If any of us have had any doubts on this Powder Mountain issue, the Standard Examiner Editorial in the Opinion Section of Sunday's paper should put those doubts to rest. The editorial hits the issue right on the button and confirms that we indeed have a marginally effective Weber County government.
The sad result of all this is some of the Weber County Commissioners become defensive and circle the wagons when obvious problems are brought to their attention. From property tax scofflaws to excavation oversight in unincorporated areas, some County employees refuse to acknowledge their responsibility to correct or rectify problem areas. Of course, this does not mean all County employees have that attitude, but it all starts at the top of the chain.
There is no doubt that at least one of the Weber County Commissioners did try to resolve this Powder Mountain issue without incorporation, but in the end it went for naught. The Powderville incorporation brings an entire new set of problems for the County to the forefront. The action or lack of action by the Weber County Commission to avoid litigation from Powder Mountain, may result in a Federal Lawsuit against the County that could initiate a detailed examination of Weber County's actions leading up to the incorporation.
Larry and Sharon Zini
5 comments:
The last paragraph is extremely important:
This is the take-away lesson for election 2008: All Top of Utah incumbent politicians except Allen voted for HB 466. This should not be the only factor guiding voters’ decisions in November, but it should be one of the issues that determine the outcome of each legislative race.
All incumbents - state and county - need to be replaced.
The significance of the editorial is that this newspaper has refrained from criticism of the County government
on this issue in the past. It is obvious that the Powder Mountain arrogance and the mostly tepid reaction of the Weber County Commission has gone over the line. I applaud the Standard Examiner.
It must be obvious to anyone who has followed this saga that Jaime Lythgoe was appointed to the OVPC to push the Powder Mountain rezone through the Ogden Valley Planning Commission.
Thanks to some upstanding OVPC members she was not enough to prevent the conditions imposed by that Commission on the rezone. It appears that there are some Weber County public officials that have integrity and believe in the public trust.
Broken Process or Broken People?
It is evident that Powder Mountain has no interest in being good neighbors to Ogden Valley. First, from the beginning with threats of incorporation, they expected the Ogden Valley Planning Commission to relent on density adopted over 10 years ago, which has been a development standard used by other developers over that time. Secondly, Ogden Valley Planning Commissioner Jamie Lythgoe, an individual who has personal financial interest in this development, would not abstain herself from critical votes involving these interests. It is a shame when most planning commissioners take on the difficult task of making planning decisions that reflect the best interests of the community, while others serve to protect their personal interests. And thirdly, the recent selection of the Mayor and Council (See Link) for the newly incorporated “Powderville” reflected the arrogance and nepotism that the Powder Mountain developers have operated under. As far as I know, none of the 100 or so Eden residents that have been involuntarily encircled into this incorporation fiasco have been approached by Powder Mountain to serve as Mayor and Council. Instead, Powder Mountain submitted a kangaroo list from their original petitioners, that all had either an economic tie to Powder Mountain, or were related to the Cobabe family. This kangaroo Mayor and Council is yet another example of the Powder Mountain’s broken effort to be good neighbors to Ogden Valley or the newly incorporated citizens of “Powderville”.
I hope that the Powder Mountains petitioners understand in their incorporation petition efforts they will turn what was once a good neighborhood into a broken neighborhood, and they will need to live there too. I also hope that they understand that whoever is selected to serve as Mayor and Council realize that they are supposed to serve their community first, and not themselves.
Some think that Jamie Lythgoe believes that she is in the clear on this conflict of interest since she abstained on the OVPC final vote on the rezone. She did that because she knew her vote didn't matter. Prior to that, she worked hand in glove on both sides of the street in violation of the public trust and common sense. The Jamie Lythgoe saga would make a great TV news story.......
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