1/17/12 Ogden City Council/RDA Agenda Heads-Up

Several interesting items which ought to be of particular interest to our Weber County Forum readers

Here's a quick heads up concerning tonight's Ogden City Council/RDA action, wherein the various agendas contain at least a few items which ought to be of particular interest to our Weber County Forum readers:

1) Joint Study Session (5:30 p.m.). Of particular interest to our WCF readers may be one item on the agenda, the proposed vacation of a public easement/right of way along a portion of Buchanan Avenue between 28th and 29th Street. What's interesting about this otherwise seemingly routine agenda item is that although the planning commission has already reviewed and recommended Council approval with its own 5-2 vote, a very familiar face on the Ogden political scene, Chris Peterson, formally opposed this measure when it was before the planning commission, so its possible that Peterson and/or his representatives may appear at tonight's meeting, to renew his opposition during tonight's Council discussion:

• 01/17 Ogden City Council Joint Study Session

Peterson's objection centers on the fact that abandonment of the public easement would reduce public parking opportunity near the 29th street trailhead; and as one gentle reader remarked in a private conversation on this topic a few days ago, "Of course he's already using the parking area for his commercial via ferrata business, but in addition one has to wonder about the newly fenced adjacent property and the new switchbacking clearcuts he's made up the northwest face of Malan's Peak."

2) Redevelopment Agency Special Meeting. During this meeting, which begins "immediately following the Council meeting that begins at 6:00 p.m.," the Ogden RDA Board will consideration the adoption of an "amended budget for the Ogden River Redevelopment Project Area as approved by the Taxing Entity Committee on November 10, 2011.":

• 01/17 City Council-RDA Special Session

We've already discussed this item on Weber County Forum, of course. As our regular readers will recall, this is the proposal Boss Godfrey sneaked past the Ogden RDA Taxing Entity Committee "in the dead of night," and which will extend the Ogden River Project Redevelopment Area tax increment period "through Tax Year 2027 (an Additional Eight (8) Years)" This amendment to the Ogden River Project Area tax increment amortization schedule, once approved, will reduce Ogden RDA taxing entity revenue, (including that of the cash-strapped Ogden School System) to a mere 28% of the tax money to which they would otherwise be entitled in the absence of this amendment, of course.

Although it's all signed, sealed and delivered, folks, we thought you'd want to know that tonight's the night it gets rubber-stamped.

Here's a quick side note to the above item, by the way, which our readers ought to consider in light of the Ogden School District's action in cavalierly giving up 72% of its River Project Area tax revenue until the year 2027. "Five schools in the Ogden School District are using approximately $7 million in federal grants to help bring them up to a higher level and keep them out of danger of being shut down because of poor performance," according to the S-E story below:

• Hoping to avoid closure, Ogden schools use federal grants

We're having some difficulty understanding the Ogden School Board's "thinkin'" in these tight financial times, we'll confess. Howbout you?

3) Redevelopment Agency Board Work Session: During this special meeting, which also begins "immediately following the City Council and Redevelopment Agency meetings that begins at 6:00 p.m.", the RDA Board will discuss a proposed purchase contract and development agreement for The Four Foods Group, LLC, in connection with the opening of a new Kneaders Bakery And Café at 1951 Washington Blvd.:

• 01/17 City Council-RDA Work Session

We'll volunteer that this has to be interpreted, at first glance, as very good news for the otherwise moribund River Project Development area, even at this early stage in this new proposed project, although we'll also welcome our Gentle Readers' own possibly contrarian takes on this subject.

That's it for now. We'll leave the lights on of course, for anyone who'd like to comment before, during or after tonight's meetings.

Update 1/18/12 6:42 a.m.: The Standard reports this morning that just as we predicted, "[t]he Ogden Redevelopment Agency board adopted a resolution Tuesday night that will extend the Ogden River Project tax increment collection period by eight years":

• Ogden stretches River Project tax deal

Hopefully in the days to come, we'll hear no further whining from the Ogden City School District about cash shortfalls.

Standard-Examiner: Godfrey Looks Back at 12 Years as Ogden Mayor

We'd expected a whitewash; and it's a whitewash that we got

Thanks to Friday's timely heads up from former Ogden City Councilwoman Dorrene Jeske, we were forewarned that a Standard-Examiner Godfrey Administration "retrospective" was coming up; and lo and behold, it's right there at the top of the S-E front page, under Mr. Schwebke's byline this morning:

• Godfrey looks back at 12 years as Ogden mayor

We'd expected a whitewash; and it's a whitewash that we got. File this story under "Puff Pieces" or "Alternate Reality Department," folks.

Although we hardly know where to start, we'll hit a few of the low points:

1) The Gondola(s)/ Mt. Ogden Park Fiasco. Weber County Forum political wonks will well remember the five year municipal "civil war" over Boss Godfrey's gondola obsession, which split our community down the middle, over Godfrey's plan to sell our crown jewel Mt. Ogden Park to finance a couple of gondolas to serve Mr. Peterson's hopelessly ill-conceived (proposed) Malan's Basin Ski Resort. In a marvel of historical revisionism, Mr. Schwebke spruces up Ogden City history this morning and lets Godfrey get away with this throwaway quote: "When it became apparent there was not going to be a proposal from him (Peterson), we backed away." WCF readers will of course not need to be reminded of the true reasons that Godfrey at least publicly dumped his gondola obsession on the eve of the 2007 Municipal Election campaign kickoff, i.e., flagging job approval numbers and a gondola project which was politically toxic in and of itself.

2) The Junction Money Pit. In truly mind numbing disregard for the truth, Schwebke allows Mr. Godfrey to "re-frame" the downtown Junction Project, a boondoggle which required a full bond re-financing in 2009, but which even today costs the Ogden taxpayers upwards of $600 grand per year in public subsidies. This project was originally billed as one which "wouldn't cost the taxpayers a red cent," we note in retrospect. In any scenario other than the upside-down alternate Godfreyite universe, this project would be recognized for exactly what it is, a gigantic economic flop.

3) The 2007 Ogden Municipal Election. Mr. Schwebke breezes through Godfrey's 2007 re-election with this: "In 2007, running on a platform of reduced crime and increased economic development, Godfrey won a third term by defeating challenger City Councilwoman Susan Van Hooser." That's it.

And here's at least some of what Mr. Schwebke leaves out, concerning the totally messed up 2007 election:

• The Envision Ogden scandal, which exposed levels of political corruption heretofore never seen in Ogden politics, including The Ogden Salomon Center 2007 "Sneak Preview" event, which was largely instrumental in generating sufficient Godfreyite "under the table" political slush funds to bankroll a whole separate political scandal, i.e., The FNURE money laundering scandal, the acrid smoke from which still hasn't cleared yet.
• The Godfreyite 2007 voter suppression effort, conducted by Godfrey acolyte Blake Fowers, who gummed up the 2007 election works by issuing a "blanket" challenge to "140-odd" Ogden voters. This one got so bad that even the normally gutless Utah ACLU chimed in with a report stating that Godfreyite misconduct "marred" the 2007 mayoral election.
• And who among our gentle readers can forget the sheer idiocy of the 2007 Lawn Sign Wars, which ultimately resulted in Godfrey Lieutenent Bobby "Short Deck" Geiger's criminal conviction?

Ah yes, the 2007 Election was far more memorable than Mr. Schwebke or Mr. Godfrey would otherwise lead us to believe. Thankfully for Boss Godfrey, the slavish "Ace Reporter" Schwebke continues to cover Boss Godfrey's back.

4) Godfrey's Secret Gondola Study. And in closing, here's another memorable Godfrey administration moment in time, (which Mr. Schwebke also forgot to mention), which nicely illustrates Boss Godfrey's mendacity and complete disregard for our City Council's role as the City's co-equal government branch. Take a little trip down memory lane folks, and recall the time Godfrey tried to hide and misappropriate a $250 thousand Federal Transportation grant from the Ogden City Council, and then got caught red-handed in a highly-incriminating GRAMA produced email paper trail, like the proverbial kid with his hand in the cookie jar.

That's it for now, O Gentle Ones, although we do realize we haven't even scratched the surface in our own Boss Godfrey Retrospective.

Time's a ticking however, WCF readers, so we'll hit the "publish" button now, and rely upon our Gentle WCF Readers to fill in the other parts that we left out.

Salt Lake Tribune: Ogden City Illegally Spent $434,000 Without Council Approval - Updated

We can't help but wonder whether the knowledge that this audit was in the pipeline could have been a material factor in Boss Godfrey's decision to refrain from running for re-election this year

Updated: This is not a proud moment either for the administration or the council, wethinks

Blockbuster Cathy McKitrick story this morning from the Salt Lake Tribune, smacking Boss Godfrey hard for misappropriating Ogden City Capital Improvement funds. Here's the lede:

A state auditor’s investigation, launched by a complaint from activist Dan Schroeder, found Ogden city administrators improperly spent $434,000 on capital improvement projects without first getting City Council approval.

The city had a "significant deficiency" in internal controls — which is considered less severe than a "material weakness," but "important enough to merit attention by those charged with governance," according to an Aug. 18 letter from state auditor Auston Johnson.

Read the full story here:

• Ogden city spent $434,000 without council approval

And here's the eye opening full audit report, which we've uploaded to our storage site:

• State Auditor's Letter and Report

We can't help but wonder whether the knowledge that this audit was in the pipeline could have been a material factor in Boss Godfrey's decision to refrain from running for re-election this year.

And a Weber County Forum Tip O' The Hat to tireless Ogden City political activist Dan Schroeder, for getting the ball rolling on this.

The world-wide blogosphere awaits your ever-savvy comments concerning these latest revelations of Matthew Godfrey misconduct.

Update 8/27/11 7:10 a.m.: The Standard-Examiner is now carrying the story, too:

• Auditors scold Ogden city for lapse

Interestingly, Mr. Schwebke reports that "[t]he administration also said it has since worked jointly with the city council to pass an ordinance to prevent future issues such as those detailed in the audit," which now belatedly explains the Council's motivation for its heretofore inexplicable 4/4/11 "mad dash," to expand Boss Godfrey's discretionary spending authority, through the raising of capital improvement project limits and the establishment of an array of administration-controlled "slush funds."

Plainly, the Council was aware of the State Auditor's pending investigation clear back in April; but the Council coyly refrained from saying anything publicly about it. Instead of putting the over-reachmg Boss Godrey's feet to the fire, the pro-Godfrey Council Chair, Ms. Caitlin G0hnour, just capitulated, and helped usher through an ordinance which is the equivalent of shutting the barn door, after all the livesock have escaped. This is not a proud moment either for the administration or the council, wethinks.

Salt Lake Tribune: Ogden Homeowner Frustrated Over Ongoing Damage

"It's pretty sad when you have to fight city hall to fix what they messed up."

Interesting Salt Lake Tribune news tidbit for another slow Emerald City news day, reporting on the travails of one Ogden homeowner, who describes his "putrid" backyard swimming pool as "[Mayor Matthew] Godfrey's catchbasin":

• Ogden homeowner frustrated over ongoing damage

"It's pretty sad when you have to fight city hall to fix what they messed up," says one SLTrib reader; and by golly we do believe that "nails it."

Godfrey's Catchbasin - Yuck!!
Pool party anyone?

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

Envision Ogden Records Show Corruption, Fraud, Political Pressure

To investigators, the case was a “hot potato”.
By Dan Schroeder
The Utah State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) has recently released all of its records from the Envision Ogden investigation, opened in April 2009 and closed in March 2011. The records provide a vivid look into Envision Ogden’s fundraising efforts and into the investigation itself.

Envision Ogden was a local political action committee, formed in early 2007, that concealed its political nature from most or all of its contributors. It sponsored a fundraising dinner at the Ben Lomond Hotel in February 2007, and a grand opening event at the city-owned Salomon Center in June 2007. After covering expenses for these events, Envision Ogden directed most of the remaining proceeds to political candidates and campaign activity, including expenditures that helped Mayor Godfrey’s reelection campaign in fall 2007. Godfrey told reporters last November that he had been responsible for the bulk of Envision Ogden’s fundraising.

Among the revelations contained in the newly released records are the following:

• Both of Weber County’s hospitals contributed to Envision Ogden in order to curry favor with Mayor Godfrey, who personally solicited their contributions. A January 2007 email from McKay-Dee CEO Tim Pehrson states that his hospital’s contribution may give its affiliated health plan, Select Health, “a better shake the next time it bids on city employees.” Similarly, minutes from a meeting of Ogden Regional Medical Center administrators explain its $5,000 contribution by saying that CEO Mark Adams “has a good relationship with the mayor, good to keep it that way.”
• Records provided to investigators by UBS Financial Services show how Envision Ogden and the Ben Lomond Hotel fabricated an invoice, months after the fact, to make it look as if the $6,047 contribution from UBS to Envision Ogden was really going to the hotel as a direct reimbursement of fundraising dinner expenses. Earlier correspondence shows that those expenses had already been paid and in any case, Envision Ogden deposited the check and never passed the money on to the hotel.
• An April 2009 email from investigator Jim Vaughn to his supervisor, Major Jeff Carr, explains that he was trying to get federal authorities to take on the Envision Ogden investigation, because it was a “hot State potato”. After the FBI declined to take the case, Vaughn and investigator Scott Hansen proceeded with the investigation despite this. Vaughn has since retired and Hansen has also left the SBI.
• After the initial phase of the investigation in Spring 2009, there was a lengthy delay while the Utah Attorney General’s Office was supposedly trying to obtain Envision Ogden’s bank records. A subpoena for these records was finally prepared in February 2010 and signed by Judge Denise Lindberg on February 9. Apparently, however, the Attorney General’s Office never served the subpoena on Wells Fargo Bank. The investigation therefore stalled once again, until a new subpoena was finally prepared and served in late 2010.
• An undated entry in the investigation report, probably from late 2009, states that during a meeting with Assistant Attorney General Scott Reed, “It was determined that with only misdemeanors being evident that the case would be closed....” Although the case actually was not closed at that time, this comment underscores how Envision Ogden’s activities fell through the cracks in the criminal justice system. Misdemeanor offenses would have to be prosecuted by the city attorney (who reports to the mayor) or the county attorney (who also treated the case like a hot potato). The statute of limitations for misdemeanor prosecutions expired in 2009 in any case. State investigators were interested only in potential felony charges such as communications fraud and money laundering, but the Attorney General’s Office ultimately decided not to bring these charges either, for reasons that remain unclear.

The Attorney General’s Office took over the Envision Ogden investigation, using its own investigators, in September 2010. It then closed the investigation without filing charges on March 4, after the statute of limitations had expired for any crimes associated with Envision Ogden’s February 2007 fundraising dinner.

Some of the Attorney General’s records of the investigation have also been released, but the office is withholding other records including Envision Ogden’s financial records which were finally obtained from Wells Fargo Bank. Among those records should be the five canceled checks, totaling over $20,000, that Envision Ogden wrote to Friends of Northern Utah Real Estate—the intermediary that passed the funds on to city council candidates Blain Johnson and Royal Eccles. The endorsement signature on those canceled checks should show conclusively who controlled FNURE. I have appealed the withholding of these records to the Utah State Records Committee, which will hold a hearing on the matter on July 14.

Standard-Examiner: "Business Decision" Bumped Pole Dancers Friday Night

We spend loads of taxpayer dough promoting our town as a "World Class Sports Mecca;" however at this unfortunate moment we're coming off as a bunch of country bumpkins, don'tcha think?

Interesting story in the Standard-Examiner this morning reporting on a blemish in the otherwise successful 2011 Dew Tour event.

Scott Schwebke reports that a featured team of Studio 4-A pole sports competitors who had been scheduled to perform during the Dew Tour after-party at Ogden's Scrapyard Arena were unceremoniously banned from the stage mere minutes before their performance was to begin:

• Business decision bumped pole dancers Friday night

Although the SE article labels this unfortunate glitch as the event promoter's own "business decision," it's pretty clear from even a casual reading of Mr. Schwebke's story what really happened here. Somebody in Boss Godfrey's chain of administration command (OPD Top Brass it appears) obviously had their mind in the gutter, confusing this... with something like this, and intimidated a flummoxed Ms. Huddleston into pulling the plug on what ought to have been a highly impressive athletic performance event.

It's difficult to understand the responsible authorities' deplorable lack of sophistication in this instance. What's the matter with these people? Don't they read the Standard-Examiner?

• Pole-ing for fitness in Davis
• Utahn among the world's top pole dancers at championships

Needless to say, the jilted pole competitors were a mite embarrassed and upset. According to Ms. Lujan (whom we spoke with on Tuesday), she in fact even sent this highly articulate email to the Ogden City Council, relating in detail the facts surrounding this unfortunate mixup, and offering, among other things, an opportunity for the Council to invite these remarkable athletes back, in order to help educate some of the more "backward" elements in our community about her chosen sport. (Check it out gentle readers; it's literally brimming with interesting and informative links):

• Email: Ogden's 'Ban' on Aerial Pole Sports at Dew Tour...Thoughts, Answers, Proposals....

So what say our readers? Should we officially invite Ms. Lujan and her fellow competitors back to our town, to perform at our next big Ogden City event, and even issue a public apology, perhaps? Who knows? Maybe we could even persuade the ever-gracious Boss Godfrey to make amends and beg forgiveness on bended knee!

Here's the City Council's contact info, in the event you'd like to take action on this:

• Contact Local Officials

As everyone knows, we spend loads of taxpayer dough promoting our town as a "World Class Sports Mecca;" however at this unfortunate moment we're coming off as a bunch of country bumpkins, don'tcha think?

And one other thing. Don't forget to chime in with your comments. It would be quite enlightening to hear what the lumpencitizens of Emerald City think about this unfortunate blunder, we believe.

Envision Ogden Anniversary and Update

Statute of limitations has expired on mayor’s confessed crimes actions.

By Dan Schroeder

Today marks the fourth anniversary of the grand fundraising dinner where Envision Ogden raised most of its money--approximately $50,000--prior to the start of the 2007 municipal election campaign. While purporting to be a “nonprofit” organization to promote Ogden’s business and recreational opportunities, Envision Ogden was actually a political action committee, raising money to funnel to political campaigns. More than $20,000 ended up in the campaign coffers of city council candidates Blain Johnson and Royal Eccles, while additional thousands went to a legislative candidate, to the Utah Republican Party, and to independent expenditures in support of Mayor Godfrey’s own campaign.

Three months ago, the press reported for the first time that Mayor Godfrey admitted playing a major role in Envision Ogden, suggesting candidates to support and personally soliciting most of their large contributions. The press also reported that the Utah Attorney General’s Office had opened a criminal investigation of Envision Ogden in April 2009. Finally, the Salt Lake City newspapers reported that the two-year statute of limitations had already run out on the many potential misdemeanor charges for Envision Ogden’s deceptions, and that the statute of limitations for the potential felony charges would run out four years after the associated actions took place.

Today, therefore, is the day that Mayor Godfrey can breathe a heavy sigh of relief. Thanks to the four-year statute of limitations, he can no longer be charged with communications fraud, or with use of office for personal benefit, for the solicitations that he made prior to Envision Ogden’s major fundraising event. (Of course, Mayor Godfrey maintains that these solicitations were completely legal.)

Felony charges could still be brought for some of Envision Ogden’s subsequent activities. They continued to receive contributions after the fundraising dinner, and solicited additional contributions for the Salomon Center Sneak Peek event held in June 2007. However, it isn’t clear whether Godfrey played a role in this subsequent fundraising. He obviously did play a role in allowing Envision Ogden to use the Salomon Center for the Sneak Peek event, so he could still potentially be charged with use of office for personal benefit. Finally, Blain Johnson could still be charged with money laundering for his acceptance of over $20,000 from Envision Ogden, and for funneling these funds through an intermediate checking account (“Friends of Northern Utah Real Estate”) to conceal their source.

Meanwhile, Scott Reed of the Utah Attorney General’s Office continues to claim that the investigation remains open. When I inquired on January 13, he said we could “expect a public announcement within the next couple weeks.”

Salt Lake Tribune: ATK to Create 800 Jobs at New Utah Facility

Meanwhile our own BizWiz Godfrey lands a 5 man headquarters for a ski company that peaked 40 years ago

By Ozboy

Clearfield, which has traditionally been no more than a pimple on Ogden's butt, lands a huge Aerospace operation that will hire over 802 people in high paying jobs, spend over a $100 million to build the facility and pump over a Billion $$$$ over twenty years into the economy of Davis County:

• ATK to create 800 jobs at new Utah facility
• ATK to add 800 jobs at new Davis composites facility

Meanwhile our own BizWiz Godfrey lands a 5 man headquarters for a ski company that peaked 40 years ago. No new local hires by the way.

Aren't ya just simply proud of the little feller and his 2 million buck a year Economic Development Team?!

More Boss Godfrey Economic Development Blunders

Other Utah cities kick Godfrey and his "A" team's ass in the real world of economic development!

By Ozboy

In a comment yesterday I noted that our fabulous biz wiz Godfrey let another high tech company with a high payroll slip away to Layton while he was busy patting himself on the back over bringing another 5 man ski company headquarters to his high adventure fantasy town of Ogden. In the same article is another high tech outfit with 50 high paying jobs going to Layton. Apparently our globe trotting mayor was too busy unsuccessfully trying to entice some Mexican chichas outfit to Ogden to make a play for this serious high tech outfit that Layton scored.

Once again Layton's Administration kicks Godfrey and his "A" teams ass in the real world of economic development! Story here:

• Applied Industrial Technologies moving to Layton, closer to HAFB

Ogden gets a few "high adventure" crumbs falling off other cities tables while Layton, Orem, Draper, etc get the big companies with big payrolls.

To continue with my comment of yesterday, wherein I pointed out the complete incompetence of Mayor Godfrey in attracting and keeping high end employers in Ogden - I point out this info from this morning's Tribune Money section about California companies coming to Utah:

• California businesses lured to Utah by friendly business climate

In recent months there was the following:

• Adobe systems to build $100 million facility in Orem and hire more than 1,000 new employees
• Twitter to relocate their data center to Salt Lake.
• Electronic Arts opens new plant with 100 employees
• EBay to build a $287 million dollar facility in Draper
• Oracle to resume construction of large data center which will create over 100 new jobs.

Compare that with the dismal record of the Wizard of Ogden:

Hart Ski company to move 6 employees (no new local hires) to Ogden:

• Hart ski/snowboard company relocating headquarters, distribution operations to Ogden

Perhaps this is why Godfrey & gang are the laughing stock of the Economic Development World!

Vision Meets Reality

Sixteen Godfrey chickens that haven't exactly hatched

By Dan Schroeder

The Standard-Examiner recently published a commentary by Mayor Godfrey, bragging about some of his accomplishments and reminding us of his "high adventure" vision for Ogden's future. In response, I'd like to thank the mayor for giving me this opportunity to publish a little list that I've compiled.

When an elected official has been in office for nearly a decade, I think it's appropriate to judge his visions in light of his record. Mayor Godfrey's record has its bright spots, as he repeatedly reminds us. But to get the full picture, we need to look at what he actually promised once upon a time--and compare those promises to the current reality.

So I offer this modest list as an additional basis for community discussion. I don't claim that the list is complete, or that it fairly represents the mayor's full record. Nor do I mean to give the mayor all the credit for either the original promises or the difficulty in fulfilling them. (In many cases the news media played a significant role in puffing up our expectations.) Still, all of these projects are closely associated with the mayor's "vision" for Ogden, and the list is long enough to refute anyone's contention that these shortcomings are due merely to occasional bad luck, or to the recent economic downturn.

Here, then, are some of the facts that Mayor Godfrey's commentary didn't mention:

Project	Then...	Now...
River Project	"Construction on the ambitious river project, in the works since early 2001, should begin in 2005, with the recent approval of a developer's agreement between the Ogden Redevelopment Agency and Cottonwood Partners Management LTD." (January 16, 2004)	Except for the Bingham's building, there has been no new construction in this 60-acre area. The residential blocks have been virtually abandoned and plagued by a series of arsons.
Ernest Health	"Done deal" according to a news article based on statements from the Ogden City administration (June 7, 2008).	Ernest missed its deadline to finalize the land purchase; property is back on the market.
Midtown Hotel	"An Orem company plans to begin construction later this year on a $100 million hotel at The Junction downtown development." (January 10, 2008)	"Canceled".
Ashton Square	"Construction is slated to begin in August and will last about 14 months." (May 24, 2007)	"It's off the table for now and for the foreseeable future."
Earnshaw Building	"Construction on the Earnshaw Building is slated to start within a couple of months and end in about a year." (February 21, 2006)	Construction has slowed to a crawl. Signs in the windows promise that the first tenant, Deseret Books, will move in later this summer. The owner owes over $24,000 in delinquent property taxes.
Junction Leases	Lease revenues from Boyer were projected to bring the city over $300,000 annually by 2010. The Ogden City administration was willing to pay Boyer to add two more floors to its office building because they "wouldn't have much difficulty leasing" the space (May 31, 2006).	Even at four stories, the office building is mostly unoccupied and its only tenants are those that moved from across the street. Overall, the Boyer properties have generated no lease revenue for the city and "there is not anticipated to be any in the near future."
Junction Property Tax	"In the year 2015 ... the redevelopment district expires and community entities begin receiving the full benefit of the tax income from The Junction." (Newspaper advertisement from mayor's office, May 31, 2007.)	At the request of the Ogden City administration, the district's expiration date has been extended for an additional 12 years. Some taxing entities will receive partial "mitigation payments" during this time, but the rest will receive no tax revenue from the Junction.
Windsor Hotel	"Ogden Properties ... is conservatively estimating the project to be finished by spring next year" (June 24, 2007). In a development agreement with the city, the building's owner pledged to comply with all "applicable rules, laws and ordinances".	After the city council declined to amend an ordinance to increase the height limit on 25th Street, the owner canceled the project and threatened to demolish the building.
American Can Building	Was to have housed Mt. Ogden Scientific, Fresenius Medical Care, and 1st Contact Technologies (April 23, 2005).	None of these "high tech" companies ever moved in. The building has been renovated and a portion is now occupied by Amer Sports, but much of the building remains vacant.
Adam Aircraft	Promised to bring "hundreds of new jobs" (March 16, 2005).	The 55 Ogden employees were permanently laid off in January 2008. The company ceased operations soon thereafter, and its taxpayer-subsidized 91,000 square foot building is empty.
Ryan McEuen Amphitheater	"It is hoped that the amphitheater will open in 2008 to coincide with the completion of a commuter rail line... Patterson said." (September 10, 2006)	The site is still occupied by a landfill and a portion of it is posted for sale. Patterson says the city is "continuing to work" on the project, but McEuen says there is "no timeline for construction".
Ice Climbing Tower	"It will go up this year", said John Patterson (April 25, 2007).	$200,000 RAMP grant had to be returned to the county because matching funds were never raised.
High-Adventure Campground	"Campground for rock climbers may arrive soon in Ogden" (July 23, 2008).	Work on the campground began in September 2008 but abruptly ceased soon thereafter and has not resumed after nearly a year.
Velodrome	Mayor Godfrey "is hopeful that fundraising can be completed by the end of next year, enabling construction to be finished in 2011." He predicts that the city's contribution will need to be "more than $100,000". (September 6, 2008)	No funds have been raised yet for this $15 million project. The city's $2 million RAMP application was rejected in early 2009. The application promised that the city would contribute $2 million.
Via Ferrata	Supposedly open to the public for a $25 fee (November 18, 2005).	Never got a business license from the county.
Malan's Basin Resort	"The next few months will see trail work start on a new ski area entirely on private land at Malan's Basin which will be completed in time for the 2007 season" (Ski Press Magazine, August 19, 2005). Plans for the resort were to be made public by fall 2005.	Some ski routes have been cleared of trees and brush, but no other construction has taken place and no plans have been released.

Reader comments are, of course, most welcome. Should other items be added to this list? How can we better understand the difficulties that the mayor has encountered in carrying out his vision? And most importantly, where should Ogden go from here?

Big Meeting Today At Noon: Will the Ogden RDA Taxing Entity Committee Roll Over, and Become Willing Investors In The Floundering Junction Project?

Time to test the Taxing Entity Committee's ethical mettle

Here's another quick reminder of today's upcoming event. The Ogden RDA Taxing Entity Committee (TEC) meets today at noon, on the third floor of the Ogden City Municipal Building, to consider whether they'll go along with the Godfrey administration's proposal to extend The Junction’s tax increment district, and allow Ogden City to to continue exploiting 100% of the project's tax increment until the year 2026.

During the last TEC meeting, the mayor's proposal was met with a cool reception, and the committee voted 7-1 to table the proposal and look for other alternatives. In the interim since the last meeting however, the Godfrey administration has been fiercely lobbying, and spreading a little money around, so it's anybody's guess how this matter will turn out if it's put to a vote this afternoon.

We've already gone on record in strong opposition to this knuckleheaded plan of course, which if approved by the TEC, would place all these taxing entities in the posture of voluntary investors in the Junction project, a position which would be in direct conflict with their proper role of service providers for the taxpayers, whom these government entities are designed to serve. As we've already pointed out, a vote in favor of this proposal by any TEC member would be adverse to the economic interests of the taxing entities whom such committee members represent. Time to test the TEC's ethical mettle, we suppose.

For those who'd like to bone up on the subject pre-meeting, we invite you to check out Dan's most excellent Special Reports.

We'll now open this article for immediate reader comments; and we'd likewise welcome any post-meeting reports from those WCF readers who may attend today's event.

Don't let the cat get your tongues.

Oh, My! apparently, and according to the most recent report, the "Brothers in Ogden" have bent down and decided to serve "Blessed Boss Godfrey."

Update 8/19/09 3:00 p.m. MT: We just received this update from one of our most reliable sources within city hall. The TEC committee did indeed roll over in spades this afternoon, and adopted Boss Godfrey's flawed bailout plan whole hog:

The Taxing Entity Committee approved the extension of the mall RDA with a 6-2 vote – Weber County did not support the extension but also did not raise concerns. The Board will be seeing an action item on this in the near future.

Chalk this up as another big win for the "good ole boyz network" in Ogden. We all know who they are.

Shame on the Ogden School District representatives, by the way. They should be looking after their already underfunded school district... but apparently real revenue isn't their top priority these days.

We obviously still have a lot of work to do in Emerald City, fellow lumpencitizens, in our ongoing effort to root out the Godfreyite trash.

Sad, very sad.

8/20/09 9:46 a..m. MT: Scott Schwebke his writeup in today's Standard-Examiner:

• Ogden RDA extends Junction tax increment district by 12 years

It's a sad commentary indeed, about the poor quality of the taxpayers' representatives on the Taxing Entity Committee.

Std-Ex: Ogden Juggles Junction Tax Increment Districting

Compare the numbers yourselves, then ask yourselves what some Taxing Entity Committee members have been smokin'

Eugene Hart, business administrator for the Ogden School District and also a member of the city taxing entity committee, said the mitigation payment proposal is fair.
“Anything is better than nothing,” he said. “It’s a good option.”

Standard-Examiner
Ogden juggles tax increment districting
8/16/09

Royce Van Tassell, vice president of the Utah Taxpayers Association, said the Ogden School District should strongly oppose extending The Junction’s tax increment district.[...]
The school district isn’t getting anything in return. They are giving money away (by not being able to collect property taxes from The Junction while the RDA is effect).

Standard-Examiner
Ogden juggles tax increment districting
8/16/09

The Standard-Examiner follows up on our earlier WCF discussions, with this morning's Scott Schwebke story, reporting that the fix may be in for Boss Godfrey's proposed Junction tax increment bailout. The Ogden School board, which has been offered a $300 thousand annual "mitigation payment," in exchange for supporting the Godfrey administration's bailout plan, appears to be colluding with the Godfrey administration, splitting up its already pennies-on-the -dollar payoff, and throwing a few bones to the smaller special service districts, just to bring them along. Read all about it here:

• Ogden juggles tax increment districting

Royce Van Tassell, vice president of the Utah Taxpayers Association, is absolutely right in arguing that the Ogden School District should strongly oppose extending The Junction’s tax increment district; and Mr. Eugene Hart, business administrator for the Ogden School District, and sitting member of the city taxing entity committee, is absolutely wrong.

We'll present a couple of graphic representations to show why Mr. Hart possibly needs to go back to school for some remedial math. Here's the graphic from this morning's Std-Ex story, which represents the proposed payoffs to the various entities whom Mr. Hughes, for unknown reasons, is apparently trying to rope into going along with the Mayor's bailout plan:


And here's a helpful table, embedded within an earlier WCF article, showing what all the taxing entities represented by the Ogden RDA TEC Committee can reasonably expect to receive once tax increment moneys begin to flow under terms of the existing junction financing, provided they don't bend over for Godfrey's bailout plan (Click to enlarge image):


Examining these numbers, we're still scratching our heads wondering how any conscientious member of the Ogden RDA Taxing Entity Committee could possibly consider the Mayor's plan to be in any way "fair," or "a good option." As a matter of fact, if any voting member of the TEC is to go along with Boss Godfrey, and accept pennies on the dollar under this knuckleheaded plan, we believe such an act would constitute a clear breach of fiduciary duty, as it would be an act blatantly contrary to the economic interests of the taxing entity he or she is appointed to represent, (along with taxpayers such committee member is supposed to competently serve.)

Compare the numbers yourselves, gentle readers; then ask yourselves what Mr. Hart (and maybe a few others) have been smokin'. Hopefully they'll all have their heads screwed on straight in time for Wednesday's noon TEC Committee meeting.

And don't let the cat get your tongues.

The Junction: What Next?

Tough decisions confront our community -- UPDATED

By Dan Schroeder

In two recent articles I’ve tried to provide an overview of Ogden’s Junction development and a detailed look at its revenue shortfalls. The most pressing problem is how to make the $1.9 million annual payments on the Junction’s “Series C” bonds over the next 17 years.

Revenue Sources

For the short term, most of this money can come from the tax increment revenue that the Ogden RDA receives from the mall redevelopment district (which includes the Junction plus the block west of Grant between 22nd and 23rd). This year the tax increment should be about $1.1 million, and over the next two or three years it should creep up a little higher, as more of the new buildings are completed and taxed at their full value.

A second source of revenue is tax increment from the American Can redevelopment district, north and west of the Junction. About 10% of the funds raised by the Series C bonds actually went toward the American Can parking garage, not to the Junction (as I should have mentioned in my earlier articles). In return, the American Can district is contributing $200,000 per year to the debt service.

A third revenue source is lease payments from Junction tenants to the Ogden City RDA. Most of the Salomon Center lease revenue is being used to pay off the Series B bonds, but there is about $100,000 per year left over that can be applied to the Series C bonds.

In addition, it was hoped that the Boyer Junction developments (Megaplex Theater, Wells Fargo building, restaurants, and smaller residential and commercial buildings) would be generating lease revenue by this time. But much of Boyer’s space is still vacant, so it isn’t yet making a profit or passing any income on to the RDA. City officials are now refusing to predict when this situation might change. Two years ago, however, they apparently projected that the city would receive over $300,000 annually from Boyer. It seems possible that this could still happen eventually, but not in the next few years.

The final source of funds is lease revenue from Business Depot Ogden. BDO currently provides the city with about $3 million per year, and a substantial portion of this money has gone toward the Junction bond payments during the construction phase.

The Short Term

For the next few years, however, it appears that the subsidy from BDO can decline dramatically: $1.1 million from mall district tax increment, plus $100,000 from the Salomon Center, plus $200,000 from the American Can district gives a total of $1.4 million, leaving only $500,000 needed from BDO to make the $1.9 million bond payment. And the mall district tax increment should soon climb to $1.2-1.3 million, allowing the BDO subsidy to decline further.

That’s the situation until 2015, when the mall district tax increment is scheduled to revert back to the taxing entities. Even in a best-case scenario (with $300,000 in Junction lease revenue from Boyer), the BDO subsidy would then have to climb back up to about $1.3 million. Whether the city can afford this would depend on what other uses it has in mind for the BDO lease revenue.

Long-Term Tax Revenue

Presumably there are other uses for the BDO funds, because the RDA is now asking the Taxing Entity Committee to extend the tax increment on the mall district through 2026, when the Series C bonds will be fully paid off. To understand the magnitude of this request, let’s make a few more projections.

By 2015, all of the existing Junction buildings should be completed and fully on the tax rolls. Even if we allow for a slight decline in the tax rate, the tax increment on the mall redevelopment district should be at least $1.25 million per year from 2015 through 2026. Barring some unexpected catastrophe, this is reasonable low-end estimate.

In a more optimistic scenario, the two vacant Junction parcels will be developed by 2015 and contributing additional tax. If the value per acre of these parcels is then comparable to the rest of the Junction, they could provide about a half million dollars of additional tax revenue, bringing the total annual tax increment to about $1.75 million. (Two years ago, city officials dreamed that these parcels would be developed to much higher values, resulting in a fantastic projection of over $3 million in tax revenue. I’ll ignore that projection in this reality-based article.)

So when the RDA asks the taxing entities to extend the collection of tax increment, it’s asking for about $1.25-1.75 million per year, over a period of 12 years.

The Taxing Entities

Now let’s look at where this money will go if the RDA’s request is declined. The answer is about the same for the Junction as for any other property in Ogden. Here’s the breakdown from my own recent property tax statement:

I’ve simplified this chart by combining taxing entities with similar purposes; for instance, “Schools” includes both the Ogden City School District and the Statewide School Basic Levy, while “Health & Safety” includes the Weber-Morgan Health Department, Paramedic Fund, 911 Service, and Mosquito Abatement.

Multiplying these percentages by the total projected tax increment of $1.25-1.75 million gives the following annual revenue to the taxing entities:

(Click the highlighted link for a more detailed version of the above table.)

If the tax increment is extended for 12 years, each of these entities will either have to do without this revenue (and thus provide a lower level of service) or make up the revenue by raising taxes on the rest of us.

Because the schools would take the biggest hit, the RDA is offering to pay them back $300,000 per year through so-called “mitigation payments”. As you can see, these payments would make up no more than half of the lost revenue to the schools. The RDA is also offering to sweeten the deal by handing some real estate over to the school district. There have been no reports of similar offers to the other taxing entities.

In order to extend its collection of tax increment, the RDA must convince six of the eight members of the Taxing Entity Committee (TEC) to vote for this proposal. The eight members include two from Ogden City (currently Council Chair Amy Wicks and CED Director Scott Waterfall), two from Weber County, two from the Ogden School District, one from the State Board of Education, and one from the Central Weber Sewer District (nominally representing most of the smaller taxing entities). The Ogden City representatives are being asked to relinquish general fund revenue in exchange for five times as much revenue going to the RDA. Everyone else is simply being asked to hand over their money to the RDA--although the school representatives are being offered part of their money back.

Why any of the TEC members (except those from Ogden City) would vote for such a deal--against their own best interest--is beyond me. The RDA could perhaps argue that it is morally entitled to the tax increment because without the new Junction developments, the revenue wouldn’t be there in the first place. But this argument should have been made before the buildings were financed, not after. Instead the city was promising, until just two years ago, that the Junction taxes would revert to the taxing entities in 2015.

So at this point, the RDA is effectively begging the taxing entities for a bailout. But assuming that the entities would even consider such a gift to charity, they should be asking how much the RDA truly needs.

Just how needy is the RDA?

Unfortunately, that question doesn’t have a simple answer.

One complication comes from differing attitudes toward the BDO lease revenue. On one hand, this is the revenue that formally underwrites the bonds, so perhaps it should be used to pay them off. On the other hand, anyone can think of other uses for that revenue.

Another complication comes from our uncertainty over the Junction’s future taxable value. Take the low and high estimates from the table above, subtract the $300,000 mitigation payment, then add back $300,000 from the American Can district and the left-over Salomon Center lease revenue. If you’re optimistic, add another $300,000 from Boyer lease revenue, and you end up with anywhere from $1.25 million to $2.05 million in revenue that the RDA can apply toward the $1.9 million annual payment on the Series C bonds. So there could be a shortfall of $650,000 that would have to come from BDO or somewhere else (still much less than what BDO paid in 2008), but there could also be a surplus of over $100,000, with no subsidy from BDO at all.

Given this wide range of uncertainty, a reasonable approach might be to wait and see how the Junction is doing in 2014 before promising any bailout. Indeed, the minutes of the June 25 TEC meeting show that one of the members asked why the RDA is in such a hurry to get the extension approved. And the RDA’s response was telling:

He [Richard McConkie] clarified for planning purposes, and for staff to have the ability to be able to negotiate on a future hotel or other major retail component, the tax increment plays an important part in sitting down with developers.

Moreover, at an earlier point in the meeting, McConkie specifically stated that in order to lure a hotel developer to the RDA’s vacant Junction parcel, the city would probably have to build a $4-5 million parking garage.

So the reason this is coming up now is simple: The city wants to borrow another several million dollars, and it needs another guaranteed revenue source to underwrite that debt. Then the city can gamble the money on yet another speculative venture such as the much-rumored new hotel. Whether Ogden’s market is ready for a new hotel, which would compete with the Marriott, the Hampton, and the Ben Lomond, seems not to concern the city administration.

Instead of asking the TEC to further enable its gambling addiction, here’s a novel idea for the Ogden City RDA: Sell the vacant “hotel” parcel on the open market (it’s assessed at nearly $1 million), get it on the tax rolls, apply the proceeds to pay down a little of the existing debt, and let the market decide what should be built on that parcel of land--and when. With the Salomon Center and Deseret Books right across the street, any number of businesses should be able to thrive at that location if given the chance. And when the streetcar comes through in a few years, a parking garage will be superfluous.

Selling the vacant parcel may or may not be the RDA’s best option at this point. Perhaps there are other options that don’t require incurring even more public debt at the expense of our schools and other public services. At the very least, I hope more citizens will become aware of the uncertainties, the trade-offs, and the risks that accompany the decision our community is now facing.

Citizens, please weigh in with your opinions!

Update 8/7/09 12:55 p.m. MT: "I've just received word that the Taxing Entity Committee will meet again, to consider the RDA's proposal, on Wednesday, August 19th, at high noon." -Dan S.

The Latest Godfrey Video Blunders

KSL News devotes an entire story and video clip to Ogden City's most notorious dunce

By Danny

Now KSL has an entire article and video just on Godfrey's sentencing hearing statements about Val Southwick and the response to those statements.

Our mayor's appalling comments, and the response of state officials to those comments, speak for themselves.

City council take note. Matthew Godfrey is a psychopath, a law unto himself, with no contact with reality. Good and evil are defined solely by who his friends are, in his mind.

Be sure to watch the video too.

• Ogden Mayor's courtroom statement upsets many victims.

Well....?

State Audit Reveals Ogden Administration Improprieties

Auditor finds Boss Godfrey's Ogden Community Foundation routinely and wilfully violated its own bylaws

By Curmudgeon

A couple of interesting items in today's Standard-Examiner.

First is the article by Scott Schwebke, heading the Top of Utah section. Here's headline: Agency –– government or private? Ogden Community Foundation won’t have to return funds; still under scrutiny

Here are the opening graphs:

OGDEN — The city has made a “good faith effort” to comply with the terms of a $900,000 grant awarded in 2002 to purchase the former American Can Co. complex and won’t have to repay the funds, according to a state audit released Monday. The audit was conducted at the request of state Rep. Neil Hansen, D-Ogden, and other individuals. They questioned whether it was proper for the Ogden Redevelopment Agency to use a $900,000 state grant to purchase the American Can Co. complex to house a high-tech center.

That was, of course, good news for the Godfrey administration and [in my view] good news for Ogden. But the good news for Godfrey ends right there, and the rest of the story and the state audit cannot have pleased him. From the story:

The office of the state auditor determined the Ogden Community Foundation, which acquired the complex in 2006 from the city’s RDA, has deviated significantly from its original articles of incorporation. As a result, there are inconsistencies as to whether the foundation is part of city government or a private organization, the six-page audit says.

The foundation’s original incorporation papers, which say board members are to be selected from a list of approved candidates appointed by Ogden’s mayor, require that the organization be included in the city’s financial statements because it’s considered a “government entity,” the audit says. However, the foundation has deviated from that practice and chooses new board members on its own without making selections based on a list from the mayor, says the audit.

And...

The audit also questioned the city’s decision to withhold information from individuals who submitted public record requests regarding the Ogden Community Foundation. “We believe that public officials have a responsibility to provide for open government,” the audit says. “In this situation, the city allowed the property to be sold into private hands where it no longer controlled the flow of information. While the city may have complied with the letter of the law, it certainly did not comply with the spirit of the law, which includes providing citizens with answers to their questions about the use of their tax dollars.”

The audit recommends that the city work with the foundation to amend the organization’s articles of incorporation to clarify its operating procedures and tax status. The foundation should also comply with state public records law if it is determined by legal counsel that the organization is a governmental entity, says the audit.

Godfrey said the foundation’s bylaws have been amended to demonstrate that the organization is separate from the city and shouldn’t be part of its financial reporting..

So, let's reduce that to basics:

(a) the Ogden City Foundation began life as a public body which, as such, was required to include its activities in the city's annual financial report.

(b)For some unexplained reason, however, it operated instead and in violation of its own founding by-laws, as if it were a private not a public entity, and it refused therefor to makes its records of its activities [which involved the transfer of public property to private entities] public when asked.

(c) The Mayor now says the by-laws have been changed to make the Foundation an exclusively private entity apparently so that it it can keep from having to explain its activities to the public.

(d) The state auditor finds such behavior on the part of the Godfrey administration to be, at the least, unethical, if not illegal.

Next, there is an interesting editorial on the newly announced crime-control steps, and their relation to the campaign. The editorial notes that crime control is shaping up to be a major issue for both mayoral candidates. It implies [faintly, but the implication is there] that Mayor Godfrey's --- who seems to have been asleep at the switch regarding gang violence in Ogden for seven long years until he realized his re-election was in jeopardy --- sudden interest in the topic is to no small extent campaign-motivated. Which raises of course this question: how long will his interest in controlling gang violence survive the closing of the polls on election day this November?

Additional reader comments are invited, of course.

Update 9/18/07 12:16 p.m. MT: For the benefit of our detail-oriented readers, we've obtained and uploaded to our storage site a full-text pdf version of the above State Auditor's Report, which can be viewed here.