March 9, 2010 Ogden RDA Post Meeting Report

An RDA session video, in lieu of a turgid text-based report

As a followup to Monday's WCF article, in which we expressed our concern that the Ogden City RDA Board might be acting a mite hastily in rushing through a "blight finding" for the "4 downtown city blocks, from 20th to 24th; and east from Washington to Adams Avenue," we're delighted to learn this morning that our Ogden RDA Board has deferred taking any further action in this matter, except to schedule a full, formal "blight study hearing" for the RDA calender of April 13, 2010, at which time all affected property owners and the lumpencitizens of Emerald City will be given ample opportunity to offer their evidence and argument... and to otherwise spout off.

In lieu of a lengthy text-based post meeting report, we've embedded the video* of last night's meeting, where WCF readers will be able to observe a savvy, combat-hardened City Council/RDA Board which is most definitely firing on all cylinders. Check out the heavy grilling that Board members Stephens, Wicks, Gochnour and Van Hooser administer to poor old Community & Economic Development Department Director Richard McConkie. It's truly a beauteous thing to watch. And even Councilman Stephensen gets in a few licks. Select the March 9, 2010 RDA meeting from the lower video menu :

• Ogden City Council Videos

If there's anyone who believes that this RDA Board is collectively playing the part of a patsy for an overly ambitious city administration (with respect to this project, at least), a viewing of this video ought to allay those fears.

Who will be the first to comment?
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* Courtesy of the Ogden City Website

Utah Citizens' Initiative Petition Update

You know what to do... Do it on the internet

Red meat news is a mite skimpy this Tuesday morning, so we thought we'd take the opportunity to make yet another pitch for the Utahns For Ethical Government Ethics Reform Petition Initiative drive, which has a little over a month remaining before the April 15, 2010 signature submission deadline.

Weber County Forum readers got a pretty harsh dose of reality regarding the depth of ethical problems in the Utah Legislature just last week, of course, when Rep. Gage Froerer candidly informed us that elements within the Utah Senate were putting the arm on the Ogden Valley citizens for a cool 25 Grand... you know ... to hire a lobbyist to grease the skids for his HB 218 [wink-wink]. It's in that context that we thought UEG's new TeeVee commercial might strike a lumpencitizen nerve, and spur on any readers who haven't yet signed the petition to get to it right now:

And for those readers who might require a little extra convincing, check out the two most recent Standard-Examiner editorials on the subject:

• OUR VIEW: Utah House nixes spending limits • OUR VIEW: More legislative ethicsphobia

Here's the link to the UEG electronic petition; and here are the links to the other two petitions (including Fair Boundaries) which are still in circulation and in need of your signatures.

You know what to do.

Do it on the internet.

Notice of An Important Emerald City RDA "Blight Hearing" Session

Has there been an attempt by some Ogden City officials to keep the lumpencitizens out of the loop?

Thanks to a tip from Gentle Reader Disgusted in a lower article comments section, we learn that the Ogden City Redevlopment Agency suddenly has a matter on calender for tomorrow, (Tuesday, March 9, 2010) which appears to be the latest chapter in Boss Godfrey's new obsession to declare a 4-block portion of east Washington Blvd., adjacent to the Ogden Junction, a blighted area:

5. Common Consent:
a. East Washington Urban Renewal Area. Proposed Resolution 2010-1 making a finding of blight regarding the proposed East Washington Urban Renewal Project Area and proposed Resolution 2010-2 selecting the East Washington Urban Renewal Project Area in the East Central Urban Renewal Survey Area and authorizing the preparation of a draft project area plan, including a project area budget, pursuant to Section 17C-2-102(1)(a)(ii)(B)(II) and (III), Utah Code Annotated 1953, as amended. (Set public hearing for April 13, 2010 – voice vote. (Link added]

That's right, folks. Boss Godfrey apparently contends that all those architecturally classic and mostly well-maintained buildings on the east side of Washington Blvd., (many of which are vacant due to economic forces related to the still-lingering "Great Recession,") are "blighted."

The last time this matter came up on the RDA calender the matter was wisely dropped by the RDA Board. But just as we predicted, it's right back on calender again, with very short (and obscure) notice to the public (and possibly to affected property owners.)

We'll go on record right now as agreeing with Gentle Reader Disgusted's above-linked take on this:

My comment to the City Council is what the heck is this item up for a vote? Why can’t you at least give some more details as to what is being discussed and voted on here? If you are truly the City Council that wants to add transparency to city governance why are you allowing communications about what you’re doing allowed to go out in such vague form on the topics? Why can’t you have your staff take what is given to them by the administration and add some meat to the description before you forward such information on to the public? Or do you really care about transparency?

According to the provisions of Utah Code Seaction Section 17C-2-102(1)(a)(ii)(B)(II) and (III), which is cited in tomorrow evening's RDA meeting agenda, the RDA Board is at minimum required to hold a a properly-noticed full public hearing prior to making a finding of blight. Here's the operative statutory language:

17C-2-102. Process for adopting urban renewal project area plan -- Prerequisites -- Restrictions.
(1) (a) In order to adopt an urban renewal project area plan, after adopting a resolution under Subsection 17C-2-101(1) the agency shall:...
(B) provide notice of a blight hearing as required under Part 5, Urban Renewal Notice Requirements; and
(C) hold a blight hearing as provided in Section 17C-2-302...

Now in fairness to the Council and the Administration we'll confess we don't know whether the above statutory prerequisites have been met, quietly and behind the scenes. For all we know, all proper notices have gone out, and Tuesday's RDA session will turn out to be a full-blown evidentiary hearing, complete with steely-eyed property owners, cranky lawyers, PowerPoint presentations and everything.

Nevertheless, Gentle Reader Disgusted does make a very important related point on the issue of public transparency, we think. The council's notice to an interested public who might want to attend and speak out at a formal "blight hearing" is hopelessly vague, we believe. And yes, the general public has an important stake in this too... and a cynic would even suggest that the Council really may not wish to have the sometimes "meddlesome" general public attend this hearing.

It seems to us that if the Council had meant to properly inform the lumpencitizens of the importance of the matter which comes before the RDA Board tomorrow evening, it would have phrased the public notice in plain English, like this:

Proposed Resolution 2010-1 making a finding of blight (in preparation for a possible subsequent eminent domain condemnation action) in the area encompassing a full 4 downtown city blocks in the heart of Ogden's Central Business District, from 20th to 24th; and east from Washington to Adams Avenue

Instead, the Council phrased it in obtuse legelese.

So what say out gentle readers about this? Is it possible that the above-linked public hearing notice was actually drafted by the Mayor's office, to keep lumpencitizens out of the loop? Are we witnessing once again the flounderings of a brand-new City Council which yet remains susceptible (in its fledgling innocence) to Boss Godfrey's procedural maneuverings? Is it possible that Boss Godfrey is "trying on" the new Council Leadership to see whether he can slip a little something by them?

So many questions... so few answers.

At any rate, the word is now out. And yes... from the evidence it appears that Tuesday's hearing will likely consist of a full blown "blight hearing."

Hopefully more than a few of our own readers will be motivated to attend tomorrow's tantalizing RDA session.

And with a little luck, maybe a few of them will report back here.

We'll leave the lower comments section open for any post RDA session reports of course, as always.

Salt Lake Tribune: Patchwork of Laws Squeezes Ex-cons

Another great idea! Let's buy these unfortunate folks a one-way ticket to "Powderville"

Fascinating story in this morning's Salt Lake Tribune, revealing the ugly underbelly of these "Good Landlord Programs," which have become all the rage in cities across Utah over the past several years. Here's the lede:

Ogden » At Park Avenue apartments, even one of the security guards is on parole.
As of mid-February, at least 19 probationers and parolees were living at the 150-unit complex at the corner of 24th Street and Adams Avenue. Many, including the guard, have drug convictions; a few have committed gun-related or violent crimes.
Building managers are reducing the number of state-supervised tenants, but there are still plenty of felons in the neighborhood.
The Department of Corrections listed 713 probationers and parolees in the building's ZIP code. That gives Ogden the highest per capita rate of people on state supervision among Utah cities with at least 10,000 residents.

Read this morning's full SLTrib story here:

• Patchwork of laws squeezes ex-cons

The net result of these "Good Landlord Laws," which essentially ban landlords from renting to felony probationers and parolees, and assess stiff penalties to landlords who don't enroll in these programs, is that such offenders, who've been released from incarceration for rehabilitation and post-release supervision, are forced to reside in clusters where a few landlords are willing to take a chance with them... not a good thing for folks who are trying to turn their lives around... or for communities in general, as this morning's SLTrib story aptly points out.

Ogden City, of course, a forerunning pioneer in the Good Landlord Program Movement, gets plenty of ink in this morning's SLTrib expose':

An Ogden ordinance may be largely to thank for cramming parolees and probationers into a few city blocks. The good landlord program, which began in 2005, gives participating landlords discounts on business licenses.
The program requires landlords to run credit and criminal-background checks on potential tenants and disqualify anyone on probation or parole for a felony conviction. The city says 83 percent of licensed rental units participate, as does Ogden's public housing authority.

And speaking of "ugly underbellies," there's more. It seems that Boss Godfrey is now going after the residential clustering:

Park Avenue also belongs to Ogden's good landlord program and has received a notice from the city that its tenants are putting it in violation. Victor Huhem, an attorney for the owners, said the landlords can't evict those tenants, but won't renew their leases when they expire. Being compliant with the program is a big incentive: Park Avenue would save about $11,000 a year.
At the Park Avenue apartments, Huhem described the complex as well-kept and trouble-free. People on supervision, he said, are the "best tenants."
"They don't want to make any mistakes," he said.

So the the Ogden Administration continues to make these people's lives miserable and now engages in turning up the heat. Seems no wonder that 62 percent of these parolees wind up back in the slam.

We dunno about all this... these folks need to reside somewhere, don't they, now that they've been released by corrections authorities into our community to begin their lives anew? We learn this morning of course that they can't reside in at least "nine other cities across Utah," either.

Hey, here's another great idea! Perhaps Boss Godfrey can buy these unfortunate folks, (who seem doomed to wear a scarlet letter for the rest of their lives,) a one-way ticket to "Powderville, Utah." It's our understanding that the percipient Powderville Town government hasn't enacted a Good Landlord Law... at least not yet.

Standard-Examiner: State Shuts Down Centennial Bank

We'll definitely be keeping a close eye on Centennial Bank asset liquidation, as bank regulators sort out performing and non-performing properties and loans

There's blockbuster news within the Emerald City banking community this morning, as we find this Great Depression era-style headline splashed across the top of the Standard-Examiner hard-copy edition front page. Be sure to read today's Std-Ex writeup, folks:

• State closes Ogden-based Centennial Bank

In the comment section under our WCF article of earlier this week, wherein we discussed Ogden City's belated action to place liens on eight Gadi Leshem-controlled River Project properties (which had been earlier demolished on the taxpayers' dime by Ogden City wrecking crews,) the seemingly prescient gentle reader Ozboy offered these queries:

Given the arrogant and in your face corruption of the Godfrey gang, especially as it pertains to favoritism and cronyism toward Gadi and other FOM's, I wonder if this "oversight" is now being reported because some one discovered it, and it was going to become public knowledge anyway? Was this article some sort of damage control to cut the legs out from under another scandalous story?

Yesiree, gentle readers, now that we're able to connect the dots with this morning's twenty-twenty hindsight, it appears that somebody slipped the Godfrey administration the word that bank regulators would be locking Centennial's doors on Friday, so that an otherwise asleep-at the-wheel Boss Godfrey administration could get to work perfecting the taxpayers' as yet unperfected senior lien interests, in advance of story's appearance in the public press this morning.

And what will be the net consequences of this bank take over? Aside from the extreme inconvenience which will be wreaked up CB depositors and other customers (bounced checks, useless atm/debit cards, temporarily unavailable funds, revoked lines of credit, etc.)... probably not much for the average bank customer, at least in the long-run. In the wake of the massive American bank takeovers during the last several years (140 as of mid-December 2009), bank regulators have developed a pretty effective methodology for this. Depositors' funds will be mailed with checks, direct deposits of federal monies will be handled by Zions Bank, etc. And of course, CB assets will be methodically liquidated.

In connection with the asset liquidation aspect, and other possible long-term consequences, here's the tantalizing part. At the foot of this morning's Std-Ex story we find this interesting quote from Richard A. Schmalzer, regional ombudsman for the FDIC, speaking to the issue of Centennial Bank's insolvency:

Schmalzer said he didn't have details, but said "essentially the bank had considerable losses on ADC (acquisition, development and construction) loans."

As regular WCF readers are already aware, the now-defunct Centennial Bank owned many of the loans and much of the security paper involved in Ogden's River Project. And as we learned from the Standard-Examiner on April 21, 2009, Centennial was also listed on Weber County property records as a co-owner, along with the mysterious Gadi-controlled Ogden Riverfront Development Company, of the eight properties which were demolished in April 2009 by Ogden City, at the very least. Whether its fair to speculate at this juncture that Centennial was up to its financial eyeballs in the River Project, or whether River Project loans were among those contributing to "considerable losses on ADC" we don't know; but we'll lay odds we will find out.

We'll definitely be keeping a close eye on the Centennial Bank asset liquidation process, as bank regulators scour Centennial's asset portfolio and sort out and differentiate performing and non-performing properties and loans. We believe the now ongoing asset liquidation will add much-needed public transparency to the details surrounding the existing financing, such as it is, for the River Project. And who knows, perhaps some heretofore unrevealed individual investor identities will be shaken out in the process. And if that happens, we'll probably be able to connect even more dots.

That's it for now.

Don't hesitate to chime in, folks!

Update 3/7/10 9:45 a.m.: For the benefit of Centennial Bank depositors and customers who may be experiencing heartburn this weekend, here's a link to the newly-posted FDIC information page, which provides a full slate of information regarding the bank's dissolution:

• Failed Bank Information - Centennial Bank, Ogden, UT

Standard Examiner: Powder Mountain Issue Still VERY Far From A Resolution

Our psychic sense tells us we'll be hearing something very crabby from Gentle Ozboy on this topic very soon

The Powder Mountain dispute is back on the front page of the Standard-Examiner this morning with this Dan Weist story, which is the first report we've gotten since yesterday's Rep. Froerer sponsored HB 218 public information session on Capitol Hill:

• Powder Mountain issue still far from a resolution

This morning's story offers little information that we didn't already know, except for the following:

Rep. Gage Froerer, R-Huntsville, brought the proposal back this year, and the bill again is waiting for possible action in the remaining days of the session.
But Froerer told about 15 residents and others at a Thursday meeting in the Capitol that this year was even more of an uphill battle.
To start with, the legislation never left committee after a tie vote.[...]
Froerer said some statehouse leaders want the people involved to settle the issue privately and not resort to legislation.
He was joined at the Capitol meeting by two other lawmakers who explained the complicated maneuvering to put the bill into motion.

Up until this point we'd assumed that Rep. Froerer had already worked out the procedure to move his bill forward to the Senate floor, notwithstanding its earlier failure in the Senate Government Operations Committee because of a tied 3-3 vote. Regular readers will of course no doubt recall our short 8:24 a.m. update of February 26, where we offered this comment from Rep. Froerer, in response to our inquiry about the bill's removal from the committee calender that morning:

Not on the agenda for this AM. We are expecting a letter from the Developers that would stay the litigation and the incorporation if this does not happen we will request to go directly to the Senate Board.

Being concerned that Froerer's bill might be blocked from moving onto the Senate floor for procedural reasons related to the committee proceedings, we contacted Rep. Froerer this morning, and he assured us that his bill could be moved to the Senate for a vote with relative ease. But that's not the real problem he was alluding to in the upper quote, he said.

Get ready, folks... here's the kicker:

The real problem, Rep Froerer pointedly explains, is that the real estate development lobby has poured "at least $100 thousand" into killing this bill in the legislature; and that in order for his bill to succeed in the Senate, his bill's opposition will have to be met with commensurate lumpencitizen push-back. And here's the not so esoteric message Rep. Froerer delivered to us this morning, information that SE reporter Dan Weist did not report:

Ogden Valley citizens should be prepared to pony up at least $25 thousand to hire their own lobbyist; and this needs to happen very soon. Without the aid of a well-connected lobbyist, Rep. Froerer tells us that HB 218 is quite possibly toast. Email campaigns and repeated dunning phone calls won't cut it at this stage of the game either, Rep. Froerer informs us. The need for hard cash is the "unmentionable" element to which Rep Froerer was apparently referring, when he hinted about "more of an uphill battle," and "complicated maneuvering" it seems. Unfair as it is, that's how the "system" works, he candidly reveals.

That's your Utah civics lesson for the morning, gentle readers. We hope nobody loses their lunch.

Whether Ogden Valley citizens are at home this morning cracking open their piggy banks even at this moment, we do not know.

But our psychic sense does tell us we'll be hearing something very crabby from Gentle Ozboy on this topic very soon.

Update 3/5/10 9:11 a.m.: Ogden Valley Forum also has its own article up on this topic this morning, delivered with a slightly "chirpier" tone:

• HB 218 - The Meeting At The Capitol

Update 3/5/10 10:58 a.m.: The above-linked OVF article has now been updated, with the addition of an interesting "tactical analysis" by prospective Powdervillian Steve Clark.

The World Wide Blogosphere of course awaits your ever-savvy comments.

Salt Lake Tribune: Initiative Group Rolls Out Final Push

If ever Utah citizens are to put their legislature's feet to the fire and enact strong Utah legislative ethics reform, the time to do it is RIGHT NOW!

It's been a while since we last provided a writeup on the pending citizens initiative petitions which are circulating through Utah even now, so we'll put the spotlight on this morning's Salt Lake Tribune story, to again return the topic to the Weber County Forum front page:

• Initiative group rolls out final push

From this morning's story:

On the steps of the State Capitol, and underneath a threatening March sky, Utahns for Ethical Government announced its last big push --- a "march to the ballot."
The grassroots group now has less than six weeks to finish gathering the 95,000 signatures needed to place a broad ethics reform initiative on November's ballot.
Strategy includes a revamped Web site, a television ad and Saturday gatherings scheduled at local libraries from noon to 3 p.m. More information can be found online at www.utahethics.org.
"The citizens deserve a real opportunity for real ethics reform," said UEG Chairman Kim Burningham, comparing the Legislature's ethics package -- which lawmakers have rolled out over the past six weeks -- to a "crust" of bread.

The Utah legislative majority of course which has dropped all pretense of standing for robust ethics reform during the current legislative session, continues its unsavory war against the citizens of Utah, and is also "doing its part" to undermine the UEG Citizens' Ethics Reform Initiative:

Initiative proponents now find themselves facing steep opposition from a majority of Utah's lawmakers who have denounced their effort.
Just an hour before UEG's noon announcement, House members approved Sen. Howard Stephenson's SB275 in a 50-24 vote, which makes it easier for petition signers to remove their names [from petitions] after having second thoughts.

With six week left before the petition submission deadline, we agree that it's time to get into gear for that "last big push --- a 'march to the ballot.'"

So once again, here's the link to the now-revamped Utahns For Ethical Government website, where those readers who haven't yet signed the UEG petition can do so in electronic form. And for those cautious readers among us, those who'd still prefer to do it the old fashioned way, you'll find a hard-copy petition locations module in the right column of the same page (and at the bottom of the page), with convenient county-by-county contact links.

And for the benefit of those readers who'd like to take a look at the full array of citizen petitions on the 2010 Utah citizens' "grass roots smorgasbord," check out our handy WCF archive link below:

• Pending Utah Citizens' Initiative Petitions

Time's running short, O Gentle Ones. If ever Utah citizens are to put the legislature's feet to the fire and enact strong Utah legislative ethics reform, the time to do it is RIGHT NOW!

More Blowback On the Ogden City Streetcar Situation

No more ineffective griping, pleeeze.
We'd like to point our readers to a good follow-up blog article article on the heels of yesterday's WCF story, in which we reported that the ever-visionary Boss Godfrey received a fairly cool reception at the WACOG meeting on Monday, regarding his possibly loopy "downtown Ogden [Diesel powered] Trolley loop, wherein the little shite warned the possibly "mostly non-visionary" WACOG representatives that he'd be putting the arm on them later, in the event that Godfrey's personal Washington lobbyist might score federal "economic stimulus money,as "Ogden City's, ie, "might get lucky with the Obama administration paid whore"

OK, Enough of your blogmeister's general griping. Here's link to a great blog article which we'd like to feature this afternoon:

• Trolley Tussle Threatens Transoportation

Please read this article and then write these wise words down, Ogden People, just so you don't forget it:

Obviously, there has to be money in place to fund both projects. It appears, given the scarcity of resources available, that this debate may come down deciding which project is more important. If there is a way to make the Downtown Circulator work AND still build the WSU-Downtown line, then everyone wins. However, if it comes down to making the hard choice, it may be wiser to continue pressing forward with the WSU-Downtown line given the time and energy already spent on bringing it to fruition. It would be unfortunate to have recent efforts made to fund the Downtown Circulator sabotage of the promised WSU public transportati[o]n line. [sic]

That's it for now, gentle readers.

We couldn't have said it better ourself ourselves.

Time's now to launch your ever-wise WCF comments, people.

What ever you do... please don't let the cat get "yer' tongues

Standard-Examiner: Newly Formed Non-profit Pitches the Council For a Chunk of "Annual" CDBG Funds

One gentle reader recommends a full audit

Interesting story in the morning's Standard-Examiner, reporting on an item on last night's council agenda, whereby "members of a newly formed nonprofit organization" pitched the City Council for a chunk of Ogden City's "annual federal Community Development Block Grant funds":

• Nonprofit seeks some of Ogden's CDBG funding to help stabilize struggling families

We received this story tip via email from one gentle WCF reader who also offered this:

You really gotta wonder to what extent Godfrey is siphoning this grant money into projects that have nothing to do with the intended purpose. Someone oughta audit the whole program.

So what say our gentle readers about this novel reader suggestion? Is it time for the Council to more closely examine the Godfrey Administration's books and records, at least with respect to CDBG funds? It's not as if we believe Boss Godfrey would ever engage in any hanky-panky, mind you... but $1.1 million is nevertheless a sizable chunk of dough.

Standard-Examiner: Boss Godfrey Puts His Little Self Into The Weber County Council of Governments Hot-seat

Boss Godfrey presents his "Faux Trolley" "downtown streetcar circulator plan" to an obviously skeptical Weber County Council of Governments (WACOG) meeting yesterday afternoon

Just to keep our hysterical archives accurate, we'll duly link this afternoon to this morning's Standard-Examiner story, wherein intrepid Weber County Government Beat reporter Di Lewis reports that the ever-lovable Boss Godfrey presented his "Faux Trolley" "downtown streetcar circulator plan to an obviously skeptical Weber County Council of Governments (WACOG) meeting on Monday afternoon:

• Mayor grilled about Ogden streetcar

Seems THE BOSS OF OGDEN didn't receive a particularly warm reception from a group of local government representives who are fully aware that Boss Godfyrey is a 'lyin' POS:

Commissioner Jan Zogmaister said she doesn't agree with the Mayor's numbers. She said she also was concerned that because the downtown streetcar would be different from the one on the university route, they wouldn't be able to share maintenance space and costs.

It also appears also that Commissioner Bischoff isn't aboard the Boss Godfrey bandwagon either:

Those [fudged Godfrey] numbers worried Weber County Commissioner Ken Bischoff. He said WACOG has been more focused on a long-term streetcar project connecting downtown Ogden with Weber State University and McKay-Dee Hospital Center.
"Going out 10 years, we've got $10 million less in funding to build the route to the hospital," he said, referring to the ongoing maintenance costs that would be coming from the transportation tax money.

And then there's this, from West Haven City Mayor Brian Melaney, who most likely speaks for other WACOG members who don't consider Boss Godfrey's Ogden City to be the center of the Weber County universe:

I'm not sure that my city's residents would approve of spending such a large portion of the tax money on a downtown Ogden project. [paraphrased]

Please chime in on this, O Gentle Ones. Interesting local political nuances, no?

Powder Mountain Update: Important Public Information Session Set For The State Capitol on Thursday - UPDATED

In a very real sense, the ball is now decidedly "in the citizens' court."

As regular Weber County Forum readers are well aware, over the course of the period since Rep. Froerer's HB 218 stalled in the Senate Government operations Committee by a 3-3 vote, the Powder Mount Developer, the Weber County Commission and representatives of litigants in the Powder Mountain citizens' lawsuit have been engaged in intense negotiations, in a last minute effort to arrive at an agreement which would settle issues in contention, take the Powder Mountain town incorporation proceeding off the table and render Rep. Froerer's remedial voter rights legislation moot. Unfortunately, it's now evident that these negotiations have broken down, according to information which we received via email yesterday from Rep. Froerer:

I just got off the phone with Comm. Dearden and he communicated too me that they are not going to sign any deal at this late hour.... Let me make myself clear there will be no deal before the end of the session. If this is something the citizens in Ogden Valley want done now is the time to pull out the stops and put the energy into passing my bill...

Within yesterday's email, Rep. Froerer also informed us that he has scheduled a public information session at the State Capitol for Thursday, the details of which Rep. Froerer provided to us in a telephone conversation late yesterday evening:

What: Public information briefing and question & answer session on the subject of HB 218 and related matters.
Where: Senate (East) Building, Utah State Capitol, Room #215
When: Thursday, March 4, 2010, 12:00 p.m. (noon)
Formal Agenda: AGENDA - HB 218 – Disincorporation of Powder Mt. Town

Rep. Froerer further informs us that both he and Commissioner Dearden will be present to provide updates on Rep. Froerer's bill and the status of negotiations between the various adverse parties, as well as information about how Ogden Valley citizens (and indeed Utah citizens in general) can now (and once again) assist Rep. Froerer in his effort to push his bill toward passage in the Senate.

We'd also like to salute Rep. Froerer and Comm. Dearden for their continuing efforts to permanently resolve this matter one way or another, and for scheduling a public meeting which will add much-needed transparency to the process and hopefully alleviate the most recent lumpencitizen heartburn.

We likewise urge citizens who are interested in this matter to put Thursday's meeting on their calenders and make a special effort to attend this important event. In a very real sense, the ball is now decidedly "in the citizens' court."

We'll have our own WCF reporter in attendance, of course, and will accordingly report back upon the conclusion of the meeting with details and proposed citizen-activist strategies.

That's it for the moment, Gentle Readers.

Who would like to offer their comment?

Update 3/2/10 3:01 pm.: We've now updated this article with the specific assigned committee room number, and added a link to the Formal Meeting Agenda above.

Big Meeting Tomorrow Night: Energy Solutions Discussion Is On The Agenda

We're sure there are more than a few of our readers who are concerned about the storage of the world's radioactive nuclear reactor waste right here in Utah's western desert

As Emerald City's favorite community blog, one of our community service functions which we find to be most personally satisfying at Weber County Forum is the touting of important local community political events. In that connection, here's something interesting coming up for tomorrow night. We'll briefly reel off the info in the same format submitted by one of our gentle readers over the weekend:

What: Women's Legislative Council of Weber County monthly meeting
Where: South Ogden Senior Center, 530 39th Street, Ogden, UT
When: Tuesday, March 2, 2010, 7:00 p.m.
Guest Speaker: Betty Arial, Director of Legislative & Community affairs, Energy Solutions
Further Details: Time allotted for Q&A; Public invited- no charge

Readers who have additional questions about this event are invited to call Skip @ 801-621-4788, or Donna @ 801-552-8488.

The Weber County Women's Legislative Council monthly meetings have become a particular favorite venue of ours. Regular readers will of course recall our announcement of the group's pre-election 2009 Ogden City council candidate open house, which turned out to be a quite lively and informative event. And although we didn't publish a post meeting summary, we have received reports about the WCWLC group's recent ethics reform-topical program, wherein Utahns For Ethical Government's own in-house lawyer David Irvine evidently popped up from the audience out of the blue, to add balance to the conversation and to considerably enliven the discussion. One of the things we like best about these WCWLC sessions, by the way, is the group's healthy tolerance for relatively free-wheeling on-floor public participation.

Although Energy Solutions hasn't been a chief topic here at WCF, we're sure there are more than a few of our readers who are concerned about the storage of the world's radioactive nuclear reactor waste right here in Utah's western desert. So it's for the benefit of those readers that we're pleased to provide this announcement of tomorrow night's WCWLC event.

Standard-Examiner: Filings Needed To Cover Leshem Property Demolition Costs

Added Bonus: A plan to help bail one of Boss Godfrey's bestest buddies out of an embarrassing financial jam

Hoo Boy! Interesting followup story this morning from the Standard-Examiner, reporting on the current status of the eight Gadi Leshem-controlled River Project homes demolished on Ogden City's dime in April of 2009. The taxpayers of Ogden have been "carrying the freight" for the costs of this demolition since that time and are only just now getting around to placing a $9,917 lien on these properties. Somebody "apparently" flat "forgot" to do it, says Tom Christopulos, the city's sometimes forgetful business development manager:

• Filings needed so costs of demolishing homes on lots with ties to Leshem can be recovered

Hey, here's a great idea. Leshem donated a cool $10 thousand to Boss Godfrey's mayoral re-election war chest in 2007; and Godfrey is still sitting on something like $80 thousand in unexpended campaign funds from his 2007 campaign. Boss Godfrey could quickly clear Gadi's tax lien immediately, by simply disgorging the ill-gotten ten grand donation and paying off Gadi's delinquent property demolition account.

Gadi's a Friend of Matt (FOM) of course. And what are "bosum buddy" friends like Godfrey and Gadi good for for when economic times get tough, if not to help bail their bestest buddies out of embarrassing financial jams?

Bestest Buddies - " I love you, man, even now that you're completely broke!"

If Godfrey can't do this, or if the Little Lord believes he's extended too many favors to Gadi already, perhaps he can at the very least get another of his loyal Godfreyite pals to help out Gadi instead.

Just a thought.

Powder Mountain Update: Weekend Time Out

But first... several additional budding developments which have come to our attention since our last WCF posting on this subject

As we enter into the weekend, we'll temporarily put the Powder Mountain story to rest, until at least next week. Before we do that however, we'd like to inform our readers about several budding developments which have come to our attention since our last WCF posting on this subject:

1) Regarding the pendency of Rep. Froerer's HB 218, we received this voice message from Senator Allen Christen, the bill's Senate sponsor, which indeed confirms that the Powder Mountain Developer and the County Commission seem to be on the verge of a settlement deal:

The bill [HB 218] is stalled in committee. It's not dead; it's not gone. But we have at least temporarily,we have a letter from the developer saying that they will stand down, not try to to incorporate, run everything back through the planning commission, and essentially do the same thing. They just don't want to have this done to them. I've seen the letter; the Commissioners still have to agree to it, and if that's amenable to them, then everybody's going to back off, and hopefully let this thing go away.

We subsequently spoke with Senator Christensen by phone, who further confirmed, to our considerable initial disappointment, that despite its offer to "stand down," the Powder Mountain Developer has unfortunately not yet offered to permanently relinquish its right to later resume its action for Powder Mountain Town incorporation. Inasmuch as we've as yet been unable to obtain an electronic copy of this letter, we'll thus offer no commentary on whatever substantive terms may be contained therein.

2) We've been informed by a reliable source that the Weber County Commission had at some recent point set a public hearing for March 16, to discuss a mysterious "Memorandum of Understanding" (MOU), but that this hearing has now been taken off-calender. Presumably it'll be returned to the calender for public hearing, once Commission and Developer legal eagles have dotted all the i's and crossed all the t's.

3) We've also been informed by several independent sources, gentle reader Laura among them, that Senate Government Ops Committee members McAdam and Robles have responded to lumpencitizen persuasion, and are prepared to vote in favor of recommending that HB 218 be advanced to the Senate floor for deliberation and debate, in the event that the committee would re-convene to re-consider the matter. Of course that's all hearsay; so take it for what it's worth.

4) We also had a short conversation with Rep. Froerer late yesterday afternoon, wherein he reconfirmed that he remains ready to "pull the trigger" and continue, if necessary, to push his bill forward for a full Senate vote. In this context however he also offered the cautionary admonition that a sizable number of the key players in this battle, including some litigants in the Powder Mountain citizens lawsuit, are expressing concern about throwing the bill in front of the Senate, where strong opposition forces continue to oppose HB 218. Rather than taking the risk of a Senate "crapshoot," an influential faction of the prospective "Powderville" residents are therefore apparently leaning in favor of the "negotiated" settlement, an outcome which indeed appears to be in the works.

5) Last but not least, Ogden Valley Forum has an interesting guest commentary up on its blogsite this morning, speaking to the issue of the continuing "back room" negotiations. We accordingly invite all interested WCF readers to take a look:

• Guest Post From Frank C. - HB 218 Questions

In closing we'll say that while we still maintain the position that the "Powderville" problem will never be permanently solved until the Powder Mountain Town Incorporation issue is unequivocally and irrevocably taken off the table, we'll nevertheless resist the temptation to forcefully editorialize on this point this morning, but instead defer, at least for the time being, to the hopefully sound judgment of those parties who are far more intimately involved in the negotiations than we.

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," as the old saying goes. So we'll recognize the possible wisdom in this old folk ax, cool our jets at this juncture and wait to see how it all shakes out in the days to come. The very last thing we'd like to see at this stage of this exceedingly fragile existing situation, would be to find ourselves being blamed for throwing a wrench into the works.

And what say our gentle readers about all this?

Powder Mountain Update: Time For The Lumpencitizens of the "Demo" Persuasion To Unleash "The Full Court Press" - UPDATED

Its time to edumacate a couple of seemingly backward UTAH Demo Senators/Senate Committee Members who are seriously confused about the local "Powderville" issue, wethinks

For those readers who are just logging on to Weber County Forum right now, you probably haven't heard the bad news. As we reported in our earlier WCF article of this morning, Gage Froerer's politically bi-partisan HB 218 got stalled in committee today, when the two Democratic Party Senators on the committee, (of all people whom we'd assumed would would naturally "cross the aisle" and approve this bill in committee, and vote in support of Sen. Jon Greiner's motion to give the bill a favorable recommendation, and to move it forward,) inexplicably pulled the rug out from under the "Powdervillians, and stalled this bill with their mind-boggling "nay" votes.

Time's running short here, People. Rep. Gage Froerer informed your WCF blogmeister this afternoon that HB218 will again return to the the Senate Government Operations & Political Subdivions Committee for a new vote again tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m.!

In this connection we'll urge all Utah Democrats amongst our WCF readership to chime in now on this subject... Yes RIGHT NOW. Be sure to trot out your official Demo credentials, especially if you serve as a Demo Executive Committee Member, or as a state or county DEMO delegate, or as any other Democratic party Mucky-muck.

Its time to edumacate a couple of seemingly backward UTAH Demo Senators/Senate Committee Members who are seriously confused about this local issue, wethinks:

Here are the contact links to Democratric Party Mssrs. McAdams and Robles, the ones who blindly missed (or ignored) the "Powderville citizens' call to action" in re today's committee vote, and in an extremely cowardly and "bootlicking" way, joined forces with neoCON GOP "develop at all costs" leadership"in taking the legs out from under" Rep. Gage Froerer's HB 218:

• Ben McAdams (Democrat, so-called)
• Luz Robles (Democrat, so-called)

Don't let the cat get your tongues, our Utah Democratic Party-affiliate friends.

Be sure to contact Mssrs. McAdams and Robles, and "splain to them exactly 'wha'sup.'"

Update 2/26/10 8:24 a.m.: We just received this somewhat cryptic missive from Rep. Froerer, re the scheduling of today's followup committee hearing, (for which we'd hoped to provide more live audio this morning):

Not on the agenda for this AM. We are expecting a letter from the Developers that would stay the litigation and the incorporation if this does not happen we will request to go directly to the Senate Board. I am waiting to hear from the County.

We'll have to confess we don't quite know what to make of this. Perhaps however, that heretofore elusive "settlement/development agreement" -- (the one which would "resolve" this whole kerfuffle) -- is hastily coming to fruition in some obscure Weber County Commission back room... even as we speak [wink].

Standard-Examiner Streetcar Double-Header

Some thoughtful commentary from one former Ogden City Councilwoman

By Dorrene Jeske

Scott Schwebke’s article in the Standard-Examiner this morning, “Dreams of two streetcar systems” generates a lot of unanswered questions, i.e., “How does the ‘$21.4 million 2.2-mile downtown loop circulator streetcar corridor’ qualify for federal funding without any feasibility and environmental studies being done? How is Godfrey able to push it ahead of the WSU-McKay Hospital corridor which has been on UTA’s and the Wasatch Front Regional Council’s drawing board for at least a decade? Can Ogden afford to do two streetcar projects simultaneously? If so, what are the fund resources?”

It is my opinion, that Godfrey’s immaturity (his childish traits of impatience and “I want it NOW!” attitude that he has demonstrated during his entire administration, is showing. I suppose that’s the price that Ogden has to pay for electing a child-mayor – one who had no administrative, executive and business experience before being elected mayor!

The logic given by UTA’S Gerry Carpenter for the Washington-36th street corridor in the article is pure bureaucratic hogwash! It is a prime example of the old saying, “You can make statistics say whatever you want,” and you can’t believe everything you read! His statement, “It best meets the purpose and needs of Ogden’s economic development goals,” merits much consideration and skepticism. One question that might be asked of him and the mayor is: “How is that true when: 1) South Ogden will benefit from a good share of the economic development and they have not contributed or even indicated that they would contribute ANYTHING to the project. 2) The past decade the city has worked hard and spent hundreds of millions of dollars to revitalize the inner-city neighborhoods and is still putting forth those efforts. It makes much more sense to run that streetcar corridor on one of the main eastbound streets (24th, 25th or 26th) where Ogden will benefit from ALL of the economic development created by the streetcar. The good people of that neighborhood have produced an excellent “neighborhood plan,” and need the help of the streetcar with its future economic impact to realize their goals. Since the neighbor plan is part of the City’s General Plan and promotes economic development, the Administration should support their efforts instead of fighting them. 3) The residents of the “Trolley District” have publicly stated their support of a streetcar system several times and promised the ridership support necessary for the streetcar’s success. The comments that I have heard regarding the Washington Blvd. corridor have not been positive and I question that it would be as successful as the routes being supported by potential customers of the Trolley District. 4) Washington Blvd. already has a lot of commercial development. I’m sure that the streetcar would add new businesses and rejuvenate Washington Blvd., but the economic development and neighborhood rejuvenation would be much greater and have more impact on Ogden’s economy. 5) Carpenter states in his quote for the SE that “potentially only 15 properties would have to be acquired by UTA.” Who is to say that they would be able to acquire ownership of all those homes without imposing eminent domain – not a good solution! While “only 15 properties” would need to be acquired for the 36th St. corridor, the number would be LESS for an inner-city corridor.

In reference to Charlie Trentlemen's article: Your dream may be realized someday. The Wasatch Regional Front Council has the streetcar corridor from North Ogden to Roy as you described in its long-range plans for Weber County.

I wonder when governments, and governmental agencies are going to learn that they need to listen to the people who pay their wages. Just as Utah is sending the federal government messages, it’s time the residents of Ogden to send their city and state governments some messages!

House Bill 218: Live Audio From This Morning's Senate Committee Session - UPDATED

Listen up , folks; and monitor the results of your handiwork, as Rep. Froerer's HB 218 bill appears as the first item on this morning's 8:00 a.m. Senate Government Operations and Political Subsdivisions Standing Committee agenda
UPDATE: Bad News... HB 218 stalls in committee by a tied 3-3 vote

For the benefit of those readers who'd like to listen in on this morning's Senate Government Operations Committee hearing, wherein Rep. Gage Froerer's H.B. 218 (Municipal Disincorporation Revisions) is item #1 on the committee calender, we're once again pleased to offer a live audio link. If all goes according to plan, the below audio link should automatically go "live" around 8:00 a.m.:

• realPlayer Audio (Pre-recorded)
• MP3 Audio (Pre-recorded)

(We've now replaced the "live" link with the above recorded copies, for those who'd like to listen in after the the hearing is completed.)

We'd also like to again thank our many readers who submitted their supportive emails to Rep. Froerer and SGOPS Committee members during the last few days. Thanks to your vigorous efforts, the a hefty volume of correspondence reached the desks of the six committee members.

Listen up , folks; and monitor the results of your handiwork!

Update 2/25/10 9:00 a.m.: Bad news, people. After considerable lengthy testimony and discussion, this bill has now stalled in committee. Senator Liljenquist's motion to hold the bill for further study failed, due a tied 3-3 vote. Senator Greiner's subsequent motion to pass the bill on to the full Senate then likewise failed by the same vote tally. According to Chairman Knudsen however, there will be one final opportunity to bring this bill back for further committee deliberation during the current legislative session, which means that we citizen-lobbyists have further work cut out for us.

The three Senate committee members who voted in opposition to moving this bill forward... Liljenquist, McAdams and Robles.

Looks like it's back to the drawing board, folks.

Gage Froerer's HB 218 is Finally Assigned to Senate Committee

If ever you are to chime in on the "Powderville" situation... the time should be NOW!

Okay, Gentle Weber County Forum readers:

Query: What do we like @ WCF more than hard-core political activism?
Answer: MORE hard-core political activism! Doh.

And speaking of that, here's the latest news about Rep. Gage Froerer's HB 218:

Gage's bill has now been assigned to the Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Standing Committee, for 8:00 a.m, on Thursday, which committee hearing will be the last procedural hurdle before it's moved onto the Full Senate, for an up/down vote.

It's a pretty favorable committee assignment for Rep. Froerer, actually, we believe, with the likes of Weber County-friendly Senators Jon Greiner and Scott Jenkins sitting on the committee. But considering serious neoCON Senate opposition to HB 218, this committee assignment still remains far from a Gage Froerer slam-dunk.

Those of us who'd like to restore voting rights to the harried "Powdervillians" therefore can't take anything for granted, even at this juncture. The last thing we'd like to see would be to have this bill killed in Thursday's committee hearing.

So... we'll once again call upon our faithful readers, the Utah lumpencitizens, just as we successully did before, to once again chime in on this subject, and to lodge with this Senate Committee your ever-savvy comments on this subject.

In that connection, here's our new Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Standing Committee contact link page which we've put together for that very purpose:

• 2010 Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Standing Committee contact link page

Don't let the cat get your tongues, O Gentle Ones. Even if you think you're sometimes internet tongue-tied... please don't hesitate to click on the link and throw in your own two-bits this go-round.

If we sit on our thumbs at this juncture, the "Powdervillians" will predictably be screwed.

If ever you are to chime in on the "Powderville" situation... the time should be NOW!

Have at it, O Gentle Ones.

Standard-Examiner: OWCAP's Management of Marshall White Center to Continue for 3 Years

All's well that ends well... as the old saying goes

Good news from the Standard-Examiner this morning, whereby Scott Schwebke reports that despite its tumultuous initial startup, private contractor Ogden-Weber Community Action Partnership (OWCAP) is happily succeeding in its management effort at the Marshall White Center, and has even upped the ante, with a newly-inked three-year management contract:

OGDEN -- The city has extended a three-year contract to the Ogden-Weber Community Action Partnership for continued management of the Marshall White Community Center.John Patterson, the city's chief administrative officer, and George Garwood, chairman of OWCAP's board of trustees, signed the management agreement Monday during a ceremony at the center, 222 28th St., in conjunction with Black History Month.OWCAP, which has been managing the Marshall White Community Center for the city on an interim basis since June, has made the facility more vibrant and popular with residents, Patterson told dozens of spectators. "It's just enlivened this facility."

Read the full Std-Ex story here:

• OWCAP's management of Marshall White Center to continue for 3 years

Regular readers will of course remember the OWCAP management runup, during which Boss Godfrey negotiated the original contract in secret, ran headlong into fierce community opposition, and was eventually thwarted in his efforts to close the pool and cut city funding to MWC by a city council budget ordinance which contained a council policy statement mandating that the pool would remain open and that MWC funding would continue to flow into MWC operations. And who can forget the ensuing further antics of the petulant Boss Godfrey, who vetoed the council ordinance, suffered a subsequent veto override, threw several highly-inelegant public temper tantrums and then vowed that he would not obey council policy directives and would instead see the city council in court?

Well... fast forward to February 23, 2010... from which vantage point it seems the OWCAP management operation is evidently running smooth as silk, funding is flowing from city coffers to keep MWC operational (No gentle readers, OWCAP never scored the $450 thousand federal grant it applied for), and Boss Godfrey sits back in his ninth floor throne room slowly digesting the nutritious dinner which was served up to him by the City Council grownups during the year 2009:


All's well that ends well... as the old saying goes.

More Powder Mountain Ink... This Time From the Deseret News

We don't know why some folks still don't "get it;" perhaps they just don't want to get it

The Salt Lake print media devotes more ink to the Powder Mountain Saga this morning, with this Deseret News story, which briefly summarizes the facts leading to the introduction in the legislature of Rep. Gage Froerer's HB 218, which (as DNews reporter Rebecca Palmer aptly notes) seems to be "held up on Capitol Hill [the Senate] despite hard lobbying by the local state representative and support from county officials":

• Developers pushing to create town in Ogden Valley

While this morning's story in many respects reflects a respectable gum-shoe reportorial effort, with its sizable collection of presumably hard-gotten and pithy lumpencitizen quotes, we believe the Deseret News nevertheless misses the main point. Whereas Rep. Froerer has carefully framed his bill narrowly, as remedial legislation to cure a gross legislative error and to re-establish citizen voting rights, the tone of this morning's story not-so-subtly drifts back to that tired old theme, which seems to pop up so regularly in stories written by reporters who've only superficially covered the "Powderville Town" issues... i.e., that this is a garden variety "Developer v. Environmentalist" story.

Exhibit "A": Check out the photo in the center column, which carries this hopelessly misleading notation:

Jim and RuthAnn Halay are members of a group of approximately 120 home-owners and residents who are resisting the development of their Weber County area by Powder Mountain Resort.

We've said it before and we'll reiterate: Rep. Froerer's HB 218 is a voter rights bill, and NOT an anti-development bill! We honestly don't know why some folks (even hard-working reporters) still don't seem to understand the issues at stake.

Perhaps Ms. Palmer (and others who still don't seem to "get it") ought to check out the audio from the 2/5/10 House Government Operations Committee hearing wherein Rep. Froerer carefully spells it all out:

...by most estimates, by most estimates I've seen, if this incorporation was to take place, and would require those citizens to wait two years, the infrastructure that would be necessary to be put in place, we all know the cost to set up city government, would increase the property tax burden on a very small group, approximately a hundred people, somewhere between fifty to seventy-five percent, unless some deal was made by the incorporator. So what you're saying, by forcing them to wait the two year period of time,you could very well see property tax averages for this small group of people, right now on their single family homes, that probably average between twenty five to three-thousand, to increase to five thousand to maybe up to seven thousand dollars for that same home, just because of that incorporation, not because of additional services that would be provided by that community.

Significantly, this morning's DNews story didn't even mention the economic issues which are ever so closely tied to the "right to vote."

Yes, it's all about voting rights, people; but we mustn't forget that voting rights stem fundamentally from the core American principle that there shouldn't be "taxation without representation." (This aforementioned principle is of course even more primarily derived from the common sense "core" American notion that "hapless property owners ought not have their tax bills capriciously jacked up 'between fifty to seventy-five percent' by their self-absorbed, greedhead neighbors, without at least having some say in the matter.")

We don't know why some folks don't "get it;" perhaps they just don't want to get it.

Take it away, O Gentle Ones. It's been uncharacteristically quiet here at Weber County Forum over the past few days.