A Clear Choice in Ward 3

This morning's Standard-Examiner has a John Wright story clarifying the political positions of the Ward 3 council candidates on three hot-button Ogden issues.

As to the Recreation Center project, candidate Doug Stephens takes the common sense position of the Ogden townsfolk, "I think the private money needs to take the initiative there instead of having the taxpayers bear that burden," he said. In contrast, Steve Larsen, Mayor Godfrey's hand-picked gang-of-six recruit, believes running up the public debt another $18 million, and guaranteeing it with 100% of the BDO lease revenue for the next 20 years, in reliance on the performance capability of a couple of small-time and possibly flaky lessees, is a good bet. Otherwise Ogden city will go "belly-up," Larsen says, in a truly odd (and possibly bizarre) non-sequitur.

Stephens is firmly on the record in his opposition to eminent domain abuse, whereas candidate Larsen, Wal-mart fan extraordinaire, is willing to "fudge" on his principles, and tread on the property rights of the common townsfolk, so long as it yields he and his neoCON money-grubbers a few more dirty tax dollars for the Ogden City government big-spenders. His ultimate dream, of course, is to pave over the entire Ogden downtown, and fill it with box-store parking lots -- like the town of his dreams -- Riverdale. He "loves the poor folks," he constantly reminds us, so long as they're willing to be forcibly cleared out of their homes and businesses whenever giant corporations like Wal-mart arrive in town, looking for a "free lunch."

For some reason the "gondola plan" remains a political issue, even though such a plan doesn't actually exist . Candidate Stephens takes the logical, common sense position on this: "If I had to make a decision today, it probably would be not to support it because I don't have the facts," he said. Larsen, of course, loves the non-existant gondola plan. "Nobody will come to Ogden on (commuter rail) without the gondola and the rec center," he said. No, I am not making this up; that quote is right there in the John Wright article, I swear. Besides, the gondola is the mayor's pet project; and the constantly-groveling Larsen never disagrees with anything the mayor promotes.

Could the choices in the Ward 3 race possibly be more clear? The voters can choose between Stephens, who exudes prudence, fiscal responsibility and common sense. His opponent, the ever-cluless dreaming and scheming Steve Larsen will make the ideal Matt Godfrey sock-puppet.

And what say our gentle readers? How many of the townsfolk who live outside of Ward 3 envy the folks there who will have the pleasure of saying "no thanks" to another potential "rubber stamp?" Don't be shy; and don't let the cat get your tongues.

Debate Aftermath - Part 2

City Council-members Kent Jorgensen and Donna Burdett have amused and enraged us, both at the Junior League Meet the Candidates night, and at last Wednesday's League of Women Voters Debate, in their clumsy attempts to defend Ogden city's hiring of a $45,000 lobbyist to overturn legislation passed in the last Utah legislature.

The legislation passed was Senate Bill 184 in March which stopped the use of eminent domain to seize private property to turn over to another private party under the guise of economic development. This was the legislation that stopped the Wal-mart Project on Wall Avenue which had been started through the use of eminent domain.

The seizure of property by eminent domain for the River Project and other RDA projects is still a dream of the current Ogden City administration and Chamber of Peoples' Deputies Jorgensen and Burdett. I suppose you can also add candidate Steve Larsen to that group, inasmuch as he'd been an outspoken advocate of the corporate-welfare intended Wal-mart landgrab. Ogden City has no respect for constitutional property rights even after passage of S. B. 184, and neither does Comrade Larsen.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the Kelo case that eminent domain could be used for so-called economic development. There is a movement across the U.S. to get that decision reversed or a Federal law passed making it illegal because the general public does not believe private property should be seized for another private person.

A noteworthy development has now occurred at the federal level. On October 27, Utah Congressman Chris Cannon (R-UT) and the full House Judiciary Committee approved H.R. 4128, the Private Property Rights Protection Act of 2005, sending the legislation to the House floor. This legislation will prevent the federal government from using eminent domain for economic purposes and will prevent states from using federal money in economic development projects where eminent domain has been used. Congressman Cannon has responded to the sentiment of his Utah constituents, and is paving the way to drive a stake through the heart of eminent domain abuse across the entire U.S. You can read all about it here.

Due to public sentiment, this popular legislation will no doubt sail through the House and Senate, and will resolve the issue regarding the use of eminent domain throughout the country. Ogden City's hiring of a lobbyist will become yet another bad financial decision by City Hall. As much as I hate to see the hearts of Comrades Jorgensen, Burdett and Larsen broken, it seems the citizens will have their way on this issue.

Here's Congressman Cannon's email addy, in case you'd like to offer your congratulations, and further cheer him on: cannon.ut03@mail.house.gov.

And what say our gentle readers about this?

"Debate" Aftermath - Part 1

I mentioned in an earlier comments thread that I'd probably get around to commenting on Wednesday night's so-called candidate "debate." I've been talking to various event attendees, comparing notes, reading WCF comments, and trying to distill the important revelations that were revealed that night. Having done that, I think the important information falls into three distinct "clusters." I'll discuss the first of these now.

1) Pending Sewer Upgrade/Repairs. Dorothy Littrell got the ball rolling on Wednesday night, when she revealed that Chamber of People's Deputies Chairman Comrade Safsten, in apparent collusion with our Orwellian "Dear Leader" aka Comrade Godfrey, intentionally concealed a highly material and vital report that he and Safsten had gotten earlier on October 17 in a District Sewer Board meeting, (suggesting their might be an upcoming $120 million sewer upgrade coming up very soon,) in which meeting they'd been in attendance.

The Council voted on "starting the 30-day clock on the Wreck Center Project... absent that highly material and intentionally concealed information.

When this information was revealed by local Ogden Civil Rights Hero Dorothy Littrell, People's Chamber Deputy Jorgensen "blushed" noticeably; and People's Deputy Comrade Burdett gave Ms. Littrell a very angry look - a "if looks could kill" look -- if I may say so.

Until recently I'd thought Councilwoman Burdett was merely a decent and moral person who didn't have the spine to battle neoCON heavyweights like Godfrey, Safsten and Jorgensen. Seeing that angry facial expression (and accompanying body language) on Wednesday night, I'll confess I'm less willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. It's indeed possible that she isn't merely a dupe. I'm reconsidering right now whether she's an evil neoCON, just like Comrades Godfrey, Saftsten and Jorgensen.

One thing's for sure though, she's NOT the "brains" of the neoCON Godfrey gummint.

And she's certrainly NOT part of the "inner circle."

Nobody in the Ogden City Gummunt hierarchy bothered to tell her the truth.

I've done some research on this sewer problem, BTW. Councilman Wicks provided some clarifying comments on this too. My impression is that the sewer upgrade problem isn't as pressing as it seems, although nobody knows how much it will cost, and nobody can now predict the effect on Ogden taxpayers. It seems to me though, that prudent government officials would be keeping their eye on this, and wouldn't be pledging every available revenue dollar untii we're well into into the 21st century.

Of course "prudence" is not a word that's found in out neoCON extremist city council dictionary. Our current city government are the types who don't have the money it takes to fix the dilapidated infrastructure, but will take what few dollars we have for "capital maintenance," and drive out to Wendover, for a single "roll of the dice."

Nevertheless, I'll point my bony finger at Safsten and Godfrey, who embarrased two of the gang-of-six at Wednesday night's debate, and further demonstrated that Ogden city government operates on a top-down, need-to-know basis. It was plain from all the blushing and angry faces that Burdett and Jorgensen are just regarded by the current administration as compliant, easlily-manipulated dopes.

What we need in Ogden is a street-smart council. We're plainly not getting that with the band of culturally-illiterate inbread white-bread dopes who "represent" us now.

I'll get on to the next two important points that came out of the candidate debate in the next segment.

Don't let the cat get your tongues.

Don't forget to chime in with your views.

Friday Potpourri.

There were two articles in this morning's Standard-Examiner which ought to be of particular interest to our gentle readers.

First, there's another John Wright article, under this deliciously creative headline, "Ogden rec site to get OK - Environmental tests show not too much risk." I'll incorporate the gist of the story:

OGDEN -- State environmental officials say they plan to sign off on construction of a high-adventure recreation center at the downtown Ogden mall site.

Stephen Thiriot, an environmental scientist with the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, said Thursday he had reviewed the rec center area's latest round of soil and groundwater tests submitted by the city.

Although the tests show concentrations of tetrachloraethylene, a solvent, above the regulatory limit in groundwater, DEQ will not require remediation or further investigation because there are no drinking wells in the area, Thiriot said.

"I think we're on pretty safe ground with it," he said. "There are some slight exceedances [sic}there, but we don't think anybody's at risk. There's nobody in that area drinking the water, and it will break down over time (200 years.)

You can read the full article here.

It's certainly nice to know the Utah DEQ scientests are carefully looking after our interests, isn't it?

Perhaps Mr. Theriot hasn't gotten the word that the volatile neurotoxin TCE can penetrate concrete foundations and cause damage through inhalation. Perhaps, on the other hand, the Utah DEQ's "signoff" is the result of political expediency, as blog regular Dian suggested in an earlier thread.

What the heck! Who cares? There's a certain macho-style irony in locating a private health club atop an EPA-unqualified chemical waste site, I think. We gym-rats, rock-climbers and bowlers are hardy folk, and we all subscribe to the old axiom, "that which doesn't kill you makes you stronger," right? I'm sure the slighty risky prospect of inhaling carcinogenic chemicals
while doing extended aerobic exercise won't deter anyone who has "the right stuff." And don't forget we all drink our own bottled water anyway.

And then there was this remarkable "letter to the editor."

I'm not sure whether an endorsement from one of the gang-of-six (particularly Mr. Filiaga) is a benefit, or the "kiss of death," for a candidate in the current council race, given the current political climate. We'll find out in about 11 days, though won't we? This letter certainly clarifies the choices, though, for gentle readers who will vote in the Ward 3 race. If you're in favor of continuing and endless reckless borrowing, spending and central-scheming, Steve Larsen is definitely a "no brainer."

If you're looking for a level-headed, highly-competent, non-political-extremist, on the other hand, there's always Doug Stephens.

And you have to love Mr. Filiaga's rationale: Mr. Larsen has lots of time on his hands; thus he'd make a great council-member.

Gawd I love Ogden city politics!

And what say our gentle readers about all this?

Tonight's "League of Women" Debacle

I'm going to open up an open thread on tonight's "League of Women" "debate."

If this "Weber County League of Women" "debate" is the best the local chapter can do... the Weber County Chapter needs to be drummed out of the national chapter.

It was an uncontrolled "slug-fest." It was nothing better than a bar-room brawl. (I have some exprtise on this, believe me.) I was embarrased at how the council incumbents were treated, by a so-called "moderator" who assumed zero "control" over the event. Even though I obviously don't support most of the incumbents, I actually started to feel sorry for them at this bogus-debate. The only thing the highly partisan crowd didn't do was throw rotten fruit at the incumbents. (not to say they don't totally deserve it.)

Tonight's "debate" was a complete disgrace to the League of Women organization.

That's my take.

Let's have an open thread on this.

I'd like to hear others' takes on tonight's debate.

I'd love to hear from attendees what they thought about this ridiculous and clownish event.

This Week's Ogden Political Events

Wednesday, October 26, 7:00 p.m.: Weber County League of Women Voters will host a debate for the General Election candidates for Ogden City Council seats. The debate will be held in the auditorium of the Weber County Main Library. The public is invited and encouraged to attend in order to make an informative choice on Election Day.

The WCLOWV website provides no information on the debate format -- whether it will follow a list of pre-submitted questions, audience-submitted queries, or a combination of the two. I'll sleuth around a little bit today to see what I can find out about this. Whatever the format, however, this will be the last time we'll be able to see all the candidates performing in the flesh prior to the November 8 election in an adversarial setting, so it might be a good idea to put this event on your calendars.

Thursday, October 27, 5:30 p.m.: Ogden City Mayor Matthew R. Godfrey will be appearing in a televised Call-in Show on Channel 17, Thursday, October 27 from 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. The show will also be aired on Weber State University's student radio station, KWCR, 88.1. Channel 17 can also be viewed over the internet here, courtesy of the Ogden City website.

Mayor Godfrey has taken recent criticism over the alleged use of Channel 17 for crass political purposes. It will be interesting to observe whether he plays it straight in this broadcast, or whether he allows this program to devolve into an hour-long political ad for the nefarious Ogden Gang-of-Six. Either way, this program is a local "must see," for Ogden political junkies, I think.

Update 10/25/05 12:05 p.m. MT: This Call in show may prove to be a continuing gig for our politically-beleaguered Mayor, judging from the press release that I received this morning.

I'll add that I've long thought that a Channel 17 call in show could be useful to both the townsfolk and the government, if it were to follow a true two-way input-output format, and not to serve as a one-way propaganda outlet. I was actually urging mayor Godfrey to do the former six or eight months ago.

And what do our gentle readers think about this?

The October Surprise -- Updated Twice

I've received several crabby emails from normally-gentle Weber County Forum readers, asking "Where's the beef today, dang-it."

I'll explain that I've been on the phone all day, gentle readers. Even though today's Standard-Examiner delivered a week's worth of news discussion red meat today, I've spent hours today dialing out and talking to my many secret but will-informed sources close to city hall on and about the most important one -- the empty downtown mall site.

The most important news story today, in my not so humble opinion, was this one that John Wright logged today. The title was ominous"... "Ogden Puts Up Collateral for Rec Center."

Yes, gentle readers, the lender who's been found, even though we didn't know he was lost, is asking for additional security, as a further condition to serving as the issuer of the essential letter of credit.

I'm going to break a real blockbuster story here. No, it's not about sidewalks. You'll remember when I warned you that Ogden City voters would receive an October Surprise, shortly before the November 8, 2005 municipal election.

This coming Friday, October 22, 2005, the Ogden City Council will conduct a special session, with the sole object of setting the thirty-day public comment period going into the Rec Center Project.

My sources reveal that:

• The "toxics" problem has been resolved;
• The construction materials price problems have been resolved;
• The financing problems have been solved, now we've thrown a public guarantee into the financial pot;
• The project is thus almost ready to go;
• The only remaining obstacle is the free-thinking Ogden townsfolk;
• the gang of six considers Ogden citizens to be morons; and,
• This election IS NOW regarded, even within Ogden City government inner circles, as a public referendum on the Rec Center project.

The gang of six will try to characterize this completion of the project arrangements as an accomplishment, whereas rational people will see it for what it is -- putting all the revenue eggs into an insubstantial and risky basket -- and delivering an October surpise to continue our hellbent-to-debt present napoleonic government into another two years in the direction of municipal bankruptcy.

What had been sold to the Ogden city taxpayers as a public-private partnership, which would stand or fall on its own merit, has now been transformed into a deal that's guaranteed by the taxpayers -- us.

It's the old "bait and switch" folks. The central-planning schemers promised the taxpayers we wouldn't be "on the hook," even in the event of the default of the Fatcats and Golds principals. That's all changed, changed utterly. As a practical matter, the administration might as well be financing this project with government obligation (GO) bonds, because the present "publicly-guaranteed" financing structure is about as close to that as you can get.

If you don't vote out the neoCON gang of five brain-dead Godfrey-zombie incumbents in this general election, I don't want to hear anybody whining or complaining about it again.

As a matter of fact, I'll dun you for your complacency here from Nov 8 onward if we don't kick out these rubber-stamping dopes on November 8.

There will be scheduled a series of public comments sessions during the 30-day period after Friday, pursuant to the thirty-day plan, according to my information. I'm also told these proceedings will be recorded, pursuant to the Utah Open and Public Meetings Act. Concerned citizens should attend these meetings en masse, and put their objections on the record.

It's much simpler than that though, really.

If you like the rec center project, and its enormous debt, which ties up virtually every spare dime in Ogden city cash-flow, vote for People's Deputies Comrades Jorgensen, Burdett and Larsen.

If not, vote for the common sense choices of the people of Ogden -- Glasmann, Jeske, Stevens and Garcia.

Many Ogdenites demanded a Rec Center Referendum. It's comin' right up now.

Weber County Forum recommends cool-headed, business-minded Ogdenites to run Ogden City government.

Weber County Forum recommends against voting for mind-numbed, financially-reckless pro-Godfrey big-government extremists.

Don't be flummoxed by the October surprise B.S, which you'll probably read about in the Godfrey-Std-Ex around Friday. They'll try to tell you its good news.

It's time to say "good-bye" to the outta-town carpetbaggers who are trying to turn our wonderful cultural "melting pot city" into a backwater "whitebread" abomination -- like Provo.

Say "no" to Godfrey and his brain-dead zombies.

Etch that into your brains.

There are important political implications here. What for instance should happen if Godfrey-zombies Jorgensen and Burdett are voted out on November 8 -- and then cast their pro-rec center votes in favor or the rec center project anyway, as brain-numbed pre-programmed lame ducks?

Not a very pretty picture.

Comments, anyone?

Update 10/20/05 12:50 p.m. MT: Three public notices appeared this morning on the Ogden City website, which refer to a "contribution agreement," and appear to relate to the "additional collateral" reported in yesterday's John Wright story. You can read them here, here and here.

You can also read another concurrently-posted public notice, which pertains generally to the rec center project bonding here.

Each of these notices seems to bear an October 21, 2005 publication date, so it's likely that the thirty-day clock begins running tomorrow, regardless of whether a special council meeting is set, as a reader downthread has already suggested.

Update 10/20/4:30 p.m. MT: Councilwoman Wicks has kindly provided to this board the Ogden RDA's press release, which you'll probably read about in tomorrow's Slavish Matt Godfrey News er.. I mean the Standard-Examiner.

Public venues have been scheduled. Please take your minds off the kids' soccer practice, Ogden citizens! Pay attention ye "unwashed" city towns-folk! We need to have the public input of people who recognize the ridiculousness of the administration's latest flip-flop. What started out as a public-private partnership, has now become a public-resource-draining publicly-financed boondoggle which will ultimately RAISE YOUR TAXES!

Email this article to your friends. Use the little email icon at the bottom of this article.

Comments are welcome here, as always.

Primary Election Post-Mortem

Now that the smoke has cleared from yesterday's primary election, I suppose it's time to offer a few comments about yesterday's results, which were reported in real-time last night on this board. My web stats software registered over 500 page-loads between the hours of 7-11:30 p.m. last night, so I know many of you were following closely. Weber County Forum was really hopping as the vote tally rolled in.

First, however, I'd like to thank all the candidates who participated in this race. It was heartening, to say the least, to have observed so many citizens step up to the plate, and involve themselves in the municipal election, the most basic level of grass-roots politics.

I'd also like to give special thanks to those council candidates who took the extra time and effort to submit candidate statements and questionaire responses to this forum. I've received many reader responses, thanking me for the information that you folks provided here. WCF has also been linked by other websites too, for this reason. I believe the voters of Ogden city went into this primary election with more available information than ever before, in no small part because of your willingness to put forth your information on Weber County Forum.

And of course I'd like to congratulate the candidates who made the final cut: Jesse Garcia, Dori Mosher, Doug Stephens, Steve Larsen, Bill Glasmann, Kent Jorgensen, Dorrene Jeske and Donna Burdett.

And once again, I'd like to offer my hearty thanks to Bill Glasmann, who did not hesitate at my late-afternoon request that he phone in the vote tally from the council chamber at regular intervals last night. It was a lot to ask of Bill, I thought, as he sat amidst the pandemonium of last night's vote-counting; but he perfomed admirably, demonstrating that he does indeed have the blood of a true newspaperman flowing through his arteries.

For a nutshell wrap-up of the primary election, you can read John Wright's excellent report here.

And I'll hold off on my own analysis for now, except to say that I believe yesterday's results did reflect the strong grass-roots anti-incumbent sentiment that I've been writing about on this blog.

Although incumbents led in the vote-count in each of the contested races, none of them managed even to approach 50% of the tallied votes. Here's the breakdown of incumbents by council seat. Even Councilman Garcia, who can by no means be characterized as a member of the "gang of six," failed to receive a majority of the cast votes:

Ward 1 - Garcia 45%
At Large A - Jorgensen 40%
At Large B - Burdett 38%

Interestingly, Steve Larsen, Councilman Filiaga's hand-picked Ward 3 successor, (also the administration's favorite 'gang of six" replacement,) garnered only 29% of the votes.

And last night's "Cinderella story" was Doug Stephens, who "came out of nowhere" in Ward 3, besting Steve Larsen, who's been campaigning for over a year, in the ward that Mr. Larsen believed he "owned." I spoke by phone with candidate Stephens late last night. It appears he's been working quietly "behind the scenes" in Ward 3, and has managed to muster significant grass-roots support. Doug Stephens has solid credentials, and now appears to be the candidate to beat -- for Filiaga's seat. Check out his candidate information in the right sidebar, if you'd like to learn more about this strong contender.

All-in-all, It's going to be an interesting race, as we now move into the final sprint. I'll have more commentary on the general election as the horses run down the stretch, so keep on checking back.

Does anybody else have any thoughts or observations on what yesterday's primary results mean?

It's your forum, people. So please don't hesitate to chime in.

Don't let the cat get your tongue.

Final Ogden Council Votes

Final tally as reported to the City Council Chamber as of 10:49 p.m.:

Municipal Ward 1
David Berghout - 78
Jesse M. Garcia* - 157
Dori Mosher* - 112

Municipal Ward 3
Ronald L. Hale - 115
Stephen J. Larsen* - 245
Mitch Moyes - 174
Doug Stephens* - 285

At Large Seat A
Daryl S. Andersen - 261
James E. Carrell - 87
Bill Glasmann* - 1,099
Kent W. Jorgenson* - 1,329
Jack McWain Sr. - 171
Kori Munns - 312

At Large Seat B
Joshua Belka - 268
Donna S. Burdett* - 1,252
Dorrene E. Jeske* - 872
Jeff LeFevre - 210
Steven M. Prisbrey - 317
John H. Thompson - 384

*Finalist - all votes counted

I'd like to personally thank council candidate Bill Glasmann for graciously phoning in these vote tallies through the evening, as they became available. It was a hectic scene tonight at city hall, and we're very grateful for his efforts in this regard.

Get Thee to the Polls!

So, gentlemen,
With all my love I do commend me to you:
And what so poor a man as Hamlet is
May do, to express his love and friending to you,
God willing, shall not lack. Let us go in together;
And still your fingers on your lips, I pray.
The time is out of joint: O cursed spite,
That ever I was born to set it right!
Nay, come, let's go together.
-Hamlet Act 1. Scene V
William Shakespeare

We Ogdenites face a very sobering responsibility today. We are the only thing standing between Matt Godfrey and another two years of one-man rule. And Ogdenites simply cannot afford two more years of failure and drift, two more years of alibis but no answers.

I believe Ogdenites are fed up with six years of reckless borrowing and spending, tunnel-vision, council block-voting and machine politics. And I believe Ogden is desperate for leadership determined to involve citizens in finding new ways to revive Ogden city from her present economic doldrums.

That's why there are an unprecedented fifteen challengers running for four city council seats. I strongly believe that the city council -- in the right hands and with the right plans -- can be an effective force for the change Ogden so desperately needs.

We've got to be willing to shed the idea that one single small clique of single-minded and arrogant individuals holds a monopoly on all the good ideas, and recognize that tapping the "wisdom of the crowd" is the key to answering the great challenges we face in this city.

On economic development in particular, we Ogdenites can no longer blindly entrust and delegate the responsibility of improving our economic viability and quality of life to a single clique of individuals. By the same token, we know that we must actively participate in our government, by electing council members who will listen to us.

After all, we, too, have parents, spouses, children and siblings we love very much. We, too, care deeply about our friends, our co-workers, our neighbors and our city.

And we must not be reticent about communicating to "the powers that be" that we are dissatisfied with the present course of our city government, and that we will not idly stand by for another two years of grand failed schemes, cronyism and excuses.

Together -- and with your help -- we will fight to bring Ogden back!

The polls are now open. This is the most important primary in many years. It's time for the citizens of Ogden to take back our city.

The time is out of joint: O cursed spite, That ever you were born to set it right!

Aye, come, let's go to the polls together.

This Completes the Std-Ex Series.

The Standard-Examiner has published the last in its anticipated series of four articles, profiling the nineteen candidates vying for the four available Ogden city council seats. The Std-Ex editors have really knocked themselves out on this, having gotten the final of these articles out in print a full three days prior to the Ogden municipal primary election.

Today's Lynze Wardle article contains delightful campaign tidbits from each of the four candidates running for Fasi Filiaga's Ward 3 seat.

Among them, candidate Steve Larsen has a "secret plan," (which has an eerie "feel" about it, reminiscent of another secret plan, in another American era far, far away.) Ron Hale admits that he needs "more information," (which is not a reassuring thing to hear from a council candidate at this late stage of a primary campaign.) Doug Stephens, the article notes, was the candidate who failed to stop the Filiaga juggernaut when now-retiring incumbent Filiaga first ran for the city council in 1998. And candidate Mitch Moyes says, among other things, that he plans to "open a driver's training school" sometime in the future. This latter platform plank will no doubt be a real vote-getter, for those of us who navigate the streets and byways of Weber County, demolition-derby style, practicing the ultra-defensive and self-preservation-intense driving skills that white-knuckled local drivers necessarily develop in order to safely drive from local place to place.

I've added this story to the Weber County Forum sidebar, along with the other similarly information-rich Std-Ex articles that have been run in recent days on the topic of the Ogden city council race. Be sure to check the whole candidate info section out before you head to the polls on Tuesday to vote out all the council incumbent "rubber stamps." There's lots of good information there.

Comments, gentle readers?

First Responses to WCF Candidate Query

I've received two responses already from the short questionaire that I emailed to the council candidates last night. Click here for these two Ogden city council candidates' most timely responses. You'll also find a new link to the questionaire in the Weber County Forum sidebar. I'll update it as new responses "come aboard."

I don't know about the rest of our gentle readers; but I think these two candidates deserve extra points for stating their views quickly and upfront, and not trying to run sleazy "stealth campaigns."

Update 9/29/05 11:04 a.m. MT: Three more questionaire responses have been added as of this time and date.

Update 9/29/05 1:32 p.m. MT: Steve Larsen and Jeff LeFevre have now submitted their responses, bringing the total to seven.

First Things Last

Well, Ogden city officials have finally gotten around to it; and there are photos to prove it, according to this morning's John Wright story. Ogden city crews are now working to repair washed-out Country Hills Drive, which has been unusable since last spring. Of course they had to scramble a little bit to accomplish this. They "diverted" $300,000 from other infrastructure projects; and the city's "contingency fund is now tapped-out. "We just don't have an extra $400,000 sitting around anywhere," Community and Economic Development Director David Harmer said.

This should come as no surprise to our gentle Weber County Forum readers. We've all watched with amazement as Ogden City government has already begged, borrowed and stolen every available dime to keep the Rec Center project alive. And we've shaken our heads in disbelief, as our city government has squandered discretionary money on big-city luxury items, like a full-time paid lobbyist, a public relations person for the city council, and of course our prodigal adopted son, Stuart Reid. And there have been many other items such as these.

If you ask the average citizen about municipal government priorities, you'll find roads at the top of the list. Police and fire services would be right on top, along with water and sewer services, too. These are the things normal citizens expect of our city government. These are the services that justify city government's very existence in the first place.

I was talking to one of the current city council candidates a couple of weeks ago about the legitimate priorities of city government; and the candidate told me something startling. This candidate had attended a city council candidate orientation, and was presented with a booklet, sort of a manual for city council operations. The candidate kindly furnished me a copy of the booklet, and I've read it cover to cover.

At page 7 of this booklet, joint Council-Administration "goals" are clearly enumerated. Here they are, gentle readers. These are the present city council priorities. Feast your eyes on this:

• Revenue Enhancement
  
• Downtown Development
  
• Natural Resources, Recreational Amenities
  
• Neighborhood Stability.

And here are the priorities which are conspicuously absent. These are the things that didn't even "make the cut:"

• Infrastructure Maintenance and Repair (Roads, Sewer and Water)
  
• Police and Fire Services

I don't know how the citizens of Ogden have allowed our government's priorities to get so fouled up, but our current leadership has obviously gotten it exactly backwards. And no, it isn't a single aggressive and ambitious city mayor who's responsible for this. Responsibility lies squarely in the present city council's lap.

Road repairs and other traditional services are not a priority for our present city government. That's the official policy.

With a primary election coming up in less than a week, we citizens have an opportunity to set things right. Don't sit on the sidelines this year, gentle readers.

I don't care what challenger you vote for in the primary. There are numerous good challengers in the race. The important thing however, is that you show up to oust the council members who've gotten us into this mess, Jorgensen and Burdett, and to turn away Filiaga's heir-apparent too.

It's time to take back our government, folks, and fire the people who've turned the city's priorities on their head, and adopted the official policy of putting first things last.

Comments anyone?

Party Time!

Just so our gentle readers don't think I've been completely goofing off today; here are the latest Weber County Forum developments:

I've posted today's Standard-Examiner candidate interview article in the sidebar, and will similarly post the last one in the series, along with the three previously posted ones, as soon as it becomes available.

I've also linked the website to the Weber State University Perfessers' new anti-gondola website, Smart Growth Ogden, in the right sidebar too. The site's not yet up and running, yet, but I wanted to be the first to allow our gentle readers to hear any arguments why Chris Peterson should be prevented from developing his Malan's Basin property according to his American private property owner's own desires. Check it out. It was "under construction" the last time I checked, but I'm sure it will be available soon. For those who missed the news about this new web resource, you can read all about it in today's Standard-Examiner article.

I'm also proud to announce that Weber County Forum registered its 30,000th visitor today. Trite though it may seem to say it, we obviously couldn't have accomplished this without the support and mouse-clicks of our many gentle readers, for which interest and loyalty I thank you all!

Thanks again to you all for your support!

Believe me, I shall continue to exert all my efforts to keep this humble board up to the level of 24/7 crankiness that you all crave.

Red meat will always be available here on Weber County Forum, for those who return to this site regularly.

And there's a pending question, Steve Larsen: Where exactly do you stand on the eminent domain question?