Boss Godfrey Gets Back Into Eminent Domain Mode

Eminent Domain still remains in Boss Godfrey's "Socialist Bag of Tricks"

For those gullible and politically-unsavvy ones amongst us who seem to believe that Boss Godfrey may have possibly abandoned his grand socialist tendencies, and is softening his iron-handed tyrannical approach, we have news for you all:

During the last month, Boss Godfrey, (coincidentally the winner of the Ogden Joe Stalin Lookalike Contest), has been notifying building owners along Washington Boulevard, in the area between 23d and 24th, that he's about to "take" their land by eminent domain. Godfrey wants to have the RDA Board declare that area "blighted," according to property owner reports which we've received.

The "Blighted" designation, of course means that Godfrey could now exercise the once-banned government Utah power of Municipal Eminent Domain, which evil power his thoroughly-twisted GOP NeoCON cousin, Scott Jenkins (R-Plain City), helped resurrect in Utah in 2007.

Thankfully, the matter regarding the preposterous 23d-24th Street "blight matter" has now been taken off the RDA calender by the Smart People on the Council/RDA Board, apparently:

6. Notice: (No Action)
a. Ogden East Washington Urban Renewal Area within the East Central Survey Area. The previously scheduled public hearing regarding the proposed East Washington Urban Renewal Project Area for January 12, 2010 has been cancelled. Public notice will be provided again 30 days in advance of the rescheduled public hearing.

Nevertheless, don't ever think that property owners in the area weren't sweating bullets for several weeks about this Big Godfrey Socialist Land-grab, thanks to our Big-Time Socialist Mayor, Boss Godfrey. And don't think for a moment that they won't be even more righteously ticked off, once our tyrannical right-wing socialist mayor gets the matter back on the RDA calender, which he reportedly will do.

We've heard several property owners in that area who severely complained about this, and we'll add that these properties are objectively not "blighted" under even fuzzy definitions of that legalistic term. Details like that don't seem to effect the little socialist shite, however, when he's planning to take properties away from Ogden property owners, and re-distribute them to his crony "friends."

We dunno about the rest of you people; but we at WCF don't believe any of these admittedly vacant, but high-quality properties qualify to be absorbed into another Godfrey-driven "blighted" RDA Project.

Watch out for Boss Godfrey! He'll again have his Washington Blvd. land-grab up again on the RDA calender very soon!

We already believe he's moved into "bunker mentality", BTW, now that his Godfrey-rubber-Stamp-Council WASN'T elected in November 2009.

Gotta say it's sad to see the little fellow now "melting down."

Until we find him "vacationing" down there in "Scenic Draper," (along with his pal Val Southwick) however, we don't think he should be under-estimated.

So what say our gentle readers about all this?

More Drivel From the Godfreyite Cheerleaders

Justin Eccles puts in a subtle plug for his council candidate neoCON kid

The Boss Godfrey Campaign Letter Mill is again churning full steam, with two more Godfrey rah-rah letters in this morning's Standard-Examiner. Godfreyite Justin Eccles (proud papa of council candidate Royal "Pain" Eccles) touts Boss Godfrey's "successful record" here; and Godfreyite letters-to-the-editor regular Bob Ballantyne spews his usual bone-headed drivel here (yawn).

Both letters propound what we assume will be the general major theme of Boss Godfrey's 2007 campaign: Boss Godfrey is responsible for everything good that's happening in our formerly pleasant and somewhat sleepy town.

The claim that Godfrey is solely responsible for economic revival in Ogden is nearly identical to another keystone claim in the Boss Godfrey re-election arsenal: that Boss Godfrey is responsible for lowering the crime rate in Ogden. Of course that theme was thoroughly demolished last Tuesday on this very blog.

In that connection, we ask the question: Is the "Boss Godfrey the Economic Savior" theme susceptible to the same method of analysis as the now debunked "Godfrey the Crime-fighter" theme? The answer, we think, is "yes."

First, this latest self-serving Boss Godfrey claim is likewise founded upon the same post hoc logical fallacy. The fact that our town's seeming renaissance is happening during Godfrey's watch actually permits no logical inference re causation at all.

And looking toward broad economic circumstances, we find that the "rising tide" of economic revival is actually a phenomenon that's being experienced all across the state, not merely in Ogden City. Although we don't have data specific to Ogden, we'll speculate, reasonably we think, that the figures reflecting "boom times" in Ogden would be quite similar to those demonstrated elsewhere in Utah. A rising tide lifts all boats, after all.

Would Boss Godfrey claim full credit for economic circumstances plainly not of his own making? Isn't he the guy with more integrity than anyone in the room?

Never mind. We already know the answer to that.

Before we turn over the floor, we'll raise a few sub-issues, just to get the discussion ball rolling:

1) Unlike most cities in Utah which are reaping the benefits of Utah's booming economy, Boss Godfrey has been simultaneously creating public debt like a madman. Whereas other Utah communities will be reaping the benefits of a hot Utah economy without the burdens of massively-increased public debt, Emerald City will be paying off bonds into our grand kids' generation. Will Boss Godfrey's recent massive public expenditures for risky projects like the rec center pay off during the lifetime of the supporting debt instruments? Or will the taxpayers of Ogden ultimately be "on the hook," when the "boom times" turn to "slack times" (as they inevitably do)? How long into the 20-year bonding pay-down term, we ask, will Salomon Center patrons remain interested in novelty gimmicks like this?

2) We grow weary of the continuing claims of elements within the Godfreyite faction (like Mr. Ballantyne) that our current city council is in any way "obstructionist" with respect to Boss Godfrey's "pet projects." From our point of view, there is little difference between our last city council, which quietly "rubber-stamped" everything that Boss Godfrey brought to the table, and the current council, which usually approves virtually everything Godfrey wants. The current council makes a little more noise than the previous council in the process, but ultimately "rolls over" and delivers in a manner similar to the last council, in our view.

3) Isn't it about time "certain people" abandoned Mr. Eccles's right wing-socialist (neoCON) notion that a "municipal government" is, or should be regarded as a "business?" The differences in form and function between "government" and "private business" are stark and palpable. We believe it's high time for our city government to get out of the real estate development business, and all other businesses which compete with private enterprise. We also suggest that Mr. Eccles's ludicrous business analogy be summarily tossed into the dumpster -- along with his thoroughly-botched Godfreyite kid.

And what say you, gentle readers?

Talk about whatever floats your boat.

Boss Godfey Proposes "Zeroing Out" the Ogden RDA Bank Account

This is what happens when brain-dead citizens elect a mayor with zero business experience

Disquieting article in this morning's Standard-Examiner, regarding Ogden City's River Front Development Project. Scott Schwebke this morning reports that Evil Boss Godfrey has found almost $1 million languishing in the Emerald City RDA's bank accounts; and in true Godfrey fashion, the little shite wants to spend every dime of it. It's a short article, so what the hell, we'll incorporate Ace Reporter Schwebke's full text below:

OGDEN — The city’s Redevelopment Agency Board agreed Tuesday night to hold a public hearing next month to consider increasing its budget by $895,368 to acquire properties for the proposed Ogden River Project.
The hearing will be held Sept. 23. Following the hearing, the RDA board, made up of the city council, may consider allocating for the river project housing funds that have accumulated and weren’t transferred in fiscal 2003, 2004 and 2005.
The funds would be used for property acquisition within the project’s boundaries, said Dave Harmer, who is the city’s director of community and economic development.
“We are trying to move forward with remaining properties in negotiating options on behalf of the RDA or closing (the purchase) on some of them,” Harmer told the Standard-Examiner. The RDA still needs to obtain more than a dozen commercial properties within the river project area, Harmer said. However, the $895,368 isn’t adequate to finalize all of the purchases. “It’s nowhere near enough, but it’s all we’ve got,” he said. All told, the river project will encompass about 60 acres that straddle the Ogden River from 18th to 20th streets and Washington Boulevard west to Wall Avenue and will be a mix of residential, commercial and retail development, said Harmer.
Gadi Leshem, a developer from California, plans to construct a 200-unit development, dubbed Renaissance Village, along the Ogden River in connection with the project.
The development would include shops, lofts, townhomes, apartments and restaurants.

Seems to us we have several problems here:

1) Boss Godfrey's Riverfront project is bogged down. The Ogden RDA lacks the money to acquire ALL of the necessary properties, so the Godfrey plan seems to be to drain all available RDA funds, and assemble these properties "piecemeal."

2) Godfrey has established with the Riverfront Project an ever-increasing money pit. Realistically, this grandiose project cannot move forward unless all targeted properties are acquired by the Ogden RDA. Yet Godfrey poposes that the RDA "zero out" the RDA bank account.

3) Godfrey's economic savior Gadi Leshem seems to have gone into hiding. We haven't read anything about Gadi since this story, which reported that Gadi was on the hook for $6.3 million in restitution to the California Insurance Commissioner.

4) Dozens of property owners within the Riverfront Development have been held in economic limbo since Boss Godfrey first designated their neighborhood as part of his right wing socialist River Front Development scam. For many of them it's been at least three years.

One of the factors that RDA board members should consider is whether at least some of these property-owning innocents should just be bought out, and finally let off the hook.

We'll add snarkily that this situation is one more reason that we all need to reconsider the business qualifications of our little-shite mayor, whose only experience in business (prior to being elected Ogden's Mayor) involved being a pizza delivery boy, before his father-in-law Ed Allen loaned him $30 thousand for his initial campaign run in 1999.

Its should be obvious to all of us that Godfrey bit off a little more than he could chew with the Ogden River Project, just as he's done with several other mindlessly ill-conceived other projects.

As we examine the languishing River Project, our memory turns to this:

This is how the now-floundering Junction Project looked for 44 months under Godfrey's command, almost FOUR FRIGGIN YEARS after he demolished the Downtown Mall:

The clock is ticking... and Boss Godfrey continues his efforts to acquire the whole Riverfont Development parcel, even though "moneyman" Gadi has obviously "flown the coop."

HA-HA!

We're going to assume that Godfrey's River project will move along at about the same relative pace.

So what say our gentle readers about all this?

Wednesday Morning "Chewables"

Worthy topics carved out from this morning's news

Although Councilwoman Jeske gave us our first heads-up on this story last night in the lower article comments section, there's a same-topic article on the Standard-Examiner front page this morning which deserves a front page spotlight. Specifically, Ace Reporter Schwebke reports that the Emerald City Council rolled over yet again at last night's meeting, and approved a $288,000 handout to another set of "Friends of Matt Godfrey" ("FOM").

It's unclear from our reading of this article what portion of these public funds are outright "grants" (the terminology used in the article), and what part will be derived from loans, funded by means of city-issued debt securities (revenue bonds), or other similar debt instruments. Weber County residents should take note: What is clear is that at least the reported tax increment financing portion of this latest FOM welfare scheme will divert tax dollars from the revenue stream of the various taxing authorities within Weber County. If you're complaining about Weber County property tax increases, folks, and looking for somebody to blame, you need look no further than Ogden City government to find a few of the culprits.

Regardless of what the financial "structuring" may be however in this instance, we yet again observe the action of a city council which behaves as if it's still absolutely necessary to pay investors to invest in Emerald City -- a council which slavishly bends over backwards for any FOM who arrives in town looking for a handout.

And to those hopelessly uninformed individuals who wax on in the Std-Ex letters section about our current city council's "business unfriendliness," we submit that last night's welfare-for-the-rich vote is merely just the latest example (in a long line of examples) of a city legislature whose "pro-business" attitude toward FOM's borders upon "fawning" and "slavish".

In another item, Std-Ex correspondent Tanna Woods reports that the City of Clearfield is moving full speed ahead to emulate the right wing socialist policies of the mayoral administration here in MattGodfreyWorld. Our old favorites Lewis, Young, Robertson & Burningham have been retained by that city to prepare a study, with the goal of imposing universal residential-rental business licenses and a mandatory "good landlord" program upon the lumpenlandlords of our neighboring city. In the brave new world of the neoCONS, property owners are considered unfit to manage their own properties, without the benevolent guiding hand of nanny government. Move over Matt Godfrey. It seems the city administration of Clearfield has thrown its hat into the ring for top honors in the "Joe Stalin Lookalike Contest."

And quite predictably, we find another Boss Godfrey endorsement letter arriving within the pages of the Standard-Examiner, via the Boss Godfrey Re-election Letter Mill. The latest set of dumb pro-Godfrey rationalizations come from former Godfrey council supplicant Fasi Filiaga. Among the list of reasons that Councilman Filiaga supports Boss Godfrey is Emerald City's purportedly "lowered crime rate." That factually-unsupported Godfrey "whopper" was of course thoroughly demolished yesterday on this very blog.

Mr. Filiaga also takes a not-so-subtle "cheap shot" at mayoral candidate Neil Hansen, for failing to show up at a recent Boss Godfrey campaign pep rally at the state capitol (Gov. Huntsman didn't show up either). It was at this contrived "meeting" that Boss Godfrey - for the very first time that we're aware - expressed interest in securing state funding for the long-sought Ogden Veteran's Home. What Mr. Filiaga fails to mention however is the Neil Hansen wasn't invited to the aforementioned "Godfreyites only" political sideshow/stunt. Moreover, Mr. Filiaga seems unaware of the basic truth: The idea of using state funds for the construction of a Veterans' Home was Representative Hansen's idea in the first place.

Sheesh!

We're not going to be too hard on councilman Filiaga however. As we all know, he hasn't been at his best lately, so to speak, if you know what we mean (and we think you do.)

Have at it gentle readers.

Breaking: Boss Godfrey's NOT Running Again

We'll update this article through the day, as additional news stories roll in

Just got off the phone. Word's just in. According to one of our gentle readers (Neil Hansen) who attended this morning's municipal building press conference...

Godfrey's NOT runnin' again.

We'll update this article through the day, as additional news stories roll in.

Update 3/31/11 10:53 a.m.: Read Godfrey's pre-press conference announcement obtained and submitted a coupla minutes ago by Dan Schroeder:

• Boss Godfrey 3/31/10 Announcement

Update 3/31/11 11:19 a.m.: The Standard-Examiner is now carrying this politically-uplifting story too:

• Godfrey won't run for fourth term

Update 3/31/11 3:37 p.m.: The Salt Lake Tribune is also now running a version of the this story, which includes a series of weird, pro-Godfrey reader comments, touting the big spending right wing socialist Boss Godfrey as some kinda outgoing local hero:

• Ogden mayor will not seek 4th term

Looks like time for some of us who know the real story to get online and set the record straight.

Update 3/31/11 9:00 p.m.: For some genuinely creepy video footage of yesterday's press conference, view the KSL News and Standard-Examiner sites:

• Ogden mayor will not seek a 4th term
• Mayor Matthew Godfrey to Retire

Standard-Examiner: Utah's Radical History May Surprise Some - Updated

Nosiree folks. Socialism is nothing new to Utah, or to Ogden City, for that matter

We'd like to call our gentle readers' attention to a top-notch Standard-Examiner story appearing in the S-E online edition this morning, wherein the multi-journalistically-talented and seemingly tireless Doug Gibson provides yet another fantastic "special feature" piece which goes far beyond his "editorial page editor" job description. We've railed consistently over the years about the tradition and current practice of "socialism" around these parts. Well, in that connection, Mr. Gibson has done some serious research and just plain ole diggin', and provides this morning a wonderful historical essay about the history of socialism in Ogden City, and other Utah places hereabout. Nosiree folks, Comrades Godfrey, Stephenson and Safsten, et al. are not the first Utah politicians to advocate and practice the use of the coercive power of government to promote central government-planned social engineering objectives.

Read up, folks:

• Utah's radical history may surprise some

Mr. Gibson's column also mentions that "one ancestor of today's Standard-Examiner newspaper, the Ogden Standard, ran a weekly socialist column for several years, and for a couple of years ran dueling weekly columns from the Socialist Party and the more radical Socialist Labor Party." This interesting information tidbit was also discussed in some detail, along with the socialist activist Kate Hilliard, (whom Mr. Gibson also mentions), in the below-linked Standard-Examiner online video, which originally appeared embedded within a June 29, 2008 online SE story:

• 120-year History of the Standard-Examiner

Although Mr. Gibson's fact narrative doesn't completely dovetail with that of of the SE video, (the video describes Glasmann's Standard as a Republican-partisan newspaper, and the Examiner as Ogden's socialist-leaning newspaper - [fast forward to 3:23]), Mr. Gibson also does refer to what appears to be at least one of his primary sources, for those readers who may seek to clear up any factual discrepancies regarding this fascinating topic:

• History of Utah Radicalism: Startling, Socialistic, and Decidedly Revolutionary

Mr. Gibson's morning essay is an informative read, all-in-all; and if you'd like to further extract the historical details of the history of socialism in Utah yourself from at least one other scholarly viewpoint, you can also order the book from Amazon.com, via the above link.

Nosiree folks. Socialism is nothing new to Utah, nor to Ogden City, for that matter. The only difference these days, it seems, is that local politicians now seem to practice the right wing version, rather than the "lefty" Marxist style of the late 19th and early-to-mid 20th centuries.

Interesting side note, also from the above-linked video: It seems the Standard-Examiner survived possible economic extinction in February of 1893, by engaging in some good old fashioned Republican-style "union busting" and "'scab' hiring practices." Imagine that.

And we'll add that while we don't know what The Standard is paying Doug Gibson for the huge volume of consistently excellent quality material that he produces, both in print and online, we're quite certain that it can't be enough in this modern age of struggling print journalism.

That's it for now, O Gentle Readers.

Who'll be the first to dive in with their own savvy comments?

Update 11/15/11 9:25 a.m.: John S. McCormick and John R. Sillito will discuss their book A History of Radicalism: Startling, Socialists, and Decidedly Revolutionary at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in the Hetzel-Hoellein Room of the Stewart Library, WSU, 3848 Harrison Blvd., Ogden. This is a free event.

• WSU author examines longing; authors discuss Utah's socialistic past

Big Emerald City RDA Meeting Tomorrow Night!

If you decide to attend tomorrow night's RDA session, be sure to bring along your steely eyes and flaming torches, etc.

For the sake of those readers who haven't been carefully watching their calenders, we'll helpfully provide a quick reminder of an important matter which is set for tomorrow's Ogden RDA Board agenda:

• Ogden City Redevelopment Agency Agenda - April 13, 2010 at 6:00 p.m.

Specifically, the only substantive item on tomorrow night's RDA calender is the Godfrey Administration's latest pet project, i.e., to enact "proposed resolution 2010-1, making a finding of blight (in preparation for a possible subsequent eminent domain condemnation action) in the area encompassing a full 4 downtown city blocks in the heart of Ogden's Central Business District, from 20th to 24th; and east from Washington to Adams Avenue."

We've previously discussed this matter at length on Weber County Forum; and we'll add that we've also heard from one affected downtown property owner who resides in the U.S. south-land, that he'll be driving cross-country (8 hours) to attend this Boss Godfrey RDA Dog-and Pony Show, to defend his individual property rights on Tuesday night.

What a shame it is that an out-of-town investor who put his money on the line, demonstrated his faith in Ogden's future, and purchased an investment property in Boss Godfrey's BossGodfreyWorld, is now compelled to travel half-way across the North American continent to Ogden, to defend his investment against Godfrey and his evil, land-grabbing, money-grubbing, right-wing socialist cabal.

No?

We do believe tomorrow night's meeting will be extremely interesting.

If you decide to attend tomorrow night's RDA session, be sure to bring along your steely eyes, popcorn, torches and pitchforks. Cymbals, cow-bells and megaphones might also be in order too, just to keep the Sleepy Gochnour 2010-11 Council from snoozing through the whole proceeding:

The "Villagers" prepare to "lobby" Boss Godfrey & the Gochnour Council

That's our take; and we're stickin' to it. Other "sadly misguided viewpoints" will also be entertained here on WCF, of course, as a result of our unrelenting courtesy.

So what say our gentle readers about all this?

Standard-Examiner Letter: Don't Vote Simply for 'Anti-Godfrey-ites'

We're happy to observe that one familiar Brandon "Sockpuppet" Stephenson supporter is apparently back on the public bandwagon again, supporting her favorite right-wing socialist candidate, this time as he campaigns for the Ogden City Mayor's slot

Although your blogmeister had initially decided to take the day off, we've now decided to come indoors to beat the heat and devote a little electronic ink to one of the 2011 Municipal campaign topical letters appearing in this morning's Standard-Examiner. Specifically, we'd like to direct our readers' attention to the below-linked letter from Ogden resident Monalisa Wald, who urges Ogden voters to "get passed (sic) any "anti-Godfreyite" biases they may have toward any of the candidates , thoroughly do their research, and to vote for the best qualified candidate for the next Ogden City Mayor":

• Don't vote simply for 'anti-Godfrey-ites'

Ms. Wald's truly unique moniker struck a vaguely familiar note with us, and with a little Googling early this morning, Lo and Behold, we stumbled upon a four-year-old 2007 SE Ogden City Election story, announcing that Ms. Wald had, in early July 2007, "filed to [ostensibly] unseat [Ogden Ward 2 Council] incumbent Brandon Stephenson":

• Candidates filling election slots - Filing deadline is July 16

That's right, gentle readers. Ms. Wald appears to be the same individual who stood in as a bogus place-holding Ward 2 "Stalking Horse" candidate in an obvious effort to discourage other contenders from challenging Boss Godfrey's loyal brown-noser Brandon "Sockpuppet" Stephenson in the 2007 Ogden Municipal Elections race. Ogden City political wonks, (especially those of us who oppose the "Godfreyite" formula of corporate welfare, multi-million dollar borrowing and spending , and the financing of crackpot, Stalinesque public projects on the taxpayers' backs), will of course also well remember what happened after the lapse of the July 16, 2007 candidate filing deadline... when Ms. Wald promptly dropped out of the 2007 Ward 2 council race, leaving "The Sockpuppet" unopposed in the both the ensuing 2007 primary and general election balloting.

Anybody wanna take a wild guess whom Ms. Wald believes to be "the best qualified candidate for the next Ogden City Mayor?"

It's great to hear from the ever-sly and mendacious Ms. Wad again; and we're happy to observe that she's apparently back on the public bandwagon again, supporting her favorite right-wing socialist candidate, this time as he campaigns for the Ogden City Mayor's slot.

So who will be the first to throw in their own $.02 this toasty Sunday afternoon? We do believe we'll now go station ourself beside the nearest air conditioning vent.

Stupid Legislator Tricks -- Updated

Senator Scott Jenkins's SB 210 was KILLED this morning in committee. May it rest in peace. And may Senator Scott Jenkins (R -alleged) of Plain City, "Republican" so-called, converse with his inner "still small voice," "repent of his Big Governent sins," and quit hanging out with the vile neoCON Godfrey crowd from now on. Methinks the erstwhile Senator dodged a bullet here, as the November election approaches. Let's just say the members of the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee gently saved him from making a great political blunder, and having his ass publicly kicked on the Senate floor -- within newspaper eyeview of his Republican constituents -- who would hear from their newspaper that he's the Godfreyite lacky who tried to revive eminent domain in Utah.

Senator Jenkins will be running for re-election in November, BTW, as our gentle readers may intuit from reading the preceding paragraph. And as Weber County Forum denizens will also remember, this bill was drafted at the request of Matt Godfrey, in the vile bowels of the neoCON Godfrey Administration, to punish feisty "little old ladies"who are willing to allocate their personal resources to advocate -- and successfully litigate --property rights protection for all of us.

Did Scott Jenkins dodge a bullet? Is he REALLY a TRUE Republican? Or is he a socialist who registers Republican, like so many totally flummoxed Utah Big Government socialists do these days? Does the fact that he owns a businesss blocks away from the WalMart project have anything to do with influencing his commie-style Big-Brother legislation? What the hell is wrong with him anyway, we ask?

What say we Weber County Forum readers about this?

Could there be a "taking down" of a neoCON schlump like Scott Jenkins in the works?

Here's the short answer: Yes.

Update 2/11/06 5:22 p.m. MT: Your humble blogmeister talked with erstwile Sen. Scott Jenkins by phone today. In his favor, he admits he "killed his own" "eminent domain rebirth bill," yesterday.

In truth, though, he has no shame about this bill, so he gains no points from property rights activists for being temporarirly hoodwinked. He admits he "horsetraded" it away in exchange for other legislative favors, and will introduce the bill again next year.

Hold your noses, folks. There's a dyed-in-the wool Big Government neoCON "RINO" Republican Senator operating out of Plain City. He knows exactly what he's doing; and he appreciates and understands the political obvious political risks. This is what happens, I suppose, when the owner of a plumbing supply store mysteriously gets elected to the State Senate. His nose is immune to bad smells, I suppose.

I'll give him a "hat tip" for being a totally honest Big Government Socialist, at least, I guess.

Standard-Examiner: Godfrey Trip Yields "Connections"

How does bringing cheap Chinese toys help Ogden?

By Ray

The Standard Examiner features this Top of Utah section story today:

• Godfrey trip yields connections

First, I doubt this 5 day trip only cost $2000 in public money. Second, how does bringing cheap Chinese toys help Ogden? Stocking stimulus funded Outlet Stores on Washington Blvd? Yeah, that will put Ogden on the map. Just like the unnamed potential outlet store businesses, the Chinese connections are Godfrey's secret. These "free market" Utah politicians (like Godfrey) sure like to use taxpayer funded junkets and stimulus dollars to pump up their supporters while whining about "socialist health care" for US citizens.

Who will be the first to comment?

A Few News Items For WCF Readers Who Aren't Completely Alienated From Ogden City Municipal Election Politics

Interesting election news tidbits which might keep otherwise bored Ogden City political wonks' political interest up... and their heads in the game

For those WCF readers who aren't completely alienated from Ogden City Municipal Election politics by the current Ogden City Mayoral candidate slate, wherein right wing socialist candidate Mike "Tweedle-dum" Caldwell is running for the top O-Town CEO spot against policy -indistinguishable fellow right wing socialist candidate Brandon "Tweedle Dee" (aka "Godfrey Sockpuppet") Stephenson, here are a few interesting election news tidbits which might keep your political interest up... and your heads in the game:

1) 9/22/11 Ogden Mayoral Debate Video. A couple of days ago (last Sunday to be exact), we happily posted a link to the YouTube video of last week's (9/22/11) Post primary Channel 17 debate. Within a day of posting the link, and after a dozen or so WCF readers had the chance to view the video, sadly, the geniuses at Channel 17 removed it from YouTube. Happily again, we now find out that it's back up for public on-demand viewing once again, via this link:

• OGDEN Mayoral DEBATE 2011 - (9/22/11)

Now that the video's now back up for public examination, there seems to be only one pending question: Is there anybody at Ogden's Channel 17 who has the slightest clue what they're doing? Nevermind. Don't bother answering the question. We already know the answer to that.

2) Channel 17 Council Candidate Forum. Speakin' of Channel17/Boss Godfrey Administration TeeVee Candidate Forums, we learned from one of the council candidates a couple of days ago that Channel 17 (under "ostensible" City Council sponsorship) will be taping a "City Council Candidate Forum" (similar to the above-mentioned "Ogden Mayoral Debate") at the Ogden City Council chambers on October 12, 2011. We've already linked the announcement info in our right sidebar; but to be sure all of our gentle readers are able to reserve ample time on their calenders to make sure they don't miss this important 2011 Ogden City Election event, here are the full particulars:

• City Council Candidate Forum - October 12, 2011

3) Dark Horse Council Write-in Candidate Emerges From the Past. Last but not least, we just got a hot tip regarding the Ogden City Council - At Large Seat "C" race, wherein that biker guy, Stephen D. Thompson, whose main political issue could realistically boil down to the issue of whether there oughtta be a motorcycle helmet law (or not), was hopelessly outmatched in the primary voting by veteran Ogden City Council juggernaut Amy Wicks.

Adding further interest to the list of losers who've already tried to challenge the highly popular Councilwoman Wicks this year, we've received a report, via a highly-reliable City Government source, that the broken-down former Gang of Six Councilman Comrade Rick Safsten has now entered the Council At-large "C" race, as a write-in candidate.

Seriously though, Gotta say the Ogden City right wing socialists must be feeling pretty confident if they're ready to bring Comrade Rick Safsten outta mothballs, to ultimately try to throw a wrench into Mr. Thompson's already meager council aspirations, no doubt.

That's it from your blogmeister for now.

So who's ready to throw in their own savvy 2¢?

Ogden City Property Confiscation Committee Hearing Thread

A whole new thread, for the benefit of those who'd like to live blog, or otherwise report on tonight's Ogden City RDA "blight hearing."

We just received this missive in a lower comments thread:

Are you interested in postings from the Ogden City Confiscation Committee hearing tonight?
I'm passing through Ogden and would be happy to do so.
If so, where would I do that? Here?
-Lone Gunman

The answer of course is a hearty "YES;" and in response to this inquiry, we're thus setting up this whole new thread, for the benefit of those who'd like to live blog, or otherwise report on tonight's Ogden City RDA "blight hearing."

Yes, Lone Gunman, we're happy to take you up on your gracious offer!

Have at it, O Gentle One(s).

We'll be standing by for what might well turn out to be a very lively event.

Let's just say "we're all ears."

Update 4/14/10 3:15 a.m.: Special thanks to drive-by podcaster Lone Gunman, who dropped into town last night and offered a spellbinding and gut-busting play-by-play narration of last night's farcical Godfrey Administration blight hearing presentation. Trust us, folks. You owe it to yourselves to check out LG's wry running commentary from last night's meeting, down there in our lower comments section.

Update 4/15/10 3:00 p.m.: Lucky us. The Ogden City Internet Technology Crew have finally gotten around to putting up the video of Tuesday's RDA meeting onto the City website. Check it out! Select the April 13 meeting from the lower video menu:

• Ogden City Council Videos

Watch the Five Boss Godfrey Comrades (Blair, Garner, Gochnour, Stephens and Stephenson) awaken from the dead of sleep at the end of a very long and boring meeting, and then rubber-stamp Boss Godfrey's right-wing socialist land-grab agenda, which was already their plan in the first place.

A Weber County Forum Tip O' The Hat to Councilwomen Van Hooser and Wicks, the only two apparently fiscally-responsible grownups left on the Ogden City Council.

Standard-Examiner: Write-in Candidate Files for Ogden Council - Updated

Rick Safsten, a Gang of Six council candidate re-tread, brought to you straight from the deep bowels of the Ogden Community Foundation right wing socialist cabal

Update: A second write-in candidate has also entered the 2011 election race

As reported in yesterday's WCF article, former Gang of Six Councilman Rick Safsten has suddenly entered the 2011 Ogden City Election At-large "C" council race as a write-in candidate. This morning's Standard-Examiner carries Scott Schwebke's morning story on the topic, which fleshes out some of the details concerning Mr. Safsten's last minute write-in election run:

• Write-in candidate files for Ogden council

This latest political move on Safsten's part is of course a 180 degree flip-flop from his stated 2007 position regarding a renewed council candidacy, at which time he said he "would not not run for re-election because of personal challenges."

And lest you believe that Safsten may have let any political grass grow under his feet in the interval since he was last chased out of council office in 2005, you can rest assured that he's kept his crony-capitalist instincts sharp, sitting on the Board of Directors of one of the most shadowy corporate entities in Ogden City, i.e., The Ogden Community Foundation, where he's been rubbing elbows with the notorious likes of Matthew Godfrey, John "Pureheart" Patterson and... get this... the beneficiaries of the Envision Ogden/FNURE campaign donation money laundering scheme... none other than Royal Eccles and former Ogden City Councilman Blain Johnson themselves.

There you have it, O Gentle Readers: Rick Safsten, a Gang of Six council candidate re-tread, brought to you straight from the deep, reeking innards of the Ogden Community Foundation right wing socialist cabal.

Who'll be the first to chime in on this?

Update 9/28/11 7:53 a.m.: We can't find word one about this in this morning's Standard-Examiner hard-copy edition; but we just now learned from a sharp-eyed and alert WCF reader that there's also a second write-in candidate who's entered the 2011 Ogden City Municipal election race, namely somebody by the name of Patrick C. Conlin, who has been certified by Cindi Mansell's Ogden City Recorder's Office as a "valid (mayoral) write-in candidate." In that connection, check out this 9/27/11 document from the City Recorder's Office:

• Ogden City General Election Candidates (2011)

We suppose we can interpret this (at the very least) as very good news for disgruntled Ogden City voters who find both candidates Caldwell and Stephenson to be entirely unacceptable, and who'd been hoping for a mayoral candidacy voting option which would be the equivalent of voting for "none of the above."

Who knows however? We'll have to wait and find out, we guess, whether Mayoral Candidate Conlin has any political substance, beyond providing an easy option for a "protest" vote.

So what about it WCF readers? Is there anyone out there who can provide a little quick info on Patrick Conlin, other than the fact that he resides in Ogden, and operates a chiropractic clinic in South Ogden?

Standard-Examiner: High Winds Cause Havoc in Davis, Weber Counties - Updated

A cordial invitation to lodge your personal anecdotes

It got a mite breezy in northern Utah yesterday, didn't it folks? The Standard-Examiner's done a bang-up job reporting on yesterday's big windstorm, so for archival purposes we've collected some of the interesting stuff that's up this morning on the SE site:

• Wild winds wallop Weber County
• High winds cause havoc in Davis, Weber counties
• Strong winds down trees, power lines across the West
• Video of high winds at Weber State University

Whoa! 100-mile an hour winds reported in Centerville:

• Devastation in Davis

For those readers interested in the mechanistic approach, the Standard carries an informative story explaining how mother nature made it happen:

• Utah got in way of flow from Wyo. to Ariz.

The ever humorous Gentle Reader Bill Hansen has a simpler explanation however and suggests that "It looks like the Lord is punishing people in Utah today, for voting Socialist Republican! ;)"

The Standard has also assembled an ever-expanding robust photo gallery, and is even calling upon its "citizen journalist" readership to submit their own storm photos. Here's what the SE has compiled so far:

• Gallery: High winds cause damage all over Northern Utah

Amongst the photos displayed above, here's one with a "personal touch," at least from the point of view of your blogmeister:

Boss Godfrey's Revenge?

What you're seeing here folks, is Mt. Ogden Park's "flying" spectator bleachers, parked in your blogmeister's mother's front lawn, about ten feet short of the front door, prompting your blogmeister to ponder the obvious sodden question, which dovetails somewhat with Bill Hansen's above comment.

And among the lessons we learned from yesterday's storm? Never park your car on the leeward side of a giant streetside conifer, during Emerald City's fairly frequent gale-force windstorms:


So we'll now turn the floor over to our gentle readers. Who wants to let us in on how you spent the day yesterday? Do you have significant storm damage to report? Personal anecdotes should be the order of the day in the storm's aftermath, wethinks. How many of you took the approach that your blogmeister took yesterday during the period that his power, phones, internet and all other vestiges of modern hi-tech civilization were stripped away? How many of you built a raging fire in the fireplace (like Rudi did) and curled up with a good book? Gotta add that the little hydraulic wood-splitter that your blogmeister purchased on Amazon a few years back definitely proved to be worth its weight in gold.

A Weber County Forum Tip O' the Hat to the hard-working crews of Rocky Mountain Power and the crews of all other emergency first-responders, by the way, who on days like this, definitely earn their keep.

Wednesday Afternoon Emerald City News Roundup

A few random news items your ceaselessly hard-working Blogmeister chooses to highlight

1) We've had considerable discussion on WCF concerning Chief Greiner's penchant for "pricey" high-tech law enforcement toys, including his wished-for Crime Fighting Blimp and Dr. Evil-style Crime Control Command Center see, e.g., "Dr. Evil - Volcano Lair."

HAHAHA! In this connection, here's the latest from the Salt Lake Tribune:

• Ogden police outline high-tech crime-fighting strategy

It should come as no surprise to any of us therefore, that "Duh Chief" summarily rejects lightweight crime-fighting solutions such as a permanent Public Safety Building pharmaceutical drop-box... which is sadly, not very high tech at all.

Sodden question: Would Greiner's attitude toward a "Cop Shop Lobby Drop/Lock Box" be altered if the Council would approve the funds to place a little hidden camera in it... which could be monitored 24/7 from Greiner's plush (electrically vibrating) executive chair in the Chief's Crime Control Command Center?

2) A few days ago we reported that we'd learned that Ogden CAO John Patterson was "on the short list" for the hiring by West Jordan City for the position of City Manager. On that same theme we now learn from the Standard-Examiner that the same John "Pureheart" Patterson is also a main contender for the Casper, Wyoming City Manager job:

• Ogden’s Patterson may go to Wyoming

Here's our take. We're gonna miss the Hell outta the constantly gentlemanly and personable John Patterson a heckuva lot more in the year 2012, than we'll miss the incessantly grating, nauseating (puke inducing) and generally annoying POS Boss Godfrey. The upside to this whole story? In the grand scheme of things, it's unlikely that fans of limited and frugal government will henceforth miss either of these right wing socialist bastids. That's our take... and we're stickin with it. Best of luck to the more politically-facile J. Patterson in the future, though.

3) Next!! And last but not least, here's the latest blog post from one of our local favorites... the Ogden Ethics Project:

• Conflict of interest laws in Utah, Nevada, and the Supreme Court

If I have the time, I'll make a note to post a little legal analysis of the latest case... a little bit later... when I get done working in my yard.

Feel free to post on any of the above subjects in the meantime however... or better yet... consider this a WCF open topic thread.

Update 6/16/11 8:00 a.m.: "Pureheart's" Casper, Wyoming job application is back in the news this morning, with this expanded SE story:

• Ogden's Patterson eyes Wyoming job

Cyber-Anger and Angst in Emerald City

Yikes! It appears a new thread is in order. During our last thread we invited WCF readers to release their final anger and angst, concerning the prospect of having Boss Godfrey "reign" over our town for four more years. And Man Alive...did they ever doo that...

Lots of anger, angst and political pain was displayed in the lower thread. We left it open for maybe too long bcause we thought it might be "cathartic." Then again, maybe we shut it down too quickly.

Time for a new thread, your blogmeister thinks.

We'll be moving a couple of Curmudgeon posts here, and will eventually publish our own anti-right wing socialist schpiel, right here on Weber County Forum.

Meanwhile... lets's just consider it the newest weekend open thread.