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Show Volume XXIII Issue XVI The Ogden Valley news Page 3 September 15, 2016 Guest Commentary Letters to the Editor Ogden Valley Now Has a Newly Updated General Plan! A Travesty of the Democratic Process: Weber County Dear Ogden Valley Residents, cant discussion. The Commission passed the plan with a change to allow bonuses for cluster Commissioners Make Surprising Last Minute Change to After about three hours of subdivisions and TDR’s on a very limited basis. Ogden Valley General Plan after closing public hearing County Commission public We will vet how to accomplish this during ordihearing and discussion [on Tuesday, August 30], the Valley has a newly updated 2016 Ogden Valley General Plan! Many thanks to the countless volunteer hours from you and the Planning Commission to make this a possibility. The new plan offers a single document with interrelated goals and principles, which is a significant advancement over the fragmented and disjointed plan documents we were using. As mentioned in a previous email, bonus density did indeed become a topic of signifi- nance creation. The public may view the Microsoft Word document. These changes are on lines 666689, then again on line 877. The final published version (with images) has been uploaded to <valleyplan.com> Please let me know if you have any questions. Charlie Ewert, AICP Weber County Planning, cewert@co.weber.ut.us Editor’s View Political Corruption: The making of political decisions in favor of special interests at the expense of the public’s best interests Political corruption has been defined as actions causing the public to lose confidence that politicians are making decisions in the public’s interest; rather, they are working in favor of the special interest of those who give them financial support. Thus, the biggest corruption of our political process, for the most part, is entirely legal; although, highly unethical. The question of ethics comes into play when this financial support comes in the form of “campaign contributions that would not be made were it not for implicit quid pro quos by politicians bestowing favors of one sort or another on the contributors” (The American Prospect, “Everyday Corruption,” June 13, 2010). This form of blatant political corruption can be found at all levels of government—at the national, state, and even local level. Often it trickles down—call it “trickle down . . . corruption.” Recently, a bold case of this type of trickle down “economics” was played out in the Weber County Commission Chambers when Commissioner Kerry Gibson introduced new, never-publicly-viewed verbiage to the final draft of Ogden Valley’s new General Plan, which he swiftly moved to adopt with this new lastminute verbiage in place. His partner in crime, Commissioner Matthew Bell, supported the motion, providing the needed second majority vote. Our third commissioner, Commissioner James Ebert, strongly opposed Gibson during the motion’s discussion before the final vote was taken, correctly citing ethical concerns; however, he was outvoted and out maneuvered by the “dynamic duo.” Representative Gage Froerer of Huntsville, Representing District 8 and Utah’s unrelenting Real Estate lobby, attended the public hearing prior to the vote, and strongly advised the commissioners to add verbiage to the proposed general plan, opening the gate to developers and realtors, alike, to take advantage of bonus densities—added “freebie” lots and units (each worth thousands of dollars) in return for clustered development—something large-scale developers already incorporate to cut down on infrastructure costs, such as roads and waterlines. Today the Utah Association of Realtors (UAR) is one of the most powerful financial political organizations within the state. For instance, according to a 2009 article in the Deseret News by Bob Bernick, Jr., “New political-action-committee reports show that the group came away from the 2008 elections with $1 million in cash . . . and has given legislators and Gov. Gary Herbert—none of whom will be running in elections this year—more than $56,000. In the 2008 elections, the PAC gave legislative candidates, political parties and other PACs nearly $200,000, an analysis by The Deseret News shows. Most 2008 donations to lawmakers came in $1,000 to $3,000 checks, reports show. . . . [M]ost of the money the UAR PAC raises is actually passed down to local associations. . . . Those local chapters, in turn, make political donations to local candidates—thus extending the political reach of Realtors.” In a 2016 article in The Salt Lake Tribune by Lee Davidson (Feb. 17), the author states that about a quarter of legislators received all of their campaign funds in 2014 from special interests, EDITOR’S VIEW cont. on page 8 Come to meetings! Participate! Make your thoughts and ideas known! Get your fellow Ogden Valley residents involved! Over the past 40 years there have been dozens of occasions on which Weber County Commissio ners themselves, Ogden Valley Planning Commission members, and members of the Weber County Planning Office have asked me and many others to PARTICIPATE—to come to meetings, work with them, to get others involved, and to make our thoughts known. We were also told repeatedly by our County Commissioners (notably in 1998 when the first Ogden Valley General Plan was created, again in 2002 when the Ogden Valley Recreation Plan was made, and again for the past three years as the new General Plan has been crafted) that we should communicate our ideas to them, that we should trust them, and that we should let them know the directions in which we wanted to channel the inevitable growth of the Ogden Valley. Well, for the past three years, Ogden Valley residents have done just that—they have PARTICIPATED! Many Ogden Valley residents spent hours in multiple meetings and workshops, voicing their opinions and views. As you are probably aware, the original “Advisory Group” of Ogden Valley residents worked with the Logan Simpson Design consulting company to create the initial version of the plan. You can see those involved citizens listed in the final version of the plan. However, you may not be aware that, since the initial version, at least four revisions were then written. Kim Wheatley of Huntsville worked tirelessly for hundreds of hours on these multiple revisions. He worked closely with Charlie Ewert, Principal Planner for Weber County Planning Office and with the Ogden Valley Planning Commission. During the last two years, Kim also spear-headed and held together a group of interested Valley residents who met regularly, studied the issues, tried to understand the ramifications of each part of the plan, and wrote and re-wrote the 60-page document many times. Given the parameters under which the General Plan had to be written, all these individuals labored long and hard to try to meet the needs of all the many stakeholders involved in the development of Ogden Valley. They deserve our sincere thanks and respect. They also deserve the support of our three county commissioners; however, instead, at the last Weber County Commissioners’ meeting on August 30, in a few minutes, an important part of that good work was summarily thrown out by two of our commissioners. In that meeting, after the meeting was closed to all public input, in an arrogant and audacious manner, a motion to make a last minute change in an important part of the long-debated plan was made and passed. The motion was made by Commissioner Gibson, supported by State Rep. Gage Froerer, and voted in by lame-duck Commissioner Matthew Bell, while Commissioner Ebert voted against the last-minute change, arguing strongly that it shouldn’t be added at the last minute without previous public notice and input. Now that it has passed, the motion re-establishes bonuses for cluster development. This loop-hole, which Commissioners Gibson and Bell inserted into the General Plan, will allow the potential for further increases in the total density of housing units in the valley— above and beyond the already astronomical numbers of 16,000 housing units and 21,000 residents! Giving bonuses for cluster development sets up the potential for developers to make end-runs around existing caps on Ogden Valley growth. This decision by two of our county commissioners establishes an important and longreaching policy, and it was created in such a blatant and arrogant way that I believe it fuels the growing distrust and cynicism regarding our local government leaders. So Participate! Come to meetings! Make your ideas known. Involve your fellow Ogden Valley residents, and even work hard to actually help craft the plan! Then watch as few as two politicians make a final decision that blatantly contravenes and diametrically opposes the will of the citizens. The residents of Ogden Valley deserve and need better representation. Perhaps we will never get that representation until, and unless, we have at least five county commissioners—with at least one from Ogden Valley; or until Ogden Valley breaks from Weber County government and is incorporated as its own municipality. Lee Schussman, Eden Inspirational Thought Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results. This is but saying that nothing can come from corn but corn, nothing from nettles but nettles. Men understand this law in the natural world, and work with it; but few understand it in the mental and moral world (though its operation there is just as simple and undeviating), and they, therefore, do not co-operate with it. -- James Allen, from As a Man Thinketh |