Standard Examiner Endorsement - Our View: White for Ogden City Council

Weber County Forum's View: It's a cryin' shame that Ogden voters can't choose both

Horse Race "Lingo"

On the heels of yesterday's demoralizing election setbacks, and in the hope of restoring some degree of normalcy to our 2013 Ogden Municipal Election coverage, we'll make a beeline to yesterday's Standard-Examiner special feature, Part 3 of the S-E's series of 2013 Ogden City Council endorsements. In many ways we've viewed the Ogden Council At-large "A" race as possibly the most interesting and difficult contest of the lot, inasmuch Tuesday's voters are faced with two highly-qualified candidates, contenders who'd be at the top of the heap in any other City Council race.  As Standard editor Doug Gibson privately confided to us, picking a favorite in the Seat "A" race was no easy task. And having met each of these fine candidates face-to-face, and having been impressed with each candidate's outstanding personal attributes, we definitely share in that dilemma  Here is the Standard's belabored At-large "A" pick nevertheless, once again "for what it's worth":

• Our View: White for Ogden City Council

In the interest of fairness, and inasmuch as the Standard's analysis reads something like a Marcia White campaign ad, we'll once again refer our readers to each candidate's Weber County Forum candidate profile page, where we've assembled a wealth of candidate links and other online materials where both Candidate Thompson and Candidate White "put their best feet forward," so to speak:

• 2013 Ogden City Council Candidates - Stephen D. Thompson - At-Large Seat “A”
• 2013 Ogden City Council Candidates - Marcia L. White - At-Large Seat “A”

As far as our own assessment goes, here's our brief rundown of what we view as each candidate's chief strengths:

White:  Robust business background, with an engineering degree to boot. Smart, energetic, and just the kind of person who could help out the rest of the City Council comprehend the Administration's sometimes complex real estate/economic development and financing schemes. Added bonus:  White believes that City Council legislation need not always originate with the Mayor's office.  During private conversations with Ms. White and her supporters, we're tantalized to learn that Ms. White will not be shy about bringing forth her own legislation.

Thompson:  Also smart and energetic, scoring especially high marks for his demonstrated past community involvement and "people skills." Thompson exudes personal charisma and "folksy" charm too, folks; just the kind of attributes which have been lacking on past City Councils, within your blogmeister's own memory,  at least. Thompson prides himself in his consensus-building and leadership skills, further well-cultivated talents which would well lend themselves to an Ogden City Council which is often perceived by Ogden lumpentizens as a rudderless legislative body which is easily led around by the (shall we say) pushy personalities of the Ogden Mayoral administration.

In truth, it's a cryin' shame that Ogden voters can't choose both.

So we'll once again encourage you to research these two fine candidates via the links provided above.

Failing that, perhaps its time to resort to a candidate screening technique which has perennially proven its worth:

Works Like A Charm

Yep, Gentle Readers.  In our view, the Seat "A" choice is just that close.

2013 Ogden City Municipal Elections Special Voter Guide PARODY - Updated

Providing a voice to Ogden City government fat cats

Mark Who?

Hi there everybody!  I’m one of those people you’ve probably NEVER heard of.  Now, I’m NOT one of the little people who work hard, pay taxes, and basically struggle under the bloated weight of overweening, overpaid bureaucracy.

No, I AM one of those bloated, overweening, over-paid bureaucrats!  In fact, you might say I’m at the very top of the big, steaming pile!

Let me introduce myself.  My name is Not Mark Johnson or N. Mark Johnson for short.  I’m Ogden City’s Chief Administrative Officer or CAO. 

I’m not the mayor, the fire chief, the police chief, the city council, or any of those small fry.  I’m all those peoples’ BOSS!  Elections may come and go, but whoever wins, all the other birds sit underneath ME in the pigeon coop!  In fact, I just CANNED the airport manager in favor of MY long-time, triple-dipping CRONY!  That’s my idea of smooth operation: YES-MEN!  Now it’s YOUR TURN to keep smooth operation in Ogden.  If you vote for MY people, I won’t have to SPUR anybody into obedient compliance with my edicts!  The people I suggest below are ALREADY TRAINED to do what I want! 

Kick In, You Suckers!  HAHAHAHA!

But first, if you have any friends in surrounding cities, you know that Ogden City water bills have been jacked up so high, they SOAR above the rest!  Maybe you’ve wondered why?  Well, it turns out that for every $1 of water money that comes in, 17¢ comes straight to the general fund, i.e. to ME!  You know how hard it is to raise TAXES around here?  Well, who needs all that STRESS!  I just get the elected nitwits to raise the WATER BILLS and I get 17% of that extra money, and NOBODY complains!

A few years ago, we put in a new water tank at the top of 36th Street that is FIVE TIMES as big as the STATE ENGINEERING standards said we needed.  Why so big? Because I got, and continue to get, 17% of all that WASTEFUL SPENDING!

And take my LATEST SCHEME!  We got the city to BORROW $20 million we didn’t even NEED in the water fund!  Then, we put the money RIGHT BACK into the BANK, along with the $30 million that was ALREADY THERE!  Next, we raised water bills to pay the INTEREST!  Right off, I get 17% of those higher water bills!  Then, we paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees to the bankers and consultants who came up with this SCAM! 

And that’s not even the BEST PART!  Once the new city council gets seated, we’ll wait a little while, and go “HEY!  Guess WHAT!  We just DISCOVERED $50 million in the BANK that we must have SAVED due to our incredible EFFICIENCY!!  So how about we use that money for some NEW PUBLIC BUILDING we NEED!  It’ll be like getting the new public building for FREE!  You can tell all your VOTERS how GOOD of a job you are doing!” 

HAHAHAHAHA!!!  The city council will be bleeding you people dry and kissing both sides of my butt for making them look so good!  It’s easy as PIE I tell ya!  Easy as PIE!  HAHAHAHAHA!

Ok, I had to stop and take a pill.  My doctor told me not to get so hyperventilated at work.  Ok, take a breath, N. Mark.  Take a breath.  That’s better.  Well, here are my recommendations.

At Large Seat B

VOTE FOR! Bart Blair

Bart Blair

Bart Blair came to office four years ago from the oil industry.  Actually, he was a GAS STATION CLERK … at his DAD’S gas station!  You can still buy your beer and cigarettes from him most weekdays at Blair’s Chevron here in town.  It was this level of skill and experience that landed him the position he currently holds of Ogden City Council CHAIRMAN!

HAHAHAHA!  Yeah, RIGHT!  Actually, I got him that job MYSELF!  You see, Bart came to office a young, naïve little boy, and I turned him into the rapidly-aging, reflexive BUTT KISS that he is today!  This guy NEVER votes against the bureaucrats.  He’s been raising your water bills the whole time he’s been in office!!  Vote this guy back in!!!!

VOTE AGAINST! Courtney White

Courtney White

This candidate, Courtney White, is the most blatant case of FALSE ADVERTISING I’ve ever SEEN!  The guy’s name is WHITE, but he’s OBVIOUSLY a MEXICAN!

Taking a page from the former mayor’s playbook, do you really think more Mexican markets, gangs and graffiti is what this city needs!  Come on! Get serious!

But if that’s not bad enough, this guy is a free enterprise NUT! He DOESN’T LIKE the millions of dollars this city hands out to our FAVORED CRONIES each year!  Courtney believes in imaginary, non-existent things, like unicorns, elves, and the free market in Ogden!  He’s against all our corporate welfare and payoffs, and wants to CLEAN it all UP!  One of my golfing cronies said he doesn’t have a problem with having a Mexican CLEAN something UP, but NOT like THIS!!  Hey, this election, do ME a favor and make sure COURTNEY WHITE’S political career is ALL WASHED UP!

Wards 1 & 3

VOTE FOR!  Neil Garner and Doug Stephens

Garner & Stephens

These two fine men, Neil Garner and Doug Stephens, have been painstakingly trained to do what I want, and they ALWAYS do what I SAY!! 

These are your INCUMBENTS!  They’ve been raising your water bills reliably.  And you people on secondary water – they voted in a scheme to JACK your rates EVEN HIGHER than EVERYONE ELSE! 

Yeah!!! Both of these guys came into office as intellectual lightweights.  And now, if you’ve ever met them, you know that after years in office they are so addled they can hardly chew gum.  But they have enough function left to nod “yes” when the vote comes.  YES!!  YES!!!  Reward these men for jacking up your water bills and making me a happy man!!  Re-elect them!!! 

VOTE AGAINST!  Pamela Stevens and Turner Bitton

Stevens & Bitton

These people, Pamela Stevens and Turner Bitton, are new.  They are down to earth.  They listen.  They want to serve the public good.

For Pete’s sake DON’T vote for people who are THAT IRRESPONSIBLE!   I know what the city needs, not YOU!  Please, please, please DON’T vote for these people!

At Large Seat A

PICK ONE YOURSELF!  Marsha White or Stephen Thompson

White & Thompson

I haven’t had time for my city bureaucratic gnomes to find out about these people, Marsha White or Stephen Thompson, so I can’t say who will be the most dutifully servile to the needs of the CITY, and by that I mean servile to the needs of ME!!!!

But I do know that Marsha White has gotten a truckload of money from the REALTOR association, some of our most reliable CRONIES!  So judge THAT for yourself!

In conclusion, remember that I make at least 3 times the median income of the rest of you SUCKERS not counting all my PERKS!  So I’m smarter than you, and I KNOW what YOU NEED!  Remember, vote YES for ever-increasing rates and fees!  Vote YES for Ogden City, by voting for MY candidates on NOVEMBER 5th!

Update 10/25/13 8:00 a.m.: I cracked the whip at my gnomes and they FINALLY did a little research on those two nobodys running for At Large Seat A (soon to be vacated by that dimwit Susie who sounded kinda scary when she campaigned but has ended up being putty in my hands). What the gnomes discovered is this...

Marcia White used to be on the board of a liberal terrorist organization called Equality Utah that wants EQUAL RIGHTS for all the LGBT folks. Now personally I don't care one way or the other about the queers but I get queasy when I think of council members who might have their own agenda -- any agenda!

Anyhow, I can probably live with White's agenda but NOT with Stephen Thompson's agenda which is WORKER'S RIGHTS!!! He's a former FIREFIGHTER, for cryin' out loud! That means he'll want more pay and decent working conditions for ALL the firefighters, and undoubtedly the cops too, and maybe even the garbage collectors and ditch diggers and office clerks. And MORE dough for all those dumb city slaves means LESS dough for me and my loyal bureaucrats! Not to mention the developers and construction contractors and real estate speculators who are always SO VERY NICE to me whenever they come up to my office and we close the door and share our mutual appreciation.

SO, kids: DON'T vote for Stephen Thompson! Hold your nose if necessary and just vote for Marcia White, whose last name stands for keeping the money where it belongs, in the hands of us WHITE COLLAR bureaucrats!

Hot Off the Press: 2013 Ogden City Election Candidate Financial Disclosure Statements (First Set) - Updated

Money isn't everything in municipal politics... but a fat campaign warchest helps a heckuva lot

With the 2013 Ogden City Municipal Primary looming a little under six days hence, we're delighted to provide a glimpse of the first set of campaign financial disclosure statements of our nine Ogden City Council candidate hopefuls, which were duly filed with the Ogden City Recorder's Office by 5:00 p.m. yesterday, pursuant to applicable provisions of Ogden City's Campaign Financing Disclosure ordinances, which arrived on the heels of the Ogden City Council's 2009 campaign finance reform.  

"Cash is King" in politics, as the old saying goes; so click the highlighted links below to discover which candidates are Ogden City's fund-raising "royalty," at least at this juncture:

Candidate	Contributions	Expenses
Municipal Ward 1
Neil K. Garner	$0	$25
Pamela  Stevens	$0	$25
Municipal Ward 3
Turner C. Bitton	$4,698	$3,734
Doug Stephens	$3,800	$2,312
At-Large "A"
Sheri Morreale	$1,000	$997
Stephen D. Thompson	$1,868	$568
Marcia L. White	$10,015	$3,384
At-Large "B"
Bart Blair	$0	$25
Courtney Jon White	$80	$32

Our compliments to candidates Marcia White, Turner Bitton and Doug Stephens, who've already put together particularly impressive "ground games."  Money isn't everything in politics, of course, but as we've learned the hard way in Ogden City municipal politics, and  looking at the the "big picture," a fat campaign warchest  helps a heckuva lot. 

Special thanks to Ogden City Recorder Tracy Hansen, a model of helpfulness and efficiency, who worked late, graciously furnishing the above reports early yesterday evening.

Plow through these reports, O Weber County Forum political wonks; and whatever you do, please don't keep your cranky opinions and comments to yourselves.

Update 8/8/13 10:00 a.m.:  Interesting discussion developing over at the Ogden Ethics Blog, where blogmeister Dan Schroeder questions the propriety of Mayor Caldwell's $500 donation to the Marcia White campaign. So whatddaya think, O Gentle Ones?  Even though such a donation is completely lawful, is it ethical?  And even assuming it is ethical, is it politically proper?

2017 Ogden City Elections Update: Council Challenger Lew Wheelwright Battles Incumbent Marcia White

For those of you who haven't yet submitted your mail-in ballots, we do hope this information will prove to be helpful

Last but not least, the Standard-Examiner's new Ace Reporter Tim Vandernack offers his fourth report, shedding light on the nuances of our 2017 Ogden City City Council Election, concerning the pending race in Ogden City's At-large A: Read up, Ogden voters, and fellow Ogden City political wonks:

• Ogden's White seeks new council term, faces Wheelwright, 'a disruptive force'

For extra information, check out each of these Ogden City Council At-large seat A  candidates' respective online credentials here, via our 2017 Ogden City General Election Candidate Roster, peeps:

• Lew A Wheelwright
• Marcia White (Incumbent)

For those of you who haven't yet submitted your mail-in ballots, we do hope this information will prove to be helpful.

Fresh From the Ogden City Recorder's Office: 2013 Ogden City Election Candidate Financial Disclosure Statements (Second Set)

1-2-3-GO! Don't hesitate to offer your own opinions of "what's up" in the ongoing Ogden Council 2013 election campaign finance free-for-all

With a little more that 60 days left to tick down on our right sidebar 2013 Ogden City Municipal General Election clock, we're pleased to present the Second Set of  timely-filed Ogden City Council campaign finance disclosures, which are linked and summarized in the handy table below. Click the highlighted links to see how each of these candidates is doing with his or her fundraising, and perhaps even more importantly to find out which Ogden City "political kingpins" are "voting in advance" with their checkbooks:

Candidate	Contributions	Expenses
Municipal Ward 1
Neil K. Garner	$1500	$80
Pamela Stevens	$0	$0
Municipal Ward 3
Turner C. Bitton	$1505	$355
Doug Stephens	$510	$0
At-Large "A"
Stephen D. Thompson	$100	$702
Marcia L. White	$3118	$2714
At-Large "B"
Bart Blair	$0	$0
Courtney Jon White	$120	$129

Front-runner among the "big-time" fundraisers remains At-large "A" candidate Marcia White, who can now boast of  a cumulative total of $13,133 in contributions to date, which during this reporting period notably includes a whopping $1500 contribution from the Northern Utah Association of Realtors, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Biggest and Baddest PAC in the Land.

On the other end of the campaign finance spectrum is At-large "B" Council incumbent Bart Blair, who's so far raised a grand total of exactly $0 (zero) dollars, and has "expensed" a mere $25 "filing fee" out of his own pocket, it would seem, raising the question of whether Councilman Blair believes his race against second-time council challenger Courtney White is already "in the bag," or whether Blair's just quietly bowing out of the race with a "bag" over his head.

Check out all this this new data, folks; and don't hesitate to offer your own opinions of "what's up" in the ongoing Ogden Council 2013 election campaign finance (not so) free-for-all.

1-2-3-GO!

Standard-Examiner: Ogden City Votes to Eliminate Private (Secret) Straw Polls

Added bonus: Final 2013 Ogden City Municipal Election campaign finance disclosure tallies

According to this morning's Standard-Examiner story, and as a followup to our earlier Weber County Forum writeup, "[s]ecret votes will no longer be a part of the Ogden City Council's officer election process. In a special meeting held Monday afternoon, the council voted unanimously to do away with a "straw poll" voting system it had been using when selecting the chair and vice chair positions on the council. The council put the new election process to use on Monday, nominating and electing council members Richard Hyer for chair and Caitlin Gochnour for vice chair:

•  Ogden city votes to eliminate private straw polls

A Weber County Forum Tip O' the Hat to the Ogden City Council for finally getting around to doing what they ought to have done years ago.

"Also at the meeting, Blair, Neil Garner, Doug Stephens and Marcia White were sworn in after winning their council races in November," Mitch Shaw further reports.

Here are the official results, gleaned from the Ogden City website:

• City Council Special Meeting Agenda Results

Now that our 2014-16 Ogden City Council is sworn in, and Council "leadership" has been chosen, we think the timing is right to post the final 2013 campaign finance tallies, to wrap up our WCF  2013 Ogden Municipal Election coverage.  Here is a table, incorporating the Fourth Set of Campaign Finance Disclosure Statements, submitted by each Council candidate on or about December 5, 2013: 

Office	12/5/2013	12/5/2013	Cumulative	Cumulative
Candidate	Contributions	Expenses	Contributions	Expenses
Municipal Ward 1
Neil K. Garner	$0	$1,229	$2,550	$2,575
Pamela Stevens*	$0	$0	$0	$25
Municipal Ward 3
Turner C. Bitton	$550	$0	$10,355	$9,696
Doug Stephens	$0	$1,708	$6,150	$5,744
At-Large "A"
Stephen D. Thompson	$39	$183	$2,445	$2,442
Marcia L. White	$850	$6,307	$18,339	$16,003
At-Large "B"
Bart Blair	$0	$1,209	$1,875	$1,338
Courtney Jon White*	$0	$0	$320	$290

* Disqualified

Best wishes to our new Ogden City Council, which appears to be firing on all cylinders (at this point, at least).

Ogden Municipal Election Special: 2013 Ogden City Municpal Election Game On!

Exercise your voting rights, O Gentle Ones... "Use 'em or lose 'em!"

Unless you're an Ogden City resident who's been living under a rock, you're "wise" to the fact that Ogden City Municipal Election Day rolled around just a few minutes ago, coincidentally with the final down-tick of our "snazzy" right sidebar election count-down clock. Yep, the polls opened at 7:00 a.m. this morning, and will remain in business until 8:00 this evening at all Ogden City voter precinct polling places.

Here's hoping you'll all make it over to your local polling location to cast your ever-important votes. Although the "killjoys" of the Ogden City Administration have summarily removed some of the excitement from the faithful exercise of you "civic duty," by enforcing those nit-picky Utah campaign financial disclosure rules, and thus disqualifying two candidates from two of the four prevously "contested" races, we still have four fine candidates running in two still-fiercely contested races, namely, second-time candidate Stephen D. Thompson and first-timer Marcia L. White in the At Large "A" contest, along with two-term council incumbent Doug Stephens and challenger  Turner C. Bitton, who are fighting it out tooth and nail in the council Ward 3 race.

And try to look at it philosophically, Ogden City lumpencitizens.  Unlike some some other Utah folks in some other Utah communities who won't have the opportunity at all to choose their own municipal elected officials for the 2014-16 term this morning, you at least have some choice in the matter, however pared-down those choices may be.

Oh yes.  As an added bonus, we'll incorporate this image of the flyer we received just this morning by mail, from the Northern Wasatch Association of Realtors, (a wholly-owned subsidiary of the "Biggest  and Baddest PAC in the Land"), which donated the usual 1500 bucks to candidates Bart Blair, Neil Garner, Doug Stephens and Marcia White, just to give you a little something extra to think about as you enter the voting booth today, and to add to the overall mirth and merriment of your voting experience

Click to enlarge image

This verbiage reads like a press release straight out of de facto Mayor  Mark Johnson's Economic Development Department, dunnit?

Still unsure about the location of your Ogden polling place, despite our placement of a link above (which you probably neglected to "click")?  Let that be no obstacle to the exercise of your civic responsibilities, as you can almost effortlessly obtain the location of your designated polling place (among other tidbits of important information) right here:

• Vote.Utah.Gov Voter Information Page

Try it; you'll like it

Exercise your voting rights, O Gentle Ones.  "Use it or lose it," as the old saying goes.

The polls are now open, people! Get on down and...

VOTE!

Added Bonus: We've also set up a separate thread for later this evening, by the way, (we've pre-set it to automatically post @ 7:30 p.m.), with a link to the Ogden City Recorder's Office "boffo" live online vote tally software, so you can follow tonight's vote count in real-time. Therefore, be sure to check back here later.

And in the meantime... the floor is open for your intra-day election related comments.

Primary Election Day Special: 2013 Ogden City Municipal Primary Real-time Tallies - Updated

Yeah, we know...  the tension is unbearable

As every red-blooded Weber County Forum political wonk is by now acutely aware, today is Ogden City Municipal Primary Election Day. The polls opened at 7:00 a.m., and will remain in business until 8:00 this evening at all Ogden City voter precinct polling places.

We do hope you all took our dunning advice, visited your designated polling location, did your civic duty and cast your vote for the Ogden City Council At-large Seat "A" candidate of your choice.

As is our eight year tradition at Weber County Forum, we're once again delighted to furnish a link to Ogden City's nifty 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 probably  have some Flash Player updating to do:

• 2013 Municipal General Election Real-time Tallies

Yeah, we know.  The tension is unbearable. But although the polls close at  8:00 p.m., experience dictates that initial vote counts probably won't start rolling in until around 9:00 p.m. or later.  So exercise some patience, folks.

And for those of you who might be inclined to offer your primary election day wisdom, the floor's now officially open for your ever-savvy comments.

Update 8/13/13 8:55 p.m.:  The tote board has started to light up.  Thompson and White are neck-and-neck.

Update 8/13/13 9:39 p.m.: Final (unofficial) tally, with 100% of precincts reporting:

• Marcia L. White 804 52%
• Stephen D. Thompson 597 39%
• Sheri Morreale 147 9%

So what about it, O Gentle Ones? Does that make White the next Seat "A" council member, since she garnered over 50% of the vote?  Does the attainment of a majority rather that a mere plurality let her off the hook for a General Election race? Who wants to chime in on this? Anybody know the Utah rule on this off the top of their head? Ferris?

Update 8/14/13 6:00 a.m.: Both The Standard and Tribune report that Thompson and White will indeed "face off" in the November general election. For sake of clarification, Ogden City Municipal primaries are "nominating elections," per Ogden City Code Section 1-7-1, dovetailing with applicable statutes in the Utah Elections Code, which distinguish, albeit clumsily, between "General" and "Primary" elections and lack "majority winner take all" nominating election provisions.

Update 8/15/13 8:00 a.m.:  For archival purposes, here's a screenshot of Tuesday night's final vote tallies:

Click to enlarge image

6% Turnout? Shameful, No?

2013 Ogden City Election Candidate Financial Disclosure Statements (Third Set)

The latest financial data, fresh from the City Recorder's Office

With less than 7 days remaining prior to next Tuesday's 2013 Ogden City Municipal election, we're pleased to present the Third Set of  timely-filed Ogden City Council Campaign Finance Disclosures, which are linked and summarized in the handy table below.   We've put the emphasis on the phrase timely-filed, inasmuch as two candidates, Pamela Stevens and Courtney White, missed yesterday's deadline, although Mr. White did manage to get his papers on file this morning.

These omissions could have significance, folks, as the potential penalty for a late filing could involve a tardy candidate's complete removal from the ballot.  Here's the applicable ordinance Ogden City ordinance, folks, which should provide "relief" to each of these candidates, provided their failures to file were "inadvertent" and not "willful":

• 1-8-6: FAILURE TO FILE; INACCURATE OR INCOMPLETE

In the meantime, while the City Recorder and City attorney get these interesting irregularities sorted out, click the highlighted links to see how each of these candidates is doing with his or her fundraising, as we stand on the cusp of electing a new Ogden City Council::

Here's the latest financial data, fresh from the City Recorder's Office, peeps:

Office	Current	Current	Cumulative	Cumulative
Candidate	Contribution	Expense	Contribution	Expense
Municipal Ward 1
Neil K. Garner	$1,050	$1,241	$2,550	$1,346
Pamela Stevens*	No Filing	No Filing	$0	$25
Municipal Ward 3
Turner C. Bitton	$3,602	$5,607	$9,805	$9,696
Doug Stephens	$1,840	$1,724	$6,150	$4,036
At-Large "A"
Stephen D. Thompson	$438	$989	$2,406	$2,259
Marcia L. White	$4,365	$3,598	$17,498	$9,696
At-Large "B"
Bart Blair	$1,875	$84	$1,875	$109
Courtney Jon White**	$61	$100	$261	$261

* No Filing - Disqualified
** Late Filing - Disqualified

Your ever-savvy comments and analysis are now invited, of course.

Standard-Examiner: Stephens Officially Wins Ogden City Council Race, Bitton Concedes

Reluctant "kudos" to the "Northern Wasatch Association of Realtors", the overall "Big Winners"

The Standard-Examiner reports that Ogden City election officials have pressed out the last remaining wrinkle in the 2013 Ogden City Municipal Election races, as Mitch Shaw reports that the remaining 471 provisional and absentee ballots have been counted, and that two-term Ogden Ward 3 incumbent Doug Stephens has prevailed by a vote of 603 to 487, while challenger Turner C. Bitton has gracefully conceded defeat:

• Stephens officially wins Ogden city council race, Bitton concedes

Congrats to our old pal Doug for his election to a third council term, and a giant Weber County Forum Hat Tip to Mr. Bitton, who ran a thoroughly energetic and well-fought campaign.

Further kudos (albeit reluctant ones) to the Northern Wasatch Association of Realtors, which donated the usual 1500 bucks to Stephens, along with the other three prevailing council candidates Bart Blair, Neil Garner, and Marcia White, proving once again, now that latest Ogden Municipal election season draws to a close, that election-wise, "Realtor Cash is King" in Junction City, just as always, making this greedy real estate development lobbying group, once again...

Standard-Examiner: Ogden Election Candidates Excited About Ogden City's Future

Eight Ogden City Council incumbents and challengers seemingly stand up for "motherhood and apple pie"

It's with some reluctance that we direct our readers' attention to this morning's Standard-Examainer story, a factually "thin" virtual puff-piece, boiling down eight (count'em 8) Ogden City Council candidates' campaign platforms to a couple of brief paragraphs per candidate, wherein each incumbent and challenger seemingly stands up for "motherhood and apple pie," as one ever-savvy Ogden City political wonk wryly remarks.

• Ogden election candidates excited about city's future

Adding insult to injury,  Council At-Large "B" candidate Courtney White, a candidate of the "libertarian" political persuasion, justifiably complains he's not only been misquoted, but that the quotes attributed to him run just exactly opposite of his philosophical beliefs.

I think you used Marcia L. White's quote as mine. I think we need to stop using business incentives, and instead need to have a fair business climate for all of Ogden's businesses, new and old.
I'll expect a retraction.
Courtney Jon White.
EDIT:
I could have misspoke in the interview. I do support small business, but not with incentives. I simply think it's wrong to ask small businesses to pay taxes while their new to the city competition is given tax breaks.

Click to enlarge image

Sad state of affairs for Standard-Examiner reporting, where a mere three weeks preceding the November 5 Ogden Municipal election, this is the only 2013 Ogden City Municipal Election story which our home town newspaper has seen fit to publish relating to these important Ogden City Municipal races, aside from one concerning the "ever-important"  urban chicken-ranching issue, of course.

And even at that, SE reporter Mitch Shaw can't get the story right.

In that connection, we'll again refer our readers to our right sidebar 2013 Ogden City Election module, where we've compiled and [posted a robust collection of web links and articles, concerning the campaign endorsements, platforms and political views of all eight candidates, which online "feature" even now seems to be the only 2013 Ogden Municipal Election resource for those prospective voters who don't wish to rely upon the Standard's heretofore lackluster reporting.  For starters, try this link:

• 2013 Ogden Municipal Election Candidate Roster

Click the rest of the links in our right sidebar module to learn more.

We hate to criticize S-E reporter Mitch Shaw, who usually does a pretty good job with his reporting.

We suppose he had a "tight" deadline to make.

2013 Ogden City Municipal Elections Council Candidates List

All four seats will be contested, and thus nobody will walk onto the Ogden City Council by default

Following up on yesterday's WCF article, we're happy to provide, via the Ogden City Election webpage, the full list of Ogden City Council hopefuls who've declared their candidacies for the 2013 Ogden City Municipal election races.  To our great delight, all four seats will be contested, and thus nobody will walk onto the Ogden City Council by default:

OGDEN CITY MUNICIPAL ELECTION CANDIDATES

As of June 7, 2013 @ 5:00 p.m.

(All seats are Four-Year Term)

Municipal Ward 1

Neil K. Garner neil.garner@imail.org

3184 Madison

Ogden, UT 84401

Pamela Shupe Stevens

987 Patterson

Ogden, UT 84403

Municipal Ward 3

Turner C. Bitton bitton.politico@gmail.com

960 East 21st Street

Ogden, UT 84401

Doug Stephens dougstephensone@hotmail.com

1131 16th Street

Ogden, UT 84404

At-Large Seat “A”

Sheri Morreale troubletrying@aol.com

1352 29th Street

Ogden, UT 84403

Stephen D. Thompson steve4ogden@gmail.com

729 25th Street

Ogden, UT 84401

Marcia L. White mwhite@reaching4solutions.com

1575 29th Street

Ogden, UT 84403

Michelle Williams michelle4ogdencity@gmail.com

1453 28th Street

Ogden, UT 84403

At-Large Seat “B”

Bart Blair bartblair@ogdencity.com

4225 College Drive

Ogden, UT 84403

Courtney Jon White wkcutah@gmail.com

702 Polk Avenue

Ogden, UT 84404

Primary Election to be held August 13, 2013

General Election to be held November 5, 2013

Keep your eyes on Weber County Forum as the campaign season has now been launched. As per usual, we're militantly resolved to provide the most robust 2013 Municipal Election coverage in the whole danged webosphere.

Update 7/19/13 9:00 a.m.: For more detailed information on these candidates, check out our 2013 Ogden Municipal election module, which is embedded in our right blog sidebar.

Ogden Water and Sewer Bonding Update: Major Campaign Issue Delivered On a Silver Platter

A Weber County Forum Tip 'O the Hat to Councilwoman Wicks, the sole current council member with a lick of common sense

(Translation: Rubber-stamped)

The Standard's Mitch Shaw reports on last night's 6-1 Council vote, whereby an extremely docile and administration-compliant Council majority basically rubber-stamped the Caldwell administration's recommended new top-dollar bonding, authorizing the issuance of  some $18 million in Water and Sewer Utility improvement bonds under the following specific parameters, with council member Amy Wicks being the lone dissenting vote:

The first resolution authorizes the city to pay for a new water treatment plant at the top of Ogden Canyon by issuing $13.4 million in bonds and paying it off over 25 years. The second resolution pays for storm sewer improvements along Harrison Boulevard by issuing $4.7 million in bonds with a 20-year repayment period.

Read Mr. Shaw's full writeup here:

• Ogden finalizes water bond issue

A Weber County Forum Tip 'O the Hat to Councilwoman Wicks, the sole current council member with a lick of common sense.

Write this down...
so you don't forget it!

Congrats to council challengers Pamela Shupe Stevens, Turner C. Bitton, Stephen D. Thompson, Marcia L. White and Courtney Jon White, who've just had a major 2013 Ogden Municipal Election campaign issue delivered by the council incumbents on an engraved silver golden platter, and dropped onto their very laps.

"Opportunity knocks," Ogden City Council challengers.

Update 8/27/13 5:00 p.m.: Thanks to the helpful intercession of Ogden's own "Mayor Mike," the full August 21 Council meeting video is now available for viewing via Youtube:

Standard-Examiner: Three Candidates Competing for Ogden’s At-large Seat "A" in Election - Updated

Certainly an interesting race to watch as it develops, indeed

Better late than never

To our great delight, we're pleased to observe that the Standard, with a short 14 or so days left until the 2013 Ogden Municipal Election Primary, better late than never, is finally devoting at least a little bit of electronic ink to the one, single pending Ogden Municipal Primary race, i.e.,  the Ogden City At-Large Seat "A" contest:

• Three candidates competing for Ogden’s at-large seat in election

Gotta admit that we were gobsmacked when council candidate Stephen Thompson was qouted in this morning's S-E story thusly:

I think the biggest issue Ogden is facing in the immediate future is our water infrastructure and what that means for our water rates,” Thompson said. “We need all of these different infrastructure improvements, but it’s a huge challenge because of the costs associated with it."...

"I understand the logic behind not using all the reserve cash to pay for it, but I don’t think we should bond for it either,” he said. “I think we should work toward sensible reductions in spending, so we don’t have to bond for so much.

Stephen D. Thompson
The Real Deal?

It's absolutely uncanny, wethink, that candidate Thompson zeroed in, during a beforehand S-E interview, on the same issue which we featured in Dan Schroeder's lead article this morning, don't you think, whilst meanwhile, Mr. Thompson's Seat "A" opponents were spouting relative generalities and all-purpose political slogans?

Savvy grasp of the most important Ogden issues; or mere good luck, we ask?

Could it be that this Thompson guy is the REAL DEAL? 

Needless to say we'll be keeping a particularly close eye on Mr.  Thompson's campaign, as we move forward to the August 13 primary, along with those of his opponents,  Sheri Morreale and Marcia L. White, (of course).

No doubt about it. This will certainly be an interesting race to watch as it develops, indeed.

Update 7/30/13 11:00 a.m.:  In answer to a private inquiry from one of our gentle Weber County Forum readers... No.  Our above reference to Mr. Thompson's impressive and timely recognition of what we consider to be one of Ogden City's most important pending issues, i.e., tonight's prospective water infrastructure bonding decision,  should not be interpreted at this time as an early endorsement of his candidacy.  If indeed we do endorse anyone in the At-large Seat "A" race in the future, that's something which will happen, if at all, w-a-a-a-y down the road, after the 2013 campaign season has run its course, and ALL the evidence is there on the table.  

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.

2013 Ogden Municipal Election Real-time Tallies - Updated

A good time to "nuke up" a bag of Orville Redenbachers®, as you sink into your Barcaloungers® to view tonight's real-time vote count action

As is our exceedingly proud eight year tradition at Weber County Forum, and as we promised in this morning's early "Election Day" heads-up, we're once again delighted to furnish a link to Ogden City's nifty online vote tally link. This real-time online utility is up and running right now. Helpful hint: Update your Flash Player if it doesn't properly display on your screen.

• 2013 Municipal General Election Real-time Tallies

Yeah, we know.  The tension in the Ogden City races (two of them) still remains unbearable. But even though the polls close at  8:00 p.m., we've learned the hard way that initial vote counts probably won't start rolling in until around 9:00 p.m.or later.  So exercise some patience, folks. Good time to "nuke up" an extra bag of Orville Redenbachers®, wethinks, as you sink into your Barcaloungers® to view tonight's inevitably thrilling vote count action.

And for those of you who might be inclined to offer up your 2013 Ogden Municipal Election Day comments, plaudits, wisecracks, jaded remarks, or just plain ole garden variety gripes, the floor's now officially open for whatever you have to offer, even before the final vote tallies roll in.

Update 11/5/13 10:35 p.m.: All precincts have reported and here are the unofficial results:

Ward 1
x-Neil K. Garner - 254 (100%)

Ward 3
x-Doug Stephens - 523 (56%)
Turner C. Bitton  - 407 (44%)

At-large "A"
x-Marcia L. White - 2106 (64%)
Stephen D. Thompson - 1174 (36%)

At Large "B"
x-Bart Blair - 2511 (100%)

So what say our WCF readers about all this?

2013 Ogden Municipal Primary Election Reminder: Do Your Duty, Folks!

Voting is not a mandatory civil duty but it is one of the most important ones in which an individual citizen can partake

Breaking news for those WCF readers of you who may have forgotten that tomorrow is Ogden City Primary Municipal Election Day.  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. tomorrow at the following Ogden City Council approved voter precinct polling places, as more specifically set forth in this PDF document which we obtained from the Ogden City Recorder's office this morning:

• 2013 Municipal Polling Location List - Ogden

Additionally, and according to the Ogden City Elections webpage you can also "take advantage of three new city-wide vote centers that service all registered voters regardless of their assigned polling location":

• Ogden-Weber Applied Technology College located at 200 Washington Blvd.
• Union Station located at 2501 Wall Ave
• Dee Events Center located at 4450 Harrison Blvd

Alternatively, and if all else fails, you can find your polling location via the vote.ut.gov website:

• Find your polling place

There are three candidates vying for the Ogden City Council At-large "A" seat, the sole Ogden Council office which will be on the primary ballot.  To learn more about these candidates, click the links below to view each candidate's Weber County Forum profile page, where we've assembled all the available and relevant news, campaign web links and other information, obtained either from the candidates themselves, or through our own extensive "googling":

• Sheri Morreale 
• Stephen D. Thompson 
• Marcia L. White

You'll be able to cast your vote for one of the above.

Click the link below for Utah's latest voter ID requirements:

• Election Day Identification Requirements

Yeah, we know.  This primary lacks some of the "excitement" we've witnessed in past Ogden City Municipal elections.  But do your civic duty anyway folks. Voting is not a mandatory civil duty but it is one of the most important ones in which an individual citizen can partake.

Need we say it again?

Do your duty, folks!