John "Pureheart" Patterson Ogden Alum Career Update

Tough luck for "Pureheart John," we'll observe... It'll be interesting to find out whether he'll be soon carrying out another "city manager job search"

In our never ending quest to follow the careers of our most favorite Ogden City government alumnus, we're pleased to bring to you the latest news concerning John "Pureheart" Patterson, former Ogden CAO, who in 2011 bolted to Casper, Wyoming in search of "greener pastures,"  landing a plush six-figure job as as Casper's City Manager. The last time we discussed Patterson, he'd found himself in "hot water", when somebody in Casper discovered (by googling, we'll guess) that his hand-selected "development coordinator" (none other than fellow Ogden government alum Boss Godfrey)  "is a former mayor of Ogden, Utah, who was reprimanded by that state’s auditor for failing to comply with city and state laws."

Despite this embarrassing setback, Patterson had moved forward on his latest croney capitalist grand scheme nevertheless, i.e., the bulldozing of a portion of downtown Casper and the proposed construction of a multimillion-dollar convention center, complete with (what else?) an adjacent multi-million dollar downtown hotel. After a spirited intra-city discussion however, it turns out that Patterson's conference center/hotel brainchild,  highly reminiscent of Patterson schemes in his Ogden heyday,  is sadly not to become a Casper reality, due to the efforts of a seeming horde of Casper lumpencitizen "obstructionists" and the election of a "non visionary" new city council who appear to be a "mite tighter" with Casper lumpencitizens' public money than were their council predecessors, those who hired Patterson in the first place: 

• Casper drops plan for downtown conference center

"I was never in favor of the large amounts of public money that were going to be a part of this proposal," newly-elected Councilmember Keith Goodenough said Thursday.

Patterson called the council's mixed enthusiasm for the city-sponsored conference center a "worst case for a city manager."

Tough luck for "Pureheart John," we'll observe. It'll be interesting to find out whether he'll be soon carrying out another "city manager" job search. For whatever he does in the future however, we of course wish our old crony-capitalist buddy the very best, of course.

Casper Star-Tribune: Casper Downtown Plans May Include Former Ogden Mayor Reprimanded by State Auditor

Didn't take John "Pureheart" Patterson long to get in hot water with the lumpencitizens of Casper, did it?

Tantalizing December 13, 2012 story from the Casper (Wyoming) Star Tribune, which we stumbled upon this morning whilst Googling.  Here's the lede: 

The Downtown Development Authority’s current preference for development coordinator is a former mayor of Ogden, Utah, who was reprimanded by that state’s auditor for failing to comply with city and state laws.
Matthew Godfrey, current president of the Better City consulting group, served as mayor in Ogden from 1999 to 2011. John Patterson was Ogden’s chief administrative officer from 2005 to 2011, when he became Casper’s city manager.
In a report released last summer, the Utah State Auditor’s Office found the city administration failed to receive City Council approval for expenditures on three projects. City administration improperly spent $434,000 between 2007 and 2009 for an ice climbing tower, rail car renovation and river restoration projects, according to the report.
“We are concerned about the Administration’s attitude toward the importance of the City Council’s approval,” the document states. [Links added].

Check out the full story here:

• Casper downtown plans may include former Ogden mayor reprimanded by state auditor

Here's the referenced Utah State Auditor's  August 18, 2011 report:

• Finding and Recommendation For the Period June 2007 through October 2009

No surprises here, we guess.  It didn't take John "Pureheart" Patterson long to get in hot water with the lumpenctizens of Casper, did it?

Be sure to check out the Star-Trib's reader comments section, folks, where one Star-Trib reader sez, "Come on now, the citizens of Casper are not illiterate hicks. We even know about the Internet and we know how to use the search engine Google."

Looks like the cat's outta the bag, alright.

We'll keep ya'll all posted, of course, as this fascinating story develops.