Sunday Funnies: John "Pureheart" Patterson Update: Casper City Manager Announces Retirement

Keep your eyes peeled, Utah lumpencitizens - John "Pureheart Patterson" will soon be arriving in a Utah community near you

John "Pureheart" Patterson
Returning to Utah Very Soon

As every Weber County Forum reader knows, we're always interested in following up on the exploits of Ogden City officials, who've left Ogden City government, and moved on to "greener pastures. " Take the case of former Ogden City's former Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) ,John "Pureheart" Patterson, for instance:

• John Patterson Career Updates

And now, following up this disheartening 4/8/15 Casper (Wyo) Tribune news story, we now discover this, from one of our all-time "favorite" online news websites, namely "Oil City - Casper's Community Newstream":

• UPDATE: Casper City Manager announces retirement

Here's the good news: After four years, it seems that the steadfast citizens of Casper,Wyoming have finally gotten rid of former Ogden City Mayor Boss Godfrey's "right hand man."

And the bad news?

After his last day with the city, Patterson plans on moving back to where the grandkids are or where everyone vacations, the home base of Utah.
In a couple years, he may run for public office, returning to public service, but no official plans have been announced, these are all ideas he is kicking around, he said, [Emphasis added].

Keep your eyes peeled,Utah lumpencitizens.

John "Pureheart" Patterson" will soon be arriving in a Utah community near you... with future political aspirations.

Comments anyone? Ferris?

John "Pureheart" Patterson Ogden Alum Career Update

Tough luck for "Pureheart John," we'll observe... It'll be interesting to find out whether he'll be soon carrying out another "city manager job search"

In our never ending quest to follow the careers of our most favorite Ogden City government alumnus, we're pleased to bring to you the latest news concerning John "Pureheart" Patterson, former Ogden CAO, who in 2011 bolted to Casper, Wyoming in search of "greener pastures,"  landing a plush six-figure job as as Casper's City Manager. The last time we discussed Patterson, he'd found himself in "hot water", when somebody in Casper discovered (by googling, we'll guess) that his hand-selected "development coordinator" (none other than fellow Ogden government alum Boss Godfrey)  "is a former mayor of Ogden, Utah, who was reprimanded by that state’s auditor for failing to comply with city and state laws."

Despite this embarrassing setback, Patterson had moved forward on his latest croney capitalist grand scheme nevertheless, i.e., the bulldozing of a portion of downtown Casper and the proposed construction of a multimillion-dollar convention center, complete with (what else?) an adjacent multi-million dollar downtown hotel. After a spirited intra-city discussion however, it turns out that Patterson's conference center/hotel brainchild,  highly reminiscent of Patterson schemes in his Ogden heyday,  is sadly not to become a Casper reality, due to the efforts of a seeming horde of Casper lumpencitizen "obstructionists" and the election of a "non visionary" new city council who appear to be a "mite tighter" with Casper lumpencitizens' public money than were their council predecessors, those who hired Patterson in the first place: 

• Casper drops plan for downtown conference center

"I was never in favor of the large amounts of public money that were going to be a part of this proposal," newly-elected Councilmember Keith Goodenough said Thursday.

Patterson called the council's mixed enthusiasm for the city-sponsored conference center a "worst case for a city manager."

Tough luck for "Pureheart John," we'll observe. It'll be interesting to find out whether he'll be soon carrying out another "city manager" job search. For whatever he does in the future however, we of course wish our old crony-capitalist buddy the very best, of course.

Casper Star-Tribune: Casper Downtown Plans May Include Former Ogden Mayor Reprimanded by State Auditor

Didn't take John "Pureheart" Patterson long to get in hot water with the lumpencitizens of Casper, did it?

Tantalizing December 13, 2012 story from the Casper (Wyoming) Star Tribune, which we stumbled upon this morning whilst Googling.  Here's the lede: 

The Downtown Development Authority’s current preference for development coordinator is a former mayor of Ogden, Utah, who was reprimanded by that state’s auditor for failing to comply with city and state laws.
Matthew Godfrey, current president of the Better City consulting group, served as mayor in Ogden from 1999 to 2011. John Patterson was Ogden’s chief administrative officer from 2005 to 2011, when he became Casper’s city manager.
In a report released last summer, the Utah State Auditor’s Office found the city administration failed to receive City Council approval for expenditures on three projects. City administration improperly spent $434,000 between 2007 and 2009 for an ice climbing tower, rail car renovation and river restoration projects, according to the report.
“We are concerned about the Administration’s attitude toward the importance of the City Council’s approval,” the document states. [Links added].

Check out the full story here:

• Casper downtown plans may include former Ogden mayor reprimanded by state auditor

Here's the referenced Utah State Auditor's  August 18, 2011 report:

• Finding and Recommendation For the Period June 2007 through October 2009

No surprises here, we guess.  It didn't take John "Pureheart" Patterson long to get in hot water with the lumpenctizens of Casper, did it?

Be sure to check out the Star-Trib's reader comments section, folks, where one Star-Trib reader sez, "Come on now, the citizens of Casper are not illiterate hicks. We even know about the Internet and we know how to use the search engine Google."

Looks like the cat's outta the bag, alright.

We'll keep ya'll all posted, of course, as this fascinating story develops.

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

Standard-Examiner: Ogden Will Appeal Hatch Act Ruling That Police Chief Must Resign

Isn't it time for Boss Godfrey to demand Chief Greiner's resignation?

Interesting new developments in the Jon Greiner Hatch Act matter within this morning's Standard-Examiner story, which reports that Ogden City will appeal Administrative Judge Lana Parke's decision that Senator/Chief Greiner violated the Hatch Act by signing off on a half-dozen federal grants that were in place during his Senate campaign:

OGDEN -- The city will appeal a judge's ruling that Police Chief Jon Greiner must resign or the municipality will be forced to forfeit about $215,000 in federal grants because of a Hatch Act violation.
John Patterson, the city's chief administrative officer, said he's confident Administrative Law Judge Lana Parke's decision last month to side with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel against Greiner will be overturned.
"There are procedural and substantive issues we want to raise through appeal, and we expect to prevail," he said.

There are a couple of elements within this morning's story which we believe to be particularly worthy of note:

1) In an April 2 story the Standard-Examiner reported that the Ogden City taxpayers had not been bearing the costs of this very expensive ongoing litigation, and that our insurance premiums would not even go up, as a result of the Ogden City's protracted legal maneuverings:

The Utah Risk Management Mutual Association, the city's insurance carrier, is paying Jim Bradshaw, a lawyer defending Greiner, and Stan Preston, an attorney representing the city administration, Patterson said. [...]
The Hatch Act case shouldn't increase the city's annual insurance premium with URMMA, Ball said. Premiums are based on the city's size and number of employees and not on individual claims, he said. The city's URMMA premium in 2009 was about $210,000.

To that reassuring news we breathed a sigh of relief in this April 2 WCF article. Unfortunately for the taxpayers of Ogden City however, Mr. Schwebke this morning reveals new and conflicting information. It turns out, as Scott Schwebke reports, that we were earlier misinformed about who will ultimately bear the burden for the costs and fees associated with this litigation:

The Utah Risk Management Mutual Association, the city's insurance carrier, is paying Jim Bradshaw, a lawyer defending Greiner, and Stan Preston, an attorney representing the city administration.
However, as part of URMMA's recapture loss program, the city will be required to fully reimburse the organization for defense costs, Patterson said. For each year that Bradshaw and Preston provide legal representation, he said, the city will be given five years to repay URMMA.

No surpises here, we suppose. Over the course of the five years we've been following the antics of the Boss Godfrey Administration here at Weber County Forum, we've grown painfully accustomed to receiving such false information.

Special thanks to Ace Reporter Schwebke for digging a little deeper into this issue, and setting the record straight.

2) Like all appellants commencing appeals, Ogden City Administration officials express confidence that they will prevail on appeal. Mr. John "Pureheart" Patterson generally refers to various "procedural and substantive issues":

John Patterson, the city's chief administrative officer, said he's confident Administrative Law Judge Lana Parke's decision last month to side with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel against Greiner will be overturned.
"There are procedural and substantive issues we want to raise through appeal, and we expect to prevail," he said.

Among those "issues" which Mr. Patterson mentions are these:

a) Parke prohibited the city from putting Assistant Police Chief Wayne Tarwater on the witness stand during a hearing in October. Tarwater would have testified that he oversees federal grants for the police department, Patterson said.
b) Greiner's signature on grant applications is a mere formality and a requirement for funding, he said.

We don't know whether Ogden City will prevail in this case on appeal. If an upper court determines that these alleged defects deprived Mr. Greiner and Ogden City of a fair trial in Judge Parke's court, an upper court might well "overturn" Judge Parke's decision. In a very real sense, an appeal in this matter amounts to a complete crap-shoot.

But lets cut through the legal mumbo-jumbo, folks. Even in the event that this matter is "overturned" on appeal, here's the likely remedy: The upper court will simply order a trial de novo.

And what's the meaning of this to the Emerald City taxpayers?

It means that even if the matter is sent back to the trial court for a brand new trial, attorneys Bradshaw and Preston will still be billing on the clock, and the city's already back-breaking legal bill, (which we've now learned will ultimately be borne by the dumb taxpayers), will continue to mount up.

So we're compelled this morning to ask whether it might be a more wise and fiscally-prudent course of action for the Ogden City Administration to simply demonstrate "the better part of valor," and throw in the towel:

Isn't it time for Boss Godfrey to demand Chief Greiner's resignation?

Yeah... moral victories are great... but such victories ought to be evaluated according to at least a rudimentary a cost v. benefits analysis we believe. And yes. We know Chief Greiner is a fine police chief, folks. But is he so indispensible to the Ogden City Police Department that we're willing to continue to bear the hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs, fees and forfeitures which have accrued, and will inevitably continue to accrue from the stubborn pursuit of this quixotic Hatch Act litigation?

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

"PureHeart" Patterson Indicts Himself... AND the Godfrey Administration

These are not honorable people

By Curmudgeon

There is a remarkable op-ed piece in this morning's Standard Examiner. It is by John "Our Hearts Are Pure" Patterson, Mayor Godfrey's Chief Administrative Officer. It is largely an attack --- a public attack --- on Councilman Garcia , denying that the Administration has engaged in public attacks on "Jesse." [Throughout the piece, Mr. Patterson refers to Councilman Garcia dismissively as "Jesse."]

The main thrust of Mr. Patterson's public attack relates to several gang control ordinances the Administration wanted passed some years ago, during the period Councilman Garcia was head of the Council. Mr. Patterson complains that the Council did not adopt the ordinances rapidly enough. Here's what happened next, according to Mr. Patterson:

A frustrated police official raised the repeated concern about the lack of progress on the ordinances and suggested it was because Jesse had a gang-involved son. I passed that on to Councilman Brandon Stephenson, who confronted Jesse in a May 14, 2007, e-mail. Within eight weeks, after seven months of waiting for Jesse to place them on an agenda, the ordinances were passed.

So, because the Council was taking more time to examine the proposed ordinances than the Administration liked, Mr. Patterson passed on a rumor involving a family member of Mr. Garcia from an un-named "police official" to the Godfrey administration's most compliant shill on the Council, Mr. Stephenson, who then obediently "confronted" Councilman Garcia with the anonymous rumor, and... and what? Hinted that if he didn't move the ordinances to adoption, and damn fast, the anonymous rumor would be revealed? What other possible purpose could there have been to Mr. Stephenson "confronting" Mr. Garcia with Patterson's anonymous rumor?

Two months later --- not two weeks, but two months --- the Council adopted the substance of the gang control ordinances. Mr. Patterson seems fact proud of his whispering the anonymous rumor into the compliant ear of Councilman Stephenson, and offers his passing it on to Mr. Stephenson on the sly as proof that there was no "public" attack on Councilman Garcia.

An anonymous rumor involving a family member of the Council head, slipped quietly to the Administration's most spineless lackey on the Council hoping to move ordinances to adoption more quickly: that's what the Mayor's CAO did. And he's proud of having done it.

Proud.

"Pureheart" Patterson has indeed indicted someone by his SE op-ed piece this morning: himself and the Administration he works for.

These are not honorable people.

Standard-Examiner: Tour de Drome Fundraiser Kicks Off This Morning

This morning's fundraiser raises a few technical questions

This morning's Standard-Examiner provides an interesting story this morning, concerning The Tour de Drome, a fundraiser for a proposed $15 million field house and velodrome in Ogden, which is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. today at Lorin Farr Park, 1691 Gramercy Avenue:

• Ogden's Tour de Drome offers 3 bike routes; fundraiser sets off today

Except for this morning's SE story, this event has been mostly under the public radar screen. However gentle reader very skeptical did tip us off earlier to an interesting discussion on this topic occurring at the end of last Tuesday's 4/27/10) City Council meeting:

...The 100 mile Bike ride to raise funding for the Mayors Velodrome project was discussed in Council meeting tonight. Pureheart Patterson said that the Ogden Community Foundation is handling the funds generated from the event, he stated that it is a fund raiser, and that the corrupt foundation will bank the expected $15,000 from the event.

Being the curious type, we viewed the council video (select the 4/27/10 meeting and fast forward to 42:06), in which Councilmember Van Hooser asked the following probing questions of Ogden CAO John "Pureheart" Patterson:

1) Who is the major sponsor; is it Ogden City?
2) If it is Ogden City, where are the funds to be kept?

Patterson's response was typically non-responsive and rambling, although Mr. Patterson nevertheless did manage to let this pertinent info slip outta the bag:

1) Ogden City Community Foundation will "provide banking services;"
2) Ogden City is funding $5,000 to pay the "event chair";
3) It's anticipated that registration fees ($50.00) will cover all costs of the event; and,
4) It's also anticipated that the event will yield $10-15,000 in net proceeds.

As to the question of whether Ogden City is the event's "major sponsor," Patterson managed to entirely duck that question. Nevertheless, it's fairly evident from various other online sources, here, here and here, that Ogden City (and NOT The Ogden City Community Foundation) IS the major sponsor of today's event, and that the taxpayers of Ogden City therefore have a legally-colorable claim upon this money.

So here are the questions we'll ask of our readers this morning:

Given The Ogden Community Foundation's troubling past fiduciary performance, why has the Administration designated OCF to hold the event fund proceeds? Does Ogden City need a private organization to hold what would appear to taxpayer funds? Is an arrangement of this nature ethically proper? Does this arrangement comply with accepted accounting procedures? Why can't Ogden City hold and administer these funds through its own banking resources? Wouldn't it make more sense for Ogden City to be carrying these funds in its own bank account and on its own books, where the city council can keep a close eye on these monies, rather than squirreling them away down the OCF rodent-hole? Does this arrangement amount to a ruse on the City Administration's part to prevent these funds from being claimed as city revenue? Does the Mayor's Office have the legal authority to shuffle these monies off to a private organization in the absense of City Council approval at all?

So many questions... so few answers. Time to put on your thinking caps.

Perhaps our gentle readers can enlighten us on the true meaning of all this, in our lower comments section.

Standard-Examiner: Patterson Job Offer May Violate Law

Looks like Patterson's landed squarely within his own "comfort zone," no?

It appears that our announcement of John "Pureheart" Patterson's recent appointment to the Casper, Wyoming city manager job may have been a mite premature, folks. Patterson's not even under contract yet, and allegations of illegality already surround his new office:

• Patterson job offer may violate law

Did the Casper City Council break the law even prior to swearing Patterson in to the city manager's post? Looks like Patterson's landed squarely within his own "comfort zone," no?

Standard-Examiner: Godfrey Seeks $1 Million Taxpayer Bucks For A Friggin' Ogden Bicycle Track

In the current tough economy, does Ogden City have enough loose change layin' around to throw another million bucks down another Boss Godfrey project rat-hole?

OK, folks. Here we are mired in the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, with arguably much more economic bad news on the way, and then we stumble upon this morning's Scott Schwebeke story, reporting on the latest knuckleheaded development being cooked up down at Ogden City Hall:

• Godfrey seeks funds for velodrome in Ogden

That's right, folks. Mr. Schwebke informs us this morning that Boss Godfrey is moving forward with another crackpot taxpayer funded scheme and that the Godfrey administration will soon be "asking the city council to set aside $1 million in future capital improvement funds for construction of a velodrome and field house in downtown Ogden."

Our ever-confident Ogden CAO John "Pureheart" Patterson assures us, of course, that this is actually a terrific idea:

The earmarking of $1 million will help leverage private donations for the facility slated to be built on about 11 acres west of Wall Avenue and 21st Street, owned by developer Gadi Leshem, said Patterson.
Patterson is confident funds will be obtained from donors, enabling construction to start in spring 2011 and conclude in 2012.

Seems we've heard that same old line before, no?

Yeah! Right here... in this 4/24/08 WCF story!

The city has already received $200,000 in Weber County RAMP tax funds and a pledge for an equal amount of money that would be raised by Jeff Lowe, a renowned ice climber and executive director of Ogden Climbing Parks, which would manage, operate and maintain the tower, John Patterson, the city’s chief administrative officer, said during the work session. [Emphasis added].

(The upshot of course, is that once Ogden City had a little "skin in the game," a torrent of private Ice Tower donations would follow.)

But now, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, we know how that all worked out, don't we.

Over on the Std-Ex website, Std-Ex reader Ogdenite also asks a couple of very good questions and makes a couple of savvy observations:

• Why are taxpayer dollars even being used on this asinine project?
• How many people do you know that would even use a velodrome track?
• Mayor Godfrey needs to quit playing fast and loose with public money and work on actually leading Ogden City.
• Monuments to his ego and projects for his construction company buddies do not serve the citizens of Ogden well.

Howbout it gentle readers? Would any amongst our WCF readership address Ogdenite's concerns? Amidst an economy where most individuals and governments are scrambling to make ends meet, Does Ogden City have enough loose change layin' around to throw another million bucks down another Boss Godfrey project rat-hole?

More questions...

• Will our City Council fall for the same old Administration con game a second time around?
• Will the Little Lord on Nine, who still remains afflicted with a bad case of Peter Pan Syndrome, ever grow up?

So many questions... so few answers...

And the beat goes on...

Ogden Council Hires its Own Legislative Lobbyist At A Definite Bargain Rate

Boss Godfrey's own "sneaky" actions bring on the inevitable consequences

Encouraging Scott Schwebke story in this morning's Standard-Examiner, reporting that our Emerald City Council has now followed up on its earlier-reported course of action and hired its own legislative lobbyist:

• Ogden hires lobbyist for $10,000

This morning's story also provides a fairly remarkable quote from Ogden City CAO John "Pureheart" Patterson, who swears (cross his heart) that he has no idea at all why the council has found it necessary to employ its own lobbyist:

John Patterson, the city’s chief administrative officer, questioned the council’s need to hire Peterson.
“At this point in time, given the friction between the city council and administration, it feels like they have to have a lobbyist to keep an eye on our lobbyist,” he said. “It’s unfortunate. Hopefully, we will get on a better track.”

Quick reminer to Mr. Patterson, who apparently lives in a world of alternate reality all his own ... It was Godfrey's own sneaky actions which brought on this inevitable consequence.

For our own part of course, we've long believed that the Mayor's administration could use a competent "tough love" babysitter, not only within Emperor Godfrey's ninth floor throne room, but also up on Utah's Capitol Hill.

A Weber County Forum Tip O' the Hat this morning to our Ogden City Council grownups, for taking the necessary action to ride herd on the devious and ethically-challenged Mr. Jolley and Mr. Johnson.

Remember, folks, it's Boss Godfrey and his lackeys who've been doing the recent whining about a "lack of Administration/Council communication."

And yes... on the strength of Mr. Patterson's above quote, we're filing this story under the label "Alternate Reality Department."

Northern Utah Print Media: Boss Godfrey Begs For Ramp Funds On Bended Knee

Let the RAMP grant decision makers know that Weber County citizens heartily disapprove of Boss Godfrey's sleazy scheme to use a RAMP grant commitment as "bait" to lure in unwary private donors

As noted last night by sharp-eyed reader Curmudgeon in one of our lower comments sections, both the Salt Lake Tribune and the Standard-Examiner carry online stories this morning, reporting on yesterday evening's RAMP Committee meeting, during which Boss Godfrey and his loyal henchman John "Pureheart" Patterson desperately (but unsuccessfully) grovelled argued for the grant of $2.4 million over five years to "help" construct Boss Godfrey's hare-brained Fieldhouse boondoggle:

• Ogden makes plea for RAMP funds for Field House
• Ogden mayor asks RAMP board for field house funds

Despite the hard sell of Weber County's two most notorious flim-flam artists, it appears that the RAMP Board lives in a world of reality, and that Godfrey's Fieldhouse project comes in dead last among a list of seven major projects. In the words of Board Member Jeanne Hall, “If this was such a hot deal, you’d have business people wanting to invest. And they’re not there.”

The Trib also reports that "The board meets again Monday at 9 a.m. to rescore the applications and determine who gets what."

And in that connection we'll remind or readers of our earlier plea to contact RAMP Board members and Weber County Commissioners to register your objections to the application of taxpayer funds to this project. According to our reliable sources, that effort of citizen activism generated a significant citizen anti-Fieldhouse response. So we'll call upon our WCF readers once again to click the link below to communicate your objections to any RAMP Board support:

• Field House Project RAMP Decision Maker Contact Links

According to the Trib story, the Godfrey administration considers RAMP funding to be “The Good Housekeeping seal of approval.” “It’s what we can use to ask private donors for funds," "Pureheart" Patterson candidly admits.

You know what to do. Do it via the above contact link. Let the RAMP grant decision makers know that they're already on the right track, and that Weber County citizens heartily disapprove of Boss Godfrey's sleazy scheme to use a RAMP grant commitment as "bait" to lure in unwary private donors.

John Patterson: Boss Godfrey and Donald Carpenter Are Pure As The Driven Snow

Big decision for the city council coming up on Tuesday

I don't know what it's like to be black and I don't know what it's like to be Latino; but I do know what it's like to be fat and poor.

Kelly Farley, OWCAP board member
Godfrey, OWCAP defended for Marshall White plans
June 12, 2009

The motivations are pure and the hearts (of Godfrey and Donald Carpenter, who heads OWCAP) are pure;" they are only doing this because they want what is best for young people."

John "Pureheart" Patterson, Godfrey henchman
Godfrey, OWCAP defended for Marshall White plans
June 12, 2009

Just as Scott Schwebke promised in last night's real-time tweetfest, this morning's Standard-Examiner carries a recap of last night's city council public hearing. Although Mr. Schwebke reports that a parade of residents (we're guessing the event drew a packed house) "questioned the management agreement and requested that the contract be amended to guarantee that the pool stays open," the chief architects of this fiasco, Boss Godfrey and Donald Carpenter, were missing in action. Too cowardly to face the music, we assume. As a consolation prize, they did send their two comic relief stand-ins, however, who provided the two embarrassingly ridiculous above quotes. It's pretty clear from Mr. Schwebke's report, by the way, that the only persons speaking in favor of the OWCAP turnover were Mssrs. Farley and Patterson.

According to this morning's story, the closing of the pool is a major (maybe THE major) sticking point. Whether amending the management agreement to ensure that the pool stays open would be a compromise worthy of pursuing is anybody's guess; but it might be worth a try, we suppose.

Assuming that nobody succeeds in pulling a rabbit out of their hat over the weekend however, the city council is now backed up against a drop-dead deadline. Under state law, the council must have the FY2010 budget approved by next Tuesday, June 16, 2009. We expect therefore, that it will be a long weekend for our intrepid city council members, as they're faced with one of the most difficult decisions in memory. Time to put on our thinking caps, we think.

So what approach should the council take, gentle readers? Should they ignore Godfrey's proposed budget and insert their own line item, funding the Center at its previous $350 thousand level, with a specific instruction that it shall be disbursed only for continued MWC operations under the current management structure, with a strong prohibition against expending this money in any other manner? Should they hold out for a management agreement amendment mandating continued pool operations during the term of the OWCAP agreement, as suggested above? Should they simply admit defeat, and do as Ozboy predicted, inelegantly roll over, and then stand back and watch, as this half-baked Godfrey plan fails of its own internal stupidity? And suppose they fail to approve the budget by the deadline. Would that be the end of the world?

What other options does the council have at this point, gentle readers?

The world wide blogosphere awaits your ever-savvy comments.

Is a St. Anne's Land Swap In The Works?

Another baby step step forward toward fulfillment of another twisted Boss Godfrey obsession

In the interest of keeping the discussion moving along this morning, we'll direct our readers' attention to an item appearing on page 2B of the Top of Utah section, reporting that the council adopted an ordinance at last night's meeting which could possibly pave the way for that St. Anne's Shelter land swap, which has been a focus of Mayor Matthew "Blessed Whitebread" Godfrey's obsession for the past several years. Scott Schwebke's opening paragraphs provide the gist:

OGDEN — The city council adopted an ordinance Tuesday night that may enable the construction of a $10 million apartment complex in West Ogden for the homeless served by St. Anne’s Center.
The ordinance, which amends the city’s municipal code, allows low-income multiple-unit housing in manufacturing zones provided it’s part of a campus or in the same building as a homeless shelter.
In addition, the ordinance requires that counseling and other lifestyle services be offered at the campus.
The ordinance is tied to a proposal from Mayor Matthew Godfrey calling for the city to give St. Anne’s about 2 1/2 acres at 33rd Street and Pacific Avenue, zoned manufacturing, for the construction of new shelter, said John Patterson, the city’s chief administrative officer.
Under Godfrey’s proposal, St. Anne’s, in exchange for the Pacific Avenue property, would give the city the land that houses its existing shelter at 137 W. Binford St.

Here's the full Scott Schwebke writeup:

• New ordinance clears way for possible St. Anne’s move

Unlike the last unfortunate go-round, Mr. Schweke's story indicates that the St. Anne's board of directors won't be completely blind-sided by a proposal to move St. Anne's and its homeless clients out of sight (and out of mind) this time, although Ogden CAO John "Pureheart" Patterson does frankly admit that this latest effort to whisk St. Anne's off to the Ogden boonies still isn't exactly what you'd call "a done deal":

"St. Anne’s board of directors has not yet agreed to the land swap proposal, said Patterson, who estimated it would cost the organization about $4 million to build a new homeless shelter."

Inasmuch as St. Anne's will need to come up with multi-millions in dollars to build a new facility, logic dictates the query, where will the construction money come from? Sounds like a big nut to crack, for a charitable institution which serves the homeless. But what do we know? We're just a cranky blogger, after all, with a mere 30 years experience in real estate finance. Perhaps St. Anne's has a money tree growing out there somewhere, for all we know.

We''ll therefore continue to watch the St. Anne's story as it develops; but we certainly won't hold our breath waiting for an early upcoming announcement that the City and St. Anne's have entered into a binding agreement.

That's it for now. And yes, we do recognise that yesterday's blockbuster article is "a tough act to follow." But time marches on ineluctably, dunnit?

You're all welcome to chime in with your own 2¢ on the latest manifestion of the St. Anne's topic nevertheless.

Standard-Examiner: Goals Set to Make Mt. Ogden Course More Playable, Profitable

Will it be necessary for the council to invoke its statutory "policy making power" once again this year, with respect to the Mount Ogden Golf Course budget?

There's semi-encouraging news from the Standard-Examiner this morning, with the following Scott Schwebke story, which reports that our City Council has reached some kind of consensus with respect to improvements and debt paydown for the Mt. Ogden Golf Course (MOGC):

• Goals set to make Mt. Ogden course more playable, profitable

(The headline in today's SE print edition is slightly more tentative however, and ends with a question mark: "Pay-as-you-go flaw fixes ahead?")

If it is true that a majority of the council has at least informally agreed to avoid massive borrowing, fix up the course and pay down current golf course debt, that's good news indeed for the taxpayers of Ogden City, we believe. Yet today's story does contain a statement from Ogden City CAO John "Pureheart" Patterson which does cause us some heartburn (justifiably, we believe):

Patterson said he appreciates the city council's desire to make needed improvements at the course without borrowing more money. However, the city has only a limited amount of funds for a variety of pressing projects, he said."
There are many priorities for available financial resources," he said. "Many (of those projects) stand in front of the golf course."

Reading between the lines, we'll take Patterson's comment as an early indication that the administration may be preparing to drag its feet, or stonewall a council-backed "pay-as-you-go" plan altogether.

Thus we'll be watching closely as the Council and Administration move forward on the FY2011 "budget setting" process over the next 3 months, in wary anticipation of another possible Council-Administration battle royal over MOGC funding, reminiscent of the knock-down, drag-out Marshall White budget slug-out of last spring and summer.

Will it be necessary for the council to invoke its statutory "policy making power" once again this year, and instruct Boss Godfrey to get onboard the Council's percipient "pay-as-you go" plan, by way of another budget ordinance "policy statement?"

One thing we do know about Boss Godfrey: He's stubborn as hell. So we do hope the Council is ready for battle this year.

There are also two other items we've found this morning which relate to the pending 2011 fiscal year MOGC budget setting process and plans for the MOGC in general, so we'll throw them out to expand the discussion:

1) Ogden City activist David Smith provides a letter to the editor on the SE website which ought to remind everyone, that despite any MOGC consensus which the Council "thinks" it may have reached, the ever-conniving Boss Godfrey still has a whole set of plans all his own:

• Godfrey to turn virgin east bench in mini-mansion-ville

2) And please don't neglect to check out the savvy SE reader comment linked below, wherein SE board regular "Ole" urges a full accounting of the MOGC books, as a preliminary prerequisite to ANY further Council action:

• Is this another Godfrey scam?

We haven't talked about the MOGC situation in quite a long while here at Weber County Forum; although we all knew a new discussion would be coming up soon.

So who will be the first to comment about these latest new developments, now that the MOGC topic is finally back on the Emerald City news front-burner?

Standard-Examiner: "Bank Failure? Bad Loans? No News Here; Move Along"

As always, in and around Emerald City, supreme misplaced confidence abounds

The Standard-Examiner carries another Centennial Bank closure story this morning, for the first time explicitly drilling down to the Centennial Bank/Ogden River Project connection. As always, in and around Emerald City, supreme confidence abounds. "There's no news here," the usual claque of municipal movers and shakers admonish us. "Move along," they say, according to The Standard Examiner.

• Spokesman: Closure should not affect Ogden River Project

We think that guy flatlander gets it just about right however, with this savvy comment, which we shamelessly rip from beneath today's above-linked SE story:

Confident statements no longer breed confidence....
A spokesman for Ogden Riverfront Development is confident Centennial's collapse will not impede the River Project.
A spokesman for Gadi Lesham is similary confident that the bank's collapse will not adversely affect the River Project.
John "Pureheart" Patterson, Mayor Godfrey's Chief Administrative Officer, is also confident the River Project will not suffer from the bank's collapse.
Of course, the Centennial board was confident the bank would be made sound by a merger right up until the FDIC walked in the door and closed it.
And Mister Patterson was confident in 2002 that the River Project would be largely completed by about 2005 or 2006. It wasn't.
And the Mayor was confident that private donors were ready, willing and eager to fund the downtown year round outdoor ice climbing tower. They weren't.
And the owners of White Star Line were confident the Titanic was unsinkable.
Words are cheap. Whether the bank's collapse will adversely affect the at the moment largely moribund River Project remains to be seen. I hope it will not. Be we'll have to wait and see how it all plays out. [Emphasis added].

We couldn't have phrased it better ourself.

In fact, be sure to check our lower comments section, where the real story is already starting to "play out, and unfold."

Here's How it Works @ the Gondola-Examiner

Insider insight into the process by which the Standard-Examiner unabashedly and wilfully prints mindless Boss Godfrey propaganda

We're sure many of our readers were scratching their heads this morning, wondering about this morning's Scott Schwebke masterpiece (which we'll link below), dredging up for what [?] the fourth or fifth time in the past several weeks [we've lost count] the shop-worn meme concerning the Boss Godfrey sham debates which never happened.

Thanks to one of our gentle readers, we've now received a document which illustrates the simple three-step process by which the twisted Godfrey administration message makes its way right to the front to the front page of publisher Lee Carter's Gondola-Examiner [formerly the Ogden Standard-Examiner]:

Step One: Boss Godfrey's boot licking pet lackey John "Pureheart" Patterson sends out to the Gondola-Examiner a completely bogus and self-serving press release via email to Ace Reporter Schwebke on October 13, 2009:

• Council candidate debate will not be shown

Step Two: Ace Reporter Schwebke, quite possibly the laziest reporter in Standard-Examiner history, immediately recognises a good opportunity to cut and paste.

Step Three: On October 14, 2009 (this morning), the news editor at the Standard-Examiner accepts Schwebke's cut/paste gibberish, and pawns it off as a real news item, even while entirely ignoring any discussion of tonight's legitimate candidate debate:

• City nixes televised debates

Three simple steps, people.

That's how it works at the Official Boss Godfrey House Propaganda Organ.

The Standard-Examiner: Boss Godfrey's very own "trick pony."

Pioneer Days Weekend News Roundup/Wrapup - UPDATED

Plenty to discuss as the 2011 Pioneer Day Holiday wraps up, Yes?

A few semi-chewy weekend back-burner items for our gentle readers to gnaw on, as they trickle in from our L-O-N-G (and H-O-T) Pioneer Day weekend:

1) For the benefit of those folks who've been living under a rock, Ace Reporter Schwebke finally got around to reporting on Sunday the results of the July 12, 2011 Council Session, wherein the Ogden City Council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency (RDA) Board, voted unanimously to essentially give away 6.1 acres of land in the River Project area, with an assessed value of $2.4 million, to SouthRiver LLC, for a planned development of townhouses, apartments, and retail space:

• Building to begin soon in Ogden River Project

Boss Godfrey is of course thrilled and says "it's gratifying to know that construction will finally be starting," (after languishing under his ham-handed mismanagement for the last nine years or so.) If Boss Godfrey's clownishly-executed Ogden River Project isn't a classic real-life illustration of why local gummint shouldn't get involved or even dabble in ambitious and intricate real estate development, by the way, we'll be hard pressed to find anything which could possibly be more persuasive.

2) Despite some questions about the selection process used by the Casper (Wyoming) City council, the Casper Journal reports that Casper's municipal legislative body has now cured all legal defects, and has now formally given its official approval (by a 7-2 vote) to hiring John "Pureheart" Patterson as their new city manager. It's in this connection, of course, that one of our sharp-eye WCF readers asks the obvious question:

• "Shouldn't we all go down and wish the little f***** a good bye?"

3) We're hoping you're all no worse for wear after a Pioneer Days celebration which, (taking into account the mega-tonnage of fireworks and other personal incendiary ordnance which has been blown up or otherwise ignited in our Emerald City neighborhoods over the past month)... has plainly gone on for way too long (if you know what we mean and we think you do.)

Utah's legally sanctioned "24/7/30 Annoy Your Neighbors Kit"

Update 7/25/11 3:52 p.m.: Just to flesh out as fully as possible the entire array of discussion items which we may have inadvertently failed to address over the now dwindling Pioneer Day weekend (and in the recent past), we're pleased to add this Dan Schroeder 7/23/11 WCF comment to the mix:

• Dan Schroeder 7/23/11 Comment

Plenty to discuss as the 2011 Pioneer Day Holiday wraps up, NO?

So who'll be the next WCF Reader to chime in?

2009 End-of -Year Wrap-up

Added bonus: A reader invitation to chime in with nominations for the most humorous, ironic, politically embarrassing and/or otherwise significant stories to have been revealed on the Emerald City scene during the year 2009

Well, it's New Year's Eve, as another memorable year draws to a close. And here at Weber County Forum, no year can be regarded as complete without offering our readers a glance at humor columnist Dave Barry's anual year-end wrap-up. So here's the 2009 version, folks, straight from the pages of the Miami Herald:

• Dave Barry's year in review: 2009

And when you're done with that, we invite our readers to chime in with their own nominations for the most humorous, ironic, politically embarrassing and/or otherwise significant stories to have been revealed on the Emerald City scene during the year 2009. And just to get the ball rolling, we'll ask our gentle readers... how about these?

Continuing revelations regarding 2007 municipal election campaign contribution corruption?

Boss Godfrey's shockingly candid apology for Dining Car/Tourist Information Center cost overruns, and John "Pureheart" Patterson's subsequent admission that he's an idiot?

Stories involving Boss Godfrey's hand-picked "blue ribbon" "Citizens'"Golf Course Committee, which ultimately produced the exact recommendation which Godfrey watchers expected?

Boss Godfrey's incessant and seemingly incurable Gondola Obsession?

The public financial collapse of Ogden River Project "moneyman," Gadi Leshem, perhaps?

Boss Godfrey's highly fortuitous Capital Improvement Fund misappropiation bailout?

Stories related to Godfreyite council candidate David Phipps, chronicling the campaign "meltdown" of arguably the most inept council candidate in the history of Emerald City?

Lots of stories to choose from during the past year.

Who will be the first to comment?

And yes... Happy New Year, everyone!

Breaking: RAMP Board Rejects Money Requested for Field House - Updated

RAMP application rejected for lack of proof

Submitted by: Blackrulon

Happy News for the taxpayers of Ogden/Weber County! A breaking story on the Standard-Examiner website reports the RAMP Board has rejected the Godfrey Administration request for funds:

• RAMP board rejects money requested for field house

The city/requesting authority has not meet several requirements to qualify for funds, i.e.:

• A letter of intent from other donors and revenue sources.
• Confirmation of project approval from the city's Redevelopment Agency.
• Proof that the RDA has secured the property for the project.

Who will be the first to comment on this encouraging news?

Update 2/14/11 3:00 p.m.: Thanks to sharp eyed reader Ray, we learn that the Salt Lake Tribune is now carrying "a more enlighting report" by Cathy McKitrick:

• Ogden Field House denied funding

Despite today's RAMP setback, the ever-optimistic Ogden City CAO John "Pureheart" Patterson assures everyone nonetheless that "the project is not on life support and it’s certainly not to the morgue.”

Update 2/15/11 3:50 a.m.: Not to be outdone by Ms. McKitrick's detailed SLTrib reporting, SE reporter Scott Schwebke cranks it up a notch and provides his own expanded story this morning:

• Setback for Ogden field house

Standard-Examiner: Parking Lot in Downtown Ogden Gets Second Entrance

Alternate Reality Department: Parking within a block of the Junction Hotel was ample a couple of weeks ago, but this morning, parking in the same location is the number one infrastructure need of the city?

By: Curmudgeon

This morning's Standard Examiner is running an interesting story, reporting that a city-owned parking lot on Washington right across the street from the promised [yet again] Hotel At The Junction is getting a new entrance to make it more accessible to drivers, since the lot is now sadly underused:

• Parking lot in downtown Ogden gets second entrance

That's not the interesting part. The interesting part is this comment by Godfrey Administration Chief Administrative Officer Mr. John "Pureheart" Patterson:

"Parking is the No. 1 infrastructure need in the downtown area."

It is? Why it was just weeks ago, wasn't it that the Administration was assuring us when its plans for an underground parking garage for the promised Hilton Hotel at The Junction -- in other words, right across the street from the city lot discussed in this story --- tanked [banks refused to pony up the loans on grounds that the project was too speculative, too risky] that it really didn't matter because there would be ample parking available close to the hotel for its patrons without the underground lot.

Huh? Parking within a block of the Junction Hotel was ample a couple of weeks ago, but this morning, parking in the same location is the number one infrastructure need of the city?

I wonder what the number one infrastructure need will be next week....