Another Humdinger of a Reportorial Expose From This Morning's Standard-Examiner

Godfrey: "Give me 200 grand for my ice tower, or else!"

Another humdinger of a reportorial expose' from Standard-Examiner Ace Reporter Schwebke this morning, with this front page story, reporting that Boss Godfrey is shaking down the city council for $200 thousand, to be applied to Godfrey's crackpot "Fortress of Mayoral Ego Project." We provide Mr. Schwebke's opening paragraphs below:

OGDEN — Mayor Matthew Godfrey will use $200,000 in Utah Transit Authority funds to analyze local mass transportation options only if the city council allocates an equal amount for a proposed ice climbing tower, according to a report from the council’s staff.
The voluminous report briefly mentions the funding swap as part of an overall proposal to allocate $2.9 million in fiscal 2007 carryover money and Business Depot Ogden lease revenues to finance a variety of projects.
“It appears that the mayor is willing to use the UTA federal funds for the transportation alternatives analysis but only if $200,000 is appropriated for the ice climbing tower,” says the report that will be discussed during a city council work session Tuesday night.
Godfrey said he hasn’t reviewed the report, but he downplayed its mention of trading UTA funds for ice tower money.
“I wouldn’t word it that strong,” he said.

Despite Godfrey's lame attempt to soft-pedal the situation, we believe the Std-Ex gets the essence of the story just right in the article subtitle, which blares: "Godfrey’s deal? Funds for UTA study if ice climbing tower gets money". Frankly, it actually looks a tad like extortion to us. It has that "do this or else" flavor to it, don't you think?

And get this. Godfrey contends, with a completely straight face, that the city council is 100% behind the Ice Tower Boondoggle:

The mayor also said the administration and city council have agreed that a mass transit study and yearround ice tower are vital to the city.
“We have wanted to study transit corridors,” he said. “We also feel strongly that the ice climbing tower is important to the vision of Ogden.”

It's evident thay your blogmeister isn't the only person whose B.S. Meter jumped completely off-scale upon hearing the details of Godfrey's latest proposed "horse-trade." This morning's story also offers these wonderful observations and comments from Council Chair Amy Wicks:

However, City Council Chairwoman Amy Wicks said the council hasn’t discussed whether to financially support the tower that would be built at the corner of 25th Street and Kiesel Avenue.
She also noted the ice tower didn’t receive Weber County RAMP tax funding earlier this year and questions whether there is enough demand for the structure.
“My concern is, do we spend public dollars on something that has limited interest?” Wicks asked. [...].
Wicks also finds it odd that Godfrey wants to use taxpayer supported UTA funds earmarked for local transportation studies as a bargaining chip to get money from the city council for the ice tower.
“It’s crazy for it (UTA funds) to be used as a negotiation tool,” she said. [Emphasis added.]

We think Amy was just being nice. Loony would be a more accurate description, in our ever-humble view.

And let's not forget that this whole brouhaha is occurring in a greater context. The $200 thousand that Godfrey will be demanding for the ice tower during Tuesday night's work session is only chump-change, compared to the $2.9 million in city funds languishing unspent (and presumably drawing interest) in some Ogden City treasury account. We haven't seen the list of other items on Godfrey's Tuesday night shopping list, but for a Big Spending government bureaucrat like Godfrey, the whole idea of having an unintended reserve fund sitting idly must be driving the poor little guy even more nuts than he already is.

For newcomers to Weber County Forum we also link this interesting article collection, which traces the source of the $200 thousand-plus in UTA funds mentioned in Mr. Schwebke's most excellent morning story.

Nice work, Mr. Schwebke, by the way. Please add another Weber County Forum Tip O' the Hat to your rapidly-filling hat rack.

And what say our gentle readers about all this?

Bernick: "What a Mess Utah Republican Party Has Made"

Plenty of criticism of Utah GOP leadership originates from within the Utah GOP rank and file

Scathing Bob Bernick piece in this morning's Deseret Morning News, under the headline "What a mess Utah Republican Party has made." We incorporate Mr. Bernick's opening paragraphs below:

Utah voters: Welcome to the political world of Stan Lockhart, Curt Bramble and, for those living in Happy Valley, the Utah County Republican Party.
When GOP Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., after briefly trying to find someone on his own to be the new chairman of the Utah Republican Party last year, decided to "wash his hands" of picking the new party leader, I'm told he was warned that letting GOP legislators pick the man (or woman) could prove troublesome.
But Huntsman decided to stay out of it.
And so Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem; Senate Majority Leader Curt Bramble, R-Provo; House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy; and other legislative luminaries decided on local lobbyist Stan Lockhart, whose wife is state Rep. Becky Lockhart, R-Provo. (State GOP delegates pick party leaders, but they usually follow the advice of their top elected officials.)
Known as part of the GOP Utah County clique, Stan Lockhart is well known to many legislators. For years as the Micron lobbyist, he had provided more Jazz tickets to lawmakers than any other lobbyist. A Deseret News calculation by investigative reporter Lee Davidson found that Stan Lockhart has given legislators nearly $60,000 in Jazz tickets over the years.
Stan Lockhart is best buddies with Bramble — their families go on trips together, including a jaunt to Italy last summer. (Bramble, in an as-yet-unpublished lobbyist-giving study by Davidson, leads all legislators in taking $1,447 in lobbyist gifts during the first quarter of this year, which includes the 2008 Legislature. Bramble says he paid his own way to Italy, taking no gifts from Lockhart or another well-known lobbyist who went on the trip.)
I'm told that a few other GOP supporters warned Lockhart that he would have to be his own man as party chairman, and that the "Bram-harts" — as the couples are collectively known — would not be running the Utah Republican Party like their own little fraternity.
But someone didn't get the memo. [...].

Read Mr. Bernick's full article here.

Now anyone who's familiar with Bob Bernick's writing already knows he's about the closest thing to a "lefty" as anyone who writes for the otherwise "righty" Deseret News. He takes potshots at Utah Republicans on the pages of the D-News with frequent regularity -- often based upon what we consider to be poor foundation. Notwithstanding this known propensity however, we don't believe Mr. Bernick is even slightly off-base in the criticisms contained in this morning's story. Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then. Your blogmeister has heard similar gripes as those raised this morning by Mr. Bernick from disaffected Utah Republicans from across the state.

Case in point? We'll incorporate a few remarks from from this morning's D-News comments section:

Mike Ridgway: Bob, Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
From all of us grassroots Utah Republicans who wish we could snap our fingers and make this nightmare go away.

Roobah: Wow, what a nice story to summarize everything in one fell swoop. Nice resource piece to say it all in a nutshell. Every Republican should read this article. Thank you.

Appalling: I literally feel sick after reading this. These leaders act as if this were some kind of game. It smacks of the same bullying and clique-building you see in junior high, only the consequences affect the rights and laws of Utah citizens. Of course you see the dilemma of simply voting them out is that this arrogant clique controls who you get to vote for and unless you are willing to vote democrat (heavan forbid) they win. Good luck Utah County.

Drew Chamberlain: These are serious concerns. I applaud Mr. Bernick for the investigation. Now it is our turn as Republican Delegates to CLEAN UP OUR PARTY! Attend the county convention May 3rd. Attend the State convention May 10th. Stand up and make your voice heard.

We could go on. Be sure to read the full Bernick article; and above all, don't forget to check out the D-News reader comments section.

Food for thought on a slow Emerald City news day. We hope newly-elected GOP state convention delegates from Weber County will pay special attention to the material in this morning's story. We have more than a few GOP state delegates within our WCF readership, of course.

Who will be the first to comment?

The Fortress of Mayoral Ego

Valuable insight about deep mayoral psychological problems, inadvertently gained whilst picking up a Salt Lake Marathon packet

By Monotreme

This afternoon, I went to pick up my packet of information for the Salt Lake City marathon. It's no match for our very own Ogden Marathon, but a Monotreme has to train wherever he can.

Amongst the packets of trail mix and toothpaste, a free magazine called "Sports Guide" had a blurb on the cover advertising "Resort Report: Ogden's Ice Tower". That seemed confusing, because I'm pretty sure the ice tower hasn't been constructed yet.

The article, entitled "Ice Climbing Ogden" is by Bill Novak, who is so enamored of all things Ogden that he works at Brighton. The lede is a work of art:

Modeled after Superman's Fortress of Solitude, the world's first year-round ice climbing wall is poised to spike the city of Ogden. [Emphasis mine: pun intended? -- Ed.] Developers have crafted a three-sided holographic ice tower to accommodate 12 different routes that extend 50 vertical feet. With pitches of 80 degrees to double overhanging craziness, the ice climbing park promises to cater to everyone, from school kids to totally hardcore mountain men [to self-absorbed mayors]. Oh yeah, the whole thing will be outside.

There's more...

With the city of Ogden on its way to becoming the adventure capital of the world, a year-round ice climbing feature is an ideal addition to their party list. [Said party list includes: a glow-in-the-dark miniature golf paradise; a pizza parlor; a huge overpriced ventilation shaft; and a possible flatland gondola to nowhere.] Teaming up with the nonprofit corporation, Ogden Climbing Parks, the city, which owns the facility, will hand the tower over to OCP to manage.

And then...

Ogden Climbing Parks plans to have the facility up and running within a year, but they still need additional funding. The total project is priced at $1.5 million, and the non-profit organization needs 60 percent of this figure.

In the artist's conception accompanying the article, there are huge Ogden City, OCP, RAMP and GOAL logos on the Fortress of Solitude.

May I be the first to propose that we change the name of the ice climbing tower to the Fortress of Mayoral Ego? I think we're getting some valuable insight into deep-rooted psychological issues here.

According to Wikipedia,

The Fortress contained an alien zoo, a giant steel diary in which Superman wrote his memoirs (using either his invulnerable finger or heat vision to engrave entries into its pages), a chess-playing robot, specialized exercise equipment, a laboratory where Superman worked on various projects such as developing defenses to Kryptonite, a computer, communications equipment, and rooms dedicated to all of his friends, including one for Clark Kent to fool visitors. As the stories continued, it was revealed that the Fortress was where Superman's robot duplicates were stored. It also contained the Phantom Zone projector, various pieces of alien technology he had acquired on visits to other worlds, and, much like the Batcave, trophies of his past adventures. Indeed, the Batcave and Batman himself made an appearance in the first Fortress story. The Fortress also became the home of the bottle city of Kandor (until it was enlarged), and an apartment in the Fortress was set aside for Supergirl.

No further comment is required. Click to enlarge the lower image:

FrontRunner: The Cure for Urban Blight?

Waiting to see whether FrontRunner will be the magic bullet we're all hoping it will be

By Curmudgeon

I know Ogden is banking heavily on the restorative impact on downtown of FrontRunner arriving in Ogden. So, by the way, is SLC, where we are likely to get a pretty good read, and fairly quickly, regarding how much transit oriented development FrontRunner will spark. A story went up late this afternoon on the Salt Lake Tribune website, discussing the heavy lifting FrontRunner is expected to do in the old "stockade" district of SLC, where its terminal is located.

From the story:

Broken beer bottles, boarded buildings and bums peeing in weed-wretched lots. This long-forsaken patch of Salt Lake City borders a once-raunchy red-light district known as the "Stockade." And that was its high point.
Welcome to curiously named "Salt Lake Central," a new TRAX station near 300 South and 600 West that will serve as the nexus for thousands of FrontRunner riders whose first view of the capital could be disconcerting. Despite the neighborhood's nadir, the trains arrive next week, ferrying their cargo of debit-card carrying commuters.
Developers argue the gritty strip is gold. They have pledged hotels, restaurants, night clubs, a Starbucks and even a Ferris wheel - designed after the famous entertainment hub in the heart of Copenhagen, Denmark, called Tivoli Gardens. One builder envisions a Barcelona-like Las Ramblas - complete with commerce that flowers as often as its plants - across the street from the transit hub where debris and disrepair dominate the shadow of Rio Grande Depot.
But those promises came four years ago and seem farther off than ever. Now, people who lease or live in the area - many still are skittish over a crack-cocaine outbreak - offer mixed messages on whether the grand gentrification is realistic. Still, city bosses expect a transit-fueled rebirth of the squalid site that last thrived as an ethnic enclave during the heyday of the railroad.
Call it the boulevard of bottled hope that a westward-bound city desperately wants to recycle.

The Ogden FrontRunner station is not mired in quite that kind of urban decay, happily, but it also does not have a trolley connection to the rest of the city... and probably won't so long as Mayor Godfrey clings to his unfortunate obsession with a flatland gondola terminal there instead. But we are going to get, very short, some very real-world evidence on the potential for transit oriented development in both downtown the Ogden and downtown Salt Lake FrontRunner station neighborhoods.

Predictions of great development and the resurrection of the downtowns [which I hope come true and then some in both places] aren't going to matter much any more very shortly. In a couple of years we'll know... not think, but know... if FrontRunner is the magic bullet were all hoping it will be.

Wal-Mart Update: Slight Progress in the Property Acquistion Arena

Developer Leshem throws another $125 thousand in chump change toward the $ Multi-million Wal-Mart project

This morning's Standard-Examiner provides a hint of good news regarding Emerald City's stalled downtown Wal-Mart Supercenter project. Ace Reporter Schwebke's morning story reports that "developer" Gadi Leshem last week actually coughed up the $125,000 in earnest money provided in the sale contract with Ogden property owner Mark Boyce "about a month ago." While the payment of a contractually-required "down payment" is something that normally occurs simultaneously with the execution of a property purchase agreement in a normal transaction, we already know that Gadi Leshem isn't exactly what anyone would label a "normal developer." Looking at the bright side though, (we always like to look at the bright side), it appears that at least Mr. Boyce didn't require the services of Gadi crony Boss Godfrey to pry this latest earnest money payment loose, unlike the situation with Boyce's neighbor, Brent Cox.

Ace Reporter Schwebke also provides a handy scorecard this morning, regarding the four properties which yet remain "unacquired" by Mr. Leshem:

1) Boyce has received his earnest money, as we said. His transaction is expected to close in October;

2) Gadi is apparently in breach of contract as to the Cox transaction, although he is making noise about a "soils" problem, a possible failure of a contingency which might provide Mr. Leshem a contractual "out." Cox has nevertheless put his property back on the market, although the ever-optimistic Dave Harmer suggests another heretofore unnamed developer/accommodator/white knight is standing somewhere in the wings;

3) The Praxair property remains unacquired. Schwebke provides no information about the possible status of the transaction; and,

4) Although the Northern Exposure Gentleman's Club is now shut down (sniff), Mr. Leshem still doesn't show up in title as the record owner. Once again we have no hint about the status of this property acquisition.

This morning's news does provide some slight encouragement that the project is making progress, although we also submit that Mr. Leshem's recent behavior could possibly reflect the fact that Mr. Leshem isn't quite so flush with cash as his proponents have suggested in the past, shall we say. The so-far demonstrated perfomance to date on the part of Mr. Leshem somehow doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the Moneyman who plans to singlehandedly finance the makeover of half of downtown Ogden as far as we're concerned -- if you take our meaning -- which we think you do.

Comments are invited as always.

A Gentle Reminder: Phun with Physics This Evening @ WSU

A gentle Weber County Forum reminder for the calender-impaired

We don't like to dun our gentle readers; but this morning we're issuing a reminder of this evening's WSU special event. WSU's Physics_Open_House 2008 is scheduled for this evening from 5:30-8:30 p.m. It's the kind of event that the science-oriented among us won't want to miss; so we're bringing up the subject again, just in case a few of our gentle readers forgot to enter it on their calenders.

We did an earlier writeup on the subject a couple of weeks back; and the Standard-Examiner also published a nice promotional piece in Sunday's edition, under the headline "Phun with Physics".

This looks to be a truly phun event for kids and grownups alike. What's more, the price is right for inflation-stressed families-- admission is free.

We hope to see you all there.

Garcia Withdraws His Legislative District Nine Bid

Federal Office of Special Counsel Remains Mum in Greiner Matter

By Curmudgeon

The Standard-Examiner is reporting this morning -- full story here -- that Councilman Jesse Garcia has withdrawn his bid for a Democratic party nomination for the state legislature, out of concern that continuing might cost him his job with Weber County. He will remain on the Council because his Council seat was won in a non-partisan election, and so does not come under the provisions of the Hatch Act... a fact the Justice Department seemed unaware of when it first contacted Mr. Garcia's employer. The Justice Department investigator told Garcia's employer that his holding a Council seat violated the Hatch Act. It does not. Local public employees such as Garcia who stand for office in non-partisan races [Ogden city elections are all non-partisan] are not covered by the Hatch Act. But then, this is still the Bush Administration Justice Department, and competence has not been one of its hallmarks.

Still no word on whether, when or how the Justice Department intends to resolve the same Hatch Act complaint against Ogden Police Chief and State Senator Greiner, initially made during his campaign for the Utah Senate. But then, we have to remember that complaint about Sen. Greiner, a Republican, violating the Hatch Act by running in a partisan election for state office was made during the tenure of the now disgraced Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, whose corrupt and partisan operation of the Justice Department not even Republicans bother much to deny anymore.

Still, with a new attorney general coming on board, we were told the Gonzales mess was over, and integrity had returned. And yet, here in northern Utah and in Ogden we still wait for some resolution of the complaint against Sen. Greiner, who still is Ogden police chief, and who still holds his seat in the Senate. And we wait... and wait... and wait.

City Council Applies Another $750 Thousand to the Junction Money Pit

Where are the hard and fast figures for the Salomon Center's nearly one-year performance?

By Curmudgeon

Yet another interesting Scott Schwebke story in this morning's Standard-Examiner. The story reports that the City Council just approved $750,000 in cost over-run payments for construction at The Junction. From this morning's story:

Three separate items each totaling about $250,000 have pushed The Junction over budget, he said.
Those items include the removal of buried fuel storage tanks and concrete from the site, construction change orders for work on a parking garage and higher than-expected expenses associated with installation of the iFly skydiving simulator in the Salomon Center.
When original cost estimates were developed for the high-adventure Salomon Center, the city did not have detailed specifications for the portion of the building that houses iFly, Harmer said.
The overruns are expected to exceed funding by less than 2 percent, which is reasonable for a project the size of The Junction, he said.

Two points: first, it's interesting to know that the Mayor and Council did not have a good handle on the cost of installing the Salomon Center's wind tunnel ride when they approved it. Since such rides were already in operation in other places, the ride hardly involved new [and unpriced] technology, so I'm a little hard put to understand why good numbers on installation costs were, somehow, not available to the Mayor and RDA Board. I know, all good construction budgets include an allowance for overages created by changes, price fluctuations and so on, an the overages at The Junction seem not out of line with what is usual for such projects. But the mis-guess on the wind tunnel ride part of it still puzzles me some.

Second: the rationale for the city putting the taxpayers' money at risk underwriting The Junction construction bonds was that the various businesses going in there would bring new business to the city, create a "high adventure" recreation venue downtown to draw the multitudes to Junction City, and so forth. In light of which, it would be interesting to know how the wind tunnel ride is doing. Making a bundle and bringing in folks from all over the Wasatch Front? Barely making it's operating costs and serving mostly locals? Losing its shirt and not drawing flies? I know, I know, it's a private operation, but given the fact that the city backed the construction bonds for it, seems to me the public has not only an interest, but a right to know if its expectations are being fulfilled. Ditto for the surf ride.

I presume that, if the wind tunnel was going gangbusters, the owners and the Administration would not be shouting that from the rooftops. So the suspicion is that all is not going as well as was hoped. It would be nice to see some hard and fast numbers on this.

Somebody Drops the Hatch Act Dime on Ogden City Councilman Garcia

Incumbent City Councilman and State House Representative candidate charges "dirty politics"

Fascinating article in this morning's Standard-Examiner, reporting that "somebody" has dropped the "Hatch Act" dime on democratic House Legislative District 9 candidate and current Emerald City Councilman Jesse Garcia. It's deja vu all over again in Emerald City. The situation is reminiscent of the 2006 general election campaign, when Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner nearly dropped out of the State Senate District 18 race, under similar Hatch Act violation accusations. Of course we all remember what happened in the case of Greiner. He ultimately lawyered-up and fired right back at the meddling attorneys from the US Office of Special Counsel, employing the same successful legal strategy previously perfected by Assemblyman Richard Perkins of Nevada. As a result, and as reported in this morning's Ace Reporter Schwebke story, Greiner just now completed his second State Senate session, and hasn't heard word one from federal attorneys in almost two years.

According to this morning's article however, Garcia's problem is more complicated than that of Greiner. Garcia is not only running for a State House of Representatives seat, but has already served as an elected Ogden City Councilman for fifteen years. Moreover, his main employment is with Weber County Human Services, a recipient of federal grants, from which Garcia's salary is probably at least partly derived, thus arguably bringing him within Hatch Act jurisdiction.

From the tone of today's article, it appears that Garcia is prepared to cut and run. Although he's talking about consulting with legal counsel, he's also making noise about abandoning his State House race -- and resigning his City Council seat. That he would consider such a course of action is understandable. It goes without saying that he lacks the considerable financial resources of a Jon Greiner, who was evidently able to successfully stand toe-to-toe with federal lawyers in 2006.

As an aside, Ace Reporter Schwebke begins the pursuit of what we believe to be an interesting story angle this morning -- and he gets off to a fair start with the query: Who, exactly, dropped the dime on Councilman Garcia? Good question, we believe.

In a somewhat perfunctory manner, we think, Mr. Schwebke reports on the responses of all candidates in the Legislative 9 race. Neil Hansen denies any involvement. He says he prefers to play within the system. GOP challenger Jeremy Peterson also issues his own denial. Frankly we believe both of them. Hansen is the hands-down favorite to win the 2008 Democratic Party nomination. His re-nomination will likely be a Weber County Democratic Convention cake-walk. Why would he bring such unnecessary complications into his race? As for GOP challenger Peterson, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that he'd prefer to face Garcia in November, rather than Hansen, a five term incumbent, who's basically owned Ogden's House District 9 for the past ten years.

Following up on Mr. Schwebke's question, ask yourselves, gentle readers... who stands to gain the most if Councilman Garcia is forced to resign his city council seat? Somebody with an office on the ninth floor of the municipal building? Some "visionary" who'd like nothing more than to break the opposition lag-jam in the city council/RDA? Somebody who'd like to take a crack at the appointment of a new city councilman who, unlike Garcia, hasn't been a burr under the administration saddle since he took the mayoral oath of office in 2000? Somebody with a seemingly pathological obsession for GONDOLAS, perhaps, hmmm? So many questrions... so few answers.

Jesse Garcia attributes this latest development to "dirty politics;" and we think he's absolutely right. The trouble is, we believe he's obviously pointing his finger at the wrong suspects.

We sit perched on the edge of our seat awaiting our gentle readers' comments re this.

The floor is now open for further discussion of what we deem to be a VERY meaty topic.

Golf Course Update: Adopt the Principle of "First Things First"

One Ogden citizen suggests Boss Godfrey emulate a locally successful business model

Since March of this year, the Big Spending Boss Godfrey has asked for citizen suggestions on how to improve the revenue picture for the Mt. Ogden Golf Course. Godfrey characterizes the situation as dire. He proposes drastic solutions, his obvious favorite being a golf course redesign, which could cost the taxpayers upwards of $10 million.

In the intervening period, numerous citizen ideas have flowed in, all of which would inflict far less pain to the public purse than the option which Godfrey prefers. For review, several of these can be found within our WCF Golf Course Article Collection. The latest helpful citizen suggestion is provided in this morning's Standard-Examiner, within a fine guest commentary by Ogden resident Frank McFarland.

Mr. McFarland reports that he met recently with Todd Brinkman, managing pro of the El Monte and Mount Ogden golf courses, Jeff McFarland, greens manager of Mount Ogden, and Jon Fister, golf pro at Mount Ogden. Together they arrived at some "inexpensive modifications to the course were presented in order to make the course more playable for the 'average' high handicapper."

McFarland has neatly packaged his resulting suggestions within a few short contiguous sentences, which we incorporate below:

Our suggestion is: Fund now whatever money is requested by Brinkman, McFarland and Fister, and do the work now to minimize the impact on the course. The longer the delay, the less likely it will ever happen since the debt load will continue to rise.
This course is a rare jewel and should be treated as a possible summer attraction for Ogden, as Snowbasin resort is a major winter attraction. Our further suggestion is to live with the clubhouse and the irrigation system as they are now, until the course can be made to pay its own way — then think about replacement. Do first things first.

As the article subtitle suggests, "Maybe Mt. Ogden could learn from Schneiter's Riverside course in Riverdale." Boss Godfrey often gives lip service to the concept of running Ogden City like a business. Perhaps he should therefore emulate Riverside's business model, and manage the purported revenue problem according to the example of one local golf course which has found success by handling problems on a "first things first" basis, fixing things up within realistic budgetary constraints, rather than throwing massive amounts of cash at perceived problems. As McFarland points out:

Schneiter’s Riverside course in Riverdale has been there for maybe 25 years, and is just now building a new (remodeled) clubhouse. The irrigation system is in a continual state of repair, yet the course continues to operate full bore! Take a lesson in how a minimal facility operates in a profitable manner.

Godfrey has some considerable golf course expertise right there on his staff, in Brinkman, McFarland and Fister. Would it be asking too much for Godfrey to listen to them?

And what say our readers about all this?

A Heads-Up for the Emerald City Lumpencitizens

Boss Godfrey ramrods a Central Business District community plan amendment, with the help of his secret steering committee

This morning's Standard-Examiner provides a timely heads-up for the Emerald City lumpencitizens this morning, about something which we expect to be Boss Godfrey's next "big push," in his ongoing obsession to inflict upon our city his "visionary" Big Government-Propelled Makeover. We incorporate Ace Reporter Schwebke's essential paragraphs below, on the subject of the now-proposed revision to Ogden City's Central Business District Community Plan:

OGDEN — City officials are seeking public input on a long-range plan to shape land use, transportation, economic development and housing within the downtown business district.
The aim of the plan being formulated by a 14-member citizen steering committee is to address growth issues within the business district’s boundaries, which extend from Adams Avenue to west of Wall Avenue and from 27th Street to the Ogden River.
“It charts out the future of Ogden’s downtown,” said John Mayer, a city planner. “It fosters orderly development.”
Community plans such as the one proposed for the business district have a narrower focus than Ogden’s general plan.
In addition, community plans balance the interests of the city and neighborhoods in addressing such issues as transportation, infrastructure, housing and public safety.
Ogden has 17 community plans. The most recent for the downtown business district was implemented in 1991.
The city planning commission will hold a series of work sessions before conducting a public hearing on the business district plan in June or July. The city council would have to amend the municipality’s overall general plan to implement the business district plan.
The steering committee’s recommendations may change before the plan is presented to the city council, Mayer said. [...]
Downtown property owners who have additional recommendations for the business district plan can contact Mayer at johnmayer@ci.ogden.ut.us [Corrected email link added].

As a matter of first impression, the now-announced Central Business District community plan amendment process would appear to at least superficially resemble the Mt. Ogden Community Plan amendment process which was finalized last year -- with one big difference. Unlike last year, when democratic forces rolled up their sleeves and went to work to achieve a community plan amendment which conformed to the wishes of the citizens who actually reside in the Mt. Ogden Community, Boss Godfrey seems to be acting proactively this time around, to prevent the general popultion of lumpencitizens from overtly meddling in the process.

We also interpret the mayor's appointment of a fourteen member steering committee to be further evidence of this. As reported in Mr. Schwebke's morning story, this mysterious committee has already been hard at work in some back room at city hall, formulating its own "recommendations." And yes, gentle readers. One of the committee's recommendations apparently involves GONDOLAS.

We've linked Mr. Mayer's email addy in the above-quoted paragraph. Boss Godfrey is calling for citizen input. He's even scheduled a few work sessions so the lumpencitizens can at least formally throw in their two cents, prior to the implementation of the recommendations which his (presumably hand selected) steering committee has already formulated.

Is it time for the lumpencitizens to roll up their sleeves once again? Should the forces of citizen democracy again intrude into the process?

This will be on the test.

Comments, anyone?

Wal-Mart Update: More Plot Twists Than a Dime Novel

Ace Reporter Schwebke blows the lid off another bogus Boss Godfrey "cover story"

We dang near fell out of our chair during the wee hours this morning, upon reading Ace Reporter Schwebke's front page headline Standard-Examiner story, "Wal-Mart land still in flux." The major story line is also concisely set forth in the article subtitle,"Purchases haven't been completed, so Ogden supercenter not a done deal," although we do hope our gentle readers will read on. We'll start off this morning's discussion by incorporating a few of the key story paragraphs:

OGDEN — Problems with the sale of one parcel of land could jeopardize plans for a Wal-Mart Supercenter in downtown Ogden.
Brent Cox, owner of Grating Systems Inc. at 192 W. 20th St., said California developer Gadi Leshem had an agreement to buy the 4-acre parcel where his business sits for $1.1 million by Feb. 13. However, Leshem failed to meet the deadline, so the land is again up for sale, Cox said. “I’ll pretty much sell it to anyone who is an honest person who is willing to pay me a fair price,” said Cox, who keeps a wine glass and an unopened bottle of champagne in his office that he planned to use to celebrate Leshem’s purchase of his property. If Cox can’t sell his land, the entire Wal-Mart project will be in jeopardy, said Dave Harmer, the city’s community and economic development director. “We are trying to see what we can work out (to sell the property)” he said. “If we can’t, then it (the Wal-Mart project) won’t happen.”

In truth, it's apparently not merely one parcel of land dangling loose for the Supercenter project. According to this morning's story, there remain at least three other parcels which remain "unassembled" by Leshem. Ace Reporter Schwebke provides even more red-meat information about this:

According to records on file with the Weber County Assessor’s Office, Leshem also has not yet acquired several other business properties needed for the Wal-Mart project, including Boyce Equipment, 226 W. 20th St.; Praxair, 1903 Wall Ave.; and Northern Exposure, 1847 Wall Ave. Mark Boyce, owner of Boyce Equipment, said Leshem’s option to purchase his property expires Friday. “I have to be optimistic about it,” said Boyce, who is hopeful Leshem will follow through on the purchase. Boyce Equipment is currently building a 16,000-square-foot facility on American Way in Ogden that will open in September. Eddie Davis, division general manager for Praxair, said the company is in negotiations with Leshem but hasn’t entered into a contract to sell him its property. “We are exploring all the possibilities of what works for him and what works for us,” he said. Representatives for Northern Exposure could not be reached for comment about whether Leshem has a contract to buy that property.

Interestingly, would-be developer Leshem's spokesman attributes at least part of the delay to an incomplete environmental impact report for the Cox property, whereas jilted seller Cox says Leshem completed his environmental assessment of the property last year. "Soil problems," of course, have been Boss Godfrey's "cover story," -- at least up until now.

As per normal with all Boss Godfrey grand projects and schemes, this one has more plot twists than a dime novel, and is already laden with plenty of accusations and typical Godfrey administration counter-denial and spin. The reported facts are simply too strange and elaborate to be summarized and digested on the Weber County Forum front page. You'll thus have to read the whole Std-Ex story to get the full impact.

Weber County Forum Tips O' the Hat all around this morning: First to Ace Reporter Schwebke for digging in, getting all the facts and producing this morning's fine reportorial gem. Secondly we thank the Standard-Examiner, for placing this story on the front page (where it belongs.) Last but not least, special thanks to gentle reader Fly on the Wall, who first broke the essence of this story as a tip in an earlier WCF article comments section.

Who will be the first to comment?

Biggest Bankrupty in the Municipal Market's History?

This is how it ends for the little county that was going to teach America how to use interest-rate swaps

By Tec Jonson

Some juicy reading for a Sunday. Any parallels on our local financing? From Bloomberg.com:

April 11 (Bloomberg) -- They're talking more about Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy in Jefferson County, Alabama, the home of the largest city in the state, Birmingham.

Who can blame them?

The county is now being whipsawed by an ill-thought-out debt policy and the collapse of the bond insurers. Credit-rating downgrades all around have triggered a series of events that are no longer in the county's control, leaving it at the mercy of securities firms that have little room for maneuver themselves.

This has produced a steady series of stories in my new favorite newspaper, the Birmingham News, all about how the county is preparing to declare bankruptcy any day.

Perhaps the best article ran on Sunday, April 6. It began: "Jefferson County officials have laid the groundwork for the largest municipal bankruptcy in the nation's history while publicly saying they have no imminent plans for a filing.''

The one that ran on Wednesday, April 9, was no less compelling: "Talks on the sewer system's debt crisis aren't making progress, increasing the odds that the county will file municipal bankruptcy, Jefferson County Commission President Bettye Fine Collins said Tuesday.''

This is how it ends for the little county that was going to teach America how to use interest-rate swaps.

Read the full article here.

Comments, anyone?

Ritzy Developer Bankrupt

And another one bites the dust....

By Curmudgeon

The Salt Lake Tribune reports this morning that another high-end real estate development on steeply sloped land has bitten the dust, the Sun Crest Development in Draper.. Headline: "Ritzy Developer Bankrupt."

From the story:

The housing-market slump was one issue, but the development also was being built on steep slopes peppered with ancient landslides. That, plus it had been sued more than a dozen times. Many of the suits sought claims for allegedly unpaid bills, and one alleged city-developer collusion that damaged neighboring property. Some of those claims will disappear, but suits relating to the land - such as a suit that sought to prevent expansion of a detention pond - likely will remain.

Last week, we had the high end resort in Park City going under. And of course, the [prospective] developer of Ogden's Gondola Station Towers Downtown Hotel and Parking Plaza withdrew when it became known the company could not pay its subcontractors on a similar project in Orem, was it?

Was Ogden lucky in that Mayor Godfrey's two year relentless campaign to sell Mt. Ogden Golf Course to his developer associate Chris Peterson for development as a high end gated community of vacation villas on mountainside lots... lots the Mayor announced were in the end too steep to build on anyway when he backed away from the project to save his re-election bid? Seems like a real chance that if Ogden citizens [often denounced by the Administration and its tub-thumping lackeys in Lift Ogden and the Ogden-Weber Chamber of Commerce as "naysayers"] had not organized against the scheme... and thank you Smart Growth Ogden and others who helped organize that opposition... and if the Mayor and his associates had thus succeeded in their scheme, Ogden might now be looking at a bankrupt half-built development on what had been the city's largest park. [Full disclosure: I was and am a strong and active supporter of Smart Growth Ogden and its thoughtful, evidence-based approach to city growth, development and improvement.]

Comments, anyone?

Call the Plastic Surgeon: There's going to be a "Face Off" at Tomorrow's Weber County GOP Convention

Today's Tribune article focuses on the Legislative District 7 race

Informative Cathy McKitrick piece in the morning's Salt Lake Tribune, regarding the House District 7 state representative race, within tomorrow's Weber County GOP nominating convention. Four-term incumbent state representative Glenn Donnelson faces an intra-party convention challenge from Ryan Wilcox, a GOP political newcomer. We incorporate the article's opening paragraphs below:

Rep. Glenn Donnelson, R-North Ogden, is passionate about cracking down on illegal immigration, so much so that some consider him a one-issue legislator.
"There are a lot of issues that need to be addressed in our district" - education and property taxes among them, says challenger Ryan Wilcox. "Rep. Donnelson has focused on immigration - that's a concern."
Wilcox, 30, hopes to unseat the four-term incumbent this Saturday at Weber County's Republican Convention.
Any candidate garnering over 60 percent of the delegate vote at the convention emerges as the party's nominee. If no one reaches the 60 percent mark, they face off in a June 24 primary.
"In principle, I agree with his stance on immigration," Wilcox says. "There are all sorts of consequences throughout our society because of the problem."
However, Wilcox believes that state immigration reform should strike a balance between law enforcement, moral principles and economic vitality.
"We need to be reasonable about solving the problem," Wilcox says.
Donnelson points to legislation he sponsored during the recent session as proof that he carried water on several issues, as only six of his 15 bills dealt with immigration.
Facing an intra-party challenge is nothing new - he's faced one in every convention, Donnelson adds. However, this year's could present more of a fight . [...].

Read the full article here.

Although the article distinguishes the two candidates mainly on the basis of their philosophies re immigration reform, we think the differences in the candidates are far more palpable than that. On Tuesday we mentioned the battle currently brewing between incumbent right-wing Republicans, and the political moderates of the Utah GOP. We believe tomorrow's GOP convention challenge is all about that -- with a little voucher blow-back possibly thrown in for good measure.

This intra-party contest is one that we'll carefully watch. If the challenger Wilcox manages to knock off a heretofore popular Legislative District 7 state representative like Donnelson in convention, we believe it could likely signal an across-the-board shift toward GOP moderation for the state legislative races in November.

And what say our gentle readers about all this?

Civil Libertarians Warn of 'Patriot Act Lite'

The US Congress seems to be "brain-dead," as per normal (both parties)

More crap from our Sack of Shite federal legislators. Propelled by the fearmongers in the Bush administration, federal legislators are considering peeling back even more more of the "natural law" liberties protected by the US Constitution:

11/28/07 "IPS" -- -- NEW YORK, 27 Nov (IPS) - Civil libertarians are worried that a little-known anti-terrorism bill now making its way through the U.S. Congress with virtually no debate could be planting the seeds of another USA Patriot Act, which was hurriedly enacted into law after the al Qaeda attacks of Sep. 11, 2001.
The Violent Radicalisation and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act, co-authored by the former chair of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, Jane Harmon, a California Democrat, passed the House by an overwhelming 400-6 vote last month, and will soon be considered by the Senate.
The bill's co-author is Republican Congressman David Reichert of Washington State. The Senate version is being drafted by Susan Collins of Maine, the ranking Republican on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which is chaired by the hawkish Connecticut independent, Sen. Joe Lieberman. Harmon is chair of the House Homeland Security Intelligence Subcommittee.
Civil liberties groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), say the measure could herald a new government crackdown on dissident activity and infiltration of universities under the guise of fighting terrorism.
The CCR's Kamau Franklin, a Racial Justice Fellow, told IPS, 'This measure looks benign enough, but we should be concerned about where it will lead. It may well result in recommendations for new laws that criminalise radical thought and peaceful dissent, posing as academic study.'
Franklin added, 'Crimes such as conspiracy or incitement to violence are already covered by both state and federal statute. There is no need for additional criminal laws.'

We can't in this context, fail to refer to one of the most influential founders of this (perhaps formerly) great nation -- namely "Benjamin Franklin." Here's what he said about nations who react to threats like frightened rabbits:

"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -Ben Franklin

Food for thought.

Comments?

Ogden City: Cronytown USA

A few questions about the Windsor Hotel renovation project

By Wendy

After reading today's Standard Examiner article about the Windsor Hotel renovation, I'm a bit miffed. From the article:

The city council has granted $288,000 to Ogden Properties to help fund the renovations, with $100,000 coming from the city’s sale of foreclosed HUD homes.
In addition, $111,500 will be derived from tax increments generated by the 25th Street redevelopment project area, while $76,500 has been earmarked from the city’s Business Information Center reserve account.

I agree that the preservation of 25th Street buildings is extremely important, but why is the City forking over so much dough to this one enterprise? What about all of the other business and building owners along 25th Street who can use free money to improve their businesses and buildings? It seems completely unfair to me. If I had a building or business on 25th Street I would be irate! Has anybody from the City explained why this one entity is receiving such a large subsidy and others have not? If the City is granting this much money maybe they should take ownership and do it themselves. I dunno. Does anybody know how much money the private investors are putting towards the project?

Beware of Boosters

Troubled Telluride hotel development serves as a reminder that there is no such thing as a "can't lose" proposition

By Curmudgeon

This from today's New York Times. A major Telluride ski resort development is in trouble... yet again. [Wasn't Telluride offered up as an example of how gondolas are a can't lose proposition for building ski resort business?].

Now, that noted, I'm not saying that because this monster development at Telluride has failed repeatedly that the proposed Malan's basin mini-resort must fail as well. The point I want to make is that there are, in such matters, no sure things. There are no "can't lose" propositions. And what Ogden city ought to be doing, when it's asked to participate in something the golf course/gondola/Malan's Basin project, to devote public assets to supporting such, is to take a long, hard look at the evidence, and to decide if city involvement is or would be a prudent risk for the city government to take with public property and resources. And there is always risk. And when three separate projects -- golf course real estate development, gondola/gondola systems, Malan's ski resort --- must succeed for it all to work out, the risks are multiplied significantly.

What I guess it all boils down to is: "Beware of boosters." When a Mayor and his pet Chamber of Commerce and crony developers are screaming "this can't lose!" and "Ogden will be the new Aspen if you just give us what we want" and that those who refuse to meekly roll over are "against progress" or "idiots" --- recall Lift Ogden's Mr. Ed Allen saying at Mr. Peterson's first gondola/resort "panel show" at WSU when Allen realized people were asking questions and looking skeptical about the practicality of the plans, "they're all idiots up here" --- well, when all that starts to gear up and the bandwagon begins to roll and the Chamber's tub-thumpers begin thumping tubs, the smart thing to do is get a tight hold on the city's wallet, and start asking hard questions, and demanding that assertions be backed with fact, illustration and example [aka evidence] so that a reasonable judgment about the risk involved can be made, and the city can then make a reasoned judgment about whether committing city resources would be a prudent thing to do. I suspect the original investors in the Telluride white elephant, and subsequent ones, were all promised "this can't lose." But it did. Even with a gondola....

Fox Guarding the Henhouse Redux

Man who helped develop the mortgage backed security mess has been put in charge of same

How sweet it is! Next time you visit the henhouse and notice that their are chicken feathers scattered all over the grounds, and most of the chickens are missing, don't even believe you're lying eyes when you see the fox, lying on his back, with a swollen stomach, while he's gnawing on a chicken bone, don't even believe for one moment that the fox had anything to do with the theft of your chickens.

Greg Bacon's Blog
Man who helped develop the mortgage backed
security mess has been put in charge of same
April 8, 2008

Good stuff from Greg Bacon's Blog:

It's official, the brain trust responsible for creating the toxic mess known as mortgage-backed securities has now been put in charge of the recent implosion at Bear Stearns.
Larry Fink, as shown here,was instrumental in developing this ticking time bomb and now that it's exploding in our hands, its time to let the original bunch of financial sharpies who helped push this country off the cliff to be put back in charge.
Of course, their will be the usual "investigations' on Capital Hill, by the none too curious Henry Waxman. Waxman was last seen grilling baseball pitcher Roger Clemens. Afterwards, several of the committee members asked Roger for his autograph.
Yes, no one's going to put anything past Mr. Waxman and his posse of well trained hound dogs.
How sweet it is! Imagine if you had robbed a bank and when the cops got a little too close to your trail, up pops the District Attorney who puts you--the head mobster--in charge of the investigation into the robbery.

Read the full article here.

Comments?

Rolly: Utah GOP Battles for its Political Soul

Will the 2008 election signal a shift toward political moderation in Utah?

Interesting article this morning from the Salt Lake Tribune's Paul Rolly. We incorporate the pertinent paragraphs below:

The Utah Republican Party seems to be in a battle for its political soul.
Fifteen Republican incumbents in the state House of Representatives are facing stiff challenges from within their own party. Of the nine Republican incumbents who are up for re-election in the State Senate, five are being challenged by fellow Republicans.
For the first time in memory, all 75 House seats are contested, while in the Senate, only President John Valentine, R-Provo, escaped with no challenger at all.
The obvious impetus behind the assault on the Republican establishment - from within and outside the GOP - is the voucher fight of 2007, when GOP legislative leaders crammed tuition tax credits for private schools down the throats of a reluctant public, then vigorously fought the successful populist movement to repeal that legislation.
But it goes deeper than that. The voucher debacle was a symptom of a greater problem: a Legislature in the grip of an ultraconservative clique that is intolerant of moderate points of view, especially within its own party, and excludes anyone who doesn't play along.
Another troubling symptom of GOP unrest on Capitol Hill is the absolute resistance from most of the Republican leadership to any ethics reform that would attempt to reign in the current culture of favoritism and cronyism between legislators and their gift-bearing lobbyist buddies.
What is intriguing about this counter-establishment uprising is that it's coming from other Republicans, not just the marginalized Democrats. [...]
One telling feature of this year's political climate is that while many Republicans have GOP opponents, the most outspoken anti-voucher Republicans - Reps. Sheryl Allen, Kory Holdaway, Steve Mascaro, Mel Brown and Kay McIff - have no Republican opponent. That is a shift from past years when moderate Republicans were the ones being targeted in GOP conventions by the armies of the right.

Does the foregoing signal a genuine shift of the Utah Republican Party from the far right wing toward the center? Will current GOP leadership pay the ultimate political price for the voucher debacle, and for their stubborn resistance to all forms of ethics reform? Will Utah Democrats finally emerge from their stupor, and extract their long overdue pound of flesh?

The cyber-world awaits the comments of our gentle readers.

Why the US Economy is in Serious Trouble

The Short Explanation: The US dollar is dropping like a rock

Feeling a little pinched when you gas up the old Suburban lately? Does a trip to the grocery store suddenly deprive you of your appetite? Your whole family needs to go on a diet anyway, right? We found this great video tutorial over the weekend whilst googling, which explains what's happening to the rapidly decling purchasing power of your personal pocketbook.

Don't be like the Standard-Examiner editors, and blame across-the-board "price increases" (it's not just oil prices that are going up) on greedy commodity producers. The chief problem is the falling (fiat) dollar, which is being intentionally "devalued" by the privately-operated U.S. monetary authority -- The Federal Reserve Bank -- as it dumps trainloads of cheap printing press dollars on the sagging world economy. The video:




As an added bonus, we link this fine Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis blog post, which deals in detail with the history of debased currency and fiat money.

We already know some of our readers' eyes glaze over, every time we discuss the subject of economics. In that context we ask: Shouldn't you all learn a little more about economics, while your purchasing power is being flagrantly ripped off by the banking establishment and our compliant government?

Just because it's a slow Emerald City news day, it doesn't mean we can't all learn something new.

Right?

Comments, anyone?

Survey: "19% Say USA on Right Track." Who ARE These People?

Query: Who are these Pollyanna People?

Interesting weekend comments from John Tepper Martin of the Huffington Post:

The lead NY Times story yesterday is headlined: "81 Percent in Poll Say Nation Is Headed on Wrong Track" and the first paragraph tells us this is the highest number since 1992 poll (this Times/CBS News poll was first conducted in 1991) and way up from the 35 percent figure in 2002.

Hmmm...
1. The last time four-fifths of the nation was so negative about the future of the United States was in the last year of the presidency of Bush 41.
2. The percentage of people generally happy with the direction of the country has been steadily declining during the presidency of Bush 43.

The surprising thing to me is not that 81 percent are depressed and say that "things in the country have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track" but that 19 percent are not. It means that out of 233 million noninstitutionalized American adults, 44 million believe the country is "generally going in the right direction."

Think about it - 44 million noninstitutionalized adult Americans with continuing faith that our ship of state is sailing on the right course.

A puzzler is that 28 percent of those surveyed think Dubya is doing a great job, i.e., 65 million Americans. So 21 million Americans (65 million minus 44 million) think the United States is on the wrong track but Dubya does a great job. The ship is heading in the wrong direction, but the captain is a heckuva helmsman. [...].

And now for the fun part (the query.)

Exactly who are these people who comprise "the satisfied 19%?" WHO THE HELL ARE THESE POLLYANNA PEOPLE?

Exxon and Halliburton shareholders? Fans of TeeVee "Reality Shows?" Paris Hilton groupies? Soccer moms on Prozac?

We await our gentle readers' ever-thoughtful suggestions.

Don't let the cat get your tongues.

Skybus Ends Service, Third Airline to Fold This Week

$100 million in investments and government incentives stand in jeopardy

Per Bloomberg.com:

By Nancy Kercheval

April 5 (Bloomberg) -- Skybus Airlines Inc., a U.S. low- fare carrier that started operations less than a year ago, stopped service today, the third airline to shut down this week as fuel costs soared and the economy slowed.

The closely held, Columbus, Ohio-based airline began offering service May 22 with some tickets as low as $10 for a four-hour flight. It will seek bankruptcy protection next week.

Aloha Airgroup Inc., a closely held Hawaiian airline that filed for bankruptcy protection, ended service April 1 when it couldn't find a buyer or financing to stay in business. ATA Airlines Inc., a Midwest carrier based in Indianapolis, shut down the following day when it sought bankruptcy protection, blaming its demise on high fuel prices and the loss of a contract for military charter flights.

"Nobody has a long-term viable business plan that can be sustained at these jet-fuel prices," said Darryl Jenkins, an airline consultant. "This is a killer category. We're probably going to see some more casualties out there."

About 90 percent of airline routes probably aren't profitable, Jenkins said. ``What do you do in a situation like that?'' [...].

Read the full article here.

Skybus's collapse leaves financial stake-holders, (including Wall Street investment banking house Morgan Stanley,) holding the bag for a cool $100 million, including state and city funding and incentives.

And there's even more chirpy economic news from Bloomberg:

Bankruptcies Jump 30% in March, Led by Housing-Bust States

Don't let the cat get your tongues.

"Ruthlessness Gene" Discovered

Dictatorial behaviour may be partly genetic, study suggests

Selfish dictators may owe their behaviour partly to their genes, according to a study that claims to have found a genetic link to ruthlessness. The study might help to explain the money-grabbing tendencies of those with a Machiavellian streak — from national dictators down to 'little Hitlers' found in workplaces the world over.

Researchers at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem found a link between a gene called AVPR1a and ruthless behaviour in an economic exercise called the 'Dictator Game'. The exercise allows players to behave selflessly, or like money-grabbing dictators such as former Zaire President Mobutu, who plundered the mineral wealth of his country to become one of the world's richest men while its citizens suffered in poverty.

The researchers don't know the mechanism by which the gene influences behaviour. It may mean that for some, the old adage that "it is better to give than to receive" simply isn't true, says team leader Richard Ebstein. The reward centres in those brains may derive less pleasure from altruistic acts, he suggests, perhaps causing them to behave more selfishly.

Read the full article here.

Scientists at Hebrew University continue to work on unraveling the Boss Godfrey Genome:

Weekend Kickoff Open Thead

You know what to do; do it here

It's something of a sl-o-o-o-w newsday in Emerald City. We thus thought it might be a good idea to set up an open thread. We haven't done that for quite a while; we think this is a good idea as we move into the weekend.

Before we open the floodgates to our reader comments, however, here are a couple of today's Utah news items that caught our eye this morning:

First, to our absolute astonishment, it seems that the Mayor of Salt Lake City is stuck in a rut, and doesn't recognize some of the new transportation technologies that can move people from point A to Point B in Utah. Here's a link to SLC Mayor Becker's entirely non-visionary thinking:

Becker makes big push to speed up streetcar project

Streetcars? We pity the poor fools in Salt Lake City, who still don't realize the "wonderfulness of gondolas." Sad... VERY sad.

"Back to the future" is right, Mayor Becker! Some day you may get a clue! Do yourself a favor and talk to Boss Godfrey and the Geigers.

Secondly: Here's another possible open thread discussion topic:

Investment in future takes seed in northern Utah

We're big fans of Grow Utah Ventures here at Weber County Forum. We wrote a glowing paen of praise to these smart, dedicated and community minded venture capitalists in one of our earliest WCF posts, and we haven't changed our minds since then. These are people who don't suck up to the public trough. These are real venture capitalists, who invest in business start-ups with their own money.

The floor is open. Consider this an open thread. Talk about whatever lifts your skirt.

Powder Mountain Update: A Guest Editorial and a View of the "Powderville" Incorporation Petition

The "Powderville" problem returns to the public forefront

News has been a mite slow concerning the "Powderville" town brouhaha during the last month, ever since the Weber County Commission took the town incorporation matter off-calender and began direct negotiations with the Powder Mountain developer.

Valley Citizens for Responsible Development's Larry Zini stirs the pot again this morning however, with a fine Standard-Examiner guest commentary, thereby bringing the Powderville town incorporation discussion back to the public forefront. Among other things, Mr. Zini reiterates these important points:

Decisions of the proposed town council and planning commission will be in control of the Powder Mountain ownership and large town landowners in and around the resort for at least the first two to four years.
Most residents in the valley are aware of the identities of the main property owners who currently have considerable land holdings within the proposed town boundaries. The town incorporation will be a financial windfall for most of them. Despite the repeated denials of these property owners, it is apparent this was their goal (in concert with the Powder Mountain ownership) from the beginning when the initial rezone and subsequent incorporation petitions were filed.
Finally, the town incorporation will do nothing to resolve the single-road-access issue with its inherent safety and traffic-load problems from an eight- to tenfold increase in vehicle numbers calculated from Powder Mountain's own traffic study. In addition, incorporation will not address the numerous issues which were the subject of the other conditions attached to the grant of the rezone by the Ogden Valley Planning Commission. It will be as if those issues and the concerns surrounding them do not exist.

Regarding the identities of the property owners who filed the incorporation petition, Ogden Valley Forum has done some fancy footwork, obtained copies of the original petition, and posted it in this article on their blogsite. And having done that, the OVF blogmaster "Valley" makes some very interesting observations:

Pay particular attention to the status of several of the LLC's or corporations. Some are delinquent according to state records and should at least wave a small red flag with Mr. Bischoff and company at the County Commission offices.
Also, we find the personal addresses of the Petitioners to be quite interesting - Hawaii, San Diego, Las Vegas, Colorado, Park City....
And we have mentioned fishy ties before with Western America Holding, LLC (Mark Arnold and Lee Daniels) being the "new" owners of Powder Mountain, while Western America Development Corporation, Inc. owns adjacent property and consists of Cobabe's daughters as principals.
According to State records, the former has a "status date" 5/14/04 while the later has a "status date" of 5/13/04. Is it just a coincidence that both companies were created within a day of each other? Cobabe's (and their Planning Commissioner granddaughter Jamie Lythgoe) have claimed to have sold the resort with no ties except a small adjacent property, but they are BIG players in the "Powderville" incorporation scheme. Why?
And according to our informal poll, only two petitioners actually:
1) Have an Ogden Valley residence
2) Are not related to the Cobabe's
That would be Rulon and Kathy Jones and Ricky and Theresa Stearman.

Although OVF has posted the original petition documents on its own storage site, OVF's host server is tediously slow, so we've taken the liberty of uploading them to our own storage site, which usually runs smooth as silk.

For those readers interested in taking a close look at the original Powderville town incorporation petition (actually a series of petitions) the 13MB PDF document can be viewed here. It's still a slow upload; but we do believe our site is faster. Nevertheless, we don't recommend that you click this link unless you're hooked up with a broadband connection.

That's it on the Powderville situation for now. We'll of course keep you posted on further developments, in future updates.

La-Z-Boy Lays off 630 Tremonton Employees

More signs of recession in the Northern Utah economy

Another shock to the Northern Utah economy was announced today, according to this morning's Standard-Examiner story. La-Z-Boy, which has operated a factory in Box Elder County for the last thirty years, has suddenly decided to call it quits. The company is reportedly moving many of its Box Elder County jobs to Mexico -- where else? We incorporate Std-Ex reporter Jeff DeMoss's key paragraphs below:

TREMONTON — Officials here were shocked to learn late Wednesday that the La-Z-Boy plant that has been in town for 30 years will close this summer, leaving 630 people out of work.
“All I know is I came into the office at about a quarter to four, and I was handed a letter that said they were leaving the community,” Tremonton Mayor Max Weese said. “It just totally caught me off guard.”
La-Z-Boy Inc. said Wednesday it is closing the Utah plant as part of a companywide push to improve efficiency.
The Monroe, Mich.-based manufacturer of the famous reclining chairs is also moving sewing and cutting operations from its five other domestic facilities to a single plant in Mexico, which will eliminate another 1,050 jobs in the United States.

“My heart is broken to see them leave,” says Mayor Weeks. We're going to bet he's not lyin' about that.

630 jobs lost in Tremonton; 1,050 jobs lost in the US. Tell the people of Box Elder County that the economy isn't in recession.

Sorry we can't provide a story link. The Std-Ex pay website is on the blink, for the second time today. We're still scratching our heads wondering why the Standard-Examiner continues to hide most of its news stories behind a regularly dysfunctional pay firewall. Maybe it has something to do with the failing economy.

Mt. Ogden Golf Course Update: Boss Godfrey Defends His Attack on the Golf Course

Added bonus: a couple of fine letters to the editor

Three interesting items on the Standard-Examiner editorial page today, all dealing with one of our favorite red-meat topics, Emerald City's crown jewel Mt. Ogden Golf Course.

Just as we predicted, Boss Godfrey has finally responded to the recent flurry of Std-Ex letters to the editor, all of which have been critical of Godfrey and his recent four-option plan to forever drastically change Emerald City's treatment of our hillside gem. This morning's guest commentary consists of Godfrey's bullet point rant, slamming the golf course yet again, and once again illustrating Godfrey's penchant for cavalierly dismissing any ideas which aren't his own:

• Ogden mayor defends Mount Ogden Golf Course scrutiny

As an added bonus, we find a fine broadside letter to the editor from Weber County Forum reader Jason Wood, peppered with various signature euphemisms which will be familiar to long-time readers of this blog.

And don't miss this morning's Matthew McGarry Campbell letter, which, among other things mentions anecdotally an event which we hadn't heard about previously:

"Matthew Godfrey has a personal vendetta against the golf course. Eight years ago he was chastised for his selfish practice of jogging on the fairways of Mount Ogden golf course."

This was indeed a new one for us, and we thus invite any readers who have knowledge of this event to expand on it a little bit, and offer more particular details for our further enlightenment.

In this connection, we'll also suggest that the Mt. Ogden Golf Course would no doubt increase its patronage, and log MANY more rounds played, if Boss Godfrey would simply involve himself more personally in the golf course's promotion, and promise to jog regularly on the MOGC fairways.

We're running a busy calender today, and we're posting this on the fly. We'll thus leave the deep microanalysis to our ever-gentle readers.

Well.....?

Update 4/3/08 10:10 a.m. MT: As a further added bonus we post below a photo of Boss Godfrey's preferred option, the $10 million course redesign (click to enlarge image). As you peruse this graphic, ask yourselves what the little dotted line running diagonally from the roadway in the southwest corner to the mountain ridge on the east represents. Egad... A GONDOLA? We thank gentle reader Dan S. for this intriguing submission.

Promontory Ranch Achieves Chapter 11 Status

Court allows upside-down gated community developer to "keep the lights on"

By Curmudgeon

It's getting tough out there. The Salt Lake Tribune reports a judge granted Promontory Ranch Club Chapter 11 status so it could borrow enough money to "keep the lights on." The resort was planned to include 1900 upscale mansions. To date, 200 lots have been sold and built on. From the story:

A federal bankruptcy judge has granted Chapter 11 status to the ritzy Promontory Ranch Club near Park City.
The action cleared the way for the resort to borrow money so it can make payroll and keep the lights on.
An order signed by Judge Judith Boulden on Tuesday allows Promontory's parent, Pivotal Promontory LLC, to immediately borrow up to $1.4 million to keep the resort operating.
It's a temporary solution that will buy time for two lending groups to find a long-term solution to Promontory's financial problems that have been blamed on the national credit crises, Salt Lake City-based attorney Kenneth L. Cannon said Wednesday
The Promontory Ranch Club, located east of U.S. Highway 40 in Summit County, covers some 7,000 acres and includes two 18-hole golf courses, a riding academy, club houses, restaurants and lounges.
The development is made up of more than 1,900 large home sites for upscale vacation homes. Only 200 have been built upon. The endeavor makes money primarily through the sale of its real estate.
In 2005, Promontory borrowed $275 million from a group headed by the Swiss bank, Credit Suisse. It also borrowed $75 million from a second group, now headed by Wells Fargo.

Full story here.

As our gentle readers will recall, we also discussed the Promontory Ranch problem in an earlier article.

Walmart Update: Supercenter Plans Put on Hold

A "soils problem" is the ostensible culprit

More bad economic news for Emerald City. Boss Godfrey's much ballyhooed downtown Wal-Mart Super Center project has hit a snag. According to this morning's Standard-Examiner story, groundbreaking has been delayed for at least a year. We incorporate the lead paragraphs from this morning's Ace Reporter Schwebke's story:

OGDEN — The construction of a downtown Wal-Mart Supercenter will be delayed a year because soil at the site will have to undergo environmental cleanup, a city official said Tuesday.
Greg Montgomery, the city’s planning manager, said he was told by a Wal-Mart engineer the cleanup will be necessary, but he hasn’t seen a report detailing what was found in the soil.
Work on the Wal-Mart at the northwest corner of 20th Street and Wall Avenue was initially slated to begin later this summer and be completed in late 2009 or early 2010.
However, the start of construction has been pushed back to October 2009 to accommodate the soil cleanup, Montgomery said.

Although Emerald City and Wal-Mart spokemen attribute the delay to an unspecified "soils problem," we wonder whether more fundamental market forces may be at work. On March 5, the Wall Street Journal reported on a slump in commercial real estate development, specifically noting that Wal-Mart, among other US retailers, have "pared expansion plans" -- and worse. From the WSJ article:

Retail is one of the more vulnerable sectors of commercial real estate, tied to the housing market and consumer spending. As the economy lists toward recession, retail property stands to suffer higher vacancy rates, constrained rent growth and declining values. Results for publicly traded retail landlords look healthy. After several years of rapid expansion by retail tenants and strong spending by shoppers, real-estate investment trusts that own and develop retail properties boast occupancy rates in the low- to mid-90% range. Many claim little trouble so far in replacing bankrupt or otherwise failing retailers that have vacated their stores.

The outlook is souring. Retailers have reported a slowdown in sales. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and J.C. Penney Co., among others, have pared expansion plans. Electronics seller Best Buy Co. has reined in its quarterly earnings forecast. Talbots Inc., Movie Gallery Inc.'s Hollywood Video and numerous home-furnishings retailers have announced store closings. Others, including Bombay Co., have liquidated under bankruptcy protection.

It's been a couple of months of bad economic news in Emerald City, with recent disappointments such as Adam Aircraft, Midtown Village at the Junction and now Wal-Mart.

We swear it's got to be driving our can-do Mayor nuts.

And what say our gentle readers? Will it actually take a full year for Wal-Mart's contractor to haul off and replace 16 acres of contaminated dirt? Or are Wal-Mart officials playing it cagey, drawing in their horns and preparing to ride out the percipient world recession?

WSU Special Event: 2nd Annual Physics Open House

More fun than an evening of Watch Mr. Wizard re-runs

We don't want another moment to slip by without highlighting yesterday's Standard-Examiner Guest commentary, in which one eminent Weber State University professor makes a pitch for prospective students to enroll in science and technology courses at Emerald City's WSU. Starting out with praise of the "problem solving" engineers and technologists who are putting the finishing touches on the FrontRunner Transit System, Physics Department Assistant Professor Dr. John Armstrong segues into a discussion of the current shortage of home-grown scientists and engineers, and then invites everybody to attend an upcoming WSU special event: "The WSU 2nd Annual Physics Open House".

We've perused the detailed online Schedule of Events, and found several tantalizing presentations that definitely caught our jaded eye:

LL121 - Circus of Physics - Physics professors Adam Johnston and Colin Inglefield risk their lives for your amusement.

LL123 - Ask a Physicist - Think you are smarter than Einstein? A panel of physicists will answer your questions. Stump the Chumps!

LL121 - Spinning Objects, Electricity, and Cats! - Live experiments involving miniature lightning, jumping wires, rotating objects, and the falling, twisting, mechanical cat.

Whoa!

Check out the detailed events list here.

Frankly, we look at this event as one of those important "can't miss" events that crops up on the WSU campus from time to time. Your blogmeister intends to calender and attend this event; and he hopes that many of our WCF readers will do the same. With luck, we might even be able to hook up with gentle reader Dan S. for a brief explanation of the secrets of the universe.

Looks to be even more fun than even an evening of Watch Mr. Wizard reruns, we think.

And who will be the first to comment?

The "Dilbert Strategy"

An Eminent US economist dissects the latest Bush administration "plan" to rescue a failing banking system

Fine op-ed piece in yesterday's New York Times, entitled "The Dilbert Strategy," by Times columnist Paul Krugman. We incorporate Krugman's lead paragraphs below:

Anyone who has worked in a large organization — or, for that matter, reads the comic strip “Dilbert” — is familiar with the “org chart” strategy. To hide their lack of any actual ideas about what to do, managers sometimes make a big show of rearranging the boxes and lines that say who reports to whom.
You now understand the principle behind the Bush administration’s new proposal for financial reform, which will be formally announced today: it’s all about creating the appearance of responding to the current crisis, without actually doing anything substantive.

The full NYT article is available here.

Just for kicks, we link a powerpoint tutorial transmitted to us a few weeks ago by one of our gentle readers, revealing in a nutshell the chain of causation that resulted in the current investment banking financial mess. As the presentation makes clear, there's plenty of blame to go around, running from the borrowers who signed for the bogus loans, right up to the investment bankers who underwrote the hokey mortgage backed securities (many AAA rated) that have fouled investment portfolios all around the world.

Warning to our gentle readers: The power point presentation contains language which some might deem to be a mite "earthy." No problem, we think. We're all grownups here @ Weber County Forum... right?

So far none of the "players" who participated in this giant world-economy shaking scam are regulated in any meaningful way under the latest Bush administration "plan"; and under the Bush "Dilbert Strategy," the entire investment banking financial edifice depends, even now, upon the continuing “market discipline" which was so woefully lacking in the first place.

In our view, the real gist of the plan is to bail out unregulated investment banks one by one, as the whole house of cards continues to tumble... at taxpayer expense, of course.

Hyper-inflation here we come.

And what say our gentle readers about all this?