About Tonight's Weber County Women's Legislative Council Meet the Candidates Night

Here's a first impression of the first of the Ogden City election 2009 municipal election public forums

By Dan S.

Just returned from the Weber County Womens's Legislative Council candidates' forum. All eight candidates were present and had plenty of opportunities to speak. After each gave an opening statement, there were plenty of questions from the audience.

One person asked Phipps about his position regarding Mt. Ogden Golf Course. Phipps said that all options should be on the table, and it's unacceptable that the course loses $350,000 [sic] a year. Then my turn came to ask a question, and I pointed out that right now we have an option on the table, namely relocating the clubhouse and building 350 condominiums, while completely redesigning and rerouting the course. I asked each candidate whether that option should be on or off the table. Every candidate answered "off" except Phipps, although Stephens sounded a bit uncertain.

Interestingly, some of the candidates were more equivocal on this question when they responded to the Sierra Club questionnaire.

Ed. Addendum: The floor is open for the comments and observations of other WCF readers who attended tonight's event.

Tuesday Morning Emerald City News Roundup

Selected bits and pieces, designed to provide fodder for yet another great WCF reader discussion

In the absence of any blockbuster Ogden City stories from the northern Utah print media this morning, we'll shine the spotlight on these selected bits and pieces, which nevertheless may provide fodder for further reader discussion:

1) Ace Reporter Schwebke reports that the city council will consider taking action against three "sexually oriented" Ogden businesses (strip clubs), in an apparent effort to enhance our city's new "Provo-style" family friendly image:

• Zoning changes could force businesses to relocate

A new Utah law provides that a municipality may enact by ordinance an amortization schedule for the termination of nonconforming uses over a "reasonable period of time." This statute, which was enacted by our purported "pro property rights" GOP legislature during the 2009 session, abrogates former law of long-standing in America, wherein preexisting non-conforming uses have been traditionally "grandfathered," during the entire duration of their operation. In our opinion, this new legislation, which would allow government bureaucrats to arbitrarily "amortize" the "value" private property rights, invites a constitutional law challenge if ever there were one. Maybe it's just us... but we do believe we smell an expensive potential lawsuit blooming on the horizon. Hopefully the city council will be very, very careful as they examine this issue.

2) The Standard-Examiner again seems to be horribly out of touch with current developments this morning, with the publication of this letter which criticizes the three council candidates who declined Boss Godfrey's imperial summons to appear for Boss Godfrey's botched Channel 17 sham debates:

• Debate no-shows set atmosphere for more division

The Standard-Examiner editors are well aware that all council candidates have now gotten together and planned a legitimate debate with a venue and ground rules which are agreeable to all council candidates. We thus don't understand at all why the Std-Ed editors allow the Godfrey Ticket letter machine to keep flogging this now dead horse.

3) Rachel Trotter reports this morning, a short seven weeks after signing away the bulk of its multi-million dollar Junction tax increment until the year 2026, that the Ogden City School District is even now shuffling slim resources to meet an "unexpected" increase in elementary school class enrollment:

• Ogden City School District considers its options

Mercilessly, this morning's story dwells on the manner in which the school district intends to "make do" with the resources it already owns; and there is no hint, express or implied, suggesting that the school district will be asking for more taxpayer money any time soon. This is fine with us of course. Frankly, we don't want to hear any whining about funding shortages from the geniuses at the Ogden School District until around the year 2026.

That's it for now, O Gentle Ones.

Pick up on any of the above topics, or start up a new discussion all your own.

Standard-Examiner: Ogden Police Are Allowed To Kick Criminal Ass In Ogden -- At least For One Remarkable Day

More evidence that Matthew Godfrey is an idiot

Interesting pre-election story in this morning's Standard-Examiner, referring to at least one day in Emerald City when Boss Godfrey allowed Ogden's Finest to actively bring down the heat on the criminal element in Ogden's sometime crummy central city (soon to renamed "The Trolley District"):

OGDEN -- Like enforcer bees crawling over a hive of crime, the Ogden Police Department recently swarmed an area that attracts criminal activity at a much higher rate than the rest of the city.
Approximately 20 officers from the department patrolled the targeted crime reduction area Wednesday night, an area bounded by 20th and 30th streets and Washington and Harrison boulevards, searching for known criminals and illegal activity.
Officers served 11 warrants, found stolen property, picked up a parole violator, made a drug arrest and issued six citations.
The drug arrest took an "8-ball" of methamphetamine off the streets -- an eighth of an ounce.
"It was definitely worthwhile, that amount of arrests and contacts for six hours worth of work," Police Sgt. Kevin Cottrell said.

"We shook up a lot of stuff for a few hours, " says OPD Sargent Cottrell.

We couldn't be more in agreement with this latest police tactic. In fact, we wonder why the OPD isn't allowed to at least do something like this on a daily basis. Time to restore law and order to Central City Ogden , we think. If we want to see a "renaissance in our central city," this is obviously the FIRST place to start. Time for Boss Godfrey to also fatten up the numbers on the police force, we believe. Thanks to a highly-reliable OPD insider we spoke with today, by the way, its revealed to us that the council-authorized number of OPD officers falls 17 short. Naturally, we ask why Boss Godfrey hasn't filled these vacant positions already...

Time for Godfrey to grow up and abandon his Gondola/Icicle dreams, we think, and join the world of grownups.

Query: When will Boss Godfrey grow up, reach a reasonable level of adult maturity and realise that his first obligation to Ogden City residents is to provide the fundamentals, like Public Safety Protection and Working Infrastrucure?

We'll not hold our collective breath.

And what say our gentle readers about all this?

Standard-Examiner: Council Candidates Invited to Meet Public

A chance to meet and greet the Ogden City Council candidates in a relatively informal setting

For those who have not yet marked their calenders, the Standard-Examiner provides a Top of Utah section front page reminder this morning of tomorrow evening's 2009 Ogden Municipal Election event. As we briefly announced in last week's WCF story, the Weber County Women's Legislative Council has scheduled for Tuesday night a "Meet the Candidates Night" event. Std-Ex reporter Loretta Parks now provides more information this morning. Her key passages provide the gist:

OGDEN — With any luck, the Weber County Womens Legislative Council will run out of cookies and punch Tuesday when Ogden City Council candidates meet to discuss issues.
The event is free and starts at 7 p.m. at the South Ogden Senior Center, 580 39th St., South Ogden, said Kay Feeny, first vice president of the Weber County Womens Legislative Council. [...]
“We’re inviting people we see to come and asking everyone to bring a guest,” Feeny said. [...]
Each candidate will be given five minutes to discuss their background and what they believe is important to the city. They will also take questions from the audience, Feeny said.

You can read Ms. Parks's full story here:

• Council candidates invited to meet public

Due to the relatively "unstructured" announced format, we believe this event will provide Ogden voters the ideal opportunity to get to get "up close and personal" with the council candidates. We also believe that the short time limit on candidate opening statements will allow more time for questions from the floor than a more structured formal debate format. And if history is instructive, (the WCWLC has held numerous similar events in the past), there'll be time for direct hobnobbing with at least some of the council candidates after the meeting is adjourned.

We urge all Emerald City lumpencitizens to attend this event, which we view as a useful "warm up" for what looks to be The Main Event.

Be sure to arrive early folks... before the punch and cookies run out.

Boss Godfrey Again Puts the Cart before the Horse

Godfrey announces St. Anne's Center groundbreaking ceremony; St Anne's Board responds, "Slow Down, Mr. Mayor"

By Curmudgeon

They're at it again! The Godfrey administration is trying to give the St. Anne's Center the bums rush out of downtown, and just as happened before, the St.Anne's Board is not sitting still for it. [Charle's Trentelman's story can be found here:

• Moving time for St. Anne's?

It's quite a tale reporter Trentelman has to tell. Seems Hizzonah, Mayor Godfrey and his gaggle have announced a ground breaking ceremony for a new St. Anne's Center to be built out of downtown. Only problem is, St. Anne's Center says its way too early for a ground breaking ceremony, and they're not going to show until they have a signed agreement with the city about the move, which they don't have yet. From the story:

The city and the directors of St. Anne's Center agree it is time to move the homeless shelter from central Ogden to a location on Pacific Avenue, but St. Anne's officials are resisting a city effort to hold an Oct. 14 groundbreaking until they have details in writing.

The Administration notified the Standard-Examiner that the ground breaking ceremony would take place, that it's inviting the Lt. Governor, and that it has "a major donor" to help build the new St. Anne's --- nameless of course --- "already on board." [We can only hope it's not the same nameless donor who the Administration said was on board with the money for the ice tower, only it turned out, he wasn't.]

It seems the Administration announced the groundbreaking ceremony without bothering to inform, much less invite, the St.Anne's Board. From the story:

Asked about the groundbreaking, several St. Anne's officials, including Graham Lovelady, treasurer of the board of directors, said the board didn't know anything about it.

Mayor Godfrey's CAO, Mr. Patterson, insisted however "it was all still going to happen." [He didn't quite say "Liar! Liar! Pants on fire!" to the St. Anne's Board. Not quite.]

Trentelman reports that the St.Anne Board held "an emergency meeting Wednesday night" and "voted to tell Ogden to slow down." The Board wants "a signed memorandum of understanding before it proceeds." [Seems the St. Anne's Board has learned the hard way, as have the rest of us, that the Mayor's word is no good. We want it in writing, the Board insists. Smart people.] What must the signed agreement include? This, say's St. Annes: "basic stuff like, here's what we're going to do and here's what we expect the city to do. And it will include things about the land swap."

A spokesperson for the St. Anne's Board put the matter so plainly, it's possible even the Mayor and Mr. Patterson [both out of town yesterday] might understand it: "We're not going to be pushed into something if we're not ready."

There is much else in the story about the history of St. Anne's in Ogden, and the history of its relations with the Godfrey Administration. All well worth reading.

But you would think after finally wiping the egg off its face for its last grand announcement of an agreement with St. Anne's about its moving to 12th Street when it hadn't agreed at all, the Administration would have learned something. Apparently not. What it has not learned yet, evidently, is that "agreements" involve the cooperation of all parties involved, not just the Mayor.

Good story. Good work by the SE. Hope we see more of it.

WSU gets Down And Dirty With MSU at 1:30 p.m.

Our WSU Wildcats take the next step forward toward another Big Sky Championship Title (we hope)

OK Weber State University football fans! It's once again time to publish our weekly WSU tout piece. This afternoon at 1:30 p.m., our home town college football team, the WSU Wildcats, square off in Ogden-situated Stewart Stadium, against perennial Big Sky Conference football power Montana State U (the Bobcats).

Game kickoff: 1:30 p.m.

Here are a few teaser newspaper pieces, just to get the juices flowing. We know you'll all take them for what they're worth. This afternoon's game is definitely drawing plenty of sports press attention. We even include an article from the MSU home town newspaper down below:

• WSU wants fast offensive start at home -Standard-Examiner
• Wildcats run into test - Salt lake Tribune

Here's a good one too, as we suggeted above, just for perspective from "the Montana State Bobcats" home town newspaper's perspecive:

• Win over Weber would be big for Cats

Tickets are still available at the gate for this afternoon's game, and in this context, we encourage all WSU fans to attend today's games if they can, even though they may not have a season ticket. Remember that Ogden City is now the world's prime mecca for high-adventure recreation. And what's more high adventure than attending a great football venue to watch giant humans face off against each other every 30 seconds or so to pound each others' brains out?

Seriously though WCF readers, we do hope you'll all consider attending this afternoon's game. WSU (under the experience tutelage of "Coach Mac" has actually put together a quite credible football program, which actually puts our Hi-Rec city "on the map."

For those of course who can't make it to the stadium, but would like to keep up with the game, there are two other options, of course.

Watch the internet video on Big Sky TeeVee;

Or alternatively... listen to the audio on the KLO radio WSU Flagship.

We'll keep the lower comments section open for those who watch or listen to the game.

We'll publish the final game score here, of course. Iin the meantime, lets have intra-game reader comments here.

No excuses please: WSU gets its ass royally kicked by MSU, with a final score of 26-21.

Dan S. Online Critique Gets Promoted to the Standard-Examiner Print Edition

We encourage all WCF readers to mosey on over to the Std-Ex site to throw in their own 2¢

For those who may have missed it the first go-round, be sure to check out Dan Schroeder's letter to the editor, which found its way to the Standard-Examiner hard-copy edition this morning:

• Editorial Board afraid of mayor

This is one of the most accurate and hard-hitting critiques of the Standard-Examiner that we've seen on the editorial pages in quite a long time; and we therefore believe it's well deserving of a reprise. We also believe that the Std-Ex editors are deserving of congratulations for making it available to its print readership. With luck, the Std-Ex editors will also write it down so they don't forget it.

This Std-EX Live! Edition letter has already generated a good number of comments from Standard-Examiner readers; but we see no reason to stop there. So in that connection, we encourage all WCF readers who haven't thrown in their own 2¢ to mosey on over there right now.

And in the course of that... don't forget about our own WCF comments section. Sometimes it gets a mite lonely around here on weekends.

Standard-Examiner: New Name on Track

Ogden Trolley District renaming: a prelude to a central city streetcar system?

Encouraging story on the Standard-Examiner front page, reporting on the efforts of residents of the Ogden Central Bench Historic District to upgrade the public image of their neighborhood. From this morning's Scott Schwebke story:

OGDEN -- A resident has rechristened an historic Ogden neighborhood with an unofficial new name and a Web site to tout its streetcar heritage.
Officially known as the Ogden Central Bench Historic District, the neighborhood extending from Washington to Harrison boulevards between 30th Street and the Ogden River has been dubbed the Trolley District by Shalae Larsen, a former city planning commission member.
"It really does a better job of telling the story of what we are all about and how we came to be," said Larsen, who lives in a Victorian-era home in the heart of the district at 614 24th St.

Mr. Schwebke reports that Ms. Larsen is pulling out all the stops, with a multi-pronged campaign (including yardsigns and a website) which would not only highlight the Central City neighborhood's trolley heritage, but also aid in the effort of residents of that district to put in place a new east-west streetcar corridor alignment which would bisect the District:

The city council and city administration are participating in a study that may lead to the establishment of a streetcar system along the busy downtown to the Weber State University/McKay-Dee Hospital Center corridor.The aim of the study is to meet requirements for pursuing Federal Transit Administration funding for a possible streetcar project that could take three years to five years to obtain.

Within the story, we found what we thought to be an interesting twist. As every WCF reader already knows, Boss Godfrey has has been vocal in his preference for an oddball corridor alignment which would run up 36th street between Washington and Harrison Boulevards. This alignment would of course certainly be a great boon for the city... the City of South Ogden, that is. And here's the angle which we find most interesting in this morning's story. Among those quoted is ordinarily diehard Godfrey supporter Tom Moore, who seems to have now strayed from the Godfrey hard-line, and appears to understand that renaming this district could be a prelude to what's really important for a Central City renaissance, i.e., the running of a 21st Century "trolley" through an aptly named Trolley District. If Mr. Moore's apparent support for Ms. Larsen's public relations campaign can be interpreted as an indication that Ogden City political activists of the other persuasion can depart from the hare-brained Godfrey dogma, and join together to work for sensible solutions to Ogden City's infrastructure problems, we'll start off this weekend much encouraged.

Hopefully we're not reading too much into this; but ask yourselves this: How could Ogden have a Trolley District and not a Trolley District Trolley? Such a ridiculous circumstance would make no sense. Ms. Larsen's tactic in this matter is far from subtle, or so it seems to us.

And what say our gentle readers about all this?

Council Candidates Schedule 10/14/09 Debate

Open public forum to meet and discuss the important issues facing our city

By Jennifer Neil

This from Bart Blair face book message:

Bart Blair October 1 at 8:35pm
I just returned from the "candidate debate meeting". It was a good meeting and we were able to come up with a very fair and equal forum. We are scheduled to meet at the Union Station Business Building (room 162) on Wednesday, October 14 at 7pm. The moderator will ask each candidate a question and his/her opponent will have the chance to respond also. The candidates will also field questions from the audience. It should be a very positive experience and a great opportunity to meet and discuss the important issues facing our city. All are invited so I would encourage you to try to attend. I look forward to seeing you and meeting with you that night. Thank you for your support.

This is different from Women's Legislative Council's "meet the candidates"; and it is in Ogden.

Update 10/14/09 9:38 a.m.: Please take note that the above referenced debate, which was originally set for Ogden's Union Station, has been reset for the Ogden Applied Technology College Business Building (room 162) on the originally-announced time and date, due to a scheduling conflict.

Meet the Candidates Night 10/6/09

Everyone's invited to come and meet the candidates; see you there!

By Jim Hutchins

Council At Large Seat "A" candidate Ms. Van Hooser has posted the following to her Facebook Wall:

What: Ogden Council Member Candidate Forum, Hosted by the Weber County Womens Legislative Council
Where: South Ogden City Senior Citizen Center, 580 39th Street
When: Tuesday, October 6, 2009 @ 7:00 p.m.

Everyone's invited to come and meet the Ogden City Council candidates; see you there!

Ogden City Council Debates: Back in the News For the Second Time This Week

Lots of tantalizing questions to discuss this morning

To kick off this morning's reader discussion, we'll highlight a pair of Ogden City municipal election stories provided by the northern Utah print media:

First, we'll provide a link to this morning's Salt Lake Tribune story, wherein we believe reporter Chris Smart got the facts mostly right:

• Candidates opt out of city-sponsored debate

Although Mr. Smart does report that Ogden City officials have offered to move Channel 17 cameras to wherever alternative venue the candidates choose, he misses the boat in failing to tell his readers about "the catch": that any agreed venue outside the ninth floor studio (across the hall from Boss Godfrey's throne room) would require somebody other than the city to pick up Channel 17's "travelling expenses".

We won't gig Mr. Smart for this minor omission however, inasmuch as he does get the main point right:

Ogden Mayor Matthew Godfrey isn't up for re-election this year. But that doesn't mean he's not at the center of campaign-season rancor.
Three candidates running for Ogden City Council opted out of a recent debate sponsored by the municipality, citing concerns that a government forum is improper for election campaigning.
While a Godfrey spokesman said the mayor wasn't directly involved in setting up the debate, his shadow seemed to fall over it...

And on the heels of yesterday's WCF report that the council candidates are themselves setting up a non Boss Godfrey-sponsored debate, we receive this encouraging news this morning from the Standard-Examiner, whereby Mr. Schwebke reports that all eight council candidates are set to meet today, in an attempt to work out their own alternate debate venue and ground rules, and possibly cut the meddling Godfrey administration entirely out of the deal:

• Candidates discuss logistics - Debates, forums, sponsorships and formats on minds of hopefuls

We see lots of interesting possibilities here. Will the candidates themselves succeed in amicably working out the necessary details in the this single meeting? Will there be holdouts for a Channel 17 broadcast? Council challenger David Phipps has candidly expressed his preference that these proposed debates be featured on the Godfrey Propaganda Channel. Will he and his Godfrey Ticket comrades then refuse to debate at a neutral forum such as WSU, for instance? Will the citizens of Ogden City be treated to another set of "empty chair" debates? Or alternatively, will Emerald City voters finally get the legitimate and robust question and answer sessions that they deserve? And tangentially we'll ask this question: Does WSU or any other reasonably available neutral party or entity even have the technical capability itself to tape and broadcast a new set of debates? Is Channel 17 the only practical alternative, if the voters are to see a video broadcast at all?

Lots to discuss this morning as we said; so we'll thus turn the floor over to our readers without any further ado.

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

A Pair of Utahns for Ethical Government Post Public Hearing Writeups

We predict the initiative measure will find its way to the 2010 ballot, despite last night's low citizen turnout

On the heels of yesterday's reminder of last night's ethics reform public hearing, we're pleased to deliver two post-meeting writeups this morning:

First, Standard-Examiner editorial page editor Doug Gibson has made it a topic of discussion this morning on his blog, where this morning's post has already drawn several reader comments:

• At the Utahns for Ethical Government hearing in Ogden

And Std-Ex reporter Roy Burton provides a straight news writeup on the Std-Ex Live! site:

• Ethics commission could be on Utah ballot in 2010

We also received an interesting comment in the previous comments section, from a reader who identified himself as Mark Johnson last night, suggesting that the low public turnout at last night's meeting indicated citizen disinterest in the ethics reform initiative:

Ten people there, I guess that is not a issue in Weber County.

(Doug Gibson also commented about the low turnout, which he estimated to be about thirty lumpencitizens.)

Here's our take on that. There's a big difference in the level of personal commitment necessary to propel a large crown of lumpencitizens to a remote junior high gymnasium for an informational meeting on a single Tuesday night, and the relatively slight effort needed lure a large group of individual voters to a variety of centralized locations for the affixation of signatures over the course of six months. UEG promoters have a full half-year to gather the requisite 95,000 signatures. We'll thus confidently go out on a limb and predict that they'll gather that number and many more, well before the April 2010 deadline.

Once the petitions are distributed, we'll post an article with instructions about how to sign the petition, of course.

Power to the People, Right On!

A Gentle Reminder of Tonight's Ogden Ethics Reform Meeting

Time to put our crooked legislators' feet to the fire

By Ogden Dem

Please come to the meeting tonight (Sep 29), 7 pm, at Mound Fort Junior High hosted by Utahns for Ethical Government:

Tuesday, September 29, 2009--7-9 p.m.
Weber County
Mound Fort Middle School, Media Center
1400 Mound Fort Drive
Ogden, UT 84404

If a grassroots approach doesn't do it, nothing will, because we know our legislature appears to be opposed to being ethical - well, at least most of them.

The Prospect of Full Council Debates Ain't Quite Dead... Yet

An invitation for control-freak Boss Godfrey to butt-out of the council debate situation

Boss Godfrey's Channel 17 command performance Council Candidate "debates" are back in the news this morning, with this Scott Schwebke story, which reports that full debates, with ALL candidates in actually in attendance, may yet be on the near horizon. Having apparently learned at least something from the botched first round of so-called debates, where three out of four council races had only one candidate in attendance, Mr. Godfrey has now made a slightly more polished overture, in a form which more closely resembles an invitation than a royal summons. Sadly however, a reading of this document reveals that the Mayor's office still apparently clings to the notions that a) the administration and/or its own agents should select the "independant" debate moderator, and that b) the whole affair should be managed by his Godfrey Propaganda Channel TV Station.

Whether Mayor Godfrey (or anybody else) will succeed in hosting a real candidate debate this go-round is anybody's guess; although Mr. Schwebke also offers this encouraging Susan Van Hooser quote:

Van Hooser said she hasn't decided whether she will attend a rescheduled Channel 17 debate and plans to meet with other city council candidates this week to discuss scheduling a voters forum that's fair for everyone.
"I just want to make sure everybody has the same information and find a venue that's comfortable with all the candidates," she said.
"Whatever we will do, we will decide as a group."

Here are a few helpful off-the-top-of-the head queries for Boss Godfrey, control-freak extraordinaire:

Why not just stand back, and let the candidates arrange the details of their own debate? Why does Boss Godfrey continue to place himself in the middle of this? Candidate debates are an American tradition, with well-developed and time-honored protocols. Why not wait for the candidates themselves to choose their own mutually-agreeable moderator, venue and ground-rules? It seems to us that we could actually have a high quality candidate debate, if the Mayor's office would merely take its grubby mitts off the situation. For reasons which are unclear to us however, Mayor Godfrey continues to aggressively insert his office into the middle of this can of worms. And as far as a Channel 17 TV broadcast goes, why does Godfrey insist that the candidates pick up the tab? Seems to us that if Channel 17's Bill Francis wishes to televise the debate, he could (and should) enter into a suitable arms-length agreement with the candidates to tape it at its own expense (and pay for the broadcast rights), just like other television stations do.

In short, we believe that Boss Godfrey should simply butt-out of the situation... and what say our gentle readers about that?

The Standard-Examiner Editorial Board is Afraid of Boss Godfrey

The story headline says it all

By Jim Hutchins

I'd like to re-direct some of the current discussion to what I find to be an accurate and pointed open letter to the Standard-Examiner by Dan Schroeder. This one needs no elaborate introduction. The story headline says it all:

• Editorial Board afraid of mayor

Channel 17's Bill Francis and I have already commented on it. I'd invite other WCF readers to do the same.

Lt. Governor Vows to Kill Ethics Reform

Time to vote the rotten bums out

By Ray

Just saw the following news brief on ksl.com:

• Utah LG may not let ethics initiative go forward

Utah Lt. Gov. Greg Bell may kill the pending citizen's initiative to create an independent ethics commission and a code of conduct for state lawmakers before the public ever gets a chance to decide if it wants to vote on it.

Talk about the proverbial fox guarding the hen house scenario! If citizens can't change by initiative, then it is imperative to vote out the politicians who are afraid of what the citizens may demand.

Note From a Disgruntled WCF Reader

One reticent long-time WCF "lurker" chimes in to set the record straight... and for good measure... throws in a plea for good manners

by Shane Osguthorpe

One rainy autumn day during Ogden’s last election cycle, with nothing better to do, I made the mistake of posting a legitimate question regarding the mayoral race on this forum. Despite the fact that I was, and continue to be, opposed to the gondola, the Mt. Ogden Golf Course proposals of both then and now, a downtown Wal-Mart, the stalled improvement of the Ogden Riverway, etc., my objective question regarding candidate Van Hooser caused dozens of anonymous posters to flame me with what I took to be idiotic, and often vile, name-calling posts and I walked away knowing that WCF is not “an open forum for Weber County Utah Citizens” as it claims, but more often than not, a closed-minded pit of seething hatred and anger and a voice for only one side and one view of Ogden. But I suppose that doesn’t make for a great tagline for a blog that pretends to be objective. I guess “Fair and Balanced” was already taken by another objective media outlet.

I’ve avoided posting since that experience, but still like to check in for a quick read whenever Beck, Hannity, Limbaugh or O’Reilly fail to satisfy my occasional taste for the uneducated ranting of lunatics. So, after being out of town on business during last week’s city council primary elections, I logged on to read the WCF’s take on it all. I found the typical “anti-Godfreyite” rants I expected, but when, for no apparent reason, the thread turned against my close, personal friends and Roosters/Union Grill owners, Kym and Pete Buttschardt, I couldn’t let the disgusting thread linger out there without comment and consider myself a good friend.

The pivot point of the thread, as best I can tell, was when some anonymous (as always) poster mentioned something about “complimentary Roosters beer” at a gathering for a city council candidate who is not endorsed by this forum.

First things first. Utah liquor laws prohibit the dispensing of free beer by brewpubs. And unless I’m mistaken, it can’t be offered as a “donation” to a political campaign. To the best of my knowledge, Kym delivered beer to a shindig for Phipps, stayed and even, God forbid, supported his candidacy...but someone else paid for the beer she brought. It wasn’t “free suds from Roosters” as one poster put it.

A poster by the name of “Rockford J” seemed to have the biggest axe to grind. One of his/her posts read: “[they] used to be cool back in the day...their politics have made them into a couple of money chasing soul-less [sic] restaurant hacks existing only on good location and previous glory.”

Yet, the Buttschardts I know call to mind the words of Marianne Williamson, “Creating the world we want is a much more subtle but more powerful mode of operation than destroying the one we don’t want.”

Their politics? Pretty sure that on a state and national level, the Buttschardts probably vote the way most of the lurkers on this forum do. On a local level, I can assure you they don’t walk lock-step behind anyone’s agenda. Talk to them about issues like Wal-Mart, the golf course, open space and the gondola and find out for yourself where they stand. Now I suppose attacking another’s politics is just the flavor of the day in the Pathetic States of America right now, so I can let that part slide on a political internet forum. The part I can’t let sit out there is the remainder of Rockford J's statement.

Money chasing? I’ve never known people who will give until it hurts like Pete and Kym. Virtually every school fundraiser and athletic team gets their donations; virtually every non-profit organization in our community benefits from their contributions. Got a kid peddling some piece-of-crap coupon book or overpriced candy bar for his scout troop, his baseball team, her drill team, summer camp, soccer trip or anything else? Knock on the Buttschardt’s door and you have a guaranteed sale. Need a dozen dinners-for-two donated for your raffle to benefit wild turkeys, rocky mountain elk, a fledgling film festival, drug abuse prevention? Done. Got a crappy minor league farm team and need to sell advertising space on the outfield wall in a wrecked economy? As long as that team is tied to Ogden, give ‘em a call. Trying to get a bluegrass/acoustic music festival off the ground at Fort Buenaventura and need cash AND someone to sell beer and give all the profits back to the event in addition? No problem.

Soulless? Pete and Kym don’t just throw money at things. I would put the Buttschardt’s donation of their own time to worthy causes in this community up against the grand total of everyone who has posted on this forum....EVER. And while that may sound like hyperbole, I mean it in the most literal of ways. As one of the most engaged members of Weber Pathways’ board of directors, Pete has built massive sections of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail with his own two hands and often with very little help. Kym’s efforts with Junior League in the inner city and all her work as a founding member of the GOAL Foundation and later, as its president, literally amount to YEARS of her time! And those are ACTIVE engagements, not simply sitting around a board table tossing around pie-in-the-sky ideas. The two of them work tirelessly from long before community events until well afterward in organization, fundraising, promotion, set-up and tear-down. Anyone here ever done that? Ever? How about every single Ogden Marathon, Xterra Championship, Harvest Moon Celebration (which the Buttschardts were instrumental in starting), Mountain-to-Metro and Paddlefest? I, for one, have been right there with them and know for a fact there has never been anyone named “Rockford J,” “Frequent Diner” or “Zaphod” there helping out.

And for the record, the “good location” they "exist on" was anything but before they came along. Investing in Historic 25th Street today is a no-brainer — thanks in large part to Pete and Kym’s tireless efforts. However, when the Buttschardts started Roosters it represented a substantial and highly risky investment in a vision they held for a sketchy street — a vision for a revitalized downtown historic district with funky, eclectic and independently owned shops, restaurants, pubs and galleries. Try to remember what 25th Street was like in the decade leading up to the founding of Roosters. Is that really what you want?

Want to talk strictly economic impact? What WCF regular provides the number of jobs in downtown Ogden that the Buttschardts do? How does your contribution to the city’s tax base stack up against theirs? And while I love and patronize every local eatery that a poster named “Frequent Diner” listed and intend no offense to any of them, all of them put together haven’t been featured in national publications encouraging visitors to come to Ogden and spend their dough like Roosters and Union Grill have, yet they all benefit from that exposure. Cool or not.

In some incomprehensible way, some on this forum see the Buttschards as their enemy because some anonymous poster’s “best friend’s sister’s boyfriend’s brother’s girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who’s going with the girl who saw Kym supporting Phipps at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it’s pretty serious.” Thank you, Simone.

The fact that some contributors to this forum would attempt to destroy Kym and Pete’s passion, vision and unceasing efforts on behalf of a better Ogden is truly sickening. The fact that the moderators of this forum perpetuate those small-minded efforts is equally repugnant.

I find it ironic that one of the Google ads that regularly appears in the margins of the WCF is for Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged.” Might I suggest you read it. Her fictional account of what the world might be like should its “producers” decide to walk away may open your eyes. I promise you, the Ogden you all know and love would be a much darker, uglier place without two of its brightest visionaries and boots-on-the-ground producers, Pete and Kym Buttschardt.

Apparently, they “used to be cool back in the day.” Thank God they got THAT out of their systems.

More Evidence That SE's Publisher and His Editors Don't Read Their Own Paper

If the Publisher of the Standard Examiner is going to foist this kind of editorial embarrassment on readers, not to mention his staff, he should have the courage to sign his own name to the drivel

By Curmudgeon

Having just read the Standard-Examiner's Sunday morning editorial over my morning coffee --- the coffee at least was good --- I am forced to wonder, yet again, if the SE's publisher and his editors read their own paper. It seems they do not.

Today's editorial takes the Council leadership to task for [allegedly] refusing to communicate with the Mayor. But didn't the SE print an editorial just a while ago berating the Mayor for springing the contract to privatize operation of the Marshall White Center [and to close its pool] on the Council by surprise. Playing "Gotcha!" the SE then told the Mayor, was no way to keep the Council informed on important matters.

Then, going back a bit, there was the Mayor's secret instructions to Ogden's legislative lobbyist to encourage a bill removing the Council's ability to choose the head of Ogden's RDA [then Mayor Godfrey]. He had to keep the instructions secret, because he'd agreed with the Council earlier that the city's lobbyist would work only on legislation that both the Council and Mayor agreed he should work on. How do I know that happened? I read it in the Standard Examiner.

Going back a bit futher, there were the Godfrey team emails stressing the importance of not letting the Council know the Mayor was trying to get UTA to launder federal grant funds to pay off a consultant he'd hired to do a gondola report. How do I know that happened? I read it in the Standard Examiner. [After of course Dan S. discovered the emails via GRAMA request, and Weber County Forum made them public.]

And going back just a bit further... Godfrey has a long history displaying plainly his lack of interest in communicating anything to the Council other than orders... there was the time Godfrey wanted the city to sell some RDA property downtown to a particular buyer [who had not, by the way, made the highest offer for it]. The infamous "Bootjack" matter. The Council asked who the Mayor wanted to sell the property to, and the Administration told the Council not only that it wouldn't tell them, but that they had no right to ask. How do I know that happened? I read it in the Standard Examiner.

But now, the SE editors have decided the problem is the Council, not the Mayor. Do they read their own paper at all? Seems not.

And then we come this shameful bit of pandering to the Mayor:

We are also concerned with the accessibility of Council Chairwoman Wicks. By her own admission, she frequently is not available until after 5 p.m. Given her position in Ogden city, she needs to follow the example of hundreds of her colleagues across the state and be available more often for the city administration and news media inquiries. We respect Wicks' work responsibilities, but if they interfere with her council chair responsibilities, maybe someone else should do the job.

Well, let's see now. Ogden has a full-time Mayor who we pay a six figure salary to do a full time job. The Council chair gets about $9K a year to work part time for the city, mostly evenings, while holding a full time day job. So, if someone has to go out of their way to schedule a meeting the other can attend, who should it be? Our six figure full time Mayor? Or our part time Councilwoman? Why, the Councilwoman of course, says the Standard Examiner.

If the Publisher of the Standard Examiner is going to foist this kind of editorial embarrassment on readers, not to mention his staff, he should have the courage to sign his own name to the drivel.

WSU v Portland State -- UPDATED

A variety of options for diehard WSU football fans

Final score: WSU 36; PSU 29 -- WSU escapes within the skin of its teeth - whew!

OK, WSU Wildcat football fans. Our home town college football team tangles this afternoon with league rival Potland State U.

Game kickoff... 2:00 p.m. Mountain time.

Here's the pregame setup from the Standard-Examiner:

• Wildcats not afraid to play PSU on Road

For those hard-core fans who'd like to see a pretty good game broadcast, check out Big Sky TV's online broadcast here:

• B2TV.com signup

Yeah... we know it's a pain in the ass... but we believe the hassle of an online sign up is worth it. Right now we're getting ready to watch the WSU/PSU game with pretty good video feed and a surprisingly not half bad play by play. If you love WSU like we do, you'll plough through the signup hassles like WSU running back Trevyn Smith, and run through the opposing team's defensive line virtually unimpeded.

For non- hardcore WSU fans of course... there's always WSU's flagship radio station... KLO radio, for those fans who'll be content to "just listen in."

We'll be back later with the final score, of course.

Hopefully though, at least a few Wildcats fans will offer their comments in the interim.

Final score: WSU 36; PSU 29.

WSU escaped from this game by the skin of their teeth.

Update 9/27/09 1:00 p.m.: For those who didn't see or hear the game... here's Jason Asay's Std-Ex post-game writeup:

• Last minute TD propels WSU to 2-0 Big Sky Mark

A Virtual Glut of 2009 Municipal Election Pieces

We hardly know where to start

This morning's Standard-Examiner is chock full of Municipal Election 2009 pieces, so we'll offer some very brief introductory commentary and then provide some links.

First, we find in our morning Std-Ex a pair of dueling guest commentaries, wherein the two main factions on the Ogden City Council defend their positions with regard to the 8/4/09 Marshall White Center veto override in particular, and in the process, provide insight into their respective views about the roles of the Administration and Council in the Mayor-Council form of municipal government in general.

For a robust and politically astute (dare we use the word "glorious?") defense of the council's role as a "strong, separate, independent and co-equal branch of municipal government," check out the council majority's position statement:

• Why we voted to override the mayor's veto

And for the viewpoint of those in the council minority who would return Ogden's legislative branch of government to the second-class, groveling and boot-licking ways of the rubber stamp council of 2003-05, be sure to read the opinions of Godfrey lackeys Brandon Stephenson and Blain Johnson on the subject. It'll be good for a few laughs, if nothing else. There's no doubt in our mind that these two fellas would help usher in "The Imperial Despot" form of government in Emerald City, if the statutes of the State of Utah would permit it:

• Why the veto override was a mistake

Next, we'll put the focus on this morning's Std-Ex lead editorial, which in part draws a bead on At-large Council "B" seat candidate David Phipps, with respect to the two false endorsements which he clumsily included in his recent pre-primary campaign mailer:

• OUR VIEW: Phipps' election faux pas

Although the Std-Ex softly criticizes Mr. Phipps for his apparent lack of attention to detail in this instance, the Std-Ex editorial board declines to accuse him of having "crossed the line" between actions which would constitute a mere "faux pax" and something "more serious." As we already opined before, it's the position of Weber County Forum that Mr. Phipps already blundered across that line, when he candidly revealed the false Thurber endorsement on 9/20/09, even while he mendaciously and wilfully concealed his contemporaneous knowledge of the equally false Johnson endorsement. From our point of view, we have serious doubts about whether Mr. Phipps would have mentioned the latter mal-endorsement at all, if not for our own WCF story on 9/20/09, in which gentle reader George K. let the Johnson endorsement cat out of the bag.

Finally, we'll refer our readers to Andy Howell's "Behind the Headlines" morning column, within which the Std-Ex executive editor announces the Std-Ex's intention to again endorse candidates for each of the four open council seats. With the Standard's previous 2007 endorsements under our belts and digested, we'll ask our readers: Whaddaya think of that? Do you believe the Standard did a good job in its 2007 endorsements; or are you still experiencing heartburn? Do you have any ideas that we could pass on to the Std-Ex editorial board about how they might improve their in-house endorsement process? What do you think about the propriety of newspaper endorsements in general?

As a matter of fact, we'll ask our readers what the think about any and all of the above.

The floor is open for your comments, O Gentle Ones.

Boss Godfrey's Latest Political Trick: Secret Non-public Candidate "Debates" -- UPDATED

Three City Council Candidates thwart Boss Godfrey's latest attempt to make a mockery of the democratic election process

UPDATE: Boss Godfrey has a change of meds... errr... heart

Ogden City municipal election clock ticks to within 38 days of the November 3, 2009 zero hour, Ace reporter Schwbeke reports this morning, (a mere two days after the release of Godfrey's bogus golf course survey) , on Boss Godfrey's latest attempt to make a mockery of the democratic election process. We learn from Mr. Schwebke this morning that agents for Boss Godfrey's Propaganda Television Station, Channel 17, staged a command performance taping yesterday, on the ninth floor of Ogden City Municipal Building, of a thinly-attended dog and pony show, which the Standard-Examiner politely calls a "debate":

• Majority of council candidates attend debate

Although some creative editor in a dark back room at the Std-Ex (cleverly adopting Mr. Schwebke's phrase "a majority of city council candidates") attempted to create the headline illusion that some form of "debate" occurred during yesterday's private taping, the truth of the matter, as reported by Mr. Schwebke, is that the only thing which may have resembled debate occurred in the the Ward 3 race, wherein incumbent Doug Stephens and challenger Patrick Dean both did obediently show up on command, to field a series of questions, carefully composed by Boss Godfrey's own employees at the TV Station. As to the other three races we wonder... did Godfrey's employees from the Godfrey Propaganda Channel have the audacity to go ahead and tape three "empty chair debates?"

We applaud the three council candidates, Blair, Garcia and Van Hooser, who politely declined the TV station's attempt to to possibly rig the election process. Apparently these candidates were wise to the hard lesson learned during by Ms. Van Hooser during the 2007 Mayoral election: If you appear for a taping in front of Boss Godfrey's Channel 17 television cameras, you can expect to find the taped footage mercilously sliced, diced and ginsu-knifed, with heavily edited segments broadcast constantly on the Mayor's Propaganda Station, and in even more far-flung places such as YouTube.

We believe these three candidates demonstrated considerable wisdom in holding out for legitimate debates, conducted by disinterested neutral parties, in venues where the general public can be in attendance. Hopefully all eight candidates for the four open city council seats will be hearing from more trustworthy debate moderators, such as the Weber County League of Women Voters, very soon.

We'll add that we were pleased that Mr. Schwebke at least saw fit to include paraphrased quotes from two of the candidate non attendees, explaining their rationales for declining to attend an event which had the makings of a Godfrey-style political ambush. We were even more delighted to read the emailed comments from Council "B" Seat candidate Bart Blair, which articulately explained some of Mr. Blair's reasons for giving this Channel 17 production the thumbs-down. Unfortunately, Mr. Schwebke's morning story provides only excerpts from Mr. Blair's emailed comment. For the benefit of those readers who'd like to read Mr. Blair's full response to Mr. Schwebke, check out the entry which Mr. Blair made to his campaign blog last evening:

• Channel 17 Debate - By Bart Blair

Maybe it's just us... but we'll ask the question anyway. Does it seem to our gentle readers that Mr. Schwebke's story left out Mr. Blair's most important and salient points?

That's it for now, O Gentle Ones.

Don't let the cat get your tongues.

Update 9/25/09 5;15 p.m.: We just received a Boss Godfrey Administration press release through the usual roundabout sources, (the Godfrey administration continues to leave WCF off its press release email list) revealing that the increasingly deranged Boss Godfrey, who's apparently been recently suffering from a particularly exceptional bout of grandiose manic madness, has finally decided to at least temporarily refrain from televising the three "empty chair 'debates,'" wherein candidates Blair, Garcia and Van Hooser refused to "participate" in Godfrey's sham Propaganda Channel #17 dog and pony show:

• Boss Godfrey Press Release: OGDEN CITY MAY NOT SHOW ALL DEBATES

We can only speculate about Godfrey's sudden reversal on this. Perhaps Gary Williams told Godfrey frankly that to air these one-sided segments would invite an ass-kicking in the courts. Perhaps Godfrey's handlers finally got him back on his much-needed medications. Who knows?

So what say our gentle readers about this?

Update 9/26/09 8:30 a.m.: This morning's Standard-Examiner carries a padded out version of the back-pedaling Godfrey Administration press release which we published as an update yesterday evening:

• Candidate no-shows may nean few debates on Ch. 17

While it's our opinion that it doesn't offer much beyond what we've already provided above, we'll let our gentle readers be the judges of that.

Free Mini-mountain Film Festival Tomorrow Night

A number of WCF readers will enjoy Steve's stories; and we know you'll love the films that will be screened

By Jeff Lowe

I'd like to invite my WCF friends to a free, mini-mountain film festival, at the Ogden Amphitheater tomorrow, 7:30 PM to 10:00 PM, Friday, Sept 25th.

Several great films will be shown, and our special guest, Steve House, will give a slide show and sign copies of his new book.

Steve represents the best of high adventure, having in recent years completed a number of cutting-edge climbs in Alaska, the Andies, Canada and the Himalaya. These are low-impact trips with one or two partners - sometimes alone - that represent the current state of the mountain climbing art. It's the exact opposite of the commercial Everest extravaganzas.

I think a number of WCF readers would enjoy Steve's stories, and I know you'll love the films that will be screened.

I'm hoping to see you all there.

Good News/Bad News From The Heart of Emerald City

We'll give you the good news first

By Curmudgeon

There's some good news [and some not so good news] for Ogden in this morning's Standard-Examiner on the business pages:

• 6,900-square-foot bookstore to anchor new six-story building

Deseret Book's new store at The Junction opens today. It fills 6900 sq. ft. on the ground level of the Earnshaw Building.

While I confess I had been hoping for a general purpose bookstore at the Junction --- an indie if possible [but that was unlikely] or a chain like Borders [not Barnes and Ignoble] --- rather than an LDS bookstore. But it's good for Ogden to have the space rented, and the property generating tax revenues.

The not so good news comes at the end of Mr. Schwebke's story. He reports that the second floor of the Earnshaw building has 7K sq. ft. plus of office space [no word on whether any of it is leased yet]. The ground floor still has just under 10K sq. ft. apparently still unleased. And, the story notes that the top four floors of the building "will have 28 condominiums." Ah, but when will it have those oft promised supposed to have been completed years ago condos to boost residential occupancy at The Junction [and so live-in customers for Junction and downtown business]? The building's owner was just a tad vague on that:

"Earnshaw said completion of the entire building will depend on how quickly the economy rebounds."

English translation: "When will the condos be done? How the hell should I know?"

That was the bad news. Still, the opening of Deseret Books today is a step in the right direction.

BYU Prof: Ethics Reform Initiative About Accountability

Added Bonus: A gentle reminder of Tuesday's upcoming Ogden public hearing

There's an excellent Salt Lake Tribune story this morning on the topic of the proposed ethics reform initiative which would create a code of ethics for the Legislature and a commission to review ethics complaints against lawmakers. Don Meyers's lead paragraphs provide the gist of it:

Provo » In Brad Agle's mind, there's one word that sums up a proposed ethics reform initiative: Accountability.
Agle, a professor at Brigham Young University's Marriott School of Management, said the initiative -- which would create a code of ethics for the Legislature and a commission to review ethics complaints against lawmakers -- makes legislators accountable to the public. And, he said, that seems to be upsetting some of them.
"If there's some uproar, it's because people do not want to be accountable," Agle said in a standing-room only hearing on the initiative at the Provo City Public Library on Wednesday night. Utahns for Ethical Government scheduled the hearing for residents of Utah, Wasatch and Summit counties.

Some legislators of course, such as Senator John Valentine, are screaming like banshees at the prospect of being reined in by citizen-driven ethics reform, just as Professor Agle predicts:

But Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem, said he saw a different tone to the initiative: Punishment.
"The idea is to punish legislators," Valentine said, his voice showing emotional strain. "As someone who has spent 21 years serving the state, and losing significant income because of it ... I feel like myself and my colleagues are on trial."

It's long time legislators like Valentine, of course, those who've enjoyed years of unrestricted benefits and perqs, who've drawn the citizens' ire. And if they don't like the new ethics reform which will result from this grass-roots citizen effort, we're sure there are many other Utah citizens who'd be gladly fill their legislative seats, happily abide by the highest ethical standards and helpfully assist legislative fat-cats like Valentine find the Utah Capitol Hill exit doors.

And while we're on the topic of this encouraging ethics reform inititative, we'll once again incorporate this Utahns For Ethical Government press release, which informs us of the upcoming UFEG public hearing which will be held in Ogden on Tuesday:

Tuesday, September 29, 2009--7-9 p.m.
Weber County
Mound Fort Middle School, Media Center
1400 Mound Fort Drive
Ogden, UT 84404

Once again we'll reiterate our plea to all WCF readers to mark their calenders and plan to be in attendance at this most important event.

More Information Regarding Last Night's Ogden City Council Sessions

The Council agrees to put a discussion of Mt. Ogden Golf Course operations back on the table

Scott Schwebke chimes in this morning with more information on last night's council sessions, reporting that the council has agreed to put issues related to Mt. Ogden Golf Course back on the discussion table in one or more future council work sessions. What seems clear from this story is that Boss Godfrey hasn't budged an iota on his crackpot scheme to bulldoze the golf course and construct his $146 million hotel/condo project at the top of Ogden's 36th street location. What also seems clear, at least to us, is that Godfrey's newly released "poll" is a mere pretext to open up another full-blown debate about Godfrey's massive golf course makeover, under the transparently mendacious guise of improving the course's financial viability.

While we see no real harm in opening up this can of worms again, we do believe there are two preliminary matters to which the council ought to devote close scrutiny:

First, we believe it's incumbent upon the council to make a determination about the validity of the underlying assumption that's the foundation of Godfrey's latest policy sales job, i.e., that the golf course is actually losing $250 thousand per year. In that connection, we suggest that the council should commission an independent audit of golf course operations, to determine once and for all whether the numbers that Godfrey has been rattling around -- numbers which indeed actually furnish the foundational assumptions for Godfrey's polling results -- are truly based in reality. We've had much discussion on this blog about the questionable methods of accounting which Godfrey has used to support his argument for his golf course/hotel/condo boondoggle; and there's good reason to believe Godfrey's figures are rigged. It's thus high time we believe, for the council to find out for themselves the true condition of the golf course balance sheet.

Secondly, we believe the council should retain an outside polling expert to carefully examine the methodology of the Godfrey poll. Although Mr. Schwebke offers a bare bones opinion of one WSU math professor that the poll's 200 person sample might be sufficient to support valid results, there are enough other apparently glaring methodological problems inherent in the poll (including the phrasing of loaded questions) that we believe this poll ought not be taken at face value, until it's been fully vetted by a polling expert who can be trusted.

And since the council has expressed its willingness to once again put a MOGC discussion back on the table, we believe the council should thoroughly examine all options. Although we have no doubt that Godfrey regards a full golf course makeover to be the only option, we believe the council should also carefully weigh those options which will be the least burdensome to the taxpayers, such as the "minimalist Plan 'B' option" presented in Frank Mcfarlane's 4/13/09 letter to the Standard-Examiner editor.

And while we're talking about less financially burdensome alternatives, we'll highlight this simple and elegant plan, lodged in one of our down-thread comments sections by gentle reader Dan S.:

Solution for golf course:
1. Write off the debt. Then annual debt service goes away, saving about $100k.
2. Start promoting the golf course instead of spending taxpayer funds to tell everyone how bad it is. Listen to the golfers for ideas on small changes that can bring in more customers. This could raise another $100k.
3. Be prepared to "subsidize" the golf course by $100k per year over the long term, since it does provide additional value to the city besides golf.
4. Fund one-time improvements to the course through RAMP grants when possible. Any city funds freed up should then be set aside for major maintenance such as repairing the sprinkler system.

And here's a question the council should consider to be even more fundamental. Ogden City already has two taxpayer burdensome and woefully incomplete Godfrey schemes languishing away in downtown Ogden, The Junction, and the River project. Do the taxpayers really need another of these half-baked projects fizzling out after great fanfare in our precious Ogden Foothills area? There's plenty of other evidence of Godfrey's ineptitude in beginning and completing ambitious projects too. Whatever the council does in the future with respect to the golf course, we believe the council needs to take Godfrey's miserable track record into account.

And here's a crucial question which ought to be considered by our Ogden City Council: Shouldn't Godfrey defer the initiation of any new projects, until he's finished what he's already started?

That's it for now gentle readers.

Who will be the first to comment?

Important Ogden City Council Meeting(s) Tonight

Boss Godfrey to release the results of his most recent bogus "poll"
Pursuant to our earlier promise, we now set up a new WCF thread, dedicated to the series of study sessions, work sessions and one formal council meeting which will be held tonight, in and around the Ogden City council chambers.

Among the most interesting issues which the council will deal with tonight is Boss Godfrey's heretofore super-secret Mount Ogden Golf Course poll, the results of which will be apparently unveiled in tonight's council work session meeting.

For those readers who missed the leadup to this, here are the two WCF articles we posted earlier on the Boss Godfrey's Secret Golf Course Poll topic:

• One Gentle Reader Tips Us Off to a Suspicious Ongoing Telephone "Poll" - 9/12/09 
• Mysterious Golf Course "Pollster" Is Unmasked - 9/21/09

As an added bonus, and in order to assist those readers who might attend tonight's council meeting(s), we're delighted to present a copy of Boss Godfrey's Ersatz Poll Questionnaire here:

• Bogus Godfrey Survey

Have at it, O Gentle Ones; don't be shy.

Comments are invited of course on this thread from any conscientious readers, especially those who attend tonight's council meeting(s).

Council Candidate Phipps Fesses Up to Another Campaign Mailer Endorsement "Error"

Today's troubling admission goes beyond mere incompetence

In the aftermath of Sunday's Weber County Forum article, the Standard-Examiner informs its general readership of the latest David Phipps campaign fowl-up, in the race for the Ogden City Council At Large Seat "B". Yessiree, it turns out that our Sunday report was correct. Mark Johnson, Management Services Director for Ogden City is another campaign mailer endorser who didn't actually endorse the local real estate development industry's favorite candidate:

• Mark Johnson endorsement on Phipps' mailer an error

So here's the tally of Phipps blunders which are publicly revealed so far (with a full 41 days remaining until the general election):

1) During the month of July, At Large "B" candidate Mr. Phipps plants scores of giant campaign signs all over Ogden, erroneously announcing that he's a candidate for Ogden Council Seat "A." Months later, some of these signs are still on display around Ogden, such as this one on the lawn in front of Provident Partners' Harrison Boulevard office:


(Sorry folks. The resolution of this cell phone image ain't so hot. Take our word for it though... the sign says "Ogden City Council Seat 'A.'")

2) 9/20/09 - Candidate Phipps admits his first campaign mailer endorsement screw-up. An honest mistake, says Phipps. Open and accountable Ogden city government is "centerpiece of [his] campaign...," Phipps reminds everyone:

• Council candidate offers apology

3) 9/22/09 - Phipps today publicly fesses up to his second campaign mailer endorsement boo-boo [ See our first link above]. Significantly, we note, this morning's story reveals that Mr. Phipps was well aware of the bogus Johnson endorsement when he confessed to the Karen Thurber "error" on 9/20/09. Yet he was silent about it until this very morning. This active and wilful suppression of important material fact leads us to wonder just what Mr. Phipps means, exactly, when he says he stands for "open and accountable Ogden city government."

Ask yourselves, gentle readers, taking into account the intentional concealment of fact which plays out in this morning's second campaign mailer "error" story, whether Phipps is a man who can be trusted with a city council seat. Today's belated admission goes beyond mere incompetence. It reveals that Mr. Phipps was willing, at least in this instance, to get by with a half truth... a lie, in other words. Ask yourselves whether Mr. Phipps would have voluntarily come clean about this latter false endorsement, if Weber County Forum hadn't flushed out the true story on Sunday.

That's it for now.

Don't let the cat get your tongues.

The Standard-Examiner Belatedly Adds An Important 2009 Election Story to It's "Live!" Website

Time to let the befuddled serial campaign blunderer David Phipps have it where it hurts?

Well Lo and behold and hallelujah! the Scott Schwebke Digital Edition story we linked within Sunday's WCF writeup, has now been published in the SE Live! website, possibly pursuant to our plaintive request:

• Council candidate offers apology

We see SE regular Flatlander has already offered a critical comment under the newly-posted SE article. Perhaps we should all likewise get over to the SE site ourselves to add our own pithy comments, eh?

Of course the SE hasn't yet chimed in on the even more revealing story we posted yesterday. We're still waiting, we confess, for the SE's reporting of the backlash from Mark Johnson, Management Services Director for Ogden City, as a result of the bungling Mr. Phipps's clumsy inadvertence in putting Mr. Johnson's name on Phipp's campaign flier endorsement list.

We're also still waiting for the Standard-Examiner's version of THAT inevitable pro Boss Godfrey spin.

Nevertheless, we ask: Isn't it time to let this befuddled loser David Phipps have it right where it hurts? Is there anyone in MattGodfreyWorld who doesm't know by now that Mr. Phipps is a complete screwup? The poor guy's raised council candidate incompetence to the highest level within recent memory, wethinks.

Oh yes, sez your humble blogmeister.

Let's hear it from our gentle readers!