Wasatch Rambler: A Victory for the Tenacious... and More Bicycle Safety Lessons - Updated

No surprises here concerning Charlie's seeming ho-hum reaction however

Charles Trentelman chimes in via his "Wasatch Rambler" column on Friday's Ogden Sierra Club victory story this morning... with what we take to be a giant, gaping yawn. Charlie says: "The documents show a lot of back and forth that is, frankly, boring." Yep, that's what he says about the set of highly revealing documents released as the lawsuit was settled... before he segues off into a "ramble" about a subject more mentally stimulating for him (bicycle safety, that is):

• A victory for the tenacious, and more bicycle safety lessons
  

No surprises here concerning Charlie's seeming ho-hum reaction to the OSC's big court victory however, we guess. Throughout the four-year course of the Godfrey administration's heavy-handed and obsessive Gondola/Mt. Ogden Park Landgrab full court press, Trentelman was never even remotely onboard what we'd call the opposition bandwagon.

Update 6/5/11 3:44 p.m.: Trentelman's column has now been posted to the SE Live! site:

• Persistence pays off

Sierra Club and Ogden City Settle Open Records Lawsuit

Sierra Club clips Ogden City for $10,000 in costs/attorneys' fees; declares total victory

We're pleased to report this morning that The Sierra Club and Ogden City have settled their gondola-related open records lawsuit, which had been pending for three years running. The Sierra Club, plaintiff, has reportedly received from defendant, Ogden City, 43 of the 46 disputed records and clipped Ogden City for $10,000 attorneys' fees. The Sierra Club quite properly considers this a complete victory, as is more thoroughly set forth in this morning's press release:

• Ogden Sierra Club Press Release - 3 June 2011

Be sure to visit the Sierra Club website, where you can examine the array of documents finally released to the persistent Sierra Club plaintiff:

• Records Released by Ogden City

Putting it all in a nutshell, these records document both "the depth of involvement of Ogden City officials and others in promoting the gondola-resort proposal," and "city’s overly broad interpretations of several GRAMA exemptions." Additionally, these documents "highlight the city administration’s troubling preoccupation with secrecy, even in instances when the withheld records contained no information worth protecting." Moreover, these documents expose the bad behavior of almost everyone involved in the Gondola Fiasco, from Boss Godfrey, to the Ogden Records Review Board, to officials of the Utah Transit Authority, etc.

A Weber County Forum Tip O' The Hat this morning to the Ogden Sierra Club for its dogged pursuit of the truth in this matter, and for serving as a champion of government transparency and accountability.

And no... we're not happy to observe that Ogden City taxpayers have coughed up $10k in costs and attorneys' fees. Having said that however, we'll also observe that it wouldn't have had to happen this way, if Boss Godfrey had in good faith complied with GRAMA in the first place.

Okay... that's it from us for now.

Time for our gentle readers to let 'er rip.

Update 6/3/11 7:20 p.m.: The Salt Lake Tribune is carrying Cathy McKitrick's writeup on its website:

• Sierra Club wins release of Ogden gondola records

Update 6/4/11 4:13 a.m.: The Standard-Examiner is now running the story too:

• Sierra Club ends suit with Ogden

Court Orders Ogden To Explain Status Of Missing Records

More progress in the Ogden Sierra Club's two-year GRAMA battle

We are delighted to report this morning that the Ogden Sierra Club continues to make apparent progress in its now two-year old legal battle with Ogden City, wherein the Ogden Sierra Club continues to seek full production of Ogden City administration records pertaining to the Godfrey/Peterson gondola project, and the city's legal relationship with FOM* Chris Peterson:

On June 11, 2d District Court Judge W. Brent West ordered that Ogden City must provide the Sierra Club with more information about several government records related to the gondola proposal and its business dealings with Chris Peterson.

In a ruling signed June 11, Second District Judge W. Brent West ordered Ogden to explain the status of eight separate “missing” records or groups of records. These records are related to requests filed by the Sierra Club two years ago, asking for information on gondola-related studies and the city’s dealings with UTA and Chris Peterson, who owns the Malan’s Basin property east of the city.

The missing records were not included in the city’s initial responses to the club’s requests, nor were they listed in an index of withheld records that the city provided, under order from the court, last October. Most of the missing records are attachments to emails that the city has already provided to the Sierra Club.

“We know these missing records existed at one time,” said Sierra Club volunteer Dan Schroeder, “and that they would have been responsive to our requests. But the city has been evasive about their status, refusing to say whether these records were inadvertently overlooked, or lost, or destroyed.”

The missing records include a budget and other data pertaining to gondola-related studies, a proposed development agreement between the city and Chris Peterson, and records related to Peterson’s purchase, under the name Bootjack LLC, of the former Bloom’s Recycling property on the 2100 block of Wall Avenue.

“It’s unfortunate that we had to go to court just to learn that the city had apparently overlooked these records,” said Schroeder. “If the city had provided us with a list of withheld records two years ago, as we requested, this all could have been handled less formally. Now the city has incurred tens of thousands of dollars of attorney’s fees, only to be ordered to release the information after all.”

Background information and a copy of Judge West's order are posted on the Sierra Club website:

• Lawsuit vs. Ogden City to obtain records related to the gondola project

Who will be the first to comment?

-----
* Friend of Matt

Update 7/8/09 8:32 a.m. MT: As Dan S. has already noted in the lower comments section, Tim Gurrister further fleshes out this story with his morning Standard-Examiner writeup:

• Judge orders Ogden to find information for Sierra Club

Utah Supreme Court Decides in Favor of Open Records

Court rules statutory GRAMA exceptions are to be interpreted narrowly

By Dan Schroeder

The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance has won its lawsuit to obtain state geographic records pertaining to right-of-way claims through public lands. This is (at least) the second time this year that the Utah Supreme Court has issued a firm and unanimous ruling in favor of open records, specifically finding that the statutory exceptions to GRAMA are to be interpreted narrowly.

Although the facts of the case are different from the Sierra Club's lawsuit against Ogden City, I find this decision very encouraging.

Also, it's of interest to us that SUWA was represented in this case by Western Resource Advocates, whose attorneys have worked closely with the Ogden Sierra Club on various issues. Dave Becker, who argued this case before the Utah Supreme Court, was the attorney who advised us informally during the administrative appeal process that led up to our lawsuit. Unfortunately for Utah, Dave has since moved on to a job in Oregon.

A copy of the decision is linked below:

• Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, et al. v. The Automated Geographic Reference Center, et al.

Good News for Advocates of Open Government

Judge orders Ogden City to to describe withheld records in more detail

Regular Weber County Forum readers will recall the pending Second District Court GRAMA lawsuit, wherein the Ogden Sierra Club has sought production of Ogden City administration records pertaining to the Godfrey/Peterson gondola project. So far the administration has stonewalled both the plaintiff and the court, by inadequately describing documents which it has withheld from GRAMA document production.

In this connection, we're delighted to report that The Sierra Club achieved a major victory in the District Court yesterday, with a ruling from Judge West, ordering the administration to describe these withheld records in sufficient detail to justify the record's exemption from disclosure under Utah's open records law. We link this morning's Sierra Club press release below:

JUDGE ORDERS OGDEN TO DESCRIBE WITHHELD RECORDS IN MORE DETAIL

We'll refrain from making our own editorial comments on this, in the interest of not killing off the robust reader discussion in the lower thread.

Suffice it to say however that we're proud of the Ogden Sierra Club for vigorously pursuing this expensive and time-consuming litigation. Hopefully this new development will result in the production of documents which will shed more light on the secret back room dealings of the Godfrey administration, in connection with the boondoggle that so deeply divided our community for several years.

A Weber County Forum Tip O' the Hat to the Ogden Sierra Club, for their demonstrated diligence and persistence in promoting the principles of open government.

Added sodden humor bonus (Click to enlarge):


Update 10/17/08 8:45 a.m. MT: The Salt Lake Tribune has a short article this morning on this topic. There's still nothing from the Standard-Examiner.

Sierra Club: Godfrey Illegally Hiding Gondola Project Information

Boss Godfrey makes mince-meat of the American principle of open government

By Curmudgeon

Well, Godfrey's consistent if nothing else. I'll give him that. He conceals from the Council the buyer in the Bootjack matter. He won't tell the Council or public what the city lobbyist is doing. He hides the fact that the city was acting as purchasing agent for Mr. Lesham in acquiring options in the River Project RDA area. And now he's spending thousands in court to try to prevent records showing the extent to which his administration was involved in the push for a flatland gondola from downtown to WSU, and the amount the city spent on that push, from becoming public. He must have gotten his ideas on what the public should be permitted to know from his good friend V. Southwick.

The Standard-Examiner has a story today reporting on the lawsuit the Sierra Club brought against the Administration after the city refused, repeatedly, to make public documents and other records under the GRAMA act, which was designed to provide public access to public records. The story discusses the presentations at a recent hearing held in the Second District Court before judge W.B. West. The judge's decision is pending.

An Invitation to Standard-Examiner Bashers

By Curmudgeon

OK, all you Standard-Examiner bashers, here' some legitimate meat for you to dig into. Below is the text of a press release from the Sierra Club's Conservation Chair, Dan Schroeder:

For Immediate Release

Statement from Dan Schroeder, Conservation Chair of the Ogden Sierra Club

Re: Ogden City's incomplete responses to records requests
Date: October 4, 2007

Over the last two years, the Ogden City Administration has withheld a great deal of information about the so-called "gondola project" from the public. In our attempt to educate the public about this city proposal, the Ogden Sierra Club has filed several requests under Utah's Government Records Access Management Act (GRAMA). The city has repeatedly withheld records that would be responsive to our requests, but failed to provide adequate justification for withholding these records. The city has also delayed many of its responses unreasonably, and has failed to locate relevant documents that were later proved to exist.

The recent decision of the city's Records Review Board, and the city's response to the decision, provide another example of how hard it is for the public to extract information from the administration. Whereas the GRAMA statute places the burden of proof on the government to demonstrate that a record can be withheld, the Board placed the burden of proof on the Sierra Club and declined to even let us see most of the evidence that we would have needed to argue the case. The Board did instruct the city to provide us with a list of the withheld records, but the city's "list" provides almost no detail, lumping undisclosed numbers of documents into broad categories such as "correspondence" and "draft agreements". Courts have repeatedly found that summary descriptions such as these are not adequate to comply with open records laws.

It should be noted that the Records Review Board is appointed by the mayor, and that one of its three members is a city employee.

The Sierra Club has made every attempt to resolve this matter at the lowest possible level. The lack of cooperation from the Ogden City Administration has been extremely discouraging. They're basically daring us to take them to court. Fortunately for the Sierra Club, the GRAMA statute allows for the recovery of attorney's fees when the requester prevails.

The gondola project remains of great interest to the citizens of Ogden. For two years it has delayed further work on ground-based transit improvements in Ogden. Although some details of the gondola plan have apparently changed in recent months, the gondola itself is still a priority of the administration, which just signed an
agreement with UTA to exchange $247,500 to be spent on gondola-related studies. Many of the records being sought by the Sierra Club relate to the UTA agreement and the city's specific intentions for spending this money.

A separate hearing before the city's Records Review Board, on a related records request from the Ogden Sierra Club, is scheduled for the morning of October 12.

Dan Schroeder, Conservation Chair
Ogden Sierra Club

Nothing in the Std-Ex I notice, which is surprising, since the Std-Ex did a story by Mr. Schwebke over a week ago reporting that the committee was going to issue a decision on the Sierra Club's GRAMA request for gondola-related emails. Now that the committee, appointed by Mayor Godfrey, has refused to make these public documents public, no story. Kind of curious, no?

Is the Std-Ex asking the Mayor why the committee he appointed is refusing to make the gondola emails available? [Considering the embarrassment it caused the mayor the last time the Sierra Club extracted emails by GRAMA request the mayor wanted kept secret, I can see why he's has ordered the committee he appointed to stonewall further requests.] Is the Std-Ex asking the Mayor what he's trying to hide by refusing to release the gondola emails? And since the Std-Ex is so interested in examining candidates motives these days, perhaps Mr. Schwebke could inquire of the Mayor what his motive is in refusing... yet again... to supply the press and the public with information about what he and his cronies are up to.

And no coverage, not even a notice, of the committee's decision or the Sierra Club press release and reaction. On a gondola matter. Mid-election.

Have at 'em, ladies and gents. They've dropped the ball on this one.

Shining the Light on the Roaches at City Hall

Extra: Read Dan S.'s expanded 29-page GRAMA document collection below

By Curmudgeon

The Standard-Examiner this morning has a story based on the administration’s emails obtained by Dan S. via GRAMA request and made public last week on Weber County Forum. [The Std-Ex, churlishly, simply says the story is based on ”according to e-mails obtained by the Standard-Examiner.”] Still, it’s a remarkable story.

Several notable things in it. For example, it discusses the Mayor's retroactive waiver of the competitive bidding requirements for hiring Lewis, Young, Robertson & Burningham to do a financial analysis of the now defunct [the Mayor says] Peterson proposal. About which Hizzonah has this to say:

"I sign dozens of documents every day," Godfrey said. He said he is unsure why Patterson requested the waiver more than a year after the city commissioned the study. "These kinds of things are brought to me routinely," he said.

Huh? Have I got this right? The Mayor is saying he was not aware of what he was signing? That somebody, presumably Mr. Patterson, just stuck it in front of him and he signed it without knowing what it was or why he'd been given it? That's what it seems to say.

Sort of make you wonder what we are paying the Mayor his hefty salary to do, doesn't it? I wasn't aware that blindly signing whatever anyone of his staff puts in front of him constitutes responsible governance. But apparently the Mayor does.

By the way, I hope Mr. Patterson noted that the finger pointing has begun, and the Mayor is pointing at him. You're not working for a stand up guy, Mr. Patterson. In fact, watching all the Godfreyistas scamper for cover, the Godfrey Gang is beginning to look a lot like the Tweed Ring.

It hardly needs to be pointed out, I think, that if the Mayor... or anyone who slides a piece of paper before him for his signature... can retroactively grant waivers to the city's competitive bidding regulations, then those regulations have been rendered entirely meaningless.

Other elements of the story suggest that instead of a new incarnation of Boss Tweed's ring, the Godfrey Administration should instead be called "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight."

From the story: “I have never been a part of a mess like this project has become,” Patterson wrote in an April 13 e-mail to Arrington and copied to Management Services Director Mark Johnson, Community and Economic Development Director Dave Harmer and former Business Development Manager Scott Brown. “It is an embarrassment to the city.”

Indeed it is, Mr. Patterson. Indeed it is. But you'd better get used to this sort of thing. You work for Mayor Godfrey.

Overall, the frantic scuttling here and there trying to cover the city's tracks on this ---- reminds me nothing so much as the frantic scrambling of roaches living under a flat rock in a damp place when the rock is turned over and the sunlight shines in --- is yet more evidence, as if we needed it, of the Godfrey administration's preference of operating out of sight and in the dark, and its dislike of open government. Makes it hard to arrange sales of public land without bidding and at a lower price than others offer for it if people are actually allowed to watch what you're doing.

Rep. Hansen ought to ask the State Auditor to widen his investigation beyond how the Godfrey administration handled its grant money. Perhaps an audit of the Administration's general business practices could use a little sunlight... and disinfectant... too.

Remarkable story, even if the SE didn't credit Dan S. or WCF for breaking it. Don't miss it.

Editor's Note - Special GRAMA Document Collection: We are pleased to announce that we have uploaded the full 29-page Ogden Sierra Club GRAMA document production collection, discussed in our previous article on this topic. Chairman Dan S. has taken additional time to carefully "scrub" the data of private contact information, and has selected and provided the most interesting and relevant documents, which we link for our reader's attention: July '07 GRAMA Document Production Collection.

Boss Godfrey: Higher Integrity Than Anybody in the Room - UPDATED

Newly-obtained documents reveal a city administration pattern of fraud, deceit, conspiracy and insider cronyism

We've just received another press release from the Ogden Sierra Club's Dan Schroeder, containing what we consider to be bunkerbuster information concerning Boss Godfrey's "Secret Gondola Study Saga."

In the interest of inserting this information into the public domain as quickly and efficiently as possible, we incorporate the entire document in full, without analysis or editorial comment:

Dear members of the press:

In response to a GRAMA request submitted a month ago, I have just received from Ogden City a large stack of documents. Several of these documents contain information that seems newsworthy to me, although they leave many questions unanswered.

The documents center around the "Ogden Gondola Fiscal Impacts Analysis" study performed last year by Lewis Young Robertson & Burningham (LYRB), which was the subject of several news articles last month. Most of the documents are email messages exchanged among various city staff members and UTA staff regarding the arrangements and procedures for paying for the LYRB study. Among other things, the documents reveal the following:

• Whereas UTA was apparently willing to reimburse Ogden City for the cost of the LYRB study, high-level city officials repeatedly insisted that UTA instead pay LYRB directly. For example, a March 23, 2007 email from Ogden CAO John Patterson to Mick Crandall of UTA states that "it is IMPOSSIBLE for us to do so," referring to paying the bill from LYRB.

• In response, Crandall states in an April 2, 2007 email that for UTA to pay contractors directly "would be a violation of our procurement rules and accounting standards and UTA cannot make an exception." Crandall goes on to state that UTA "is very reluctant to interject itself into internal matters of a City" and is therefore requiring a written agreement in part to "ensure that the Mayor and the City Council both would concur at least in the use of these funds..."

• An April 2, 2007 email from Finance Manager John Arrington to Patterson similarly indicates that the administration's concern was to keep the City Council from learning about the payment: "we paid an expense in the past without out [sic] Council knowing and we are still suffering from that decision."

• A May 16, 2007 email from Arrington to Patterson again indicates that the administration was concerned about the City Council: "I hope we can get this done without dual payees (City and UTA) since the Council will be looking for anything running to or through the City. [City Attorney] Gary Williams doesn't like the duel [sic] check either, because it still implicates Ogden City."

• Val Brown of UTA expressed an additional concern in a pair of emails to Arrington on May 10 and May 14, 2007: "Frankly, from past experience we've been a bit disappointed in Ogden City's compliance with requirements ... we have audit reports indicating that in the past there have been some problems."

• Mayor Godfrey was involved in several of these email exchanges. For example, on May 15, 2007 he emailed Patterson asking him to "please work with John [Arrington] on this." On December 22, 2006, Patterson forwarded two of Arrington's emails to Godfrey, adding the comments "Does he have early onset Alzheimer's?" and "AMAZING!!"

• Although the bill from LYRB was for only $16,250, the city administration's intent was for UTA to use the rest of the money freed up by the $247,500 federal earmark to reimburse Chris Peterson for his expenses related to the gondola project. In his May 16, 2007 email to Patterson, Arrington states: "I think [Crandall] would be the one to have Chris work through also in getting his vendors qualified as direct pay providers. I'll be sending him an e-mail with UTA's procurement guidelines and ask that he work through UTA involving us for information purposes to get $231,250 of his expenses covered."

• On June 12, 2007, Mayor Godfrey signed an official memorandum to "waive the competitive selection process" for procurement of the services of LYRB for their study (which was initiated around March, 2006). Such a waiver is apparently required by the Ogden City Code. UTA had previously expressed its concern that the city follow its own procurement procedures in this matter.

• An email from lobbyist Ken Lee to Patterson, dated June 1, 2007, acknowledges his receipt of a copy of the LYRB study. Lee then asks, "Has it been leaked? Is the opposition up in arms yet?" In a second email to Patterson on the same date, also copied to Godfrey, Lee says, "I want to get it in the hands of everyone on the Hill. OK with that?" These emails seem to imply that Lee is engaged in a further lobbying effort on behalf of the Peterson project.

• On another subject (probably unrelated), Mayor Godfrey received an email on May 14, 2007 from Mori and Gadi Leshem, proposing that the Leshems lease a portion of UTA's property near 17th and Wall for use in a development they were planning. Godfrey then forwarded this email to Art Bowen of UTA. I contacted Bowen by phone and he indicated that UTA was not interested in leasing its property. However, the Leshems already own a large amount of property in this area and this email indicates that Godfrey is working with the Leshems on a development proposal of some kind. The City Council recently approved a rezone of the Leshems' property. As far as I'm aware, the public has not been told what sort of development is being contemplated.

Besides the documents provided in response to my GRAMA request, the City Attorney's office has withheld other "draft agreements and correspondence" that are protected because they are drafts or "by attorney-client privilege." Among the protected records is the draft agreement between UTA and the city. I spoke with Crandall by phone and he told me that he expects the agreement to be finalized very soon, and he'll send me a copy as soon as it is.

I would be happy to provide you with copies of any or all of the documents I've received. Alternatively, I'm sure you could easily obtain copies directly from the City Recorder's office. The full collection is probably about 300 pages, although much of it is redundant because of the way email replies usually incorporate the message being replied to.

I hope you can find a way to bring some of these details to the attention of the public. Please let me know if I can help in any way.

Dan Schroeder, Conservation Chair
Ogden Sierra Club

We intend to take Sierra Club Chairman Schroeder up immediately on his gracious offer to provide copies of these documents. If all goes well, we'll be able to expeditiously obtain and upload the most relevant material to our storage site very soon, for our gentle readers' benefit.

In the meantime, we present this "raw" information immediately -- for the enlightenment of those few remaining gentle readers who still entertain lingering confidence in the trustworthiness of Boss Godfrey -- the man who always "lies whenever his lips are moving" -- yet nevertheless claims to have "higher integrity than anybody in the room."

Update 7/28/07 1:15 p.m. MT: At our request, Chairman Schroeder this morning kindly furnished us a CD, containing electronic versions of the GRAMA-produced documents provided pursuant to the Sierra Club's GRAMA request. In that connection we have uploaded and linked some of these documents, to corroborate the allegations set forth in the forgoing press release.

Update 7/31/07 12:03 p.m. MT: We have now uploaded and linked the data contained in the above-referenced CD. Twenty-nine pages in all, these pages represent the most interesting and relevant material furnished by the Ogden City Mayor's Office, pursuant to the Sierra Club's July GRAMA document production request. You may view the full document collection here.

Skulduggery @ Emerald City Hall

By Debbie Dew

In connection with the Ogden City/Chris Peterson/Matt Godfrey Gondola conundrum, I found this letter to Tom Ellison and John Patterson from Bill Cook most interesting. It is one of the many documents that surfaced due to the Sierra Club's GRAMA request.

It's dated Oct. 27, 2006:

"Per the discussion that we had yesterday in our Leadership meeting (Council Leadership and Mayor), the Council will be proceeding with the adoption of a resoluion regarding the 'project'. The anticipated date for adoption of the resolution is November 14th. This means that we need your feedback right away (no later than Friday, November 3rd). The date chosen is important given that the Planning Commission is moving forward with public hearings on Nov 1st regarding the mixed use zone and sensitive areas and the Mount Ogden community plan will become very public again in November (according to Greg Montgomery). Thanks for your assistance." and signed by Bill Cook.

There are so many aspects to this letter that point to deceit and betrayal of the Council:

1. Ellison's reply suggested changes that they wanted made to the resolution, and those changes were made to accommodate them!

2. Ellison indicated that they were almost ready to meet with the council, but not in a public meeting. They want to meet "under the radar" so as to not make any "noise." WOW!! More secret meetings behind closed doors! What subterrean scheme have they hatched now that won't bear the light of day? We know that the multi-use and sensitive overlay zoning ordinances were authored by Ellison to accommodate Peterson's project -- What else are they planning to do? Sneakily buy the golf course in the darkness before anyone can stop the give away? If Mayor Godfrey is stupid enough to do that, he would need to move out of Ogden! As strongly as people feel about selling the golf course, I can imagine that life would be very uncomfortable for him and his family in Ogden!

3. Bill Cook in his letter said: "Per the discussion that we had yesterday in our Leadership meeting (Council Leadership and Mayor)." So what does that mean?

a. Were Garcia and Wicks there? Did they go along with the scheme? Did they inform the Council? Are they playing games with the welfare of Ogden? That letter may explain why we are getting mixed messages from Garcia and Wicks. This is very serious and a grave concern in light of all the decisions that will be made this year with their inherent impact for generations to come.

b. "The Council will be proceeding with the adoption of a resoluion regarding the "project". There's the proof that the mixed-use and the sensitive overlay zoning along with that resolution are being pushed for approval to make it easier for Peterson to take control of the golf course! How can anyone say that those mixed-use and sensitive overlay zoning ordinances and that resolution have nothing to do with the Chris Peterson project?!

c. Who does Bill Cook REALLY represent -- the Council? Or the Administration? It appears as though he is working for both sides at the same time! That's a very precarious position! Is he the reason that the Council doesn't seem to do anything proactive? No wonder the citizens are getting screwed and the Council looks like a bunch of fools! Has the Mayor compromised EVERYONE who works in that Municpal Bldg.? It appears that you can't trust a damn soul down there!

d. Stephenson and Safsten tried to justify their votes for that resolution by stating: That many hours had been spent on that resolution and the steps. Excuse me! In life and business, lots of projects have hundreds of hours expended on them only to be dropped when they are not what's needed. Their reasoning is faulty and very frightening whereas they are policy makers for the City. A word of advice to them: "When something is wrong, it's wrong! Spending a lot of time on it, doesn't make it right!" The process with its defining steps is still in place and can be followed -- they are established no matter what happens to the resolution! So really time was not wasted and the best course of action for the City prevailed.

WHERE IS THE LIGHT that Jeske promised us? We really need a light on this Administration and the Chris Peterson project! Look at what was uncovered by the light that the Sierra Club put on the Chris Peterson deal! CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS SHINE THOSE FLASHLIGHTS THAT JESKE GAVE YOU LAST YEAR ON THE CHRIS PETERSON PROJECT!!

A WORD OF ADVICE: You need to watch Bill Cook and your staff. They almost sold you down the river with that resolution that you had the good sense to table last November. WATCH THEM CLOSELY!

Debbie Dew

Peterson's Attorney Wrote Proposed "MU" Zoning Ordinance

Updated 12/5/06

Ogden Sierra Club December 4, 2006 Press Release:

Records recently obtained from Ogden City show that Tom Ellison, a Salt Lake Attorney representing Chris Peterson, drafted a proposed new zoning ordinance that the Planning Commission will consider this Wednesday.

The city provided the records to the Ogden Sierra Club in response to a request pursuant to the Utah Government Records Access Management Act (GRAMA). Most of the relevant records consist of email messages between Ellison, Ogden City Attorney Andrea Lockwood, and Ogden City Planner Greg Montgomery, with successive drafts of the proposed ordinance attached. The earliest draft came to the city from Ellison on August 16. Subsequent revisions by Lockwood and Ellison consisted of minor clarifications that did not alter the essential features of the ordinance (see below for an example). Roughly 90% of the language in Ellison's August 16 draft remains in the version of the ordinance now being considered by the Planning Commission.

The ordinance is titled "Mixed Use Zone (MU)", but it is actually a general-purpose zoning ordinance that could accommodate virtually any type of use. In a letter to Mayor Godfrey dated July 21, Peterson asked the city to adopt such an ordinance, referring to it then as a "Planned Community Development Zone." Much of the language in the ordinance was borrowed from a similar "Specially Planned Areas" ordinance adopted last year in Iron County to facilitate large resort developments. Ellison was also involved in drafting the Iron County ordinance, on behalf of a client who is now developing a resort near Brian Head.

In his November 1 staff report recommending approval of the new ordinance, Montgomery makes no mention of how the ordinance was drafted, or of Peterson, Ellison, or Iron County. Rather, the report claims that the ordinance is intended to allow the development of high-density urban mixed use centers and villages, as identified in Ogden's General Plan. The ordinance itself, however, does not seem to require mixed use, and could potentially be applied to any parcel of land in the city. The ordinance simply states that the allowed uses in an MU zone "shall be those uses specified in an approved development agreement . . ."

Ordinarily, a "mixed use" zone would be applied only in areas where high-density development is desired. It would include minimum density requirements and other elements to encourage an urban, pedestrian-friendly atmosphere. Many cities have used such ordinances successfully in recent years to promote redevelopment and economic growth. An example would be Ogden's existing Central Business District (CBD) zone, which was recently expanded to include the River Project.

The records recently obtained from Ogden City also show that Ellison's office played a role in drafting an extensive revision to Ogden's Sensitive Area Overlay Zone ordinance. The revision would remove the current prohibition against building on slopes steeper than 30% within the overlay zone. After a lengthy public hearing on November 1, the Planning Commission tabled that proposal until February.

Another email exchange between Ellison and Lockwood discusses how they should respond to press inquiries about his involvement in drafting the proposed ordinances.

---------------

We invite our gentle readers to read the full press release here. It's chock full of details, documents and links, and paints a picture that isn't very pretty, in the face of assurances from certain of our Emerald City public servants, that the two zoning and planning ordinances which are suddenly and feverishly being rammed down the townsfolks' throats "have nothing at all to do with Chris Peterson, or the Mt. Ogden Park land-grab."

Comments are invited, of course, once you've taken the time to read this blockbuster article, and to fully digest the revealing evidence which is meticulously embedded therein.

Have at it, folks; and don't forget to get back to us with your own 2¢.

Update 12/04/06 11:45 a.m. MT: Don't forget Tom Ellison's Iron County crafted, rurally-designed MU ordinance will be coming up for consideration, discussion and/or approval by the Planning Commission, in the Emerald City council chambers, @ 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December Six (6).

And we dutifully provide a handy Planning Commission contact link, just in case some of the folks would like to contact our appointed Emerald City Planning Commissioners, and register our gentle readers' views re this pending idiocy, in advance of Wednesday's commission meeting. (This updated link is also available in out WCF upper-left sidebar.)

Update 12/4/06 1:34 p.m. MT: The danged best reporter in northern Utah is now onto this story. We link Kristen Moulton's afternoon article here. We also thank one of our 'anonymous" readers for the heads-up.

Update 12/5/06 8:14 a.m. MT: The Standard-Examiner's Jordan Muhlestein picks up on the Ellision Ordinance (Mixed Use Zone) story this morning, in classic Std-Ex he said/she said style. The Sierra Club's Dan Shroeder continues to press the argument that the proposed ordinance, drafted and submitted by Peterson's "mouthpiece, is specific to the Mt. Ogden Parklands Landgrab, while Andrea Lockwood, Boss Godfrey, and the usual pack of Godfreyite suspects contend that Lockwood's "revised" version is designed to implement improved general planning/zoning policy only.

Mr. Schroeder argues that the two versions are substantially (and substantively) identical, whereas Lockwood claims her version is new work product.

Adding surreal frosting to the cake, Boss Godfrey's minions now contend that the adoption of the obviously project-specific Ellsion Ordinance is perfectly OK, and grounded upon "standard practice" -- i.e., that it's perfectly normal for a city to completely up-end its existing planning/zoning scheme, in order to accomodate a yet uncommitted developer-suitor.

As an added bonus, the Std-Ex has uploaded both document versions to their website, inviting diligent readers to make their own comparisons between another 18 pages of turgid legalese. You can be the judge of whether the proposed MU ordinance is a brand-new approach, or merely a Tom Ellison knock-off.

WCF Compliments also go out to the Standard-Examiner for its fresh new website design (which is unveiled this very morning,) and to Curmudgeon, for coming up with the brilliant "Ellison Ordinance" moniker.