Standard-Examiner: Officials Still Weighing Options After Hatch Act Ruling Against Ogden Police Chief

Added Bonus: Why not mosey on over the the Standard-Examiner website, where our home town newspaper is running a poll?

The Standard-Examiner is back on the Jon Greiner Hatch Act story again this morning, under the hard-copy edition front page headline, "Greiner deadline looms." Here's the lede:

OGDEN -- No decision has yet been made by city officials regarding the status of Police Chief Jon Greiner, according to Mayor Matthew Godfrey.
Greiner remains on the job despite a U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board ruling that the city must fire him by the end of the month or forfeit $215,000 in federal grants because of a Hatch Act violation.

Here's the online edition version:

• Officials still weighing options after Hatch Act ruling against Ogden police chief

Greiner and the Godfrey administration continue to dawdle on this problem, perhaps hanging their hats on the possible legal precedence of a 2004 Merit System Protection Board case, wherein "[Administrative Law] Judge William G. Kocol found that the [Henderson, Nevada] city's [Hatch Act] compliance program removed [Nevada Assemblyman and Henderson City Assistant Police Chief Richard] Perkins from any interaction with federal funds, and thus kept him in compliance with the law":

• Las Vegas Review-Journal: Judge rules Perkins didn't break federal law

In 2006, Ogden City belatedly initiated a similar Hatch Act Compliance Program, of course, stripping Greiner's authority for the administration of any federal grants, and ostensibly transferring all such authority into the hands of then-Ogden Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) John "Pureheart" Patterson.

The legal fly on the ointment in Greiner's case is that at the time Greiner commenced his 2006 Utah Senate campaign, and prior to the time that the Godfrey Administration adopted its own Hatch Act Compliance Program, Greiner had already "signed off on a half-dozen federal grants worth more than $1 million and already in place," a fact which fatally distinguishes Greiner's situation from that of Nevada Assemblyman Richard Perkins.

For a little more background, check out this 2008 Weber County Forum article which we posted on this subject:

• Std-Ex Editorial: Chief Greiner's Predicament

While we can't predict how this will eventually all work out, we've already opined on this subject. Given the choice between 1) throwing Greiner overboard and 2) forfeiting $215 thousand in federal grants (and racking up further taxpayer-funded legal expenses) the rational course of action is a true "no brainer," wethinks:

It's time for Boss Godfrey to face the music. Godfrey and Greiner "rolled the dice" and "crapped out". The Ogden City taxpayers should not bear the further burden of Chief Greiner's (and Boss Godfrey's) legalistic bravado, with $215 thousand in federal grants at stake and big-time legal expenses continuing to accrue.

And for those WCF readers who'd similarly like to publicly express their own views, why not mosey on over the the Standard-Examiner website, where our beloved home town newspaper is running a poll which propounds this most-timely query:

• How do you think Ogden should handle the Jon Greiner situation?

That's it for now, O Gentle Ones.

Have at it.

Update 12/12/11 3:00 p.m.: For the curious among us, you should navigate to this SE page, where the latest results of today's latest SE online poll are fully revealed:

• Possible Jon Greiner Firing Poll Results

Looks like upwards of 80% of the poll respondents are into "shuffling Jon Greiner off to Buffalo" No?

Returning the WCF Spotlight to the Jon Greiner Hatch Act Predicament

If you haven't yet voted, click the poll link below

With a mere 10 days remaining before the deadline for the filing of a U.S. District Court appeal, there's more action on the Jon Greiner Hatch Act story this morning, as the Standard-Examiner editorial page features this emotionally charged letter from one irate South Ogden City resident, who writes "in support of upholding the Hatch Act and firing Chief Jon Greiner." Although Ms. Francis goes a little overboard in conflating Greiner's Hatch Act predicament with Ogden's (perfectly legal, although ethically questionable) "double-dipping" problem and although she makes what we'd consider to be entirely unfounded accusations about "dishonesty and misuse of federal and state tax dollars for himself and his special handful of unlawful officers," we'll nevertheless put the focus on Ms. Francis's morning letter, because we believe she is correct in her major premise (taking into account the evidence that that Greiner had "signed off" on a half-dozen federal grants during his 2006 Utah Senate campaign), i.e., that the federal Office of Special Counsel has made the prima facia case for Greiner's violation of the Hatch Act, and that Mayor-elect Mike Caldwell should "do the right thing and let Greiner go":

• Greiner thinks he's above the law

And while we're on this topic again, we'll also shine the spotlight on several of the other Greiner/Hatch Act topical letters which are lighting up the S-E online website, but which haven't found their way to the S-E hardcopy edition, (at least not yet.)

In this brief and concise 12/14/11 S-E submission, Harrisville resident William Hart raises the "indispensability" issue, and further opines that Ogden's "good ole' boy system is inefficient," and that OPD leadership could benefit from "fresh management" and "renewal":

• Greiner isn't indispensable

As to Mr. Hart's points, we're absolutely certain that lower ranking Ogden police officers, who've been stymied in their efforts to move up the OPD career-advancement ladder, couldn't be more in agreement.

And last but not least, we'll direct our readers' attention to this truly crazy cranky online letter, penned by prominent Ogden businessman and sometimes real estate developer J. Kelly Goddard, who takes strong exception to the Standard's strong December 14 editorial and accompanying Grondahl editorial page cartoon. His solution to the Greiner dilemma? Round up a crowd of his pro-Greiner rich guy "mover and shaker" friends to "buy" our home town newspaper and then "shut it down." If you're thinking that Mr. Goddard fancies himself as part of the 1%, you'd be most certainly right, wethinks:

• Paper too biased regarding Greiner issue

In truth, we're not quite sure what to make of Mr. Goddard's letter. What about it, WCF readers? Is Goddard simply engaging in a little "hyperbolic venting," or should Standard-Examiner management genuinely consider this a not-so-veiled threat?

Here's a new screen-shot of the Standard's still ongoing poll, by the way, where the S-E poses the question, "How do you think Ogden should handle the Jon Greiner situation?" Turns out that a whopping 85% (of 160 respondents) go along with Ms. Francis, Mr. Hart and the Standard and believe that Greiner should go:

Click to enlarge image

If you haven't yet voted, click the poll link below:

• S-E poll: How do you think Ogden should handle the Jon Greiner situation?

That's it for now, O Gentle Ones.

Who'll be the first to throw in their own 2¢?

Standard-Examiner: Overall Hatch Act Questioned by Director of Federal Agency

The Ogden City taxpayers should not bear the further burden of Chief Greiner's (and Boss Godfrey's) legalistic bravado

The Hatch Act injects the federal government into state and local contests thousands of times a year, its penalties are inflexible and sometimes unfair, and it is out-of-date with the 21st-century workplace. There's bipartisan consensus that this law needs an update.

Carolyn Lerner, Director, U.S. Office of Special Counsel
Overall Hatch Act questioned by director of federal agency
December 8, 2011

Passage of [a Hatch Act] amendment would not reverse a recent Merit Systems Protection Board ruling involving Greiner.

Ann O'Hanlon, Spokeswoman, Office of Special Counsel
Overall Hatch Act questioned by director of federal agency
December 8, 2011

And so it begins, as we find on the front page of the Standard-Examiner this morning the first of what we expect to be a series of stories and letters to the editor attempting to justify Boss Godfrey's percipient filing of an appeal with the U.S. District Court of Monday's adverse ruling, wherein the federal Merit Systems Protection Board "upheld a judge’s 2010 ruling that the city must remove Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner or forfeit about $215,000 in federal grants because of a violation of the Hatch Act":

• Overall Hatch Act questioned by director of federal agency

Don't get us wrong, O Gentle Ones. We believe Jon Greiner's been one helluva good police chief... the best in modern times, perhaps. Unfortunately however, his case (and the city's case as well) is hemmed in by the underlying facts, which regrettably demonstrate that "Greiner violated the Hatch Act because he signed off on a half-dozen federal grants, valued at more than $1 million, that were already in place during his successful 2006 state Senate bid."

Even assuming that the Hatch Act were to be amended by congress to "allow state and local employees to campaign for elected offices in partisan political races," such a result would not affect the outcome of Greiner's case at all, inasmuch as he's bound by the law that was in effect in the time of the violations, as Ms. O'Hanlon accurately states in the quote above.

As we opined in Tuesday's WCF article, it's time for Ogden City's administration to "do what's right," and "cut the taxpayers' losses." Unfortunately, it's clear that one way or the other, Greiner must go.

While some (Godfrey for instance) may argue that Chief Greiner is "indispensible" in his role as Ogden City Chief of Police, we'll remind our readers of what one great WWII general and revered French patriot had to say on the subject:

"The cemeteries are full of indispensable men." -- Charles De Gaulle

It's time for Boss Godfrey to face the music. Godfrey and Greiner "rolled the dice" and "crapped out". The Ogden City taxpayers should not bear the further burden of Chief Greiner's (and Boss Godfrey's) legalistic bravado, with $215 thousand in federal grants at stake and big-time legal expenses continuing to accrue.

And Chief Greiner should look at the bright side. Once relieved of the heavy burden of administering the OPD, triple-dipper Greiner will still have several well-funded retirement accounts to "milk," and plenty of extra free time to perfect his golf game.

Update 12/8/11 12:30 p.m.: The Salt Lake Tribune's Christopher Smart is all over the story, too:

• Fate of Ogden police chief now up to mayor-elect

An Alternative Too Horrible to Contemplate -- UPDATED!

If it ain't broken, don't reckon you need to worry bout fixin' it.

WCF Goldmine Archives
Cowboy Wisdom
October 2006

Weber County Republicans came into the 2006 election season "sitting pretty," with incumbent State Senator Dave Thomas in place in his Senate 18 District seat.

Republican Senator Thomas, who had defeated Democrat Ed Allen in the November 2002 election, had made his mark on capitol hill, and had become one of Utah's better-respected state senators. Activively participating on numerous committees and the authoring and sponsoring much important legislation, Senator Thomas had become, for Districct 18 citizens, a legislator with increasing political clout -- a force to be reconned with -- a real local political asset.

Although we didn't always agree with everything Senator Thomas did during his term in the Senate, we always respected his intellect and reasoning. Above all, we respected his independance.

And when it came time for expressing our political preferences, we embraced the above cowboy wisdom and gave Dave our endorsement.

But for reasons which are still unclear, the Republicans of District 18 sought fit to "fix what wasn't broken," send their incumbent senator packing... and nominated Jon Greiner for the Senate 18 race.

And now, 100 days later, we're presented with this absolutely ridiculous development, courtesy of this morning' Standard-Examiner.

Your blogmeister researched the Hatch Act problem for another police officer friend about six months ago. The rules are not at all complicated:

The Hatch Act (5 U.S.C. §§ 1501 - 1508) restricts the political activity of individuals principally employed by state, county, or municipal executive agencies in connection with programs financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States or a federal agency. An employee covered by the Act may not be a candidate for public office in a partisan election, i.e., an election in which any candidate represents, for example, the Republican or Democratic party. It has long been established that an officer or employee of a state or local agency is subject to the Hatch Act if, as a normal and foreseeable incident of his principal position or job, he performs duties in connection with an activity financed in whole or in part by federal funds. In re Hutchins, 2 P.A.R. 160, 164 (1944), Special Counsel v Gallagher, 44 M.S.P.R. 57 (1990).

Although Chief Greiner says he consulted with legal counsel prior to entering this race, we find it difficult to believe that any competent lawyer would have ruled out a Hatch Act challenge. Perhaps Mr. Greiner should have called Rudi. Your blogmeister could have saved Greiner lots of trouble.

Now that the die is cast however, we urge Chief Greiner to finish what he has begun. District 18 Republicans have relied upon Jon Greiner's candidacy to their possible detriment. Greiner's only ethical option is to resign his Chief of Police job (or give uo 2 years' salary) and continue in his Senate candidacy, we think.

The alternative is this guy, gentle readers -- an outcome too horrible to contemplate.

You led the District 18 Republicans down the primrose path, Mister Greiner. We think you should finish what you started.

Update 10/21/06 9:26 p.m. MT: Today's news reveals that our beleguered Republican Senate 18 candidate actually did talk to a lawyer prior to knocking Dave Thomas outta the race with his heavily-Lindquist-financed primary campaign. According to today's Standard-Examiner story, Utah's #1 neoCON politician Mark Shurtleff told him that the police chief of a city with dang near the highest percentage of federal grants and revenues in Utah would have no Hatch Act problems when he recruited him. And Greiner apparently relied blindly upon this dismal and hopelessly incompetent advice.

Now Shurtleff and his Utah neoCON Republican party shills are telling him to hire "a real lawyer." SHEESH!

This story gets even more strange by the minute.

If Chief Greiner is getting the political shaft, we know who gets the blame.

We can only imagine what's coming up next in Monday's anticipated Std-Ex story.

And puh-leeze don't anybody tell us again that the definitely independant Jon Greiner is Boss Godfrey's bitch!

Reid and Boss Godfrey have run a fine District 18 campaign so far. They're merely reeling in Greiner's "rope," so to speak.

And you know what Weber County cowboys say about rope: When you get to the end of yours, tie a knot and hang on.

Show 'em who's the REAL BOSS, JON! You'd definitely have Rudi's vote... if he resided in YOUR district.

Rudi loves underdogs - especially O.H.S. homies who are opposed by Boss Godfrey.

Update 10/22/06 12:57 p.m. MT: The Standard-Examiner provides the latest news in the Senate 18 race brouhaha this morning. Republican candidate Jon Greiner has a hard decision to make by the Halloween witchin' hour, it appears.

No problem -- Mark Shurtleff will be preparing a "legal brief, we're assured. "The feds have no clue," our Utah AG sez, with a completely straight face.

"With 'friends' like Mark Shurtleff, who needs political opponents?" we ask.

"Hang in there Jon," we advise. We're sure the top law enforcement officer in the state will be able to up with something clever ( wink-wink) to find a way around the federal law that seemingly could not be more clear on its face.

And as an added bonus, the Std-Ex throws out another teaser. Mark Decaria will issue his long-awaited report "very soon" -- possibly even before the election.

Standard-Examiner: Greiner Ruling Defended in Hatch Act Case

Who wants to lay odds on the prospect of Greiner and Ogden City prevailing on appeal?

Mainly for archival purposes, we will make note of this morning's Scott Schwebke story, which reports that the Office of Special Counsel has filed its responsive pleadings in the Merit Systems Protection Board Hatch Act administrative law appellate matter, Office of Special Counsel v. Jon Greiner and Ogden City. Here's the lede:

OGDEN -- An appeal of the ruling that Police Chief Jon Greiner violated the Hatch Act should be rejected, attorneys for the U.S. Office of Special Counsel argue in a 57-page response filed with the federal Merit Systems Protection Board.
After a three-day hearing in October 2009, Administrative Law Judge Lana Parke found that Greiner violated the Hatch Act because he signed off on a half-dozen federal grants to the police department worth about $1 million that were in place during his successful 2006 campaign for the State Senate.
Greiner and the city filed their appeal last month with the Merit Systems Protection Board to overturn Parke's ruling.
Greiner's appeal states that he was not allowed to call several material witnesses. Among the witnesses were Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and former state Senate President John Valentine, a Republican from Provo, who would have testified they advised Greiner his Senate bid did not violate the Hatch Act.

Among other things, Ace Reporter Schwebke carves out this enlightening and possibly dispositive argument from the Office of Special Counsel Appellee's Brief:

However, Parke's ruling should stand because Greiner failed to heed warnings from the OSC that he was in violation of the Hatch Act and instead sought advice from Valentine and Shurtleff, the OSC contends.
"It is remarkable that Greiner ignored OSC's warnings and chose to rely on advice from Utah officials with no authority to enforce, and limited knowledge of the Hatch Act," the OSC's response states.

The federal government's lawyers make an excellent point, we think. As a state legislator who's served in the State Senate since 2007, Greiner ought to have been painfully aware that Attorney General Shurtleff's advice can often occasionally be "wrong -- horribly, embarrassingly (and laughably?) wrong":

• A word of consolation to Mark Shurtleff on vouchers

Twenty/twenty hindsight's not always the best of course, but we'll betcha a brewski at Brewski's that Chief Greiner is wishing he'd consulted with a REAL LAWYER prior to signing off on those "half-dozen federal grants to the police department worth about $1 million that were in place during his successful 2006 campaign for the State Senate," rather than just relying on the free advice of his political pals on Capitol Hill.

And who wants to lay odds on the prospect of Greiner and Ogden City prevailing on appeal?

Whatever you do, don't let the cat get your tongues.

Standard-Examiner: Greiner Severance Package Totals $77,300

Sodden Reader Query: Did the concerted acts of both Greiner and Boss Godfrey paint incoming Mayor Mike Caldwell so deeply into a corner that Caldwell has no alternative but to "go along" with what some might characterise as Greiner's Golden parachute?

This morning's Standard-Examiner is running a story this morning which is bound to give fiscally frugal Ogden City taxpayers heartburn, as Scott Schwebke reports that one of the final acts of the Boss Godfrey administration was the awarding of a $77,300 severance package to Chief Greiner, who was "fired from his job last month because of a federal Hatch Act violation." Here's the lede:

OGDEN -- Former Police Chief Jon Greiner, who was fired from his job last month because of a federal Hatch Act violation, will receive a severance package from the city with a gross value of $77,300.
The package stems from a settlement agreement Greiner and former Mayor Matthew Godfrey signed Dec. 30, according to records obtained by the Standard-Examiner.
The payout equals six months of Greiner's salary and accrued health, dental, vacation, vehicle and retirement benefits.
In exchange for the severance package, Greiner has released the city from any future legal claims.
The severance package given to Greiner is standard for all city department directors, Mayor Mike Caldwell said.

Check out the full story here:

• Greiner severance package totals $77,300

At least one of our WCF readers was earlier wondering why Greiner's involuntary termination might entitle him to a severance pay package, inasmuch as he was "fired for cause," i.e., "because of a federal Hatch Act violation."

Being the curious type, and intrigued by our gentle reader's query, we "googled" the underlying rules, of course.

Turning to the Ogden City Code, we find that the provisions governing Ogden City employee "Classification and Pay Plans" are governed by Ogden City Code Section 2-6-9.

The rules for the denial of of severance pay benefits to "involuntarily terminated" Ogden City employee are spelled out in Subsection F.

It does seem to us that there is one provision within that subsection which might operate to prohibit the payment of a severance package to Chief Greiner, although it's a mite thin, in our view:

3. Prohibition: Severance pay shall not be paid to an otherwise eligible employee who:
a. Has been terminated or requested to resign under bona fide charges of nonfeasance, misfeasance or malfeasance in office

The terms nonfeasance, misfeasance or malfeasance are technical "words of art"of course. Click the links below for some commonly-used general definitions:

• Nonfeasance
• Misfeasance
• Malfeasance

So what about it Gentle readers? When you apply the above general definitions and principles of law to the facts of the Greiner Hatch Act problem, can an valid argument be made that Greiner's severence package is prohibited by the Ogden City Code, due to acts of nonfeasance, misfeasance or malfeasance on Greiner's part? In ignoring the demands of the federal Office of Special Council in 2006 to either drop out of his State Senate race, or alternatively to resign his office as Ogden's Chief of Police, did Greiner wilfully or negligently breach a duty owed to his employer, Ogden City, to refrain from a course of action which would jeopardise Ogden City's federal grant funding? Did Greiner's good-faith exercise of what we've called on WCF the Richard Perkins defense (Ogden's Hatch Act Compliance Program) operate as an excuse for his failure to heed the OSC's warnings? Did Ogden City's failure to fire Greiner early on, and instead to cooperatively join with Greiner in his Hatch Act litigation obviate any argument that Greiner acted in a manner which could deny him a severance package? Is Boss Godfrey's eleventh hour agreement to a severance "payout [which] equals six months of Greiner's salary and accrued health, dental, vacation, vehicle and retirement benefits" anything more than the last minute looting of the Ogden City treasury, or did the concerted acts of both Greiner and Boss Godfrey paint incoming Mayor Mike Caldwell so deeply into a corner that Caldwell has no alternative but to "go along" with what some might characterize as Greiner's Golden Parachute? Is Greiner's severance pay award just another example of Godfrey's fast-collapsing "House of Cards," which we wrote about yesterday?

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

Who'll be the first to toss in their own 2¢?

Nothing better than a little mental exercise to clear out the Monday morning mental cobwebs, right?

Ogden City Joins Greiner's Hatch Act Fight

Hearing on Senator/Chief Greiner's alleged Hatch Act violation set for June, 2, 2009

Scott Schwebke adds the latest news update to Ogden City Chief of Police Jon Greiner's long-running Hatch Act predicament, with this morning's Standard-Examiner front page story, announcing that an administrative hearing has now been set in the matter, for June 2, 2009. With a potential $215 thousand in penalties hanging in the balance, Ogden City Attorney Gary Williams is "getting ready to rumble," too:

OGDEN — The city plans to vigorously defend itself during a hearing this summer to determine if Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner violated the federal Hatch Act in connection with his successful bid for the state Senate in 2006.
“We won’t be in the back seat; we’ll be in the front seat,” City Attorney Gary Williams said Thursday.
“It’s in the city’s interest to retain Jon Greiner as police chief. The police department has had tremendous success under his leadership, and we don’t want to lose him.”
The hearing is scheduled to be conducted by Administrative Law Judge Lana Parke on June 2 at an undetermined location in Salt Lake City, officials with the federal Merit Systems Protection Board said Thursday.

While Chief Greiner and the City administration continue to hang their hats on the defense that Greiner is insulated by city procedures from the "administration" of federal funds which would bring Greiner within operation of The Hatch Act, the Office of Special Counsel appears to be interpreting the jurisdictional language of The Act more broadly, pressing the argument that Greiner is in violation merely because he performed duties in connection with four federal grants.

It will be a relief to have a resolution to this problem, regardless of who winds up as the prevailing party. This matter, which first arose in October of 2006, has dragged on for far too long. Hopefully assigned administrative law judge Parke will issue a well-reasoned decision, founded upon sound legal analysis, adding clarity to rules which are presently "muddy" at best. Even assuming that this matter might later wind up in the appellate courts, it seems to us that this case is finally moving in the right direction.

And what say our gentle readers about all this?

Standard-Examiner: Jon Greiner/Hatch Act Redux

Plenty of good lumpencitizen common sense is displayed on the SE editorial pages this morning

The problem was that if you take, use, oversee, and deal with federal dollars, the feds get to make the rules. If you don't want those dollars, the rules don't apply. You do want them, you have to follow the rules, especially if you're a chief of a police department.

Standard-Examiner Guest Commentary
Column on Hatch Act was off the mark
May 2, 2010

This appeal will further waste money, which Ogden really can not afford and it ranks with the passage this year of several bills by the state legislature that will end up in the courts, and which the state of Utah will lose. As much as we don't like it, federal law trumps state law, and it would be much more realistic and economical to grasp that point sooner rather than later.

Standard-Examiner Reader Letter
Appeal of Hatch Act ruling will further waste money
May 2, 2010

Sensible John Thompson guest editorial this morning, springboarding off last Tuesday's guest commentary, wherein regular Standard-Examiner guest contributor Neil Humphrey had groused about the federal Office of Special Council's recently zealous Hatch Act enforcement in the Jon Greiner matter:

• Column on Hatch Act was off the mark

One thing we really appreciate in Emerald City's perennial political candidate, John Thompson... his uncanny ability to drill down the the essential facts and principles, and to not allow himself to get distracted by the collateral B.S.

And while we're on the topic of Jon Greiner and the Hatch Act, here's another sensible SE reader letter with a similar argument, which also appears on this morning's editorial page:

• Appeal of Hatch Act ruling will further waste money

Plenty of good lumpencitizen common sense is displayed on the SE editorial pages this morning.

What a shame that we find none of this in Ogden City Hall.

Std-Ex Editorial: Chief Greiner's Predicament

Dual legislative and law enforcement roles place Chief Greiner in a tight spot

The Standard-Examiner editorial board chimes in on the pending Jon Greiner Hatch Act matter this morning, predicting that the State Senator and Ogden Police Chief will prevail in his opposition to the complaint of the federal Office of Special Counsel, which seeks Greiner's removal from the office of Ogden Chief of Police:

The Hatch Act, enacted in 1939, oversees some political acts of state and local government officials. The OSC’s complaint claims that Greiner, as police chief, was responsible for managing and administrating four federal grants while competing for and winning the Senate District 18 seat.
In our opinion, the OSC charge is not accurate. We think Greiner has acted specifically within the law because Ogden city’s chief administrative officer, John Patterson, says he signs off on the federal grants received by the city’s police department.

We believe the Std-Ex is likely correct in its fact analysis and conclusions. In point of fact, it's apparent to us that Chief Greiner and Ogden City have devised a cautious Hatch Act Compliance Program, shielding Greiner from any acts which could be deemed "managing and administrating four federal grants."

Whether the Std-Ex is aware of it or not, there is also judicial precedent in this matter. In 2004, Henderson, Nevada Assistant Chief of Police and Nevada Assemblyman Richard Perkins was served a similar Office of Special Council complaint, under facts nearly identical to those in the Greiner case. The matter was adjudicated by Merit Systems Protection Board administrative law judge William G. Kocol in favor of Perkins. The Las Vegas Review Journal has a good September 14, 2005 writeup concerning that decision:

• Judge rules Perkins didn't break federal law

As a matter of fact, we interviewed Chief Greiner in 2006, during the General Election ramp-up. Greiner informed us at that time that Ogden's Hatch Act Compliance program had been carefully modeled after the Henderson, Nevada program.

We'll thus cautiously join with the Std-Ex in our own prediction that Mr. Greiner will likely prevail in the pending action before the next Merit Systems Protection Board administrative law judge.. with this caveat: The decision of Judge Kocal isn't necessarily binding in a subsequent matter before any other MSPB judge, even in a case with nearly identical facts. The two cases ARE slightly distinguishable on the facts, by the way. Whereas Perkins had been the Henderson City Assistant Chief, who served as "acting chief" only from time to time, Greiner is the full time Chief of Police of Ogden City. Moreover, although the previously decided Perkins case provides precedent, we do not believe it provides binding legal precedent. Unhappily for Chief Greiner, we suspect a decision in his pending action depends as much upon the disposition of the sitting administrative law judge as the underlying facts and law in the matter.

Having said all this, we'll remind our readers that other issues have arisen with respect to this matter. The Std-Ex raises this objection to the duality ofGreiner's legislative and law enforcement management roles:

Ironically, the OSC complaint cannot force Greiner to give up his state senate seat. Even if he did so, it would not resolve the OSC action. Nevertheless, Greiner should reconsider his state senate duties, since they are restricting his ability, as Ogden police chief, to have a say on federal funds for his officers.
We want Greiner involved in all important duties as Ogden’s chief law enforcement officer.

And there remain still other and further issues. Potential conflict of interest, anyone? And what about the retirement double dipping issue? We know it's technically lawful... but is it right? And what about the argument that these Hatch Act restrictions, if rigorously applied, infringe upon Greiner's fundamental constitutional rights? Then there's the peripheral question of who exactly picks up Greiner's legal fees, whether or not Greiner prevails. Interestingly, in the Perkins case, it was Chief/Assemblyman Perkins himself (not the Office of Special Counsel OR the taxpayers of Henderson City) who eventually got stuck with the tab.

We think The Std-Ex's Calvin Grondal gets it mainly right. Right or wrong, Chief Greiner remains in a tight spot. It's a practical... as much as a legal problem, we think.

The WCF discussion floor is open. Don't let the cat get your tongues.

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.

Jon Greiner Gets His "Day in Court"

Scott Schwebke reports on Jon Greiner's now-ongoing Hatch Act administrative hearing

The Standard-Examiner describes the latest episode in the long-simmering Jon Greiner Hatch Act Saga,with this morning's Scott Schwebke story, which reports that our Ogden Police Chief/State Senator is now mired in the midst of a multi-day administrative hearing, wherein it will ultimately be determined whether Ogden City's carefully-crafted Hatch Act Compliance Program, (whereby Chief Greiner has been formally insulated from duties and authority related to federal grants) is sufficient to remove the matter from Hatch Act jurisdiction:

• Hatch Act hearing puts senator/Ogden police chief's future on the line

Curiously, and despite the Godfrey administration's otherwise scrupulous efforts to distance Chief Greiner from any official acts related to application, management or disposition of federal grant funds, Mr. Schwebke's morning story reveals that the administration may have nevertheless clownishly dropped the ball, by allowing Chief Greiner to affix his signature and/or initials to a number of grant applications and/or other grant-related documents. This slip-up of course thus provides the federal Office of Special Counsel a seemingly significant angle of attack -- a circumstance which could have been easily avoided. In that connection, it seems to us that it it would have made better sense for the administration to have required Ogden CAO John Patterson or Assistant Chief Tarwater to have signed off on these documents. Why they committed this particular bone-headed blunder we'll never know, although we will snarkily suggest that it does seem consistent with the general level of incompetence we've come to expect from "Boss Godfrey's Gang that Can't Shoot Straight."

We're posting this article mainly for archival consistency, inasmuch as we don't reasonably anticipate any real news about the outcome of this week's hearings for at least a few more months.

Nevertheless, we'll open the floor for any appropriate reader comments.

Standard-Examiner: Some Worry Protective Hatch Act Now Just a Political Tool

Seems to us that it's time for Attorney General Shurtleff to stop flapping his lip, and get to work filing a lawsuit right about now

The Standard-Examiner provides two informative articles this morning, examining the federal Hatch Act, and its plainly "chilling effect" on our ongoing 2010 local General Elections process.

1) Dan Weist provides this excellent story, which includes a sampling of highly critical comments from a variety of political figures within the local political arena:

• Some worry protective Hatch Act now just a political tool

2) In a second companion story,Tim Gurrister examines the effect of the Hatch Act on Ogden police lieutenant Scott Conley's now-aborted 2010 Weber County Sheriff campaign run and offers a few more pithy quotes:

• Ogden Police Lt. Scott Conley not running for sheriff because of Hatch Act

Distilling the facts from these two morning stories, one thing seems clear. Nobody in the local political arena seems pleased with impact the U.S. Office of Special Council's heavy-handed Hatch Act enforcement is wreaking upon our 2010 General Elections.

We believe Weber County Sheriff candidate Terry Thompson gets it exactly right with this extended quote from the second article cited above:

Terry Thompson, commander over Weber County Jail, is running for sheriff and has been researching the Hatch Act, which he had been confident doesn't apply to him. While the sheriff's office does receive federal funds, none goes to any correctional programs he runs, he said.
But given the OSC's recent decisions regarding Greiner and Conley, Thompson said, "I'm going to have to do some more research."
He called the Hatch Act "kind of ridiculous. It's morphed into something it was never intended to be."
"I don't see the danger it's trying to protect us from. The real tragedy is, it's interpreted so broadly and so vaguely to include good people like Jon and Scott."
With 3,084 sheriffs in the country, for example, the OSC can't possibly monitor all elections nationally for Hatch Act violations, Thompson said.
"So it's enforced by complaint only and just becomes a political tool for people to use."

And as per usual, our ever-savvy Councilwoman Amy Wicks, a 2010 candidate for the Weber County Commission herself, cuts through the baloney and also hits the nail on the head:

Amy Wicks, a member of the Ogden City Council who has filed to seek a Weber County Commission seat, researched the Hatch Act even though her full-time job as information and research specialist with the Ogden-based National Shaken Baby Syndrome Center has no federal funding.
City council members only become involved with federal funds after the fact in approving budgets, she said.
Her study of the Hatch Act has left her skeptical. "I'm not really sure what we're being protected from. It's probably time to reassess it. Is what was valid in 1939 valid in 2010?"

So in that connection we'll link the following scholarly Jason C. Miller law review article, which we googled up from the very bowels of the webosphere this morning, which expands upon Sheriff's Deputy Thompson's and Councilwoman Wicks's major points, focuses on the federal law’s coverage of state and local employees and examines a) whether the Act would pass constitutional muster under modern tests, b) whether the Hatch Act is desirable as a matter of policy, and c) what alternatives could achieve the policy goals of the Act without an absolute prohibition on candidacy for partisan office.

• The Unwise and Unconstitutional Hatch Act: Why State and Local Government Employees Should be Free to Run for Public Office

The situation even has Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff all riled up:

But Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who advised Greiner in 2006 that he would not be in violation of the act if he ran for the Senate, believes the Greiner decision is another example of the federal government overstepping its reach into the lives of everyday citizens who serve the public by running for public office.
"It's just wrong," he said.
"If it is allowed to stand, it will have a chilling effect on other people who may want to run."

Seems to us that it's time for Attorney General Shurtleff to stop flapping his lip, and get to work filing a lawsuit right about now. Shurtleff and some of his GOP legislative cronies have been bravely talking up Tenth Amendment issues since the beginning of the 2010 legislative session. They've been bristling for a big "state sovereignty" lawsuit for quite some time. Perhaps its time to put their money where their mouths is... no? Now's their chance, we think. We're sure Professor Miller wouldn't mind their "borrowing" his scholarly work.

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

Breaking News From the Standard-Examiner -- Feds: Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner Must Go

First item of business for Mayor-elect Mike Caldwell, once he takes the oath of office on Jan 3, 2012? Firing Chief Greiner, that's what

Bad News for Boss Godfrey and Jon Greiner, Godfrey's Chief of Police. The Standard-Examiner is now reporting that federal Merit Systems Protection Board has rejected Chief Greiner's Hatch Act appeal. Here's Scott Schwebke's lede:

OGDEN — By a 2 to 1 vote, the federal Merit Systems Protection Board upheld a judge’s 2010 ruling that the city must remove Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner or forfeit about $215,000 in federal grants because of a violation of the Hatch Act.

Read the full story here:

• Feds: Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner must go

Turns out that the Standard-Examiner was right. And Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff was wrong, of course, (as usual). Clearly, Greiner should have been cut loose and given his "walking papers" long ago.

We don't know how much this frivolous appeal has cost Ogden City taxpayers since its filing in 2010, but you can bet the farm that it's a boatload of cash. Upper five figures (at least) would be our educated guess.

First item of business for Mayor-elect Mike Caldwell, once he takes the oath of office on Jan 3, 2012? Firing Chief Greiner, that's what. This Hatch Act litigation nonsense has gone on for WAY too long.

Mayor Caldwell now has an early opportunity to set the tone for his administration by simply doing what's right, and cutting the taxpayers' losses.

We'll obviously be watching closely, folks.

Jon Greiner Senate Withdrawal Redux

It's becoming increasingly apparent that party labels don't mean very much to the legislative "leaders" up on Capitol Hill

We'll spotlight three new items from the northern Utah press, who are all over the Jon Greiner Senate race withdrawal story this morning:

1) The Standard-Examiner provides two more stories centered upon Jon Greiner's withdrawal from the Senate 18 race, in a consolidated three-part series which also incorporates the earlier SE story which we discussed yesterday morning:

• Greiner stops Senate run after Hatch Act ruling; Ogden may appeal

Among the tidbits of new information provided in this latest SE update is this:

OGDEN -- Jon Greiner will remain as police chief despite an administrative law judge's ruling that he must resign or the city will be forced to forfeit more than $215,000 in federal grants because of a Hatch Act violation.[...]
In addition to allowing Greiner to keep his job as police chief, the city may appeal the Hatch Act ruling, said John Patterson, the city's chief administrative officer.[...]
Even if the city doesn't appeal the ruling by an April 20 deadline, forfeiting the grant funds totaling two years of Greiner's salary is worth it, Patterson said.
"He's an excellent chief. Crime is at a 30-year low," he said. "We really think it's worth it to retain someone who has had excellent performance."

Whether the City Council will go along with the forfeiture of nearly a quarter-million dollars in federal grant money as the price of keeping Greiner on the city payroll is uncertain, as this Councilwoman Susan Van Hooser comment suggests:

City Councilwoman Susan Van Hooser questioned whether Ogden can afford legal costs associated with an appeal or the six-figure loss in federal funding.
"It puts the city in a real predicament about what we should do," she said.
"What's the cost going to be? Sometimes you have to let things go."

2) The Salt Lake Tribune is also carrying the story too, and reports that Stuart Reid has finally made contact with Weber County Republican officials (whom long time Democratic Party insider Reid didn't know from Adam less than a week ago), and that Weber County GOP Chairman Matt Bell plans to schedule a question and answer session with the Weber County Republican Executive Committee (the 18-member governing body for the County GOP), to allow Reid to pitch his "conservative" credentials, (such as they may or may NOT be):

• Greiner drops out of Senate race

3) The Deseret News is also on top of the story too, with this morning writeup which reports that real estate development-oriented elements within the State Legislative Republican majority, namely neoCON Senate President Michael Waddoups R-Taylorsville, and Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper can hardly contain their glee at the idea of welcoming another fellow real estate developer crony (Reid) into the Capitol Hill Good Ole Boys' Club:

• Ogden state senator drops re-election bid

No surprises there, wethinks. It's becoming increasingly apparent that party labels and party core principles don't mean very much to the "faux" GOP legislative "leaders" up on Capitol Hill, and that the most important trait for any new prospective state legislator, as far as these right wing socialist people are concerned, is a strong affinity for the all-powerful Utah real-estate development lobby.

That's our take; and we're stickin' to it.

So what say our gentle readers about all this?

Chief/Senator Greiner's Hatch Act Hearing is Postponed

With luck, we'll see a final resolution of this matter, sometime prior to the expiration of Greiner's first Senate term of office

Last Thurday, gentle reader blackrulon posed this compound question in one of our lower comments sections: "... [W]hat is the status of police chief Greiner and the conflict in having both a state senator position and the chief of police job? When can we expect a ruling?"

We don't know whether Mr. Schwebke has been reading the blog for good reportorial ideas, but he's nevertheless johnny on the spot with a Greiner Hatch Act dispute update this morning, in which he reports that Chief Greiner's federal Merit System Protection Board Hatch Act violation hearing, originally set for this month, has been continued to October 20, 2009:

• Ogden PD Chief hearing postponed / Jon Greiner could go before an administrative law judge in October

Reading between the lines, it's apparent that the federal Office of Special Council will be filing a motion for summary judgment sometime in advance of the newly set October evidentiary hearing, to test whether Chief Greiner's quite innovative "Perkins defense", (which would theoretically insulate Chief Greiner from federal Hatch Act jurisdiction as a matter of law, by vesting sole federal grant funds approval and administration authority in Ogden CAO John Patterson and Assistant Chief Wayne Tarwater respectively) ... holds water.

With luck, we'll see a final answer to blackrulon's latter above question, sometime prior to the expiration of Greiner's first Senate term of office (January 2011).

Comments, anyone?

Update 6/22/09 11:07 a.m. MT: KSL News is covering this story too:

• Hearing on Ogden police chief's candidacy delayed

Don't neglect to check out the many"interesting" KSL reader comments.

Salt Lake Tribune: Utah Chief Poster Child for Hatch Act Problem

Regular Weber County Forum readers will recall Former Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner's valiant Hatch Act fight, and how after years of gruelingly expensive litigation, the whole situation didn't work out so well, either for Jon Greiner, or for the beleaguered citizens of Ogden City either.

Well, the Hatch Act fight ain't over folks, according to this morning's Salt Lake Tribune story:

• Utah chief poster child for Hatch Act problem

So how would you characterize Jon Greiner at this point, Weber County Forum readers?

• Arrogant Godfrey Administration scofflaw? or,
• Brave Civil rights freedom fighter?

Vote in our poll, which we've also conveniently placed in our WCF right sidebar:

Free Web poll for your Web site - freepolls.com

Is Greiner a hero... or a zero?

Don't let the cat get yer tongues, folks.

A Taste Most "Fowl" -- Boss Godfrey and Reid Better Not Count Their Chickens -- Yet

We loved this Ace Reporter Schwebke masterpiece in this morning's Standard-Examiner:

Greiner remains on ballot; campaign plans on hold.

Poor ole' Scott Schwebke thought he'd delivered The Godfrey Propaganda Organ coup de gras upon Republican Senate 18 candidate Greiner with this crafty article. So did many of our gentle readers, judging from comments in the lower sections.

Sorry Scott... no such luck.

We've spent much of the last two days talkin' to a few of our snitches - and some legal fellers in SLC and Washington, D.C. And guess what?

Our conclusion is that Jon Greiner is by no means outta the Senate 18 hunt -- at least not because of the Hatch Act.. Pass it on.

Here's the kicker:

Board upholds Perkins ruling
Lawmaker prevails again in Hatch Act complaint

The Perkins case involves a Deputy Police chief in Henderson Nevada, who ran for the Nevada legislature in 2001 and ultimately became the Nevada State Assembly Speaker.

Somewhere along the line, somebody put in a Hatch Act Complaint.

The facts in the Perkins case are almost completely analogous to the instant Greiner case.

After two+ years of battling with federal administrative agency beaureaucrats, Perkins remains the Nevada Assemby Speaker. Federal Counsel lost TWO straight legal rounds in this extended battle (trial & appeal) before they The Office of Special Counsel finally threw in the towel.

No. Bureaucratic federal attorneys in Washington are neither omiciscient nor omnipotent. The federal Office of Special Persecutors got their ass handed to them in the Perkins Matter, before they finally gave up.

Yes. The Perkins case sets precedent.

Legal precedent of course doesn't mean Greiner will win the Senate 18 race, even if he's later vindicated in the courts. His campaign has been perhaps irretrievably corrupted by four straight Standard-Examiner stories, intended by the Godfrey forces to allow the most corrupt figure in the history of the universe (Reid) to glide into the State Senate by virtual default.

Even more sad is the fact that Boss Godfrey's pet shill, Stuart Reid, will possibly prevail in the November election, due to the barrage of misinformation the Standard-Examiner has disseminated about Republican Greiner's "Hatch Act Problems" during the last week.

As we said before, the evil Stuart Reid is an alternative far too horrible to contemplate.

We'll make no bones about it. Chief's Greiner's Republican political philosophy differs somewhat from ours. Of course we haven't really talked to the chief about this, and are relying in this assumption upon -- you guessed it -- The Standard-Examiner. (Maybe Chief Greiner will give us a ring one of these days and buy us lunch. We'd feel more self-assured about this if we got it from the horse's mouth.)

We do NOT believe that Chief Greiner has gotten a "fair shake" in this race.

We'll see what happens down the road, when it comes time to the counting of the chickens.

Regardless of the outcome, this race has left a very "fowl" taste in our mouth.

Somebody Drops the Hatch Act Dime on Ogden City Councilman Garcia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Standard-Examiner Letter to the Editor: Ogden Should Stand Up Against Hatch Act

Sodden Query: Will Mayor Elect Mike Caldwell pick up on the latest polling results in re Firing Chief Greiner? If not, we predict his administration will have "a long haul."

On Thursday last, we predicted what we expected to be "a series of stories and letters to the editor attempting to justify Boss Godfrey's percipient filing of an appeal with the U.S. District Court of Monday's adverse ruling, wherein the federal Merit Systems Protection Board "upheld a judge’s 2010 ruling that the city must remove Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner or forfeit about $215,000 in federal grants because of a violation of the Hatch Act."

Turning to the Standard editorial page this morning, just like clockwork, that's just exactly what we're getting this morning, with some guy from North Ogden (of all places), calling upon our local officials to stand up for Chief Greiner and say to the federal government, "Quit trying to "bully" us, and cram your bias, politically motivated opinions down our throats":

• Ogden should stand up against Hatch Act

"Mayor, don't let the federal government "bully" us this time, or it will never end," adds the slightly foamy-at-the-mouth North Ogden resident Dee J. Russell, hitting his lame "key talking point" again for extra emphasis.

When it comes to specific suggestions about how to deal the the legal predicament Chief Greiner and Boss Godfrey find themselves in, other than to generally resist the "bullying," Mr. Russel unfortunately comes up a little bit short. We'll however assume that he's NOT suggesting that Boss Godfrey roll over and fire Da Chief, who's also "served Ogden city and the state of Utah and the federal government in the armed services with Honor" (Mr. Russell also reminds us).

For a neat and tidy list of all the possible options available to Boss Godfrey, we'll refer back to another this WCF article of last week, which provided a link to a still ongoing Standard-Examiner poll, which asks the timely and probing question:

• How do you think Ogden should handle the Jon Greiner situation?

We visited the SE site just a coupla minutes ago, by the way, and took a screenshot of the poll results to date, where 85% of 156 SE reader/respondents haven't bought into Mr. Russell's B.S. and unequivocally opine that "Greiner Must Go":

Click image to enlarge

These interim results mean that this "lame ass" Mr. Russell's an "outlier," no?

Sodden Query: Will Mayor Elect Mike Caldwell have the political wisdom to pick up on this? If not, we predict his administration will have "a long haul" even from the get-go.

Comments, anyone?

Standard-Examiner: Reid Not Republican Enough?

Jon Greiner's holding most of the important cards... so what will Greiner do?

There's a fantastic story brewing up here in Weber County this morning, as this morning's Scott Schwebke story unravels the facts regarding Boss Godfrey crony Stuart Reid's last-minute decision to file his declaration of candidacy for Sen. Jon John Greiner's Senate District 18 seat (as a Republican), in the wake of Sen. Greiner's adverse Hatch Act ruling... a mere fifteen minutes prior the Weber County Clerk's Friday filing deadline. We've seen GOP RINO*s pull political flip-flops before; but we have to say this one takes the cake. We swear this has to be the strangest of those truth is stranger than fiction stories that we've recently seen. Even the most creative writer of fiction simply couldn't make this stuff up:

• Reid not Republican enough? Both parties wary after longtime Democrat switches in attempt to fill Greiner's seat

A Weber County Forum Tip O' The Hat goes out to Weber County GOP Chairman Matt Bell this morning for his forthright comments about the latest RINO* to mendaciously pin on the Republican Party label pin:

OGDEN -- A local Republican Party official is suspicious of developer Stuart Reid's last-minute switch from the Democratic Party to the GOP to run for the seat held by embattled state Sen. Jon Greiner.
Reid's longtime Democratic Party affiliation makes him unsuitable as a Republican candidate to represent Senate District 18, said Matt Bell, chairman of the Weber County Republican Party.
"He's as much a Republican as President Obama or House Speaker Nancy Pelosi," who are both Democrats, Bell said. "I don't think the party supports Reid."

Reid's former Democratic Party colleagues have also been rendered near-speechless, of course:

Todd Taylor, executive director of the Utah Democratic Party, said he hadn't expected Reid to run for the Senate, much less switch to the Republican Party to do so.
"I was stunned and blown away," he said.

And you have to love the sheer audacity of Reid's comment on the matter, as he takes on the role of Weber County's #1 Drama Queen (temporarily ousting Boss Godfrey from that role):

Being shunned by leaders in both parties is an unusual predicament, Reid said."It's a very odd place to be in. I'm a man without a country."

As an aside, we'll add that Reid's action in switching parties 15 minutes before the filing deadline, and leaving his own Democratic Party in the lurch, is a perfect illustration of the manner in which Matthew Godfrey and his minions work. With this group of opportunistic game players, there exist no absolute values of right v. wrong. Political action, philosophy and party affiliation are fuzzy abstractions to these political chameleons, transformable and capable of being shifted at will.

Needless to say, Reid's candidate filing puts The Weber County GOP in a very tight spot in the event that Greiner drops from the Senate race. With their County Nominating Convention looming on April 10, Reid, a long-time Democratic Party insider, would remain the sole candidate officially filed under the Republican banner in such a scenario. We'll thus take a wild guess, and assume that even now, Weber County GOP leadership is boning up on Utah Election Law and Utah GOP foundational documents to devise a strategy to strike Stuart Reid's name from the list of certified party convention candidates, deny his credentialling on the convention floor, and subsitute another legally-qualified GOP candidate, in the event Greiner drops out.

A lot depends on what course of action Jon Greiner adopts, of course. In fact, he's holding most of the important cards... cards which he dealt himself. Should he adopt the strategy suggested in this morning's most-excellent Standard-Examiner editorial, the Weber County GOP's problem is alleviated for the most part, we think:

• OUR VIEW: Greiner should resign as chief

Nevertheless, asking a man like Greiner, (who's devoted his whole life to a law enforcement career,) to step down from his Police Chief job is a lot to ask, we'll concede.

So what will Greiner do? Will he sacrifice his law enforcement career to the principles of his political party? Or will he continue in his Police Chief role, and throw his party to the political wolves? Perhaps these questions could be better framed as What SHOULD Sen. Greiner do?

Your blogmeister had a short phone conversation with Sen. Greiner yesterday, by the way. He's out of town and is still weighing his options.

It's a fantastic story brewing up, as we said.

Who will be the first to comment?
______
*Republican In Name Only

Update 3/26/10 6:56 a.m.: For the sake of accuracy, we need to make a slight correction. It occurred to us this morning that Senate District 18 also overlaps a portion of Davis County, so the Senate 18 nomination will occur at the 5/8/10 Utah GOP Nominating Convention, rather than the 4/10/10 Weber County Nominating Convention. Thus the Reid candidacy becomes a problem not only for the Weber County Republican Party, but for the Davis County GOP and the Utah GOP, as well.