Standard-Examiner: Ogden City Council Relinquishes Streetcar Dream For Now

Laughably, at least one UTA official attempts to paint this decision in an optimistic light

Just like clockwork, the Standard-Examiner provides a morning story which we foreshadowed earlier this month. Cutting to the chase, on Tuesday night, it seems the Ogden City Council delivered the Ogden Streetcar Project, ten years in the making, its final Coup de Grace.   Here's Cathy McKitrick's lede, folks;

OGDEN — In a 4-1 vote Tuesday, the Ogden City Council propelled the city forward on a transit path that had been scrutinized for more than a decade.
The selected 5.3-mile route will connect the city’s Intermodal Transit Center at 2350 S. Wall Avenue to Weber State University, the Dee Events Center and McKay Dee Hospital by way of 25th Street and Harrison Boulevard. And Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) was chosen over streetcar as the mode of transit, mostly due to cost. While a light-rail streetcar system would run about $220 million, BRT comes in around $60 million.
“There truly was a lot of good information for either mode and route,” said Bill Cook, executive director for the City Council. “But when it came down to it, it’s viewed that this route and mode are affordable and doable.”

Read the full story, folks:

• Ogden City Council relinquishes streetcar dream for now

Laughably. at least one UTA official attempts to paint this decision in an optimistic light:

Utah Transit Authority Project Manager Hal Johnson held out the possibility that BRT could actually serve as a stepping stone to streetcar some time in the future.
“Looking at BRT versus streetcar, there’s a bigger upside with the streetcar,” Johnson said. “But it’s going to be very hard to obtain in the local and federal funding climate that we’re in.” But by moving forward with this project, Johnson said it “sets some stones across the river so we can continue to progress . . . and this can evolve into something different and more as the community changes and evolves as well.”

Our take, Ogden Streetcar fanciers?  Don't hold your breaths for an early revival. Stick a fork into it... if you take our meaning.

Standard-Examiner: Our View: Ogden Needs a Clean Transit Route - Updated

Kiss your dreams of a downtown fixed rail system bye-bye, folks

Via the Standard-Examiner, we'll cast the spotlight on this afternoon's UTA open house and followup City Council Meeting, in anticipation of where a final decision concerning Ogden City's long awaited downtown public transit mode and route from Ogden’s transit hub at 25th Street and Wall Avenue to the university and hospital:

Today, at 4 p.m., Utah Transit Authority and Ogden City host an open house presenting the preferred route and mode of public transit to connect downtown to Weber State University and McKay Dee Hospital. It’s in the third floor lobby of the Ogden Municipal Building, 2549 Washington Blvd. Afterwards, the council meets in 3rd floor chambers at 6 p.m. where the same information is presented, followed by a public hearing where opinions and concerns can be expressed. Get your voice heard there. On July 28, the City Council will vote to adopt the route and mode.

Here's the full story, WCF readers:

• Our View: Ogden needs a clean transit route

The Standard is fully aboard UTA's "preferred" route and mode, the plan which seems to be chiseled in granite, of course:

We think that the Technical Advisory Committee made the right decision to pick Bus Rapid Transit running along 25th Street to connect downtown Ogden to Weber State University and the McKay-Dee Hospital, both accessed via Harrison Boulevard on the east side of the city.

Kiss your dreams of a downtown fixed rail system bye-bye, folks.

Update 7/9/15 11:22 a.m.:  The Standard is johnny on the spot with this post-mortem report.  The headline tells the whole story, wethinks:

• Many in Ogden still desire a streetcar

Savvy comment from WCF regular Bob Becker, wethink:

An earlier story on this had someone (with UTA?) noting that a BRT route via 25th would "replace" the 603 bus, currently the most heavily used bus route in Ogden. But BRT will, as planned, have fewer stops between downtown and WSU, resulting in less public transit service all along the route, not more. I am still concerned that UTA continues to look upon this upgrade as primarily a Frontrunner to WSU and back enhancement, not one to imorove service over the whole current 603 route. And BRT will imorove the Frontrunner to WSU time less than two minutes. And have a fraction of the TOD impact rail would have. BRT seems like a penny-wise pound-foolish long term decision to me.

"Penny-wise pound-foolish long term decision?"  Yes.  We heartily agree.

Weber County Forum Friday Morning News Roundup

A few notable news stories which have been languishing on our WCF back burner

In the interest of kicking off any possible Friday Weber County Forum discusssion (on an otherwise sl-o-o-o-w news day), we're reeling out for your perusal a few notable news stories which have been languishing on our WCF back burner

1) With 10 felony charges hanging over his head, we'll guess that opportunities in the legal profession are a mite thin.  Nevertheless we learn that former Attorney General Mark Shurtleff isn't letting any grass grow under his feet, as the Salt Lake Tribune reports on Shurtleff's latest legal representation venture:

Former Attorney General Mark Shurtleff attended Tuesday’s state liquor commission meeting, working as legal counsel for a new Orem-based business he owns with his brother.
Shurtleff and younger brother Kevin Shurtleff were requesting a special manufacturing permit for Now Neutraceuticals, which plans to make small aerosol inhalers that can quickly introduce different compounds — such as caffeine — into the lungs.
The inhaling solution includes a negligible amount of alcohol but still requires a special alcohol-use permit, which was unanimously approved by the five-member commission.

Read up, peeps;

• Mark Shurtleff working with brother in Orem start-up

Caffeine inhalers: Instant heart attack?

One Trib reader wryly sums it up: "Wow, from attorney general to general counsel for a 'huffing' enterprise'".

2) We've been relatively harsh critics of the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) for many years; so we're now pleased to observe that one Weber County Commissioner (Kerry Gibson) is jumping on the bandwagon, in the wake of the full Commission's unanimous decision "to bump [one] Utah Transit Authority request off the list before approving this year’s round of local transportation funding for a dozen other projects":

• Weber official rips UTA as 'a hungry, hungry beast'

Check out the above story to learn about the other twelve road-building boondoggles which the commission did unanimously approve.

Seems the Weber County Commission never stumbled upon a transportation project they didn't fall in love with... well, almost.

3) With the 2014 Utah General Election rolling out in exactly a month, we're delighted to put the spotlight on this strong Salt Lake Trib editorial, which pulls no punches concerning Northern Utah's pending 1st District Congressional race:

• Editorial: Utah’s 1st District should send McAleer to Congress

"A new poll from UtahPolicy.com shows that 81 percent of Utahns polled rated the job performance of the legislative branch as either somewhat or highly unfavorable. Nationally, 14 percent of voters approve of the job Congress is doing[...].Voters in Utah’s 1st Congressional District can do something about that in this election. They can send Donna McAleer to Washington," says the Tribune.

We'll be standing by with abated breath to find out whether strong editorials like this will aid in pulling Northern Utahns out of their paradoxical elective stupor.

4) To put a close to today's news roundup, we'll lodge, for our readers' attention, this truly remarkable Trib story, shining the spotlight on our truly remarkable Utah Lieutenant Governor,  Ya gotta admire Cox's boldness and candor:

• Utah’s Cox calls politics a ‘Dumpster fire,’ dings Romney for saying ‘stupid things’

We'll assume that Lt. Governor Cox may be unfamiliar with that oft-cited Ronald Reagan Eleventh Commandment, "Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican." We'll also presume that Lt. Governor Cox won't be receiving GOP backing for any other elective office any time soon. One thing's for sure: politics-wise, LT. Governor Cox is a true breath of fresh air.

Standard-Examiner: UTA Says Weber Transit Service Would Have Many Riders

We'll be keeping our eyes peeled, and fingers crossed, of course, as the UTA plods forward within the bureaucratic constraints of  this this ridiculously tedious Ogden Transit Study process

There's encouraging news for Ogden City streetcar fanciers this morning, as the Standard-Examiner's Mitch Shaw reports on the results of Tuesday's Ogden City Council Joint Work Session, wherein the Council received a a Transit Study update from Utah Transit Authority officials. Here's Mr. Shaw's lede:

OGDEN — If a public transit service between downtown Ogden, Weber State University and McKay-Dee Hospital ever becomes a reality, the Utah Transit Authority says it won’t be hurting for riders.
UTA officials met with the Ogden City Council Tuesday night to discuss progress on a nearly $900,000 transit study that is measuring the merits of a new transit system that would connect downtown Ogden to the campuses of WSU and McKay-Dee.

Here's the full story, folks:

• UTA says Weber transit service would have many riders

And here's the "kicker":

Jim McNulty, a strategic planner with UTA, told council members that by the year 2040, ridership numbers on the system could ultimately reach 8,000 per day. Ridership estimates for when the service initially begins aren’t available yet.
“We’re finding that we would have the ridership there when we open it up,” McNulty said. “We’ll have more precise information (on early ridership numbers) in about a month, but it’s looking good so far.”
McNulty said UTA’s new Sugar House streetcar system, which opened in December, is seeing about 1,000 riders each day.
“So obviously, seven to eight thousand (daily riders on the Ogden line) is a great number,” he said.

“We keep hearing streetcar, streetcar, streetcar.” “Weber State has indicated that that’s what they want, and we’ve heard that from (the public) as well,” Mr. McNulty adds.

We'll therefore be keeping our eyes peeled, and fingers crossed, of course, as the UTA plods forward within the bureaucratic constraints of  this ridiculously tedious Ogden Transit Study process.

Salt Lake Tribune: UTA Pay High? Real Numbers Are Higher Yet

Utah: the best managed state?

Hold onto your hats, folks. IT'S OFFICIAL! Thanks to the re-juggling of Utah Transit Authority reported data, we learn from the Salt Lake Tribune that the heads of the UTA are now making DOUBLE the salary of the heads of both New York's and Boston's public transportation systems. And that's merely the tip of the iceberg.

Read the "good" news here:

• UTA pay high? Real numbers are higher yet

Sodden Queries:

• Utah Transit Authority: Transit System of the Year?
• Utah: the best managed state?

A Weber County Forum Tip O' the Hat to Utah political watchdog eric Etherington for the mind-bending heads-up.

Comments anyone?

Overpaid Bureaucrats of The Utah Transit Authority Hold a Community Open House

Good news for Ogden Streetcar fanciers!

The insipid and highly overpaid bureaucrats of The Utah Transit Authority will hold a community open house from 5 to 7 p.m. June 25 at Ogden High School, 2828 Harrison Blvd. UTA spokesman Remi Barron said the meeting will serve as a “public kickoff” for a plan that aims to shuttle people between downtown Ogden and Weber State University and McKay-Dee Hospital. Formal public comments will be collected at the open house and integrated into the study.

• $845K Ogden Transit Project study hearing set

Mark your calenders. peeps!

Standard-Examiner: Ogden OKs Transit System Study From Intermodal Hub to WSU to McKay-Dee

Dare we ask the question? Is an Ogden Streetcar system finally in our future?

At risk of coming off as a mite late to the party, we'll shine the spotlight on a story from yesterday's Standard-Examiner, reporting on the result of one agenda item on Tuesday night's Ogden City Council calender, representing what we believe to be a most significant and too-long-coming milestone in Ogden City public transit advocates' effort to establish a high-quality transit system between Ogden’s downtown corridor and the campuses of WSU and the Dee-McKay Hospital.  Here's the gist:

OGDEN — The once-stalled Ogden streetcar project is now gaining some major forward momentum.
The city council adopted a joint resolution Tuesday night, authorizing a study for a transit system connecting the Utah Transit Authority Intermodal Hub, Weber State University and McKay-Dee Hospital.
Officials said that, ideally, the study will result in a high-quality transit system between Ogden’s downtown corridor and the campuses of WSU and the hospital.
“Ultimately, we want to identify a project that can be taken to construction and built,” said Hal Johnson, UTA manager of project development.

Read the full story here, folks:

• Ogden OKs transit system study from intermodal hub to WSU to McKay-Dee

Yes, it's been a long haul. Except for one dismal and knuckle-headed distraction which took this project off-track for at least half a decade, Ogden City lumpencitizens and Northern Utah commuters might have been otherwise on the verge of enjoying the comfort and convenience of a cross-town public transit system amenity years ago.

We've sat on our collective thumbs here in Ogden for years, whilst our more aggressive and better-focused neighbors to the south now put the finishing touches on their own cross-town, high-quality transit system project, even as we speak.

A Weber County Forum Tip "O the Hat to the Ogden City Council for at last placing this project on the front burner, where it clearly belongs.

Dare we ask the question?  Is an Ogden Streetcar System finally in our future?

Standard-Examiner: Ogden Transit Project Talk Revving Up - Updated

The city needs to step forward and commit.” “That’s an important move.” - Council Director Bill Cook

In the aftermath of this encouraging 3/15/13 Standard-Examiner story, and notwithstanding the Standard's nay-saying 3/27/13 thumbs-down, the Standard again carries another timely Ogden Streetcar project-related story which might rekindle the time-dimmed hopes of Ogden City street car advocates, on the heels of  Tuesday's (4/9/13) Ogden City Council work session:

"After a long period of inactivity, discussion on the possible Ogden streetcar is heating up again. Officials from Utah Transit Authority, Wasatch Front Regional Council and Utah Department of Transportation participated in an Ogden City Council work session Tuesday night, discussing the future of the Ogden Transit Project," reports S-E reporter Mitch Shaw, in yesterday's online story.

• Ogden Transit Project talk revving up

$745,000 Study

Despite the daunting estimated $745,000 cost of yet another UTA-sponsored study, which would intricately delve into projected cost, ridership, alignment and mode parameters, we're hearing noises from some in Ogden City government that it's time to get moving on this project:

“The city needs to step forward and commit.” “That’s an important move,” says Council Director Bill Cook.

"Whatever the outcome may be, the need to develop a transit corridor to WSU is not just an Ogden city need, it’s a regional need." “There so many people tied to Weber State,“and they aren’t all just living in Ogden," says Ogden Mayor mike Caldwell, who also hedges a bit, street-car-wise, with the cautionary proviso that "the city is [also] looking to find out the cost-per-mile difference between a streetcar and a modified Bus Rapid Transit system, which has also been discussed as a potential outcome."

Cook adds that "a joint resolution between the city administration and the council, indicating the city’s intention to move forward with the study, would need to be adopted by May 21," in which connection we'll be keeping a close eye out in the event that such a proposed resolution agenda item does suddenly pop up.

Meanwhile, Mr. Cook and others will be apparently doing some frantic deep dredging of possible "Ogden Streetcar White-Knight donors," such as the Wasatch Front Regional Council, the Utah Department of Transportation and the ever-cash-flush Weber Area Council of Governments (WACOG), to find out who might be willing to help raise another measly 745 thousand bucks, we guess.

Update 4/12/13 12:10 p.m.: There's more on this story from ABC Channel 4, emphasizing Weber State University student passenger demand:


Don't let the cat get your tongues..

Standard-Examiner: Next Stop for (Faux) Trolley Report -- Analysis

Does this morning's story provide yet more evidence that Little Lord Godfrey has finally lost his marbles (to adopt highly-technical psychiatric terminology)?

The Standard-Examiner reports this morning that "[Ogden] city has compiled a ridership report that shows about 26,000 passengers have used two trolley-style buses that have looped around the downtown area for 10 months," and that the report "has been submitted to the Wasatch Front Regional Council and the Utah Transit Authority for analysis." This analysis would ostensibly determine whether a permanant "streetcar cirulater" (which would "loop" through two [easily walkable] blocks within the downtown area, and would soak the Ogden taxpayers with a cool 5 million bucks in "upfront money," plus $1 million per year in operating costs), might (in some wacky alternate universe) qualify for a grant of $25 million in federal funds:

• Next stop for trolley report -- analysis

Three questions:

1) Who will be paying for this percipient UTA analysis? (not the beleaguered Ogden taxpayers, we hope).
2) Does this "loopy" Godfrey project belong right up there near the top of the "short list" of other boneheaded Godfrey projects, right along with "crackpot flatland gondola" and "the loonybird ice tower"?
3) Does this morning's story provide yet more evidence that Little Lord Godfrey has finally lost his marbles (to adopt a highly-technical psychiatric term)?

Have at it, O Gentle Ones...

Standard-Examiner: Godfrey Bashes Streetcar Proposal to City Council

Mick Crandall: "If every transportation project that didn't have enough funding at this stage were to be abandoned, we would have no transportation projects at all and we'd be getting around on foot."

The Standard is reporting this morning about Boss Godfrey's reaction to a new UTA streetcar proposal, which was apparently discussed at last night's City Council meeting as a non agenda,"new business" item. Here's the lede:

OGDEN -- Mayor Matthew Godfrey is questioning what he describes as a radically different proposal from Utah Transit Authority to build a streetcar system from downtown to Weber State University and McKay-Dee Hospital for $35 million less than originally projected.

Read the full story here:

• Godfrey bashes streetcar proposal to city council

With a mere 2-1/2 months remaining until the lame duck Boss Godfrey's ushered out of office, you'd think he'd give his feverish opposition to a cross-town streetcar system a rest. But no, the streetcar proposal wasn't his idea and he'll therefore rage against it forever, we suppose.

Kudos to the city Council for keeping the concept alive, by the way. So long as the project isn't deep-sixed, we can expect clever designers, engineers and numbers-crunchers to continue to tweak the design and financing parameters, just as the UTA people seem to have now done. If the project had been put to rest as Boss Godfrey had earlier demanded of course, the issue of further prospective cost savings would be a dead letter.

Remember, as the UTA's Mick Crandall said at a Streetcar Stakeholders meeting in early July of this year, "If every transportation project that didn't have enough funding at this stage were to be abandoned, we would have no transportation projects at all and we'd be getting around on foot."

That's it for now.

Who'll be the first to chime in?

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

Streetcar Project To Be Discussed Tonight By Ogden City Council - Updated

3/29/11 City Council Notes

By: Brandon Chase Bell
Trolley District Community Advisory Network

A City Council Work Session is scheduled for tonight immediately following the Special City Council Meeting at 6:00 p.m. (there is not a set time for the Work Session, rather it begins immediately after the Special Council Meeting ends, which based on past experience has been approximately 7:00-7:15 or so).

In addition to discussing the Open Space Plan, the City Council will discuss the Streetcar Project and “options regarding the “preferred alternative” for the Ogden/Weber Transit Corridor Alternatives Analysis. Also, Council member Van Hooser will give a presentation on transit issues based on a recent Rail-volution Conference she attended.

Meeting Information:

Ogden City Council Work Session

March 29, 2011 – immediately following the Special Council

Meeting that begins at 6:00 p.m.

City Council Chambers – Third Floor

Municipal Building, 2549 Washington Boulevard

Streetcar Project Update and Issues to Be Discussed:

Important City Council Letter Sent on February 14^th, 2011 to WFRC, UDOT, and UTA

The information packet for the meeting contains a lengthy review of the Streetcar Project and efforts to bring a modern transit system to the Ogden area. It states that, most recently the city council sent a letter to the Wasatch Front Regional Council, Utah Department of Transportation and Utah Transit Authority on February 14^th, shortly following the City Council meeting in January with the WFRC where UTA, and UDOT representatives were also present.

The text from the City Council’s letter relating to Harrison Boulevard and the Streetcar Project are as follows (as contained in the information packet for tonight’s meeting):

Harrison Boulevard

1. We [the Ogden City Council] are interested in pursuing a corridor study for Harrison Boulevard with UDOT as the lead agency and are willing to contribute 50% of the funding required for the study (contingent upon the Mayor agreeing). We request that this study commence as soon as possible.This corridor study will assist the City with decisions that need to be made relative to the Transit Alternatives Analysis and needed operational improvements can be clearly defined.

2. We have concerns with the proposed expansion of US 89 south of Harrison Blvd. and how this increased traffic would be handled by either Harrison or Washington. Further information would be helpful.

Transit Alternatives Analysis

3. We feel strongly that 25th Street should be an alternative route in the Transit Alternatives Analysis and be shown as such in the 2040 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). We were surprised that the mode for the “Ogden Streetcar Project” was changed from streetcar to bus rapid transit in the plan. We look forward to receiving a recommendation from the project’s stakeholder group and considering the options further. (Emphasis added)

This letter is significant news in the streetcar project and it’s long history. Many Ogden residents feel that a 25^th-Harrison alignment has been needlessly ruled-out as an option. There has been longstanding, consistent, and overwhelming public support voiced in Ogden for a 25^th-Harrison streetcar alignment. Our City Council has now taken the opportunity to formally request that it not be ruled out as an alternative, and that a 25^th-Harrison alignment be taken forward as a potential alignment in the final Alternatives Analysis, that will eventually be finalized and released by UTA.

We are glad that the City Council has acknowledged this public support of a 25^th-Harrison alignment and given voice to the will of Ogden residents in writing this letter to the Wasatch Front Regional Council, Utah Department of Transportation, and the Utah Transit Authority. Additionally, the City Council has also responded in this letter to UTA’s sudden change of plans in suggesting a Bus-Rapid Transit as the transit mode, when for quite some time now, the general consensus and discussion has revolved primarily around a streetcar system.

Tonight’s meeting is an important moment in the process of bringing a modern transit system to Ogden, hopefully along the right route, and the right mode of transit. As the meeting is a City Council Work Session, public comment is not allowed. However, attendance tonight is important to show continued public support for a 25^th-Harrison Streetcar alignment, and a streetcar system, as opposed to UTA’s recent suggestion of a Bus Rapid Transit project. Please attend tonight’s meeting and be sure to express your support, in person, to members of the City Council for a 25^th- Harrison alignment, and for a streetcar transit system specifically, both before and after the meeting.

Update 3/30/11 9:00 a.m.: For those following the Street Car Topic discussion, one of our gentle readers who attended last night's council meeting provides the following meeting summary concerning the council's posture on the 25^th- Harrison alignment:

• Summary of 3/29/11 City Council Meeting

Standard-Examiner Editorial: OUR VIEW: UTA's Secrecy Bug

Final calculations are useless unless the initial assumptions built into such calculations can be independently reviewed and validated

Just to get the conversation rolling this morning, we'll cast the spotlight upon yesterday's strong Standard-Examiner editorial, hammering the UTA's stonewalling of raw data which ostensibly support a consultant's findings that a proposed mass transit route -- along Washington Boulevard, 36th Street and Harrison Boulevard -- to Weber State University and McKay-Dee Hospital makes the most economic sense":

• OUR VIEW: UTA's secrecy bug

And whatever you do, don't miss Cal Grondahl's most excellent companion cartoon:

• Grondahl 10/17/10 Cartoon

Here's the key principle, as earlier set forth in Dan Schroeder's 9/20/10 letter:

...it is clear that we cannot trust the bottom-line results when the consultant is unable to show how it obtained them. It is also clear that UTA was negligent in not asking to see the detailed calculation itself, months ago. It is unprofessional and inexcusable for UTA to ask stakeholders to make a $150 million decision on the basis of data that has not been carefully scrutinized by its own professionals. (However, it is human nature to accept results without scrutiny when they tell us what we already wanted to hear.)

As an added bonus we'll refer to an article posted 10/10/10 on Dan Schroeder's blog, Dan's Diary, in which he emphasises the importance of "[u]nderstanding uncertainties, and learning to live with uncertainties, and stubbornly insisting on knowing the uncertainties when making predictions" based on mathematical data:

• Uncertainties in Science and Politics

Here are Dan's money paragraphs:

I’ll end (once again) with a local political example. A respected economic consultant recently predicted that the middle segment of Ogden’s proposed streetcar system will stimulate $8.5 million of investment if it follows one proposed alignment, but only $1.5 million if it follows an alternate alignment. Ten days ago I asked her what the uncertainty range is on those numbers, and she replied, “Well, you can see that we rounded them to the nearest half million.” I’m afraid I laughed at that point, and tried unsuccessfully to convince her that the uncertainties were many times larger. I knew the numbers had been calculated from property value assessments, and that these assessments can be systematically off by 50% or even more. Worse, I knew that the lists of properties to be included in the calculations had been compiled through a subjective, undocumented process. After our conversation I looked up some of the property assessments and quickly saw that you could increase the $1.5 million prediction to over $9 million by excluding just two properties (out of several dozen) from the list. A fair estimate of the uncertainty would be much higher still.

But economic consultants apparently aren’t in the habit of thinking about uncertainty. Undoubtedly this is because their clients don’t want to hear about it; they just want simple answers. In this case the client was the Utah Transit Authority—a government agency that supposedly represents the people. Ultimately, it is the citizens at large who need to learn to think like scientists.

Remember back in math class when your instructor insisted that you "show your work" as you performed mathematical calculations? Same basic concept. The results of final calculations are useless unless the initial assumptions built into such calculations can be independently reviewed and validated.

A Weber County Tip O' The Hat to the Standard-Examiner editorial board for keeping the UTA's highly unprofessional conduct in the public limelight... and a well deserved Hat Tip to Dan Schroeder too, for keeping everybody on their toes in re this matter.

Standard-Examiner Editorial: OUR VIEW: UTA Misses the Bus

Crony government conducted in the dark: it's how we do things here in Boss Godfrey's Ogden

Fine editorial in this morning's Standard-Examiner, lambasting Utah Transit Authority (UTA) officials for their secretive rerouting of Ogden's downtown bus routes. Here's the lede:

This week the Utah Transit Authority rerouted bus service that used to travel and stop along Historic 25th Street.
And how did UTA notify the public of this change? By posting flyers on the buses and at the affected stops.
That may be a good way to advertise for a lost pet, but not for a transit organization to notify the public of a change in service.

Read the full editorial here:

• OUR VIEW: UTA misses the bus

And the SE editorial board hits the nail squarely on the head, we believe, with this:

Considering the bad publicity UTA has received of late regarding executive pay, you would think the agency might want to bend over backwards to improve its public relations. A simple meeting to give people the opportunity to raise their concerns could have gone a long way. Such a meeting could have brought up issues that UTA, the city and the merchants hadn't even considered. Even if no one showed up, UTA would have shown they were willing to do more than what was required.

As SE reader Bob Becker aptly notes in a comment beneath todays SE story, "Crony government conducted in the dark: it's how we do things here in Matt Godfrey's Ogden. And, apparently, at UTA too."

Have at it, O Gentle Ones...

Standard-Examiner: Fed Cash For A Downtown "Streetcar" Loop?

Reader query: Is the submission of a federal grant application for a downtown streetcar loop a smart move at this time, in the big picture?

To kick off this morning's discussion we'll focus on today's Scott Schwebke story, which reports, straight out of the blue, that Ogden City (read the Godfrey administration) is whipping up a last-munute federal grant application, to help fund a "downtown streetcar loop." Here's Mr. Schwebke's lede:

OGDEN -- The city will submit a grant application today to the Federal Transit Administration for a proposed streetcar system, costing about $25 million, that would circulate downtown.
Mayor Matthew Godfrey briefed the city council on the application during a work session Tuesday night.
City officials only recently learned from the Utah Transit Authority that federal funding may be available for the streetcar line, and they have been rapidly preparing a grant application, he said.

That's right, folks; the Godfrey administration is planning to submit its application today; and it only informed the council about this last night.

The story goes on to report that such a grant would require the application of matching local funds, presumably derived from a one-quarter percent sales and use tax approved by Weber County voters in 2007. Notably, Boss Godfrey apparently hasn't yet informed the local governing body which administers this special tax, the Weber Area Council of Governments (WACOG), about this grant application either.

And this is interesting:

Godfrey told the city council it's important that they support the FTA grant application. "It shows that council is onboard with the project and will help WACOG understand this is not a half-baked idea," he said, [Emphasis added]

Frankly we don't know what to make of Boss Godfrey's proposed downtown streetcar loop. All we know about it is what we read in this morning's paper. Nevertheless it seems to us that there needs to be further public discussion about this proposed project, before the council or anyone else "gets onboard." Although Godfrey contends that such a system would be "complementary" to a genuine Intermodal Hub/McKay-Dee streetcar route, we don't know whether that's true at all. As a matter of fact we can well imagine a scenario whereby the awarding of this grant by the FTA could jeopardise future funding for a future east-west 25th streetcar corridor, which would traverse at least part of the downtown area already covered by this proposed downtown loop.

Don't get us wrong on this, gentle readers. We're not ready at this stage of the game to dismiss this idea off-hand. Nevertheless, given the meager information provided in this morning's story, Boss Godfrey's embryonic downtown loop proposal strikes us at present as not merely half-baked, but perhaps -- dare we say -- half-assed.

So how about it gentle readers? Seems to us it's now time for some robust discussion. Is the submission of a federal grant application for this downtown route a smart move at this time, in the big picture? There are numerous WCF readers who've demonstrated here in this forum a highly-specialized knowledge on the topic of urban streetcar systems... and of the intricacies of the financing of them too. Perhaps some of you folks with extra expertise on this subject will step up in our lower comments section, to enlighten us all on the true ramifications of this new "surprise" development.

Have at it, O Gentle Ones.

Standard-Examiner: Garcia Pledges to Remain Advocate For Minorities

A well-deserved tribute with an added bonus: A little trip down memory lane

Uplifting Scott Schwebke story in this morning's Standard-Examiner, wherein a number of city officials (Boss Godfrey included) pay well-deserved tribute to Ogden City political heavyweight Jesse Garcia, who's now departing the city council, after sixteen years' dedicated service, zealously representing the interests of the citizens of Ogden City's Municipal Ward 1:

• Garcia pledges to remain advocate for minorities

In addition to a series of stirring tributes, Mr. Schwebke also significantly devotes two brief paragraphs to at least one "striking" instance where Councilman Garcia had been seriously "at odds" with the now-complimentary Mayor Godfrey:

A striking example of Garcia's differences with Godfrey came in 2007 when he opposed efforts by the mayor's administration to have Utah Transit Authority earmark $247,500 in federal grant funds for engineering, planning and other studies for an urban gondola system.
Those funds have been designated to the city for a street car transit alternative analysis but the gondola project aimed at linking downtown and Weber State University has not come to fruition.

Regular readers will recall the developing story in 2007, all of which we've assembled here in our Weber County Forum Secret Gondola Study Collection.

To refresh our readers' recollection, and for a little trip down memory lane, here's the Secret Gondola Study story story in a nutshell:

At some point in 2006, Mayor Godfrey's Washington lobbyist finessed a $247 federal public transportation grant, which, as per custom, was turned over to the Utah Transit Authority, as local funds administrator. Godfrey did not report to the council the allocation of these funds; and they were only inadvertently revealed to the council months later.

Although these funds were designated with Ogden City as the intended beneficiary, Boss Godfrey adopted the preposterous position that these funds did not belong to Emerald City, that they were not subject to the authority of the Ogden City Council, but that they were instead placed at UTA's sole disposal, and for disposition at its sole discretion, toward a previously commissioned gondola engineering study.

Godfrey's mendacious words still ring in our ears: "It's not our money!" said Boss Godfrey, (with his fingers crossed behind his back, and his toes crossed inside his shoes). Ultimately, when the smoke cleared, after at least one citizen GRAMA request, a blistering Std-Ex article... or two, and the public release of a series of incriminating emails establishing that the Godfrey Administration (and possibly the UTA) had attempted (and colluded) to hide the true material facts from the city council, it turned out that these funds were indeed subject to disposition by the Ogden City; and (thanks in large part to Councilman Garcia's efforts), Godfrey and the UTA quietly backed down, and the heretofore disputed funds were ultimately earmarked by the council for the now ongoing street car transit alternative analysis, (as the Standard now reports with undue modesty).

(For the full un-abridged story, we again urge our readers again to check out our previously linked Secret Gondola Study Collection.)

As Councilman Garcia vacates his Ward 1 Council seat, we join in his tribute. As Councilwoman Gochnour says, "He will be missed."

"Sorely missed" we'll add: "Don't it always seem to go... you don't know what you got til it's gone?"

Reviving the Streetcar Discussion With A Couple of Back-Burner Items

Neck-snapping WCF segue: One gentle reader report that Jon Greiner was a rattled guest this morning on Faux News

Just to keep the conversation going during the ongoing annual December (pre-Christmas) re-meat news lull, we thought we'd take the opportunity to direct our readers to a couple of back-burner news items, related to a topic which has generated considerable previous discussion here on Weber County Forum... Yesiree... let's have Streetcars as the main topic of the day.

In that connection we'll first refer to this December 5 Salt Lake Tribune story, which reports that Salt Lake City officials are taking the lead in planning a streetcar system which would serve key waypoints in Salt Lake's central downtown area:

Salt Lake City wants to make the dusty black-and-white picture books of downtown bound to life.
Mayor Ralph Becker imagines a 21st-century version of the city's old streetcars snaking through the capital's urban catacomb.
And, now, consultants hired by the city have four potential routes that -- depending on federal funding -- one day may make it possible to traverse the business district on wheels without a car.
"The administration sees it as a key element in catalyzing development in downtown," says Becker spokeswoman Lisa Harrison Smith. "It's definitely a high-level priority."
Subject to tweaks, the proposed alignments would zip streetcars from the Salt Lake Central transit station south to 900 South, east to 500 East and right through downtown's heart -- passing by the Salt Palace Convention Center and planned City Creek Center. The lines would be designed to swell ridership on the Utah Transit Authority bus and rail network and serve as a "circulator," ferrying people between downtown TRAX stations and the FrontRunner hub.

What's significant here, we believe, is that it's Salt Lake Officials, Mayor Ralph Becker in particular, who are driving the selection of Salt Lake's preferred transportation corridors. Unlike the situation in Ogden City, where UTA bureaucrats are attempting to interpose their own priorities, without deference to the desires of the citizens and officials "on the ground," UTA is evidently taking a hands-off attitude with Salt Lake planning, and allowing "the locals" to plan their own Transit Oriented Development modes.

It might be helpful if Ogden's own Mayor would get aboard the 25th/26th Street transit corridor bandwagon, don't you think? It's been reported that he's indeed leaning that way; and we hereby invite Boss Godfrey to jump aboard with both feet. What a delightful novelty it would be to witness Ogden's Mayor working WITH the lumpencitizens for once.

And for those of us who might believe that Ogden is alone in being singled out by UTA as a city where local priorities seem to be take a back seat to UTA's own bone-headed plans, we provide a link to this 11/27/09 Standard-Examiner story, which reports that the city of Clearfield also finds itself in a similar boat.

Next, we'll shine the spotlight on this 11/25/09 Utah Heritage Foundation blog article, wherein Utah's premier historic preservation/neighborhood development organization goes unequivocally record in support of Ogden's 25th/26th Street east-west transportation corridor.

We'll invite our readers to address the above-suggested topics, or treat this article as an open-topics thread. But before we turn over the floor, we'll offer another (patented) neck snapping WCF segue:

We received a report this morning that Ogden's own Jon Greiner was a guest this morning on Fox News (the national cable version,) being interviewed on the topic of public employee double dipping. Our reader tipster reports that our Senator/Chief of Police appeared to be a mite uneasy about the line of questioning. If anyone else would like to chime with more information on this, we're sure our Sunday afternoon Weber County Forum readership would be most grateful. We've been unable to verify this tip ourselves; perhaps our ever-alert readership can provide some help

That's it for now folks.

Who will be the first to comment?

Transit Project Detours Washington Improvements

Boss Godfrey's dilatory tactics delay important safety-oriented street repair project

Interesting front page story in this morning's Standard-Examiner, reporting that a $10 million UDOT road improvement project, which had been planned "to improve safety and travel along Washington Boulevard from 26th to 36th streets," has been put on indefinite hold. From this morning's Scott Schwebke story:

OGDEN — A Washington Boulevard road improvement project costing at least $10 million that was slated to start next month has been delayed pending a decision on a possible streetcar or bus route from downtown to Weber State University and McKay-Dee Hospital Center.
The Utah Department of Transportation project was scheduled for completion in October to improve safety and travel along Washington Boulevard from 26th to 36th streets. But UDOT has decided to put the project on hold until a combined alternatives analysis and environmental impact study is completed by the Utah Transit Authority, the city and others to determine the preferred mode of transit and location of a route between the intermodal hub at 23rd Street and Wall Avenue and Weber State and McKay-Dee on Harrison Boulevard. [...]
It’s prudent to delay the road improvements until after the selection in July of a transit mode and route for the five-mile corridor between the intermodal hub and Weber State and McKay-Dee, said Randy Park, a special projects manager for UTA.

The impediment? Boss Godfrey's proposed 30th and 36th street east-west public transit corridor "legs." “Rather than put it (the improvements) in and then have to undo it and tear up the street, we have decided to let Ogden decide where the streetcar or bus rapid-transit system should go,” Vic Saunders, a UDOT spokesman remarked.

So in addition to the 3-1/2-year delay on the street car project that Boss Godfrey caused by his foot-dragging after the 2005 release of the Baker Study, (which already picked a 26th Street east-west corridor as the preferred route,) important safety-related Washington Boulevard repairs are also now being put on the back burner because of the further dilatory actions of Ogden City's gondola-obsessed mayor.

Nice work, Boss Godfrey!

Special thanks to the 7,247 Ogden citizens who voted for the little feller in the 2007 election.

Reader comment are invited as always.

Dunning Reminder: UTA Open House Set For This Afternoon @ Ogden's Eccles Conference Center - UPDATED

A rare opportunity for the lumpencitizens to override Boss Godfrey's contrarian political influence

For those readers who may have failed to put it on their calenders, we'll issue a reminder of today's Utah Transit Authority open house, at which Ogden City residents will have the opportunity to provide direct input on their preferred east-west streetcar route:

• March 24, 2009 - 4 to 7 p.m. - Ogden Eccles Conference Center

In this connection, we'll again direct your attention to Shalae Larsen's March 20 Standard-Examiner online op-ed piece, which makes an eloquent case for the 25th Street alignment. A slightly edited version also appears on today's Std-Ex editorial page.

As gentle reader George K. noted in a comment under one of our earlier articles, the importance of a robust citizen turnout for these open houses can't be over emphasized:

The reason UTA and other officials are favoring 30th St. (which UDOT will not approve because of the money spent on widening it a few years ago) and 36th St. is because Godfrey has influenced them. But regardless of what they are saying now, they have to listen to public input and it has as much if not more weight than the Mayor’s wishes on the route. That is why it is so important to attend the public open houses this coming Tuesday (at the Conference Center, 4 PM to 7 PM) and at the WSU Union Bldg. Thursday 12 Noon to 1 PM. Be sure to give your thoughts on where the route should be, whether you would support mass transit and what mode you would support. The outcome of the alternative analysis depends on public support.

As our knuckleheaded mayor continues to abuse his position and pushes for his two more southerly east-west streetcar corridors, the lumpencitizens have been furnished a rare opportunity to override his contrarian political influence. Let's not blow it.

Hopefully, steely-eyed Ogden City citizens will show up at today's open house event en masse, torches and pitchforks in hand.

And what say our gentle readers about all this?

Update 3/24/09 7:00 p.m.: Now that this afternoon's UTA public transit open house is in the "past tense," we'd like to invite comments from any readers who attended the event. Any information you can provide will be useful for those of us who intend to participate in Thursday's WSU open house. Gentle Curmudgeon has already headed off the discussion and posted his own impressions in the comments section below. We encourage you to follow suit, and likewise provide your own further comments and observations.

Std-Ex: Public Comments Invited on Proposed Ogden City Streetcar Routes

UTA Public open houses calendered for March 24 and 26

We'll direct our readers' attention to an important story in this morning's Standard-Examiner, which will be of interest to those of you who are closely following developments with respect to Ogden's pending street car study project. This morning's story reports that the Utah Transit Authority will be seeking public input on three possible cross town routes, in which connection it will host the following public open houses:

• March 24, 2009 - 4 to 7 p.m. - Ogden Eccles Conference Center
• March 26, 2009 - 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. - WSU Student Union Building

As we've discussed before, each of the three proposed routes would connect Ogden's downtown Utah Intermodal Hub with WSU and Dee-Mckay Hospital, and each will feature east-west connectors between Washington and Harrision Boulevards. The first of these, which would use 26th street for its east-west leg, was also identified the the preferred alternative in the 2005 Baker Study, the only rigorous study which has ever been done (at considerable taxpayer expense) to examine possible transit corridors. The latter two, which would follow routes along 30th and 36th Street, are routes which Boss Godfrey apparently pulled (at no taxpayer expense) out of his ever-visionary... umm... hat.

Mark your calenders folks, and please plan to attend at least one of these events if you can.

Reader comments about the relative merits and disadvantages of each of these proposed routes are invited in our lower comments section, of course.