Councilman Garcia Stands Up For Marshall White

Read Councilman Garcia's plaintive letter to the citizens of Emerald City below

More news this morning about Boss Godfrey's least favorite Emerald City amenity, the Marshall White Center. Ace Reporter Schwebke informs us this morning that negotiations are in progress with the Ogden-Weber Community Action Partnership nonprofit, whom Godfrey hopes will enter into an agreement to take over responsibility for operation and management of the center. The fly in the ointment? The ever-optimistic Mayor Godfrey, apparently operating in his usual "count the chickens before they are hatched" mode, has already removed MWC funding from his proposed 2010 budget, even in the absense of a binding OWCAP/Ogden City management agreement. Read Mr. Schwebke's illuminating morning writeup here:

• Garcia: Save Marshall White/Ogden councilman asks to restore funding for center

We'll offer our own take on this; and we'll be brief: Unless and until a firm and binding agreement is reached with OWCAP, with iron-clad provisions which precisely define OWCAP's rights and obligations, it would be the height of irresponsibility for the council to allow MWC funding to fall off-budget. Councilman Garcia is already complaining that the council is out of the loop regarding the ongoing OWCAP negotiations. Just imagine the possibilities for Godfrey chicanery if non-budgeted MWC funding decisions were left to the sole discretion of the Mayor's office, with necessary operational funds "sequestered" and disbursed, without council control, from another Godfrey "slush fund," at Godfrey's whim.

Among the items up on the Std-Ex website this morning is a plaintive 5/13/09 email letter addressed to the city of Ogden City, the text of which we'll incorporate here:

To the citizens of Ogden:
City funding for the Marshal White Center is at risk. The budget that has been proposed by Mayor Godfrey eliminates all City funding for the Center.
I requested information form Mayor Godfrey about his intentions for the Marshal White Center' future and have received no response from him. Then the budget came to the Council with no funding after the Mayor told citizen's in a Council meeting that it would remain open.
I am going too ask the Council to restore the funding for the Marshal White Center. Financial support for the Center from the City is critical to ensure that it remains open and continues to provide all of the current services to our community.
I urge all concerned citizens to let the Council know your opinion. Two public hearings will be held on the city's budget on May 25th and June 9th.
Jesse M. Garcia
Ogden City Councilmember
Municipal Ward 1

We're confident our gentle readers will know what to do... and they can do it here:

• Ogden City ouncil Contact Information

Before closing, we'll also make note of one unresolved bone of contention which is lightly mentioned in Mr. Schwebke's writeup. The MWC operates a swimming pool, which is currently used for a variety of existing MWC programs. The Godfrey administration is however strangely non-committal about future pool operations under prospective OWCAP management; and Patterson declines to say whether OWCAP would keep the center's pool open. In this connection we note that this morning's story reveals that OWCAP would like to add six to eight classrooms to its current MWC operation. For those who are familiar with the MWC layout, take a wild guess where those classrooms would be built. This is of course merely one of the issues which we believe ought to be resolved by written agreement, before the council agrees to alter the MWC status quo in any manner.

Don't let the cat get your tongues, O gentle ones.

Marshall White Center: Ogden Council and Boss Godfrey Remain on a Collision Course

Boss Godfrey keeps his fingers crossed... in classic Godfrey brinksmanship fashion

The Marshall White Center is again front page news this morning, with a pair of Standard-Examiner stories which indicate that the Godfrey administration and the city council remain on a collision course with respect to 2010 MWC fiscal year funding.

1) Contrary to the earlier representations of Boss Godfrey that negotiations with the OWCAP non-profit for a takeover of the center were proceeding smoothly, Ace Reporter Schwebke's morning story delivers this unsettling news:

OGDEN -- The Ogden-Weber Community Action Partnership will insist that the city continue to pay operational costs and employee salaries at the Marshall White Community Center before it agrees to run the facility.
OWCAP is interested only in managing the center's programs and can't afford to fund the facility, said Donald Carpenter, the nonprofit organization's administrator.
As a result, the city would have to continue covering the center's expenses, he said.
"We would submit monthly bills (for the center's operational expenses to the city). There would be no other choice but to walk away (from a management contract) if they won't live up to that part of the agreement."

Notwithstanding this apparent and potentially fatal negotiations glitch, Godfrey is evidently still operating on a wing and a prayer. Rather than recognizing that the administration and OWPAC yet remain some distance from a meeting of the minds, and simply reinserting $350 thousand into the 2010 budget, Godfrey has instead carved out about $168,000 from various line items from other city departments -- about half of the funding necessary to keep the MWC doors open though the 2010 fiscal year. In classic Godfrey brinksmanship fashion, the administration appears to be keeping its fingers crossed that OWPAC will eventually enter into some kind of agreement... and succeed in obtaining grant funding later in the year. And on that subject, OWCAP's own statement on the subject isn't encouraging at all:

"We might be interested in acquiring a lease (for the center) in the future as grants come together," [Laura Traum, program manager for OWCAP] said.

Time for the folks on the city council to assert themselves as the grownups in city government, we think. If Godfrey refuses to reinsert the necessary funding into the 2010 budget, the council should do so themselves.

2) In a companion story, Mr. Schwebke reports that the lumpencitizens are also forming up en masse to demand restoration of MWC funding. Read all about yesterday's NAACP rally here.

Given the current uncertain posture of Ogden City/OWCAP negotiations, we believe its unlikely that the parties will reach an agreement which is satisfactory to all involved parties and stakeholders prior to the June 26th fiscal budget approval deadline. Hopefully Boss Godfrey will take his lumps gracefully this time around.

Our compliments to Scott Schwebke this morning, by the way, for digging out and providing this most interesting material.

Standard-Examiner: Emerald City is Technically Broke

Spotlight on John Patterson's 5/14/09 "sequestered funds" gaffe: Sometimes even the most loyal and devoted key insiders will occasionally slip up and tell the truth

Fascinating Scott Schwebke followup story this morning on the Marshall White Center funding dilemma, which was the topic of yesterday's WCF article. After years of reckless administration borrowing and spending, Emerald City appears to be perched on the brink of technical insolvency. City revenue is tight for a city that's compelled to make an annual $3/4 million bond payment for an ill-conceived downtown money pit, and Godfrey asserts we're down to making some hard budgetary choices. We incorporate Mr. Schwebke's lead paragraphs below:

OGDEN -- About $350,000 would have to be trimmed from city operations to cover costs for the Marshall White Community Center if the municipality doesn't turn the facility over to Ogden-Weber Community Action Partnership, Matthew Godfrey said Thursday night.
Godfrey discussed during a city council work session the rational for eliminating funding from his proposed 2010 fiscal budget for the Marshall White Center.
As the budget was being finalized, negotiations with OWCAP for a possible take over of the center were continuing smoothly, said Godfrey. As a result, it was decided no money would be included in the budget for the Marshall White Center which would lessen the amount of severe funding cuts for other departments, he said.

It appears to us that the entire MWC operation may find itself on the chopping block unless one of the following happens:

1) The Ogden-Weber Community Action Partnership (OWCAP) nonprofit (or some other white knight) quickly comes to the rescue and assumes financial responsibility for future MWC operations;

2) The Council sends Godfrey back to his throne room on nine, instructing him to cut a further $350 thousand from his administrative budget.

If we were sitting on the Ogden City Council, we'd be strongly urging our council colleagues to adopt Plan 2. This is what the state legislature did (twice) to Governor Huntsman during the last legislative session, leading to a balanced fiscal year 2010 state budget; and we believe the city council should follow suit. What the heck. Godfrey could close the budget gap by canning three or four of his bloated and overpaid Economic Develpment Department "A" team, and nobody would notice the difference. None of them are doing anything useful these days anyway, it seems to us.

And here is by far the most interesting and revealing paragraph in this morning's Scott Schwebke's morning writeup, wethinks:

Godfrey also said John Patterson, the city's chief administrative officer, mispoke earlier this week when he told the Standard-Examiner that funds eliminated for the Marshall White Center were in a reserve account and could be restored if a deal with OWCAP fell through. In order for the city to fund the Marshall White Center money would have to be cut from other city operations, he said.

Dang rights Mr. Patterson misspoke. Neither the Council nor the public are supposed to know about "sequestered funds" or secret administration slush fund accounts. Patterson definitely put his foot in his mouth this time, much to Boss Godfrey's obvious annoyance. But assuming for speculation's sake that Patterson spoke the truth, and that such a slush fund may indeed exist, we wonder how many dollars Boss Godfrey may actually have squirreled away? Perhaps the Council should call in Ogden City Controller John Arrington to find out. The council could have him testify under oath.

Mr. Patterson's inadvertent gaffe of course illustrates the primary problem for an administration like Godfrey's, which routinely operates by stealth, secrecy and deceit. Government secrets are difficult to keep, even under the most favorable circumstances. Sometimes even the most loyal and devoted key insiders like Godfrey henchman John Patterson will occasionally slip up and inadvertanly tell the truth.

The floor is open O Gentle Ones. The world blogosphere eagerly awaits your ever-savvy comments.

Council Approves FY2010 Budget With Specific Earmarks For the Marshall White Center and Lorin Farr Swimming Pools

Council Attorney: "Boss Godfrey is obligated to follow City Council policy."

By Bill C.

One very intriguing city council budget session at City Hall. Turned into a showdown; and this time the Council didn't even blink.

As we all know, the Marshall White Center was at the center of all this; and I must say the Council truly shined.

The budget portion opened with Bill Cook giving a presentation that clearly defined the roles of the Mayor and Council in our form of government, with emphasis on the the Council's duty to set City policy. He then explained that the Mayor is obligated to follow all City policy, by statute. Since the budget is an ordinance, the Council included a clear statement of City policy with regards to the funding of the Marshall White Center, including intentions of providing a pool as well as all current levels of service.

As the discussion progressed, the mayor began to filibuster. This included of course his usual assault on Jesse with his claim that the Council had been informed all along the way, for about 20 minutes. Finally Amy impressed on him that in order to get anywhere they must move on. After a couple more interruptions by the mayor the discussion progressed. When the mayor next interrupted, he again made threats and warnings that the Council was heading for a train wreck.

Finally, when the discussion was clearly focused on the legality of what was being discussed, the Council's own lawyer, Craig Hall, came to the podium. Not only did he explain the law regarding the Council's proposed action, he questioned the legality of how the mayor conducted this contract, pointed out how the mayor didn't follow proper procedure and that the city attorney Buck Froerer made mistakes with the contract. Gary Williams couldn't counter, so he proceeded to ask for an opinion on the hypothetical assumption that had everything been done properly, and due to the fact that the contract had already been signed, what takes precedent. "Policy," said the council's attorney... "the mayor is obligated to follow City Council policy."

After more discussion, in which Brandon Stevenson made a complete lackey of himself, the Council voted on the amendment which earmarked full funding to the MWC for the fiscal year 2010. The amendment passed.

For good measure, Caitlin offered another amendment along the same lines for the Lorin Farr pool, also earmarking funds as a matter of policy... it also passed.

You can be very proud of your Council tonight folks.

Two other things of note: Gary Neilson (Golds Gym) spoke about how the city should not compete with the private sector when it come to non essential services. Funny he never offered to extend a deal at a reduced rate to the affected seniors or poor that make up a significant portion of the clientele of the MWC.

And last but not least, I rather doubt Schwebke will mention that the mayor included in his threats, on more than one occasion, how much this will "cost the residents" if the Council goes through with this.

In his narcissistic, egocentric and petulant state of being, he went after the people of Ogden. They'll pay for this, he said.

Sweet.

Update 6/17/09 7:15 a.m. MT: Don't miss Scott Schwebke's own post-meeting writeup over on the Std-Ex live website, which gentle reader WACWB linked in the lower comments section during the wee hours:

• Godfrey: Council on collision course / OWCAP to manage Marshall White, to receive $337,450 from Ogden

All in all, we believe that Mr. Schwebke did a pretty good good job of laying out the facts and capturing Boss Godfrey's anger and angst, now that the council has drawn a firm line in the Emerald City political sand. Once again we hope our readers will also mosey on over there to lodge a few savvy remarks.

Update 6/17/09 9:27 a.m. MT: The Deseret News is following this story too:

• Ogden Council fully funds Marshall White Community Center, expects veto

Have at it, O Gentle Ones...

Scott Schwebke Fleshes Out the Boss Godfrey 2010 Budget Veto Story

Added bonus: Supplementary supporting documents

By Dan S.

Scott Schwebke's article on the budget veto, which WCF reported yesterday, is now up on the Standard-Examiner web site.

In addition, the S-E has posted a fascinating 13-page memo, outlining the mayor's legal arguments. It'll take some time for us all to digest this, but here are a few points:

1) The mayor is trying to veto the policy language on the MWC, Lorin Farr Pool, and golf courses without vetoing their actual appropriations. Whether he can do this is legally questionable, because his line-item veto applies only to appropriations. The memo cites some case law (from other states) on this question. However, putting aside the legality question, this tactic will make it harder for the council to find the votes to override the veto.

2) The mayor is claiming that the council must take a single up-or-down vote on overriding his veto, rather than separate votes on the three separate policy items. (His reasoning on this makes no sense to me at all.)

3) The mayor gives multiple reasons why he believes the policy language is illegal in the first place, under state law. We've heard most of these before. If the council doesn't override his veto, these legal issues will probably be moot for the time being. But make no mistake: The mayor is claiming here that he has the unilateral power to dispose of city recreational facilities, and that the council can do nothing to stop him.

Editor's addendum: A coupla added points:

1) Godfrey's memo also cites and relies upon a 1978 Utah Supreme Court decision, Martindale v. Anderson, an electronic copy of which we just happened to already have available on our storage site.

2) Notably, Mr. Schwebke also reports that the matter will be set for next week's Tuesday council calendar, although a possible override vote may not actually happen before early August:

The veto is set to be officially presented to the city council at its meeting Tuesday, said Bill Cook, the council's executive director. However, a vote on the veto won't likely occur until the council's Aug. 4 meeting, he said.

Although Mr. Schwebke doesn't provide information to account for this delay, we'll assume the time lag is intended to provide time for the Council's attorney, Mr. Hall, to review Mr. Godfrey's Gary Williams neoCON rants legal arguments and to prepare his own counter-memo.

Significantly though, the projected August 4 veto override date falls well beyond the July 15, 2009 municipal election filing deadline.

So, as we see it, that's just one more reason, we think, for civic minded Ogden Ward 3 residents to seriously consider filing for the Ward 3 council seat, in which council incumbent Doug Stephens presently stands unopposed. Our view is that it certainly wouldn't hurt to have a hungry Ward 3 council challenger or two looking over councilman Stephens' shoulder, (or breathing down his neck, as the case may be.)

Who will be the first to comment?

OWCAP Curtly Rejects the City Council's Management Agreement Modification Overtures

Query: Did Councilwoman Wicks and Council Director Cook secretly elope last week?

Well... three days have elapsed since our last Marshall White/FY 2010 update, and according to this morning's Scott Schwebke story, there have been no buzzer-beating breakthroughs or compromises. Negotiations apparently remain at an impasse. Nobody has evidently been successful in pulling that rabbit out of their hat.

Although Mr. Schwebke reports that Council Chair Wicks took the initiative, and transmitted a letter to OWCAP, respectfully requesting an amendment to the Godfrey/OWCAP management agreement/lease, to provide continuing pool operations beyond January, 2010, OWCAP Chairman George Garwood responded with the diplomatical equivalent of "Go to Hell!" (...or worse.)

Adding insult to injury, we invite our readers to Ms. Wicks' letter and Chairman Garwood's curt response, wherein his rude two paragraph slap-down is addressed not to Council Chair "Amy Wicks," but rather to to somebody named "Amy Cook." (Perhaps it's possible that Councilwoman Wicks and Council Director Bill Cook eloped last week, although we don't believe this is a real possibility... inasmuch as Mr. Cook has one wife already.)

Although we don't want to make a big deal out of this probable clerical error, we do believe this Garwood gaffe provides a helpful glimpse into George Garwood's administrative sloppiness, which can't possibly bode well for his organization's future management of the Marshall White Center.

And back in his city hall ninth floor throne room, Boss Godfrey is reportedly gloating at the mischief he's made, wherein the council has been successfully painted into a corner, and now seems to be leaning toward funding the MWC for the full 2010 fiscal year. A big spender like Godfrey of course can't conceive of any reason the council might want to provide an economic cushion for the fledgling MWC new management, as it embarks upon MWC operations in an admittedly underfunded present condition, with $3.2 million "hoped for grants" remaining yet unfulfilled.

The Council meets tonight to approve the city's final FY2010 budget. In this connection, we invite anyone who might attend tonight's meeting to provide us a report of tonight's results, via the lower comments section.

Speaking of reader comments... the floor's open.

Standard-Examiner: OWCAP's Management of Marshall White Center to Continue for 3 Years

All's well that ends well... as the old saying goes

Good news from the Standard-Examiner this morning, whereby Scott Schwebke reports that despite its tumultuous initial startup, private contractor Ogden-Weber Community Action Partnership (OWCAP) is happily succeeding in its management effort at the Marshall White Center, and has even upped the ante, with a newly-inked three-year management contract:

OGDEN -- The city has extended a three-year contract to the Ogden-Weber Community Action Partnership for continued management of the Marshall White Community Center.John Patterson, the city's chief administrative officer, and George Garwood, chairman of OWCAP's board of trustees, signed the management agreement Monday during a ceremony at the center, 222 28th St., in conjunction with Black History Month.OWCAP, which has been managing the Marshall White Community Center for the city on an interim basis since June, has made the facility more vibrant and popular with residents, Patterson told dozens of spectators. "It's just enlivened this facility."

Read the full Std-Ex story here:

• OWCAP's management of Marshall White Center to continue for 3 years

Regular readers will of course remember the OWCAP management runup, during which Boss Godfrey negotiated the original contract in secret, ran headlong into fierce community opposition, and was eventually thwarted in his efforts to close the pool and cut city funding to MWC by a city council budget ordinance which contained a council policy statement mandating that the pool would remain open and that MWC funding would continue to flow into MWC operations. And who can forget the ensuing further antics of the petulant Boss Godfrey, who vetoed the council ordinance, suffered a subsequent veto override, threw several highly-inelegant public temper tantrums and then vowed that he would not obey council policy directives and would instead see the city council in court?

Well... fast forward to February 23, 2010... from which vantage point it seems the OWCAP management operation is evidently running smooth as silk, funding is flowing from city coffers to keep MWC operational (No gentle readers, OWCAP never scored the $450 thousand federal grant it applied for), and Boss Godfrey sits back in his ninth floor throne room slowly digesting the nutritious dinner which was served up to him by the City Council grownups during the year 2009:


All's well that ends well... as the old saying goes.

Council To Consider Veto Override Tonight - Updated

A rare opportunity for the Council to clarify and redefine the nature of Administration/Council relations

Thumbnail update: Boss Godfrey's veto is overridden, 5-2

This morning's Standard-Examiner edition affords another opportunity to again remind our readers of tonight's city council meeting, wherein the council will consider overriding Mayor Godfrey's veto of the policy statements contained in the Ogden City 2010 fiscal year budget. Scott Schwebke does a good job of framing the issues in his morning writeup:

• Council to review Godfrey veto items

As Ogden City political wonks are well aware, the ultimate outcome of tonight's council confrontation is of crucial importance to the citizens of Ogden City, inasmuch as it will not only determine the mode of operations of the Marshall White Center during the 2010 fiscal year, but also define the nature of administration/council political relations for the remaining balance of Mayor Godfrey's current mayoral term... and well beyond.

Item #10 on tonight's council agenda provides the Ogden City council the opportunity to reassert itself as the policy making body of Ogden City, a legislatively designated role which the council has sadly abdicated and neglected over the years. If the council fails to assert itself as the body of municipal government which will henceforth set broad overall city policy regarding the operation of city amenities such as the MWC, Lorin Farr Park and the Mount Ogden Golf Course, for example, the council will be destined to travel a very rough and rocky road over the next 2-1/2 years indeed.

In this connection, we'll once again provide our WCF council contact link, in the expectation our readers won't be shy in politely expressing to their elected council representatives their recommendations concerning tonight's proposed veto override :

• Contact Local Officials - Ogden City

As for tonight's council session, we'll advise everyone to get themselves to the council chambers early, as we have reason to believe it'll be a packed house of steely-eyed lumpencitzens in attendance, torches and pitchforks in hand.

And if you can't attend tonight's council session, be sure to check back here after the council session starts. We do anticipate that we'll have live realtime updates available, one way or another.

In the meantime, we invite your reader comments. There's much to discuss in re this topic this morning, we believe.

Update 8/4/09 5:24 p.m. MT: Having heard nothing from any of our WCF regulars about providing our own independent blog updates from the council chambers, and having promised to provide at least something in the nature of a live realtime council meeting play-by-play, we'll adopt and incorporate the "tweets" of The Standard's Ace Reporter Schwebke here. Mr. Schwebke is already apparently situated inside the council chambers, ready to report. If all goes according to plan, our readers can follow Mr. Schwebke's live reporting, by opening and periodically "refreshing" the Twitter page linked here:

• Reporter Scott Schwebke tweets tonight from Ogden City Council meeting

Stand by, gentle readers. This is bound to be most interesting.

Update 8/4/09 6:13 p,m. MT: Wonder of wonders, it seems that WCF Regulars Jim Hutchins and Dan Schroeder are also both stationed inside the council chambers, posting their own live updates in our comments section. Dang. This is gonna be REALLY good, wethinks!

P.S.: In view of the above, and considering the proven capability of these two fellas, we have the sneaking suspicion that Mr. Schwebke will be seriously out-gunned in tonight's realtime reporting free-for-all.

Update 8/4/09 7:25 p.m. MT: The veto is overridden, 5-2. For further details, check out our lower comments section.