Standard-Examiner: LDS Church Buys Ogden Motel, Closes the Doors

Maybe it's just us, but this whole situation seems a mite cold-hearted

Although we took the day off yesterday to attend to pressing personal business, there's one disheartening Standard-Examiner story from yesterday's edition that stuck in our craw, and which we'd like to belatedly highlight this morning, as we stand upon the cusp of the Christmas Holiday season:

• LDS Church buys Ogden motel, closes the doors

Yeah, we've read Ogden stories like this before...

• Sledge-Hammer Solutions to Fly-Swatter Problems?
• Windsor Hotel Residents Told to Hit the Road

But we don't recall any story where down and out Ogdenites were being kicked out of their homes within a coupla weeks of Christmas...

A few quick questions for the real estate moguls of the ecclesiastical organization which officially goes by the moniker Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints:

Is this What Jesus Would Do? What's the rush? Wouldn't it have been more "Christian" to have provided "these poor brothers and sisters" a full thirty days' notice before tossing them out on the street? Will the LDS church even lift a finger to help these displaced folks find alternate digs?

Maybe it's just us; but this whole situation seems a mite cold-hearted.

So what say our gentle readers about all this?

Just axin...

Standard-Examiner Editorial: OUR VIEW: Ogden's Roadmap

To lead off the discussion we'll just say that this is the most disappointing SE editorial we've read in years

Ogden has a roadmap toward its downtown plans for the future. While it cannot be assumed that all of these goals will be fulfilled, we applaud city officials and employees for understanding that it is necessary to be working on several projects at once to have a better chance to achieve long-term success.

Standard-Examiner Editorial
OUR VIEW: Ogden's roadmap
December 5, 2010

It's like gambling somehow. You go out for a night of drinking and you don't know where your going to end up the next day. It could work out good or it could be disastrous. It's like the throw of the dice.

Jim Morrison
Famous American Rocker
December 8, 1943 — July 3, 1971

Patently ridiculous Standard-Examiner editorial this morning, prompting us to wonder whether the SE editorial board went out on a bender on Friday night with Jim Morrison's ghost. In the midst of current dismal economic times, it's difficult enough for the Council to keep Ogden's finances on an even financial keel; yet here come the cheerleaders on the SE editorial board egging on the council to engage in another round of risky bonding:

• OUR VIEW: Ogden's roadmap

Chime in with your own comments, gentle readers; but to lead off the discussion we'll just say that this is the single most disappointing SE editorial we've read in years. A strong voice for fiscal prudence in Ogden City Government? You'll evidently not find that voice at the Standard-Examiner. This is the kind of drivel we'd expect to hear from the Chamber of Commerce, but not from a conscientious home town newspaper. We're also embarrassed for the normally astute Doug Gibson, who probably got assigned to write up this mindless pap.

Selective Godfrey Administration Enforcement of Sign Rules in Emerald City?

It does really seem that anything labeled hi-tech or outdoor recreation is exempt from the standard enforcement of city rules and regulations

By Blackrulon

I noticed something interesting today. The city made certain that the sign board advertising of a local coffee shop was not placed on city property:

• Another Boss Godfrey Cheap Shot: Ogden City Cites Kaffe Mercantile For a "Sign Violation"

I drove past the new Ogden location for Recreation Outlet and noticed a sign in the street telling where to find additional store parking:


It does really seem that anything labeled hi-tech or outdoor recreation is exempt from the standard enforcement of city rules and regulations.

Standard-Examiner: A Brief Summary of City and County Downtown Ogden Plots and Schemes

Added bonus: a snazzy interactive map of proposed future improvements of downtown Ogden

The Standard-Examiner carries two Ogden economic development stories this morning which are likely fodder for morning discussion.

First, there's this Scott Schwebke story, which briefly encapsulates all of the various pet projects which Boss Godfrey more or less has on the front burner, including Boss Godfrey's Grant Avenue-straddling "Field House/Wonder Dome":

• What's next for Ogden?

As Dan S. noted last night, this story is "a bit of a disappointment: mostly a summary of what we already knew about a whole list of projects, with only tidbits of new information about each. Still, it's a useful summary for the vast majority of readers who don't keep careful track of such things." "Regarding the Wonder Dome, it says Godfrey is promising to solicit private donations, but no potential private donors are named. He claims WSU and Weber County "have expressed interest in partnering", but no attempt was made to contact spokespersons for either of these potential partners. There's no mention of the school districts."

Secondly, this morning's Standard also carries this Scott Schwebke companion piece, which reports that even our normally frugal Weber County Government is considering getting into the Big Spending downtown economic development act. Unlike the above-linked SE story however, this latter Scott Schwebke writeup does include much new detail about proposed funding for this project, a skywalk, new clubs, restaurants for the Berthana Building, etc.:

• Weber County looking at Eccles Conference Center skywalk

And for those readers who'd like to see a visual representation of all the downtown plots and schemes our city and county governments have on the drawing board, here's something you're not going to want to miss: a snazzy Standard-Examiner interactive map of proposed future improvements for downtown Ogden, complete with a little trolley, zipping around Boss Godfrey's proposed Downtown Trolley Loop:

• Flash Player interactive downtown Ogden map

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

New Downtown Businesses and Faux Trolleys Coming Soon

Part of a forward trend for downtown, or just a temporary lurch?

By Dan Schroeder

With all the recent election-related news, this blog almost overlooked two interesting items in the Thursday Standard-Examiner.

First was this article in the Business section, describing in more detail than ever before the plans to open three new outdoor equipment shops in downtown Ogden: Recreation Outlet at 2324 Washington; Ogden ROX at 2314 Washington; and G4G Adventure Sports and Gear at 2348 Kiesel. All three are promised to open around mid-November, and should be welcome additions to The Junction and the block just across from it on Washington Blvd.

The article also mentions that a pair of affiliated software companies, DAKCS and PDC4U, have recently relocated from Mount Ogden Plaza (near St. Benedict’s Manor and Mt. Ogden Park) to the new Wells Fargo Building in The Junction. Although this relocation doesn’t appear to be any net gain for Ogden, it does lessen the embarrassment caused by that brand new building being mostly empty and previously attracting only two tenants, both from across the street.

The gradual leasing of empty space in and around The Junction is, of course, good news for downtown Ogden. Let’s hope these latest additions are part of a continuing trend, and not just a temporary forward lurch.

Meanwhile, hidden in the Weber Plus section of Thursday’s paper, at the bottom of the monthly Ogden City advertisement, was another interesting item:

Yes ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Ogden’s rubber-tired faux trolleys will soon be up and running! Regular readers will recall that Mayor Godfrey harassed the Weber Area Council of Governments for several months until they finally relented in August and agreed to fund this demonstration project for one year, signing over $175,400 of transportation sales tax revenue for this purpose. To access this pot of funds, all parties had to agree to call the project a “study”, intended to measure ridership potential for the proposed streetcar between downtown and WSU. I’ve been trying to obtain more information from regional transportation officials about how this “study” will be conducted and what they’re hoping to learn, and will post an update here whenever they answer my inquiries.

For now, however, patrons of downtown Ogden can enjoy the faux trolley ride around Historic 25th Street, Washington Blvd., The Junction, and the Intermodal Hub. The ride will be free, with service every 20 minutes. The northern limit of the route was originally supposed to be 20th Street, but it sounds like that has been changed to 21st or even 22nd. Now let’s see... How long would it take to walk from 22nd Street to 25th?

Important Council/RDA Sessions Set For This Evening - UPDATED

A full slate of important items are on the various agendas

Here's a heads up concerning this evening's RDA and city council sessions, wherein the Council/RDA has a full slate of important items on the various agendas:

The council will first meet at 5:00 p.m. for a study session, followed by a 6:00 RDA meeting and a City Council session following immediately thereafter. Among the items to be considered by the Council/RDA bodies will be these matters, which have been extensively discussed on Weber County Forum at various times in the recent past:

1) Proposed Property Conveyance by Donation to St. Anne’s Center, Inc. Proposed Resolution 2010-14, determining the adequacy of consideration to be received for City Property at 3300 South and Pacific Avenue. (Adopt/not adopt resolution.
2) East Washington Urban Renewal Project Area Plan. Proposed Ordinance 2010-30, Adopting the Urban Renewal Project Area Plan dated June 21, 2010 and entitled East Washington Urban Renewal Project Area Plan. (Adopt/not adopt ordinance.
3) Fiscal Year 2010-2011 Budget and Capital Improvement Plan Amendment. Proposed Ordinance 2010-29, amending the budget and Capital Improvement Plan for the Fiscal Year July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011 by increasing the anticipated revenues and transfers for gross increases of $3,321,379 from sources as detailed in the body of this ordinance; increasing the appropriations for a gross increase of $3,321,379 as detailed in the body of this ordinance; reallocating Capital Improvement Funds for improvements to the Union Station.

The pertinent Council/RDA packets are available for viewing here:

• City Council Study Session Public Meeting Agenda Packet
• Redevelopment Agency Agenda Packet

Pertinent WCF background information for Item #1 can be found here; and our discussion of item #3, which involves (among other things) allocation of $564,000 for the Leshemville demolition, can be reviewed here.

We'd also like to direct particular attention to Item #2, a subject which has also received considerable attention here on WCF. Despite dire national economic conditions, Boss Godfrey's East Washington Urban Renewal Project Area Plan seems to be nevertheless moving forward at full steam; and it appears that the council may be leaning toward taking the crucial step of approving the plan and related budget tonight. As to this latter item, we'll be hoping that the council will act with due caution and prudence. Now is NOT the time, as we've said before, to enter into another risky multi-million dollar urban renewal project. Hopefully, if the Council does take the bait, and approves the East Washington Urban Renewal Project Area Plan, our City Council will have the wisdom to inform Boss Godfrey that plan approval does not provide our eager little borrow-and-spend mayor a green light for another round of reckless bonding.

We'll keep this thread open for any readers who'd like to submit post meeting reports; and we would of course be delighted if any reader might be willing (dare we hope) to live blog.

That's it for now, gentle readers. We'll keep the lights on and wait to see how it all shakes out.

Update 8/25/10 8:15 a.m.: Ace Reporter Schwebke offers this brief post-meeting story, reporting that the RDA/ Council took the bait, and approved the East Washington Urban Renewal Project Area Plan, by a slim 4-3 vote:

• City officials OK urban renewal plan for four-block downtown Ogden area

Curiously, Mr. Schwebke reports that the urban renewal plan "includes language that prevents the RDA from using eminent domain to obtain property in the Project Plan Area;" yet our own examination of enabling ordinance 2010-30 (see City Council Study Session Public Meeting Agenda Packet) reveals these explicit provisions:

Section 6. Acquistion of Property. The condemnation of real property is provided for in the Project Area Plan. The agency may acquire real property within the Project Area by the use of the power of eminent domain, in accordance with the applicable principles of law.

Thus we're left in a condition of extreme cognitive dissonance, wondering whether a) Mr. Schwebke muffed his report, or b) the Council RDA amended the proposed ordinance to remove the power of eminent domain from the final Project Area Plan.

Perhaps one of our readers who attended last night's meeting can set the record straight on this aggravating discrepancy.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the Council also approved the donation of the five acre parcel to the St. Anne's Shelter:

• Ogden accepts land for shelter

No word yet on the proposed allocation of funds toward the Leshemville demolition.

Big Ogden City RDA Meeting Tonight

Boss Godfrey is pining to get moving on East Washington Urban Renewal Project, which represents the biggest Ogden City boondoggle since The Junction Money Pit

For those readers following the pending East Washington Urban Renewal boondoggle, we'd like to provide a heads up regarding tonight's Ogden City RDA meeting, set for 6:00 p.m. in the City Council chambers, wherein the RDA Board will hold a public hearing "on The Draft 'East Washington Urban Renewal Project Area Plan' dated June 21, 2010 and on the related Draft East Washington Urban Renewal Project Area Budget." Check out the full council packet below:

• City Council-RDA Regular Session Packet

Boss Godfrey is pining to get moving on this project, which represents the biggest Ogden City boondoggle since The Junction Money Pit. Despite continuing evidence of a horribly languishing economy, there's no doubt that the Godfrey "A" Team will be putting on the full-court press tonight, to put the Emerald City taxpayers into even deeper debt. Our one-trick-pony Mayor has borrowing and spending in his blood; and the only hanging question is whether our hopefully financially prudent Council/RDA Board can be lured to go along with him.

We're getting a strong sense of deja vu on this; and we're hoping that we're not witnessing the rebirth of something similar to the notorious Gang of Six Council of 2005, which recklessly approved the Junction Boondoggle, even on the eve of being unceremoniously ushered out of office by the angry Ogden voters.

We'll devote this article thread toward a discussion of tonight's RDA meeting event; and we accordingly invite any readers who plan to attend tonight's meeting to chime in with their post-meeting observations and comments.

Update 8/11/10 7:37 a.m.: Scott Schwebke provides the lowdown on last might's RDA meeting, in which the RDA Board continued the matter to August 24, pending input from the Ogden City Redevelopment Agency Taxing Entity Committee (TEC):

• Decision on area in Ogden delayed

Yes, Gentle Readers; that's the same Taxing Entity Committee which, in the summer of 2009, allowed itself to be persuaded to forego for another 11 years their rightful share of Junction Money Pit tax increment revenue, in order to keep the Junction Project financially afloat. It'll certainly be enlightening to find out on August 24 whether this hapless TEC Committee will be prepared to meekly bend over for Boss Godfrey once again,

More Evidence That Approval of Ogden's East Washington Urban Renewal Project Would Be A Huge Mistake

Now's not the time to even be thinking about running up more public debt

As a followup to yesterday's article, wherein we expressed our strong concern about the council's progress toward adoption of a proposed urban renewal project area plan for the East Washington Urban Renewal Area in downtown Ogden, we've now come upon additional evidence supporting our argument that economic stimulus has failed on the national level, and that any action to approve a new project founded upon tax increment financing would be a huge mistake:

• 25 Signs That Almost Everyone Is Expecting An Economic Collapse In 2010

For Emerald City elected officials, this element ought to be a real eye opener:

#12) The National League of Cities is warning that large numbers of cities across the U.S. will be facing horrible economic conditions over the next couple of years….

“City budget shortfalls will become more severe over the next two years as tax collections catch up with economic conditions. These will inevitably result in new rounds of layoffs, service cuts, and canceled projects and contracts.”

Please be cautious, Ogden City Council.

Please heed the wise words of Dow Theory financial advisor guru Richard Russell:

Do your friends a favor. Tell them to “batten down the hatches” because there’s a HARD RAIN coming. Tell them to get out of debt and sell anything they can sell (and don’t need) in order to get liquid. Tell them that Richard Russell says that by the end of this year they won’t recognize the country. They’ll retort, “How the dickens does Russell know — who told him?” Tell them the stock market told him.

Now's not the time to even be thinking about running up any more debt, either public or private.

Standard-Examiner Letter: Is Ogden City's Latest Downtown Blight Designation Bad For Business?

Added Bonus: A scholarly article thoroughly examining the economics of eminent domain for economic development and its effect on individual entrepreneurship

The Mayor and the City Council sit up there in the Council Chambers and treat us like we are stupid, and they know best. Like we are sheep being lead to the Slaughter. This Mayor and the Majority of the City Council has NO Regards for the property owners. This Blight finding is really about two things. 1. Tax Revenues, so the City can spend more money, and 2. Power to control and make new regulations. Both of which are bad for business and will not help growth or lower vacancy rates one bit. If spending money worked, then the Junction would not have a higher vacancy rates than the now declared Blighted area.

Standard-Examiner Letter to the Editor
Property owner questions blight designation
May 3, 2010

The consequences of eminent domain abuse are extremely dire for the low-income potential entrepreneur. An increase in the discretionary use of eminent domain for economic development would lead to a decrease in entrepreneurship. As local officials lack the knowledge and expertise to effectively promote private development, their political missteps can keep their localities in poverty by undermining entrepreneurship, and forgo the wealth it would have created. Moreover, entrepreneurs in the marketplace benefit when their economic decisions are correct and pay when their decisions are incorrect. This acts as a powerful incentive to make the right choices. Government does not face this incentive structure. For that reason, claims by government officials that they possess a more accurate picture of the economic landscape than actual market players should be met with extreme skepticism.

Competitive Enterprise Institute
This Land Ain’t your Land; this Land Is my Land
March 3, 2010

Just to get the conversation going this morning, we'll put the spotlight on this excellent Std-Ex Letter to the Editor from John Bowen, one of the downtown Ogden property owners who was ambushed at The Ogden City Confiscation Committee's sham blight hearing back on 4/16/10. As you'll recall, Mr. Bowen traveled from Durango, Colorado to personally attend that hearing, and to defend his individual property rights. Unfortunately this out-of-town real estate entrepreneur received a most unfriendly reception.

Mr. Bowen advances the proposition that Ogden City's Big Government-style intervention in this matter is "bad for business and will not help growth or lower vacancy rates one bit." And reading between the lines, Mr. Bowen seems to suggest that both the Godfrey Administration and the RDA Board are clueless regarding not only individual property rights but also what it takes to sponsor genuine entrepreneurial activity in downtown Ogden. Imagine that.

Being the curious type, we googled and found some additional evidence to support Mr. Bowen's several assertions:

In that connection, Marc Scribner, of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, published an interesting article this week about the economics of eminent domain for economic development entitled" This Land Ain’t your Land; this Land Is my Land." This paper is the only online document which we could find which thoroughly and specifically examines the economic relationship between centrally-planned RDA urban renewal projects (taking into account the inherent power of eminent domain) and long-term individual entrepreneurship.

We found this paper to be most enlightening.

We hope you'll all check it out.

Mixed Economic Signals Call For Local Fiscal Prudence

Now is NOT the time for the taxpayers of Ogden to be burdened with further risky public debt

Interesting juxtaposition of articles in this morning's Salt Lake Tribune, with this chirpy story reporting earnings reports signalling "renewed strength in key companies" on the one hand:

• Economists hail uptick in spending...

And this story, which delivers the bad news that the Salt Lake City metropolitan area is still reeling from "the largest percentage increase in foreclosure filings the past year among more than 50 communities hardest hit by the nation's foreclosure crisis," on the other:

• Salt Lake hardest hit in housing

Putting it all in context, we note with astonishment that our home town newspaper is now strongly encouraging our city council to embark upon another round of massive public borrowing, in which connection we strongly urge the seven good folks on the Ogden City Council to be extremely wary.

With the above-described decidedly mixed economic signals, we encourage our City Council to treat our public monies with at least the same high degree of fiscal prudence which they would demonstrate in their own personal lives.

It's abundantly clear that the local economy isn't our of the financial woods yet. Now is NOT the time, we therefore believe, for the taxpayers of Ogden to be burdened with further risky public debt.

We should have learned some hard lessons about reckless pie-in-the-sky borrowing and spending from The Junction debacle...; but apparently we didn't. Hopefully our City Council will remember it's other people's hard-earned money they'll be gambling with.

That's our take and we're stickin' to it.

So what say our gentle readers about all this?

Standard-Examiner: Downtown Project Gets a Green Light

Added Bonus: A powerful Standard-Examiner online guest commentary

This morning's Standard-Examiner finally lets the cat out of the bag, more or less, concerning the frenzy of chatter which has focused on mysterious activity in the Ogden downtown area along Washington Boulevard between 23d and 24th streets over the past several months. From this morning's Di Lewis story we learn that there are two big-dollar projects on Boss Godfrey's drawing board for this area:

• Downtown project gets greenlight

Piecing together the somewhat fragmented information which Ms. Lewis provides this morning, it appears the whole situation is lining up like this, with two projects in the Ogden City pipeline:

1) East side of Washington Boulevard (total bonding: $13 million):

A four-building retail development on the east side of Washington Boulevard between 23rd and 24th streets is proposed by Octagon Capital Partners, a Virginia-based company. A $9 million bond, which Octagon would repay, is going toward the $17 million retail development, while Ogden is getting a $4 million bond for a 250-stall parking garage behind the development.

2) West Side of Washington Boulevard (total bonding: $14 million):

The city is planning to bring another development, across the street from this one, to the county for bond money next Tuesday.
That development proposal is from Salt Lake City-based Sequoia Development, which would put in a 125- to-140-room hotel with possible other retail spaces and a subterranean parking garage.[...]
... $9 million for the hotel and retail and $3 million for the parking, which also would have 250 spaces.

Combined bonding for these projects: $27 million. Ouch! And who will be required to extend their municipal credit to bond for these two projects, O ye Gentle Emerald City taxpayers? Take a wild guess.

Other aspects of this morning's story remain fuzzy. In her opening paragraph Ms. Lewis offers this:

A Washington Boulevard parking garage and retail development project has received a financial go-ahead from Weber County.

Further down the story however, we find this:

Commissioners made sure they were not approving the construction of the parking structure, which is partially on county property, because the county is considering putting a secondary health department building on the land.

So at this juncture we're not provided enough information to determine with any certainty exactly what Weber County's role is in this, except to note that Ms. Lewis does inform us that Weber County will be throwing in an unspecified amount of federal grant money:

The commissioners unanimously voted Tuesday to allocate bond money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, commonly known as stimulus money.

But then there's this paragraph, which adds to the confusion:

The city is planning to bring another development, across the street from this one, to the county for bond money next Tuesday.

(For the time being we'll assume that Ms. Lewis mistakenly used the wrong terminology here, and that she she did not mean to suggest that Ogden City would be asking Weber County to engage in its own bonding effort, but rather to inform Std-Ex readers that the Godfrey Administration would be making a pitch for the county's federal stimulus money, which is apparently already in the bag.)

And while we're on the subject of Washington Boulevard urban renewal, we'll take a short side tour and direct our readers' attention to an excellent and powerful guest commentery which popped up on the Std-Ex Live! website yesterday morning, wherein East Washington Boulevard property owner John Bowen comments about last Tuesday's Ogden City Property Confiscation Committee Hearing, in which he and some of his fellow adjacent property owners got ambushed by a council which apparently had its minds made up even prior the the blight hearing:

• Property owner questions blight designation

We extract this pithy paragraph from Mr. Bowen's compelling guest commentary:

Your readers need to know that this Entire Blight Meeting was a Joke. I believe the vote was determined ahead of time! It was meant to make us feel like the politicians were hearing our input, which was not true. They did not listen or care about any of the input that came from the property owners. There were almost no questions that were ask of the property owners by the City Council or the mayor. The only reason this meeting was conducted was to comply with the requirements in the law as it was written. If the City Council and Mayor really wanted the property owners input or had any regard at all for our desires, they would have met with us beforehand.

In closing, Mr. Bowen offers this sage advice:

I hope the voters will keep a watchful eye on what the City Council and the Mayor do, and hold them accountable at election time. Your property, which you feel is safe, may be next in the line of fire. Three weeks ago I thought my property was safe!

Duly noted Mr., Bowen; and we're certain that the ever-attentive Emerald City Lumpencitizens will carefully heed your advice.

Standard-Examiner: Ogden City Property Confiscation Committee Declares Four-block Downtown Area Blighted

The sky's the limit when your City Council gambles with other peoples' money, we guess

Scott Schwebke reports this morning on the results of last night's Ogden City Property Confiscation Committee (RDA) Hearing, and reveals that Boss Godfrey-style right-wing crony socialism remains alive and well in Emerald City. Here's the gist:

OGDEN -- By a 5-2 vote, the city council, acting as the municipality's redevelopment agency board, agreed Tuesday night to declare a four-block area in the east-central section of the city as blighted.
City council members who voted against the designation were Susan Van Hooser and Amy Wicks.

Read the whole sad story here:

• Four-block Ogden area designated as blighted; redevelopment to renew downtown

Fasten your seatbelts and hold on tight to your wallets, folks, as our new council majority of five (Comrades Blair, Garner, Gochnour, Stephens and Stephenson) throw fiscal conservatism to the wind, pick up where the financially reckless 2004-05 Gang of Five Council left off, and embark upon yet another round of foolhardy, borrow-and-spend, tax increment-financed BIG SPENDING.

Sadly, eight short months since the taxpayers bailed out Boss Godfrey's money-losing, tax-increment financed Junction Project Scam, it's blatantly apparent that our dreamy and fleeceable City Council has learned absolutely nothing from the experience.

The sky's the limit when your City Council gambles with other peoples' money, we guess.

Update 4/14/01 12:26 p.m.: Per Dan S:

Meanwhile, a separate SE article provides more detail about what the city has in mind for part of this area: Redevelopment of four buildings on the 2300 block of Washington by an Virginia outfit called Octagon Capital Partners, and a parking garage behind these buildings. The parking garage would have 250 spaces and cost $4 million (i.e., $16,000 per space). It would be built by the city and financed by a 20-year bond, repaid through a special assessment district encompassing properties that would benefit from the parking garage. [2d link added by your Blogmeister]

Thusly, the Boss Godfrey plot sickens!

Ogden City Property Confiscation Committee Hearing Thread

A whole new thread, for the benefit of those who'd like to live blog, or otherwise report on tonight's Ogden City RDA "blight hearing."

We just received this missive in a lower comments thread:

Are you interested in postings from the Ogden City Confiscation Committee hearing tonight?
I'm passing through Ogden and would be happy to do so.
If so, where would I do that? Here?
-Lone Gunman

The answer of course is a hearty "YES;" and in response to this inquiry, we're thus setting up this whole new thread, for the benefit of those who'd like to live blog, or otherwise report on tonight's Ogden City RDA "blight hearing."

Yes, Lone Gunman, we're happy to take you up on your gracious offer!

Have at it, O Gentle One(s).

We'll be standing by for what might well turn out to be a very lively event.

Let's just say "we're all ears."

Update 4/14/10 3:15 a.m.: Special thanks to drive-by podcaster Lone Gunman, who dropped into town last night and offered a spellbinding and gut-busting play-by-play narration of last night's farcical Godfrey Administration blight hearing presentation. Trust us, folks. You owe it to yourselves to check out LG's wry running commentary from last night's meeting, down there in our lower comments section.

Update 4/15/10 3:00 p.m.: Lucky us. The Ogden City Internet Technology Crew have finally gotten around to putting up the video of Tuesday's RDA meeting onto the City website. Check it out! Select the April 13 meeting from the lower video menu:

• Ogden City Council Videos

Watch the Five Boss Godfrey Comrades (Blair, Garner, Gochnour, Stephens and Stephenson) awaken from the dead of sleep at the end of a very long and boring meeting, and then rubber-stamp Boss Godfrey's right-wing socialist land-grab agenda, which was already their plan in the first place.

A Weber County Forum Tip O' The Hat to Councilwomen Van Hooser and Wicks, the only two apparently fiscally-responsible grownups left on the Ogden City Council.

Big Emerald City RDA Meeting Tomorrow Night!

If you decide to attend tomorrow night's RDA session, be sure to bring along your steely eyes and flaming torches, etc.

For the sake of those readers who haven't been carefully watching their calenders, we'll helpfully provide a quick reminder of an important matter which is set for tomorrow's Ogden RDA Board agenda:

• Ogden City Redevelopment Agency Agenda - April 13, 2010 at 6:00 p.m.

Specifically, the only substantive item on tomorrow night's RDA calender is the Godfrey Administration's latest pet project, i.e., to enact "proposed resolution 2010-1, making a finding of blight (in preparation for a possible subsequent eminent domain condemnation action) in the area encompassing a full 4 downtown city blocks in the heart of Ogden's Central Business District, from 20th to 24th; and east from Washington to Adams Avenue."

We've previously discussed this matter at length on Weber County Forum; and we'll add that we've also heard from one affected downtown property owner who resides in the U.S. south-land, that he'll be driving cross-country (8 hours) to attend this Boss Godfrey RDA Dog-and Pony Show, to defend his individual property rights on Tuesday night.

What a shame it is that an out-of-town investor who put his money on the line, demonstrated his faith in Ogden's future, and purchased an investment property in Boss Godfrey's BossGodfreyWorld, is now compelled to travel half-way across the North American continent to Ogden, to defend his investment against Godfrey and his evil, land-grabbing, money-grubbing, right-wing socialist cabal.

No?

We do believe tomorrow night's meeting will be extremely interesting.

If you decide to attend tomorrow night's RDA session, be sure to bring along your steely eyes, popcorn, torches and pitchforks. Cymbals, cow-bells and megaphones might also be in order too, just to keep the Sleepy Gochnour 2010-11 Council from snoozing through the whole proceeding:

The "Villagers" prepare to "lobby" Boss Godfrey & the Gochnour Council

That's our take; and we're stickin' to it. Other "sadly misguided viewpoints" will also be entertained here on WCF, of course, as a result of our unrelenting courtesy.

So what say our gentle readers about all this?

Notice of An Important Emerald City RDA "Blight Hearing" Session

Has there been an attempt by some Ogden City officials to keep the lumpencitizens out of the loop?

Thanks to a tip from Gentle Reader Disgusted in a lower article comments section, we learn that the Ogden City Redevlopment Agency suddenly has a matter on calender for tomorrow, (Tuesday, March 9, 2010) which appears to be the latest chapter in Boss Godfrey's new obsession to declare a 4-block portion of east Washington Blvd., adjacent to the Ogden Junction, a blighted area:

5. Common Consent:
a. East Washington Urban Renewal Area. Proposed Resolution 2010-1 making a finding of blight regarding the proposed East Washington Urban Renewal Project Area and proposed Resolution 2010-2 selecting the East Washington Urban Renewal Project Area in the East Central Urban Renewal Survey Area and authorizing the preparation of a draft project area plan, including a project area budget, pursuant to Section 17C-2-102(1)(a)(ii)(B)(II) and (III), Utah Code Annotated 1953, as amended. (Set public hearing for April 13, 2010 – voice vote. (Link added]

That's right, folks. Boss Godfrey apparently contends that all those architecturally classic and mostly well-maintained buildings on the east side of Washington Blvd., (many of which are vacant due to economic forces related to the still-lingering "Great Recession,") are "blighted."

The last time this matter came up on the RDA calender the matter was wisely dropped by the RDA Board. But just as we predicted, it's right back on calender again, with very short (and obscure) notice to the public (and possibly to affected property owners.)

We'll go on record right now as agreeing with Gentle Reader Disgusted's above-linked take on this:

My comment to the City Council is what the heck is this item up for a vote? Why can’t you at least give some more details as to what is being discussed and voted on here? If you are truly the City Council that wants to add transparency to city governance why are you allowing communications about what you’re doing allowed to go out in such vague form on the topics? Why can’t you have your staff take what is given to them by the administration and add some meat to the description before you forward such information on to the public? Or do you really care about transparency?

According to the provisions of Utah Code Seaction Section 17C-2-102(1)(a)(ii)(B)(II) and (III), which is cited in tomorrow evening's RDA meeting agenda, the RDA Board is at minimum required to hold a a properly-noticed full public hearing prior to making a finding of blight. Here's the operative statutory language:

17C-2-102. Process for adopting urban renewal project area plan -- Prerequisites -- Restrictions.
(1) (a) In order to adopt an urban renewal project area plan, after adopting a resolution under Subsection 17C-2-101(1) the agency shall:...
(B) provide notice of a blight hearing as required under Part 5, Urban Renewal Notice Requirements; and
(C) hold a blight hearing as provided in Section 17C-2-302...

Now in fairness to the Council and the Administration we'll confess we don't know whether the above statutory prerequisites have been met, quietly and behind the scenes. For all we know, all proper notices have gone out, and Tuesday's RDA session will turn out to be a full-blown evidentiary hearing, complete with steely-eyed property owners, cranky lawyers, PowerPoint presentations and everything.

Nevertheless, Gentle Reader Disgusted does make a very important related point on the issue of public transparency, we think. The council's notice to an interested public who might want to attend and speak out at a formal "blight hearing" is hopelessly vague, we believe. And yes, the general public has an important stake in this too... and a cynic would even suggest that the Council really may not wish to have the sometimes "meddlesome" general public attend this hearing.

It seems to us that if the Council had meant to properly inform the lumpencitizens of the importance of the matter which comes before the RDA Board tomorrow evening, it would have phrased the public notice in plain English, like this:

Proposed Resolution 2010-1 making a finding of blight (in preparation for a possible subsequent eminent domain condemnation action) in the area encompassing a full 4 downtown city blocks in the heart of Ogden's Central Business District, from 20th to 24th; and east from Washington to Adams Avenue

Instead, the Council phrased it in obtuse legelese.

So what say out gentle readers about this? Is it possible that the above-linked public hearing notice was actually drafted by the Mayor's office, to keep lumpencitizens out of the loop? Are we witnessing once again the flounderings of a brand-new City Council which yet remains susceptible (in its fledgling innocence) to Boss Godfrey's procedural maneuverings? Is it possible that Boss Godfrey is "trying on" the new Council Leadership to see whether he can slip a little something by them?

So many questions... so few answers.

At any rate, the word is now out. And yes... from the evidence it appears that Tuesday's hearing will likely consist of a full blown "blight hearing."

Hopefully more than a few of our own readers will be motivated to attend tomorrow's tantalizing RDA session.

And with a little luck, maybe a few of them will report back here.

We'll leave the lower comments section open for any post RDA session reports of course, as always.

New Information On Boss Godfrey's Newest Percipient Downtown Landgrab

Ogden City Council videos are now up on the city website; and in our view, they're already returning dividends

As we reported earlier in the week, Ogden City Council videos are now up on the city website; and in our view, they're already returning dividends. Regular readers will of course remember our WCF article of article of January 11, when we reported that the Ogden RDA Board had temporarily dropped a troubling agenda item from the January 12 RDA calender, wherein the Administration had sought a "blight designation" for a stretch of properties along the east side of Washington Boulevard, in possible preparation for a new foray into exercise of the evil power of eminent domain. Whereas we'd reported that the area affected ran from 23rd street to 24th, we now learn (thanks to information contained in the most recently posted council video,) that the Godfrey administration's "target area" is much larger than that.

We've now had an opportunity to view the video from the council's 1/12/09 RDA meeting; and here's the new information which we've gleaned:

1) The target area actually encompasses a full 4 downtown city blocks, from 20th to 24th; and east from Washington to Adams Avenue.
2) The administration has already completed a blight study of the area, and is in possession of "findings" which would support statutory "blight condition" criteria within a broader 32-block area.
3) The matter was removed from the RDA calender to allow the city's blight study consultant to fine tune its findings to the above-mentioned 4-block area alone.
4) The matter will be returned to the RDA calender as early as March, as soon as the consultant can produce a new blight study report, which is specifically tailored to the 4-block area which Boss Godfrey now covets.

We encourage interested readers to navigate to the Ogden City Council Video Page, launch the January 12 council (RDA) video, and fast forward to 3:08 minutes, at which point deputy director of community and economic development Richard McConkie goes on at some length to explain the Administration's current posture regarding this newly-proposed RDA project boondoggle.

At this point we have no information as the specific plans which Boss Godfrey has for this area. What we do know is that the Administration has recently been rattling effected property owners with written material threatening the use of eminent domain, and that several property owners in the area have contacted us to express their strong concerns.

We'll be keeping on top of this story as it develops, of course; and we hope interested readers appreciate this most recent but necessarily incomplete update.

Additional reader comments are invited, of course.

Is there anyone among our vast WCF readership who can add insider info to this story?

Boss Godfrey Gets Back Into Eminent Domain Mode

Eminent Domain still remains in Boss Godfrey's "Socialist Bag of Tricks"

For those gullible and politically-unsavvy ones amongst us who seem to believe that Boss Godfrey may have possibly abandoned his grand socialist tendencies, and is softening his iron-handed tyrannical approach, we have news for you all:

During the last month, Boss Godfrey, (coincidentally the winner of the Ogden Joe Stalin Lookalike Contest), has been notifying building owners along Washington Boulevard, in the area between 23d and 24th, that he's about to "take" their land by eminent domain. Godfrey wants to have the RDA Board declare that area "blighted," according to property owner reports which we've received.

The "Blighted" designation, of course means that Godfrey could now exercise the once-banned government Utah power of Municipal Eminent Domain, which evil power his thoroughly-twisted GOP NeoCON cousin, Scott Jenkins (R-Plain City), helped resurrect in Utah in 2007.

Thankfully, the matter regarding the preposterous 23d-24th Street "blight matter" has now been taken off the RDA calender by the Smart People on the Council/RDA Board, apparently:

6. Notice: (No Action)
a. Ogden East Washington Urban Renewal Area within the East Central Survey Area. The previously scheduled public hearing regarding the proposed East Washington Urban Renewal Project Area for January 12, 2010 has been cancelled. Public notice will be provided again 30 days in advance of the rescheduled public hearing.

Nevertheless, don't ever think that property owners in the area weren't sweating bullets for several weeks about this Big Godfrey Socialist Land-grab, thanks to our Big-Time Socialist Mayor, Boss Godfrey. And don't think for a moment that they won't be even more righteously ticked off, once our tyrannical right-wing socialist mayor gets the matter back on the RDA calender, which he reportedly will do.

We've heard several property owners in that area who severely complained about this, and we'll add that these properties are objectively not "blighted" under even fuzzy definitions of that legalistic term. Details like that don't seem to effect the little socialist shite, however, when he's planning to take properties away from Ogden property owners, and re-distribute them to his crony "friends."

We dunno about the rest of you people; but we at WCF don't believe any of these admittedly vacant, but high-quality properties qualify to be absorbed into another Godfrey-driven "blighted" RDA Project.

Watch out for Boss Godfrey! He'll again have his Washington Blvd. land-grab up again on the RDA calender very soon!

We already believe he's moved into "bunker mentality", BTW, now that his Godfrey-rubber-Stamp-Council WASN'T elected in November 2009.

Gotta say it's sad to see the little fellow now "melting down."

Until we find him "vacationing" down there in "Scenic Draper," (along with his pal Val Southwick) however, we don't think he should be under-estimated.

So what say our gentle readers about all this?