2017 Ogden City Municipal Primary Election Day Thread - Updated

Check back after 8:00 p.m. and join in on all the fun

Breaking news for WCF readers who may have been living under a rock: Today is Ogden City Primary Municipal Election Day; and assuming you're registered to vote, and that you haven't already availed yourself of "by-mail voting," you can nevertheless vote from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. today at the following "Voter Assistance Centers":

• Weber County polling places/drop boxes

This morning;s Standard-Examiner story should serve as a reminder that typical Utah primary election turnouts are notoriously meager.
So if you want to see your favorite council candidates survive to run in the November election, don't stay home and rely on your neighbors to put them over the top, folks, even though you're confident that they're leading in the most recent polling.

If you still need to familiarize yourself with today's candidates, check out the election module in our trusty Primary Election Candidate Roster (also available in our  right sidebar) which contains everything you need to know about these eager aspirants to political office. "One Stop Shopping" for Emerald City Municipal Election candidates... that's what we aptly call it.

Check back in later this evening for real-time vote tallies, which we'll be posting here in a new update after the polls close at 8:00 p.m. Robust election night coverage is a 12-year tradition here at Weber County Forum, so be sure to come back and join in all the fun.

In the meantime however, we'll invite you all to chime in with a little primary election day conversation. We'd definitely like to hear how your voting experience went today. Were poll workers courteous and well prepared? Did you have any problems casting your vote? What could city and county election officials do, if anything, to improve the process?

That's it for now, Gentle Readers.

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

Update 8/15/2017 8:22 p.m.: Okay folks. Today's results are already rolling in, Thanks to Weber County Clerk Ricky Hatch's Election Office:

• UNOFFICIAL Election Results Rpt 3

With 19.9% of all votes counted at 8:58 p.m., it appears that the tallies are now strongly leaning in favor of City Council incumbents.

Update 8/15/18 9:27 p.m.: Here are tonight's final tallies, folks, indicating that all City Council incumbents drew the most votes in each precinct tonight:

• Final UNOFFICIAL Election Night Results

Now that didn't take long, did it? It ought to be an interesting runoff in November, wethinks.

Update 8/16/17 8:25 a.m.: The Standard-Examiner provides the post-Primary Election story this morning:

• Weber County primary winners 2017: Ogden City Council incumbents survive

Click our now-revised candidate roster, for the  list of candidates who'll appear on your November 7, 2017 General Election ballots:

• 2017 Ogden City General Election Candidate Roster

Congrats to the top two winners in each precinct; and thanks to all the other candidates for participating in this year's Ogden City Elections!

We'll be looking forward to a very interesting runoff in November's General Election.

2011 Ogden City Municipal Primary Election Day Thread - Updated

You're all invited to chime in with a little primary election day conversation; and don't forget to check back in later this evening for real-time post election voter tally coverage

Breaking news for WCF readers who may have been living under a rock: Today is Ogden City Primary Municipal Election Day; and assuming you're registered to vote, and that you haven't already availed yourself of "early voting," you can vote from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. today at the following voter precinct polling places:

• Voting Precincts and Polling Places Notice 2011

This morning's Standard-Examiner story should serve as reminder that typical Utah primary election turnouts are notoriously meager:

• Primaries to clear up muddy municipal election picture

So if you want to see your favorite mayoral and/or council candidate survive to run in the November election, don't stay home and rely on your neighbors to put them over the top, folks, even though you're confident that they're leading in the most recent polling.

If you still need to familiarize yourself with today's candidates, check out the election module in our right sidebar, which contains everything you need to know about these eager aspirants to political office. "One Stop Shopping" for Emerald City Municipal Election candidates... that's what we aptly call it.

Check back in later this evening for real-time vote tallies, which we'll be linking here in a new article after the polls close at 8:00 p.m. Robust election night coverage is a six year tradition here at Weber County Forum, so be sure to come back and join in all the fun.

In the meantime however, we'll invite you all to chime in with a little primary election day conversation. We'd definitely like to hear how your voting experience went today. Were poll workers courteous and well prepared? Did you have any problems casting your vote? What could city and county election officials do, if anything, to improve the process?

That' it for now, Gentle Readers.

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

Update 9/13/11 8:17 a.m.: In response to an inquiry by Gentle Reader Bob Becker, here's a sample ballot (PDF), provided by the Ogden City website:

• Sample Primary Election Ballot

Update 9/13/11 9:55 a.m.: Following up on last night's discussion, concerning exactly which documents are necessary to prove identity for Utah voting purposes, see this helpful informational document, which is parked on the Ogden City website:

• Valid Voter Identification Required At Any Poll on Election Day

Utah 2014 General Election: WCF Election Day Special - Updated

That's right folks. we'll go along with the Standard-Examiner, concerning possibly the most important set of candidate choices of the 2014 election season

It's Utah General Election Day 2014, folks.  You know what to do... do it at your neighborhood polling places.  Utah polls are open from 7am to 8pm, by the way. Unsure of your polling place location? Click this handy link, provide by the ever-helpful folks at Vote.Utah.Com:

• Welcome Menu - Vote.Utah.Gov

Still undecided about the candidates who are worthy of your votes? Check out the our robust Election module in our right sidebar, which also includes information on these two individual 2014 candidates whom we've endorsed:

• Andrew McCullough - Utah Attorney General
• Eric D. Irvine - House District 10

As an added bonus, we'll embed the text of this morning's strong Standard-Examiner editorial,which provides additional information concerning the three Ogden school board candidates whom we also endorsed.  This is an important editorial folks; so we've incorporated it in full:

Editor,
Collectively we hope to give voice to the teachers in Ogden School District who are too afraid to speak. We were teachers in Ogden School District and left because of the working environment created there. Some of us have children in the OSD. Many of us have even won teaching awards from Ogden School District but felt that we were undermined to the point where our students’ learning was suffering. While there may be teachers in the district who support the changes, we want to let the public know why over 100 teachers leave the district each year.
For the past few years, we have painfully watched as the Ogden City School Board has blindly approved every policy the Ogden superintendent has proffered. Even as the librarians were let go due to “budget issues” the superintendent was given cash bonuses, and the board acquiesced. When the public outcry reached the boiling point and letters were written, protests staged, and board meetings packed with angry citizens, the Ogden School Board turned a deaf ear ignoring the public’s pleas. When parents and citizens were alarmed at the mass exodus of veteran teachers, and the classroom sizes that topped forty, the board, again refused to act. Grass roots movements consisting of angry parents, citizens, and teachers demanded answers publicly, but the Ogden School Board remained silent and unanimously voted to renew the superintendent’s contract, replete with his cash bonuses.
We, the public, were promised that the “new direction” that the superintendent was taking the district would not lose any programs, teachers, or raise taxes. Each one of these promises was broken, and each decision was made with the unanimous support of the Ogden School Board. Now with the specter of SAGE results discrediting all of the grandiose promises of huge increases in test scores, we would like to urge the voters of Ogden to seriously consider voting in the three challengers. It is time to make a change for the sake of our students and teachers. Please vote for Douglas Barker-2, Dori Mosher-4, and Aaron Garza-7. Our students deserve the credibility and expertise they bring.
-Shane Pearson
-Jan Hollist
-Kristen Baddley-Blunck
-Lisa Vipperman
-Kim Irvine
-Charla Dean
-Lisa Arango

That's right folks. we'll go along with the Standard-Examiner, concerning the possibly most important set of candidate choices of the 2014 election season:

• Voters should change Ogden School Board

Update 11/4/2014 4:30 p.m.: Check back later this evening for election state-wide tallies after the polls close folks. In that connection, here's a link to tonight's real-time election results, via the Utah.Gov/Elections online utility:

• Utah Election Preliminary Results - Statewide

For our Weber County readers' convenience, we're also providing a link for those races which are specific to Weber County ballots only:

• Utah Election Preliminary Results - Weber County Only

Alternatively, Weber County will also be posting tonight's Weber County election results via this page:

• Election Summary Report - General Election - November 4, 2014

For those interested in following tonight's national mid-term election results, check out the NBC News Decision 2014 Website:

• NBC News - Decision 2014

And whatever happens tonight, don't let the cat get your tongues.

Tuesday Morning News Roundup

Proposed election law reform; and a new owner for a classic downtown hotel

By Curmudgeon

Two interesting front page stories this morning in the Standard-Examiner. First, this:

SALT LAKE CITY — Rep. Neil Hansen hopes to pass legislation that would allow Utah voters to register on Election Day, limit the power of poll challengers and increase transparency in the election auditing process. Hansen, D-Ogden, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah organized a meeting last week with county clerks, state election officials and outside experts to discuss the election reform measures.
The Election Day registration bill would allow unregistered voters to show up at the polls, provide identification and proof of residency, and then cast a regular ballot that can’t be thrown out later, Hansen said.... Weber County officials threw out more than 500 provisional ballots in November, some because poll workers filled out the forms incorrectly.
Marina Lowe, a staff attorney for the ACLU, said its investigation into voter complaints about the Weber elections was part of the impetus for the meeting Thursday. Weber County Clerk/Auditor Alan McEwan, who attended the meeting, said Election Day registration could help alleviate provisional ballot complications, which other counties in the state also experienced. “It could help, but it’s not problem-free either,” he said.
One of the concerns with same-day registration is the possibility of people using fake identification to commit voter fraud, Lowe said. However, she added, the states that use Election Day registration have not reported any fraud....
Hansen has another bill that would require poll checkers to register in advance and wear some identification so that voters don’t mistake them for election officials. He is also putting forward a bill to allow independent audits of election results.... McEwan said allowing for independent audits instead of state-run audits makes a lot of sense — if done correctly.

Several things worth noting. First, that the Weber County Clerk/Auditor, whose first response to the complaints about the polling place problems in the last election was to stonewall the press and public and ACLU and to deny, deny, deny, has now apparently awakened, smelled the coffee and is attending meetings with Hansen and the ACLU to look for ways to improve things. My my my. Imagine that.

Second, worth noting that the ACLU and Hansen have done their homework, apparently, and done what simple common sense would suggest: ask states that have done the reforms Hansen is proposing how they've worked out, whether the predictions of massive vote fraud [the Republican's favorite tactic for stopping election reform] have in fact developed from the reforms. Turns out, they haven't. Imagine that.

Kudos to Rep. Hansen and the ACLU [full disclosure: I am a proud card-carrying ACLU member] for their looking into the Weber mess in the last election and for working to propose reforms to make sure things are handled better in the future. And belated kudoes to Clerk/Auditor McEwan for, finally, emerging into the light of public scrutiny and dropping the stonewalling. Took a while, but nice that it finally happened.

Second item is this:

OGDEN — The Ben Lomond Hotel has been sold to a Nevada company, paving the way for a long-anticipated $50 million renovation project, according to the new owner.
UIG Resorts, based in Las Vegas, has purchased the 81-year-old hotel from Dan Tabish and his partner, Jeff Van Dyke. Tabish declined to disclose the sale price of the hotel, 2510 Washington Blvd. He said he and Van Dyke sold the Ben Lomond because they are unable to undertake renovations to restore the hotel to its original grandeur. “We ran out of capital to bring the project to fruition.
Work to renovate the Ben Lomond’s lobby will begin next month, and an upscale restaurant named Capone’s is expected to open in about three months in the hotel’s Oak Room, Dixon said. Plans also call for the conversion of some commercial space at the hotel into 147 condominiums, Dixon said, adding that UIG also plans to eventually seek approval from the city to build a 200-room tower near the hotel’s parking garage.
Once renovations are complete, the Ben Lomond would operate under the flag of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, he said.

Again, a couple of points worth mentioning. First, the Std-Ex ran a long and enthusiastic piece about the renovations to the Ben Lomond sometime last year. Much enthusiasm about the return of the grand hotel. But the owners ran out of money to finish the project. Just a cautionary tale regarding grand plans and projects: many a slip twixt cup and lip. Wishin' an' hopin' an' dreamin' do not necessarily mean they'll all come true.

Glad new owners with [it is to be hoped] sufficient capital to see the project through have been found. But again, it would be wise, while wishing them all the best, to restrain the jubilation and celebration until the newly restored Wyndam Grand Ben Lomand actually opens its doors. Ditto for the planned new tower block of 200 rooms.

The mix seems to be the same as is planned for the mega-hotel at the mall redevelopment site. Condos plus hotel rooms plus "upscale" eatery. That's an awful lot of capacity coming on line in Ogden more of less simultaneously. Hope they've done their homework regarding the potential market. Be wonderful if it all succeeds as planned. But again, we'll have to wait an see. And hope the developers don't want public money to do what they plan.

Finally, let me encourage the new owners to look into refurbishing and reopening the old roof top restaurant/bar at the Ben Lomond. One of Ogden's great assets is its magnificent view of the mountains, and very nearly none of the city's eateries or drinkeries take advantage of it. Hard to see how a "Top of the Ben" wouldn't have a lot going for it as a place to meet friends, and business associates for a dram or two. [Mrs. Curmudgeon and I would be happy to provide a review of a rooftop lounge at the Ben Lomand as part of our continuing research on "Rooftop Bars of the Mountain West." It's a book, we think, crying to be written. We plan the definitive work, though much research remains. We know, we know, it's a grueling job, but somebody has to do it.]

2011 Ogden City Municipal Election Day Thread - Updated 4X

Follow tonight's real-time vote tallies here at Weber County Forum

As every regular Weber County Forum reader is well aware, today is Ogden City Municipal Election Day. The polls open at 7:00 a.m., and will remain in business until 8:00 this evening at all Ogden City voter precinct polling places, as indicated by the Ogden IT Department's nifty new interactive Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping software:

• 2011 Ogden Polling Places

We're urging all WCF readers to make a special effort to show up to vote for the candidates whom we've endorsed, Jennifer Neil, Amy Wicks and Anyone but Brandon Stephenson. All prospective voters should also be aware that although supporters of the opposition crony capitalist Godfreyite-style Candidate Faction don't score high marks for political sophistication, they are reliable sheeple voters, and can be generally expected to show up in high numbers to vote as a flock bloc. So it's imperative that supporters of the Grownup Candidate Faction don't inadvertently drop the ball this go-round.

And don't forget, folks, Godfreite-style Faction mayoral candidate Stephenson, in particular, was "FOR" The Malans Basin & Mountain Gondola Development Project, long before he was "against it." Hopefully that memory will assist our readers in building up a sufficient head of steam to propel them to their polling places to vote for the best-qualified mayoral candidate, Anyone but Brandon Stephenson.

If you still need to "bone up" on the qualifications of today's candidates however, be sure to take a look at our right sidebar election module, and our General Election Candidate Roster in particular, where you'll find a true wealth of candidate information, including candidate profiles, web links, election stories, etc. Without a doubt, the material contained therein is the most robust collection of informative 2011 Ogden Municipal Election tidbits which can be found anywhere on the web, (even if we do say so ourselves).

The tallying of votes will begin shortly after 8:00 p.m. Taking into account the logistics of physically transporting polling data from individual polling places to the "counting room," and assembling and recording the results, our experience with earlier elections dictates that final vote counts are unlikely to be made public much earlier than 9:00 p.m. In that connection however, we're now linking Ogden City's online vote tallying software, to give our readers plenty of time to tune up their own computers, and make sure their own Adobe Flash Player utility software is fully updated. Here's the Ogden City online vote tally link. The real-time online utility is up and running right now, so if it isn't displaying on your computer, you obviously have some Flash Player tinkering to do:

• 2011 Municipal General Election Real-time Tallies

As we await this evening's election results however, we'll invite anyone and everyone to chime in with a little election day conversation. Feedback about how your voting experience went today would be most welcome, not only for the benefit of your blogmeister, but also for the thousand or more other individual WCF readers whom we anticipate will be checking in to monitor election results today.

That' it for now, Gentle Readers.

Who'd like to go out on a limb and predict today's election outcome? Who'll be the first to just generally throw in their own 2¢? Who'd merely like to blow off a little pent up steam? Who'll breathe a welcome sigh of relief once the 2011 Municipal Election process is finally over, and Boss Godfrey "shuffles off to Buffalo"?

Have at it, O Gentle Ones.

Update 11/8/11 7:47 p.m.: We've gotten word that at least one of our readers is having trouble with the above-linked 2011 Municipal General Election Real-time Tallies feed. Here's a quick and dirty solution, in the event that a Flash Player update doesn't solve your problem. Simply click the link below, which will take you to Ogden Channel 17's online video broadcast, where vote tallies will be simulcast tonight:

• Channel 17 Online Broadcast

Using this solution, the graphics quality will be inferior, and you won't have some of the "slick" technical advantages of the online Flash Player-based software, but at least you'll be able to follow the basic vote count in real-time as tonight's vote tallies roll in.

(And Comcast subscribers can simply tune into Channel 17 on their home TV sets, of course.)

Hoping this helps.

Update 11/8/11 9:16 p.m.: OK folks, the tote board is now starting to light up, with seven precincts reporting in.

Update 11/8/11 10:40 p.m.: Final (unofficial) tally from the Ogden City site, with 100% of 52 precincts reported:

Mayor
Caldwell 4281 (62%)
Stephenson 2656 (38%)
Conlin 2

Council Ward 2
Hyer 918 (56%)
Neil 722 (44%)

Council Ward 4
Gochnour 2741 (100%)

Council Seat "C"
Wicks 3345 (60%)
Thompson 1826 (33%)
Safsten 432 (8%)

That's it, folks. Looks like we'll move forward with a Council with a very similar makeup as we have now, and a new Mayor who's agenda still remains unknown.

Update 11/8/11 11:31 p.m.: Uh-0h. Looks like the final tallies have been adjusted once again on the Ogden City Site. Here's the latest:

Mayor
Caldwell 4281 (61%) W
Stephenson 2656 (38%)
Conlin 73

Council Ward 2
Hyer 918 (56%) W
Neil 722 (44%)

Council Ward 4
Gochnour 2741 (100%) W

Council Seat "C"
Wicks 3345 (49%) W
Thompson 1826 (27%)
Safsten 1645 (24%)

What's up with that? Did Comrade Safsten arrive in the "counting room" at the last minute, with a wheelbarrow full of uncounted ballots? We certainly wouldn't put it past him.

And here's the Election Summary Report from the Weber County website, which corresponds with these newly-amended Council At-large "C" numbers:

• Election Summary Report - Weber County

Go figure! Kinda shakes your confidence in Ogden City's IT Department, doesn't it?

All we can say at this juncture... we never had problems like this when we were still using paper ballots.

So what say our gentle readers about all this?

Ogden's First "Meet the Candidates" Forum Calendered For 7/17/13

Added Bonus: Check out (and help us improve) the 2013 Ogden Municipal Election Module which we've placed in our right sidebar

Gotta hand it to the fine folks of the Weber County Democratic Education Caucus (WCDEC).   With the August 13, 2013  Ogden Municipal Primary Election "looming" on the horizon a short 34 days hence, this public education-oriented group has already calendered the first 2013 "Meet the Candidates" forum for the middle of next week.  They've issued all Ogden City Council candidates a gracious written invitation; and via the Standard-Examiner, here are the "space-time coordinates," folks:

Event: Education caucus plans to question Ogden council candidates
Date: Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Time: 6:00 P.M.
Place: Weber County Library Main Branch, 2464 Jefferson Avenue, Ogden

Mark your calenders folks, as the 2013 Ogden Municipal Election season kicks off in earnest. And here's hoping that a substantial body of Weber County Forum political wonks will be able to attend, to grill all nine Ogden Council candidates a week from tomorrow night.

And while we're discussing the upcoming election, we'd like to direct our readers attention to the 2013 Ogden Municipal Election Module which we've placed in our right sidebar.  Within this web resource we've already added links toWCF Ogden Election Articles, a full Ogden Municipal Election Candidate Roster, an Election Events Calender, the Ogden City Elections Page, together with a nifty Primary Election Countdown Clock; and there's much more to come, as we "flesh this project out." Long-time WCF readers know what we're talkin' about.

Champing at the bit; or what?

And consistent with our continuing effort here at Weber County Forum to provide the most robust 2013 Municipal Election coverage on the web,  we'll invite you all to click a few of these sidebar links, meander around a little bit, check out the material we've already embedded therein, and feel free to submit to us anything we may have so far left out.

So howbout it folks?  Can we see by a show of hands how many of you are champing at the bit to get moving forward with another thrill-packed  Ogden City Municipal Election race? 

2010 General Election Day Thread - UPDATED

Follow our hot links to Federal, State and County real-time results
Update: Check out this morning's official interim Weber County vote tallies

The Polls are open, Weber County Forum readers, and will remain open today until 8:00 p.m.

The Standard-Examiner reports that 7,804 ballots have already been cast through the Weber County early voting process; but needless to say, for those voters who waited for today's traditional polling place process, today is your last chance to vote.

And be sure to check out this morning's Standard-Examiner editorial, with its own last-chance-to-vote reminder:

• OUR VIEW: Remember to vote

For those readers who are unsure of their polling places, here's a link to the Weber County Government website, which provides several different online resources to help you find your 11/2/10 precinct polling place:

• Where Do I Vote?

Update 11/2/10 2:40 p.m.: If you'd like to follow real-time election results as they roll in this evening, click the link below, which will take you to the Utah Lieutenant Governors website. Navigate the main menu in the left sidebar to view real-time tallies in every race from US Senate to local school board:

• Utah Election Results - 2010 General Election Preliminary Results

And for the convenience of our Weber County Forum readers, we've broken out direct links to the results in these select Weber County races which have received particular attention within our WCF comments sections, over the course of the 2010 General Election runup:

• US Senate - Bradley/Granato/Lee
• Governor/Lt Governor - Anderson/Corroon/Herbert/McCullough, et al.
• State Senate 18 - Reid/Sawyer
• Weber County Offices - All Races

Grab your popcorn and pull up your barcaloungers after 8:00 p.m., folks, as the Lt. Guv's website "scoreboard" begins to light up!

The floor is open. Let's talk about the election, O Gentle Ones.

Update 11/3/10 8:00 a.m.: To save our readers the hassle of plowing through the Lieutenant Governor's Election results menus this morning, here are the interim Weber County vote tallies, via the Standard-Examiner:

• Official Weber County Interim Tallies

Examining the results of election contests all across the U.S.A., this morning's Weber County results fall in line with what appears to be a complete national GOP rout:

• GOP soars in House, state races; Democrats expected to keep Senate

If there's a single lesson to be learned this election cycle, we suppose it's this: The lumpencitizens are sick and tired of BIG SPENDING elected officials (or candidates perceived to be potential BIG SPENDERS.)

With an Ogden Municipal Election coming up in a little less than a year, we hope our BIG SPENDING Boss Godfrey is taking careful note.

Please feel free to chime in with your post-election comments, folks.

Two Important Election Stories The Standard-Examiner Has Neglected to Print

Query: What's up with the Standard's spotty election coverage, people?

To kick off today's discussion, we're going to take a novel approach this morning, and focus on two important 2009 municipal election stories which have not appeared in the Standard-Examiner. During this off-year election, and in the face of demonstrated voter apathy (primary election turnout was around 9%), it seems us that the Standard-Examiner ought to be doing everything possible to heighten the awareness of its general readership concerning public events occurring during this election cycle. So far, in our view however, the Std-Ex's performance has been spotty at best. Here are a couple of examples of what we're talking about:

1) On October 5, the Standard prominently announced the Weber County Women's Legislative Council Meet the Candidates Night, which was held on October 6. Weber County Forum did its part in post-event reporting of course, with this article, published the very night of the event, which provoked a robust discussion within the comments section, of the numerous interesting revelations which emerged during that entertaining and informative public meeting. By contrast, the Std-Ex has yet to publish a single word about this event, even though we know Scott Schwebke was in attendance, scribbling pages upon pages of copious notes. Oddly enough, the Std-Ex now seems to have dropped this story entirely; and we'd like to know why. Perhaps Std-Ex publisher Lee "Gondola Boy" Carter didn't want to report that Boss Godfrey Ticket At Large "B" candidate Phipps was the only candidate among the eight who was dumb enough to admit considering Boss Godfrey's Gargantuan $143 mil Condo/hotel/Golf Course Boondoggle to be still "on the table." Maybe the Standard didn't want to report that our council, which has been recently and regularly accused by the Standard-Examiner of "obstructionism," actually votes in favor of Boss Godfrey proposals 98% of the time. Perhaps the Std-Ex editors thought Councilman Garcia's revelation that the $800 thousand annual subsidy which Ogden taxpayers fork over to the airport dwarfs the purported $250 thousand annual shortfall at the Mount Ogden Golf Course (the only public subsidy Boss Godfrey ever complains about) would be too painful for its taxpayer readers to take.

2) Despite the fact that well informed local political wonks have been aware since October 2 that the eight council candidates have agreed to hold a legitimate debate on October 14, at a mutually-agreed venue, with agreed ground rules, the Standard-Examiner hasn't said word one about it to its general readership. Whereas the Std-Ex has devoted barrels of ink to report on the (justifiable) refusal of the majority of council candidates to participate in Boss Godfrey's wholly bogus Channel 17 Dog & Pony show, the Std-Ex hasn't breathed a word about the scheduling of the October 14 debate.

We've criticised the Standard for its lop-sided coverage of 2009 election stories over the past months; and we believe our criticism has been mostly well justified. On top of that however, we believe we must consider those important stories the Standard doesn't write about; and we need to ask why these stories are being neglected.

We believe the Standard's omission of these stories serves as a particular disservice to its print readership, for whom our home town newspaper is virtually the only source of election news. Demographically, the Std-Ex readership tends to be a little longer in the tooth than internet readers; and yet older voters are the most reliable voters of all. Even the most reliable of voters can't make rational decisions however, if they're deprived of crucial election-related information.

So once again we ask our readers... why is the Standard neglecting those stories? Is there a hidden agenda to suppress the November General Election vote? Is there some reason the Std-Ex is reluctant to get the voters charged up in an election which could tip the balance of council power? Is the Standard-Examiner, which constantly rails on its own editorial pages about "voter apathy," nevertheless wilfully sending mixed messages? Or alternatively, is our home town newspaper simply not paying attention?

The world-wide blogosphere is sitting on the edge of its seat... waiting to find out what our gentle readers think about this.

Who will be the first to comment?

Utah 2012 General Election: WCF Election Day Special

You know what to do... do it at your neighborhood polling places

It's Utah General Election Day 2012, folks.  You know what to do... do it at your neighborhood polling places.  Utah polls are open from 7am to 8pm, by the way. Unsure of your polling place location?  Click this handy link, provide by the ever-helpful folks at vote.utah.gov:

• Find My Polling Place

Regular Utah voters might want avail themselves of the above link to double check.  This year, many regular polling locations have been changed, to accommodate today's anticipated heavy voter traffic.

And here's today's mission, as we see it, people:

No lame excuses, please, from those who fail to exercise their voting rights. As the Standard-Examiner sez, "Get out to the polls and cast your ballot as a U.S. citizen. It’s not only a right, it’s an obligation, a show of respect for your nation."

Still undecided about candidates in the various races?  Check out our right sidebar "election module," for a plethora of information about candidates in today's election.

And as is our tradition here at Weber County Forum, we once again provide the link from the Utah Lt. Governor's website, where you can check out the real-time tallies, as the votes roll in after 8:00 p.m.:

• Utah Election Results

And here's C-SPAN's live-streaming video link, for those folks who'd like to more closely follow tonight's ever-excellent 2012 Election Night Coverage:

• C-SPAN Live Video

 The floor's open, folks, for anyone who'd like to comment before, during or after today's balloting.

Update 11/6/12 7:50 a.m.:  Four more Standard-Examiner items, to whet your political appetites on Election Day 2012:

• Polling locations to be busy today, despite early voters
• Mormons so amped about Romney election "they might as well be drinking coffee"
• The Boss 'brings it home' in final blitz
• Our View: An orderly voting process 

Update 11/6/12 8:00 p.m.: It's now 8:00 p.m. and Utah polls are now technically closed. Keep your eyes on the Utah Election Results link above; but please be patient, as over the years we've learned that the tote board sometimes doesn' even light up for over an hour after the Utah polling place closings.

Two More Strong Election-Oriented Editorial Pieces From the Standard-Examiner

The SE advances a plan to get out the vote; and a regular SE guest contributor delivers a helpful civics lesson

There are two strong editorial pieces in this morning's Standard-Examiner, each of them propounding the laudable theme of "getting out the vote" for tomorrow's Emerald City Municipal Election.

First, the SE editors bemoan the low turnout in last September's northern Utah municipal primary elections, singling out the city of Layton, which generated a turnout "well below 10%." Ogden City voters did even worse, of course, with turnout of only a measly 9%:

• OUR VIEW: Urge others to vote

Yes, fellow lumpencitizens, we can and should do much better than that.

So the Standard has come up with a great idea, we think, an old-fashioned election day phone tree.

Not a bad idea indeed. Yes, gentle readers; we do recommend that you take a little time out of your busy election day tomorrow, to contact your friends and neighbors. And we don't care who these folks vote for, so long as it's Bart Blair, Jesse Garcia, Doug Stephens and Susan Van Hooser.

This morning's SE also features another most excellent "Top of Utah Voices" guest commentary from the ever-savvy Allison Barlow-Hess:

• Vote, but don't forget your identification

Ms. Barlow-Hess has whipped together a fine civics lesson on the importance of participating in the local election process, and for good measure puts the focus on the ethic of regarding the voting franchise as a civic duty rather than a right. But Ogden voters must not skip over this important nuts-and-bolts admonition, offered by Ms. Barlow-Hess:

... "don't forget your identification!"

With our 2007 general election still fresh in our minds, Ogden voters are all still stinging from the memory of the Matthew Godfrey campaign's November 4, 2007 election day dirty tricks, whereby (among other things,) Boss Godfrey operatives submitted blanket voter challenge lists and engaged in other voter suppression efforts which resulted in the issuance of an astounding 700 provisional ballots. Who among our gentle readers can forget the travails of Dorothy Littrell on election day 2007, who was required to make three separate trips to her polling place to finally obtain the issuance of her provisional ballot? We're sure there were others in similar predicaments, of course, who didn't receive publicity; and nobody can be sure either whether Ms. Littrell's vote ever got counted, or how many challenged voters simply walked away from their neighborhood polling-places without voting at all.

In the end, and after a lengthy investigation, the Utah ACLU issued this press release and this blistering 17-page report, with findings that the misconduct of Godfrey's operatives had indeed "marred the 2007 municipal election." Of course by that time the damage had been irreparably done, and there were in truth no available post-election remedies.

Let's play it smart this go-round, Emerald City lumpencitizens. When you show up at the polls tomorrow, (torches and pitchforks in hand,) be sure to be "packing" two forms of ID... at least one with your picture on it.

A word to the wise ought to be sufficient.

Who will be the first to comment?

No Grenades on Election Eve

The long-awaited Decaria report will be delayed again, according to this morning's Standard-Examiner story.

"It's not done, which is unfortunate, County Attorney Decaria told Ace Reporter Schwebke yesterday. Mr. Decaria expects to release this report NEXT Monday -- the day before the election -- today's headline story reports. Unfortunate indeed, we say -- disastrous might be a better description. Mr. Decaria, (himself a candidate (unopposed for re-election on the Democratic ticket,) presently finds himself in a real political tight spot, we think. At this stage of the game his position is lose-lose, if he releases his report on the eve of an important State Senate election.

If his report exonerates Jon Greiner, he'll be accused of playing politics, and helping out his law enforcement colleague, a Republican. If the report slams Greiner, Mr. Decaria will be accused of dropping a political grenade to help out his cronies in the Democratic party.

The public's right to know bumps headlong into the public's equally-important right to a fair election in this instance, we think. Whatever conclusions are contained in the report, the public will have little time to rationally digest them, if released next Monday, and neither political party with horses in the Senate 18 race will have fair opportunity to respond with their own interpretations prior to the election. Whatever the conclusions, Mr. Decaria's report could be political dynamite, subject to pre-election "spinning" by folks with less-than-noble motives.

The best strategy for Mr. Decaria at this juncture, we think, is to withhold his findings until after the election. The public has waited for a couple of months now, and the public can wait another couple of days.

We'd feel differently if Mr. Decaria were releasing a binding judicial decision based upon the adversarial input of all the parties involved in this unfortunate mess. Mr. Decaria's opinion in this instance however, will be one man's opinion only, and will not be legally-binding on anyone.

Regardless of the nature of the findings in Mr. Decaria's report, we believe Mr. Decaria should exercise sound prosecutorial discretion, and release his report in a manner best calculated to cause the least confusion and disruption of the election process.

That means AFTER the election, gentle readers.

That's out position and we're sticking to it.

And what say our gentle readers about this?

(We'll post a link to the Std-Ex story as soon as it's available on the web, by the way. At the moment, the Std-Ex storage site seems to be experiencing technical problems.)

Congrats to the Std-Ex for this, BTW. It couldn't have happened to a nicer newspaper. And we at Weber County Forum would like to think we play our own small part in helping boost Standard-Examiner circulation. Focusing daily as we do, on the stories that appear on the Std-Ex print edition pages, we believe we enhance the Std-Ex's relevance in our community. Notwithstanding the frequent "digs" that appear on our electronic pages, we don't know what we'd do without the Std-Ex. We get the feeling sometimes that they look at us as news-vampires. We view the relationship as symbiotic and mutually beneficial, however.

Don't let the cat get your tongues this morning, folks.

The ACLU Looks Into Emerald City Election 2007 "Irregularities"

Lots of "good stuff" in our northern Utah newspapers today

We find a whole truckload of interesting stories on the pages of our northern Utah newspapers this morning. We'll highlight a few of the more interesting ones.

The Standard-Examiner, Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret Morning News all report on the latest development in the Emerald City election 2007 debacle, i.e., that the Utah ACLU is now investigating election irregularities. We're short on time this morning and have a busy calender today, so we'll simply cut to the chase, and incorporate the pertinent text from the ACLU's November 19 press release on the subject:

The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah will be looking into complaints it has received regarding election irregularities in the November 6th mayoral race in Ogden, Utah, as it considers potential action.

“We have received complaints of election irregularities including inappropriate use of voter challenges, denial of provisional ballots, intimidation of voters and electioneering at the polling places,” states Karen McCreary, Executive Director. “If substantiated, these actions not only undermine the trust and confidence Utah voters should have in the electoral process but they also violate the Utah constitution and state law.”

The ACLU of Utah is seeking information from any one who encountered problems voting in the Ogden mayoral election on election day or who observed incidents in which fellow voters were discouraged from voting.

Information should be directed via email to aclu@acluutah.org or by phone to 801-521-9862, extension 101.

It seems to us that the ACLU is the ideal law office to represent the interests of Emerald City citizens who might have gripes about their treatment during our November 6 polling. The ACLU has the necessary resources to properly investigate and prosecute election misconduct; and of course voter rights cases are right up their alley. We thus suggest that any Emerald City citizens who believe they have a grievance about their treatment at local polling places, to immediately contact the ACLU in the manner above-indicated. This is just speculation on our part, but we believe ACLU counsel would be particularly interested in evidence of instances where prospective voters were denied provisional ballots. Folks who were simply told they could not vote, and were entirely turned away at the polls without being offered a provisional ballot, are the single class of aggrieved citizens for whom election officials have no paper trail.

We'll also highlight this morning's Std-Ex editorial, in which our intrepid Std-Ex editors examine ongoing efforts at the state legislature, to patch up our Utah campaign finance disclosure laws. Among the provisions being contemplated for proposed remedial legislation would be "tough" cash penalties for the misreporting of campaign donations. As we witnessed in the past election cycle, our newly-elected "Precious Charcter" entirely failed to report a $38,000 carry-over from his 2003 mayoral campaign on his initially-filed 2007 disclosure statement. The legislature's Political Subdivisions Interim Subcommittee is reportedly considering a new penalty of up to 5% for such misreported donations. We'll leave it to our gentle readers to do the math.

Finally, we'll direct our readers' attention to a story from today's Std-Ex business page, wherein Ace Reporter Schwebke gleefully reports that an "Ogden River plan [is] coming." This plan will reportedly be announced by Friend of Matt (FOM) Gadi Leshem on December 7. We'll note that it's unusual for California felony criminal defendants to be allowed to leave the state of California during the pendency of criminal proceedings, so we suppose Gadi will be the guy wearing the ankle bracelet. As an added bonus to Weber County Democrats (all five of you) who may wish to attend this announcement event, Ace Reporter Schwebke reports that Gadi will also have donkey icon Robert F. Kennedy in tow, presumably to reassure the lumpencitizens that Gadi isn't such a bad guy after all -- once you get to know him. Further down the article Mr. Schwebke reports that Gadi's River Project will be completed within seven years. If all goes well, we guess, Boss Godfrey's "bestest buddy" Gadi will be out of the San Quentin slam by then.

That's it today from us, gentle readers. We'll rely upon the rest of you to fill in the blanks from here.

Update 11/20/07 9:39 a.m. MT: Within minutes of the publication of today's front page article, Gentle Curmudgeon posted a main article length comment to the comments section of our lower article. We've uploaded it to our archives pages, and accordingly link Curmudgeon's expanded "take" on this morning's stories here. Consider it a Tuesday morning "two-fer" bonus.

Update 11/21/07 10:32 a.m. MT: This morning's Std-Ex has a followup on the ACLU story.

2012 Election Day Plus One - The Aftermath

Predictably, a big day for Utah GOP incumbents

The final 2012 General Election results are tallied, WCF readers.  Click the link below for Weber County Clerk Ricky Hatch's post-election tally sheet for those races which appeared on Weber County ballots:

• Weber County 2012 Election Results

The Standard is all over the post-election coverage; so we provide these selected stories, drilling down on the election aftermath.  Predictably, yesterday was a big day for GOP incumbents:

• GOP sweeps top ticket races in Utah
• Hatch wins race for seventh and final term in Senate
• Bishop easily wins sixth term in Congress
• Swallow defeats Weber's Dee to replace Shurtleff 
• Bell captures vacant Weber County Commission seat  
• Incumbents prevail in Ogden School Board election 

In the single surprise of the evening, it looks like GOP rising star Mia Love, who'd been leading in the polls through the pre-election runup, got edged out in the 4th District Congressional race by incumbent Democratic Congressman Jim Matheson:

• Matheson edges Love in close race

The Standard also provides these stories concerning the important national races, for those GOP readers who may be living under a rock:

• Obama wins re-election  
• No surprise: Romney wins bid in Utah
  Dems make early gains in U.S. Senate 

As an added bonus, here's a cranky graphic sent by one of our Libertarian friends:

Ron Paul sez what's already obvious

That's it, folks. So who'd like to throw in their own 2¢, now that the 2012 Dog&Pony Show is over?

Yesterday's News Today

Spotlight on yesterday's encouraging Neil Hansen guest commentary

We confess we got all caught up in the "Superbowl Phenomenon" yesterday, and thus left at least one of yesterday's notable flurry of Standard-Examiner articles stranded on the back burner. To begin clearing out at least out some of our built up article queue, we'll thus call our readers' attention to yesterday's most excellent Representative Neil Hansen (D-Ogden) guest commentary, which is laden with encouraging news:

• Game plans and strategies are part of the Legislature

Rep. Hansen provides plenty of interesting state government information, including the tantalizing news that Democrats and Republicans are talking across the aisle and actually "beginning to listen to each other," which is highly newsworthy "man bites dog" information in and of itself.

But let's cut to the chase. Here's the aspect of yesterday's Neil Hansen piece which really caught our eye, on a topic which is necessarily of great interest to Emerald City lumpencitizens:

Referring back to the Government Operations standing committee I serve on, I'm embracing Gov. Huntsman's recommendation to propose specific legislation that will help increase voter turnout by allowing election-day voter registration so people can register and vote on the same day.
Additionally, I'm proposing legislation that I believe will increase voter turnout and has bipartisan support is HB 49 Voter Challenge Amendments. This bill requires that written challenges to a person's right to vote in an election be filed in advance of the election and provides procedures for filing and resolving the challenges before the date of the election; requires the election officer to notify each person whose right to vote in the election has been challenged in writing and permits the person who has been challenged to provide information in response to the challenge; requires that written challenges be submitted under oath and be subject to criminal penalties for false statements; provides that an election officer's determination regarding a challenge to a person's right to vote is subject to judicial appeal; requires all documents filed in relation to a written challenge to be public records; clarifies language relating to challenges to a person's right to vote at the polling place.

Kudos to House Representative Neil Hanson for his percipient efforts to add these reforms to Utah election law. Had such legislation already been in place in November of 2007, the lumpencitizens of Emerald City would have been spared major municipal election headaches.

We'll keep our fingers crossed in the hope that Rep. Hansen and his Republican colleagues continue to cooperate cross-aisle. Reforms such as these serve the interests of all Utahns, of all political stripes. If our legislators can't agree on issues so elementary and fundamental as these... what the hell CAN they ever agree about?

Let's have some reader comments on this.

It's time to clear away those Super Sunday cobwebs, folks.

2008 Election Results - Invitation to an Election Post-mortem Discussion

Complete 2008 election results - everything from U.S. President to the local dogcatcher

For those Weber County Forum readers who'd like to engage in a 2008 General Election post mortem discussion, we'll provide a some useful web links this morning which fully summarize the unofficial results of yesterday's election.

First, here's a link to the cumulative outcome in Weber County, as reported by the Weber County Election Department website:

Election Summary Report - Summary For Jurisdiction Wide, All Counters, All Races

The Salt Lake Tribune also has an easy to read summary of all races statewide, complete with handy little bar graphs and everything. Click on a county in the right-hand column and then select a category in the tabs at the top:

Utah's Top Races & County by County

And for those readers fixated on national politics, we believe this New York Times web page provides the ideal starting point. Lots of good stuff here, including McCain and Obama's respective concession and victory speeches. Click the Senate, House, Governors and State Results links for robust information on the results in all those categories. If any single web resource can be considered one stop shopping for 2008 U.S. election results... this is it:

NYTimes - 2008 Election Results

Have at it, O Gentle Ones...

Official 2013 Municipal Election Results -- All Weber County Municipalities

Congratulations to all the winning candidates, and thanks to all unsuccessful challengers who helped make this year's election one one of the smoothest-running election seasons in years

Via the Weber County Clerk's Office, we'll close out our coverage of our recently-complete 2013 Ogden City Municipal Election with these now official results, gleaned from County Clerk Ricky Hatch's just now-released 2013 Election Summary Report:

OGDEN CITY COUNCIL - AT LARGE
SEAT A Total
Number of Precincts 45
Precincts Reporting 45 100.0 %
Total Votes 3857
THOMPSON, STEPHEN D. 1384 35.88%
WHITE, MARCIA L. 2457 63.70%
Write-in Votes 16 0.41%

OGDEN CITY COUNCIL - AT LARGE
SEAT B Total
Number of Precincts 45
Precincts Reporting 45 100.0 %
Total Votes 2966
BLAIR, BART 2904 97.91%
Write-in Votes 62 2.09%

OGDEN CITY COUNCIL -
MUNICIPAL WARD 1 Total
Number of Precincts 8
Precincts Reporting 8 100.0 %
Total Votes 307
GARNER, NEIL K. 304 99.02%
Write-in Votes 3 0.98%

OGDEN CITY COUNCIL -
MUNICIPAL WARD 3 Total
Number of Precincts 11
Precincts Reporting 11 100.0 %
Total Votes 1096
STEPHENS, DOUG 605 55.20%
BITTON, TURNER C. 487 44.43%
Write-in Votes 4 0.36%

You can view the official results in all other Weber County municipalities here:

• Other Weber County Municipal General Election Results

With the exception of that single Riverdale City Council race which "may" still be subject to post-election litigation, as to our 2013 municipal elections, we'll call it a "wrap."

Congratulations to all the winning candidates, and thanks to all unsuccessful challengers who helped make this year's election one one of the least contentious and smoothest-running Ogden City election seasons in years.

Shame on the Standard-Examiner

Our home town newspaper reports an important election story -- nineteen days late

Nearly two weeks post election, the Standard-Examiner finally gets around to reporting to the general public this morning a piece of highly election-relevant information which, if it had been reported in a timely manner prior to the election, might arguably have tipped the mayoral race in favor of defeated mayoral challenger Susan Van Hooser. At the very least, failure to timely report the matter contained therein deprived the Std-Ex's readership of full knowlege of the facts and issues surrounding the November 6 general election. We incorporate below the opening paragraphs from today's Top of Utah section story:

OGDEN — A local organization says a declaration signed by Mayor Matthew Godfrey will not permanently protect Mount Ogden Golf Course and an adjoining city-owned park from development.
Smart Growth Ogden said in a prepared statement it appreciates Godfrey’s “good intentions” but contends the declaration doesn’t guarantee the property will remain as open space.
"I hope the mayor is going to stand by his intent to ensure that the entire park complex, including the golf course, the undeveloped park land and open space, will be protected from development and saved for perpetual use by the general population of Ogden,” said Sandy Crosland, a member of Smart Growth. “Many people in Ogden decided to vote to re-elect him based on that promise and commitment.” [Emphasis added.]

As our gentle readers will recall, on or about October 25, 2007, Mayor Godfrey executed and recorded (ostensibly) a document entitled "Declaration of Covenents, Conditions and Restrictions for Mt. Ogden Park and Golf Course" (the "declaration" mentioned in the preceding Std-Ex paragraphs.)

Shortly thereafter, on or about November 1, 2007, members of Smart Growth Ogden published and circulated a document entitled "Mayor's Declaration Does Not Protect Park In Perpetuity," (the "prepared statement" mentioned in the preceding Std-Ex paragraphs.) We are informed by reliable sources that the Std-Ex was in possession of this document no later than November 1, a full four days prior to the election. The gist of the SGO document, of course, is that Boss Godfrey's "Declaration," isn't worth the paper it's printed upon.

Although the Std-Ex was in possession of Smart Growth Ogden's (SGO's)"prepared statement" well in advance of the November 6 election, the Std-Ex publisher saw fit to conceal and suppress this information until this very morning. In the interim between actual receipt of this document and the November 6 election, the Standard Examiner apparently did nothing to verify the information or confirm or rebut the opinions set forth therein. Until this very morning, the Std-Ex did not so much as mention it at all. This information was highly material to the 2007 mayor election; yet the Std-Ex saw fit to keep a lid on it until this morning, at which point it now becomes a mere historical footnote.

As Emerald City's sole general circulation newspaper, the Standard-Examiner occupies a position of trust in our community, with a solemn obligation to neutrally report all news which materially effects our community. This obligation is all the more important with respect to issues effecting our municipal elections, of course.

We believe the Standard-Examiner has grossly breached this obligation in connection with this matter. In its failure and refusal to report on this matter in a timely fashion, and in its active concealment of the issues contained within SGO's prepared statement, the Standard-Examiner has let down our entire community, and revealed itself as a publication entirely unworthy of our trust.

The Std-Ex writes a new chapter on the topic of bad journalism this morning, with this self-revealed abuse of its journalistic privilege.

Shame on the Standard-Examiner.

Shame on the carpet-bagging "Suits from Sandusky."

Friday's Emerald City Lowdown

How "low" can the Standard-Examiner go?

By Curmudgeon

Quite an issue of the Standard-Examiner this morning. Remarkable stuff therein. Let's begin with a piece by Mr. Schwebke, reporting that a new gang-crimes unit will hit "the mean streets of Central Ogden" this weekend. And he also reports that "The unit was supposed to begin operating in January, but instead will start next month to get a jump on crime. "

Ahem. Can it possibly be so that a daily newspaper reporter, in this cynical day and age, is so naive the he failed to so much as notice that the jumped up starting date for the gang crimes unit is two days before an election in which gang violence in Ogden has become an issue? That he believes the sole motive for suddenly jumping deployment of the unit ahead to two days before the election was purely to "get a jump on crime," and not to "get a jump on the election?" And I note Mr. Schwebke reported that conclusion about why the deployment date was advanced --- to "get a jump on crime" --- as his own, not Chief Greiner's. If Mr. Schwebke is in fact that credulous, I suggest the Std-Ex News Editor dispatch him to cover the arrival of the Easter Bunny on Ogden lawns next Spring. Maybe he can get an interview.

Then there's the Std-Ex's editorial endorsement of Blain Johnson for a seat on the Council. [I notice the editorial manages not to so much as mention the name of his opponent, Aardema.] What's interesting about the endorsement is that it highlights the way Mr. Johnson is running by claiming to oppose some of Mayor Godfrey's key initiatives over the past four years. Johnson says he's opposed to a city built downtown gondola. He is not, the Std-Ex editorial board concludes from that, a "yes man." Or, he's a Godfrey clone seeking election by pretending not to be. The editorial does note Mr. Johnson made his living as a lawyer for land developers for the most part. That of course does not make him necessarily a poor choice for sitting on the Council, but I would think it might have raised an eyebrow or two when the Mayor Mr. Johnson is supporting for a third term has spent the last four years truckling to large developers, trying to sell the city's parklands to one of them, and using developers' lawyers to draft legislation for the Council's consideration. [Recall the "Ellison Ordinance" from Mr. Peterson's attorney, just by way of example?]

Hmmmmm. Maybe my comments above were unfair to Mr. Schwebke. Maybe he is merely reflecting the credulity of his editors. We shall see.

Then there is the Std-Ex's reporting that Golf course, park to remain free from development --- the same golf course, mind you, that Mr. Blain Johnson's plans for development so impressed the Std-Ex editorial board. The story, by Mr. Schwebke, says that Mayor Matthew Godfrey signed a declaration Thursday to ensure Mount Ogden Golf Course and an adjoining city-owned park remain as open space. The declaration places legally binding covenants and restrictions on the property to prevent it from being developed, Godfrey said.

On this one at least, the fact that there is an election underway seems to have popped up on Mr. Schwebke's reportorial radar, for he adds that Mayor Godfrey is seeking a third term in next month’s general election.

A declaration? I'm more than a little confused about how a mayoral declaration can be legally binding on anything or anyone. Executive proclamations are normally used to declare National Brown Mustard Week or CrossWalk Safety Awareness Week In Ogden. But the story insists the Mayor insists that the declaration involves placing legally binding restrictions on sale or development of the park and surrounding park lands. What are these legally binding restrictions? The story doesn't say. Are they in fact legally binding? The reporter doesn't ask. Come Wednesday morning, the day after the election, will they have any force whatever? Readers aren't told.

This is, sadly, another exercise in press release journalism by the Standard-Examiner... just days before an election. From Ogden's home town paper, during the endgame of an election, we ought to expect better.

Election Nite Excitement: Election Day 2016: Election Night Watch Parties in Ogden Area, Salt Lake City

Translation: Attend Tonight's Celebration Parties At Your Own Local GOP-centered  Wardhouses; or hopefully elsewhere

It's election night folks, at long last. And here's today's election nite WCF keynote story from ANN ELISE TAYLOR, Standard-Examiner Staff writer:

• Election Day 2016: Election night watch parties in Ogden area, Salt Lake City

We'll be staying up late to follow the national presidential election, although we'll also be checking here back and forth, if only to find out whether that little shit Realtor A-hole from Weber County's Legislative District 9 suffers so much as a speed-bump, after his much publicized low-life attack against his classy Democratic opponent.  the very lovely Kathie Darbie:

• After what Jeremy Peterson did to Kathie Darby, no wonder people hate politics

Happy Election Day, WCF political sluts wonks!

2009 Ogden Municipal Elections Update: Scott Schwebke Provides a Followup

Our Council Candidate Roster also receives a major update

Scott Schwebke is apparently back from vacation and provides a 2009 Ogden City Council candidate story this morning, following up on the Trent Toone writeup which we discussed on Weber County Forum yesterday. Read Mr. Schwbke's full story here:

• Ogden council election draws 17

Although it's partly a rehash of old news, Mr. Schwebke does cover some new ground, with some interesting speculation obtained from interviews with several Ogden political insiders, as to the possible reasons that 17 hopeful candidates have queued up to fill a mere 4 vacant council slots in the 2009 municipal election. At risk of oversimplification, here are the various theories in a nutshell:

Brandon Stephenson: The crowd of city council candidates in the upcoming election may be due to Ogden's burgeoning reputation as high-adventure mecca and progress under way at The Junction, a retail, residential and entertainment complex downtown, Stephenson said.
"Lots of folks (running for office) want to see Ogden move forward," he said.

Jesse Garcia: "There could be some dissatisfaction," Garcia said. "Maybe they don't like what the administration is doing. Maybe they don't like what the council is doing."
Some of the candidates are veterans of municipal committees and may consider election to the city council as the next logical step in providing public service, Garcia speculated.

Cindi Mansell: City Recorder Cindi Mansell said the large number of candidates may be due to the decisions of city council members Dorrene Jeske and Blain Johnson not to seek re-election.
"People see those two seats as completely available," she said. "When an incumbent files, people may think because of name recognition that incumbents are apt to be re-elected, which may discourage some potential candidates."

Regardless of their rationales however, what's obvious is that these 17 candidates have set the stage for what ought to be an extremely interesting and lively municipal primary election run-up. Grab that popcorn and pull up your Barca-loungers, folks. It'll be exciting to watch the fur fly over the next two months, as these 17 candidates jockey for position in advance of the September 15, 2009 primary election.

We'll also again draw our readers' attention to our 2009 Council Candidate Roster, which is embedded in our right sidebar. While Mr. Schwebke was presumably busy interviewing local political pundits, we spent a good part of yesterday afternoon assembling the useful candidate information which was submitted by some of our alert readers under yesterday's WCF article. Thanks to to the assistance of our gentle readers (special thanks to Googleboy), our Council Roster has received a major update. At this point we now have basic contact information available for all 17 candidates, together with an early smattering of additional supplementary information to boot. There's still plenty of additional compilation to be done, of course. Consider this a work in progress.

So keep that info rolling in, gentle readers. We'd be especially interested in gathering candidate email contact information too. Individual candidates are of course invited to provide their own links and other data as well. With the help of all the citizens of Ogden City, it's our goal to be the most information-rich Ogden City 2009 municipal election source on the web... just as we've been in the past.

That's it for now, gentle readers.

Who will be the first to comment?