Election Season Upon Us

With just over one month until election day, the Deseret News explains the process in Huntsville. Rather than the typical Primary/General election format, Huntsville is one of just a few municipalities in the state that uses a Nominating convention format.

Huntsville selects candidates through convention

Mayor James McKay said the parties don't exist for any reason other than to have forums for people to be nominated for the election.

Huntsville residents will note McKay's name is not on this year's ballot.

McKay said that when he completes his fourth term, he will have served 16 years.

He said he plans on "doing some other things" when his service is over in January and plans to send a farewell address to town residents in an upcoming city newsletter.

"We've been able to do some positive things for the community," McKay said.

Fruit Heights in Davis County and Garland in Box Elder County, as well as a handful of other cities, also select municipal candidates by convention rather than by primary election, said David Church, attorney for the Utah League of Cities and Towns.

This is a perfect lede into our election coverage of the Upcoming Huntsville Election. For now, Huntsville is the only incorporated community in Ogden Valley.

Furthermore, it will be at least two years before Powderville residents will be allowed to vote IF their incorporation goes through, so we will focus the election spotlight on our neighbors to the south for at least a couple more years during this years off year election.

The Huntsville Candidates have been selected, the stage is set and we have created a "Huntsville Election" section on our right sidebar. The candidates have been contacted and in upcoming days and weeks we will post any information the candidates forward to us.

Thanks to the Weber County Forum for the Election Coverage Format.

XTERRA Utah, USA Championship Sept. 26

The Xterra USA Championships are slated for September 26, 2009 with events in and around Ogden and Ogden Valley, with the crown being awarded at our very own Snowbasin.

For more details, click here

Wolf Creek's Steve Roberts Passes

We have collaborated some recent emails below regarding the recent passing of Wolf Creeks Steve Roberts. While we at the forum didn't always agree with Mr. Roberts, he was different than so many Valley developers we have seen come and go over the years. Steve was a great man who made Ogden Valley his home and was a large part of our community. He was always willing to support events, not only monetarily, but he was also willing to work hard for the event or organization.

Here is a portion of an email that was forwarded to us:

With sadness I wanted to let you know that Steve Roberts died this last Saturday evening. Lowell Peterson tells me that a brain tumor was the last straw. They operated and felt it was successful, but then his body just couldn’t hold up any longer. This is a difficult note to write. Steve has been a believer in Ogden Valley in a way most residents did not really see. He cared about the community as well as the resort. His loss is huge. My sympathies are toward his wife and children.

And here is the latest from Wolf Creek

Dear Wolf Creek Family –

There will be celebration of Steve’s life on Thursday evening at 7:00pm in Pineview Lodge. Immediately following that there will be coffee and refreshments on the Plaza.

The kids are putting together a DVD so if you have photos you think are appropriate please send them to Sue.

All of the Roberts’ family and friends in Utah will be attending so please park in the Maintenance Building parking lot.

The family has requested that instead of sending flowers we make a donation to the Wolf Creek Foundation. You can give that to Annette, Sue or send it to

The Wolf Creek Foundation

P.O. Box 658

Eden, UT 84310

If you have any questions or concerns do not hesitate to contact Bill, Tim or Sue.

Finding Utah's Garden of Eden

As the fall colors begin to change, there were a couple of articles recently about Utah's best kept secret of Eden.

First, Lee Benson's Deseret News article entitled

Finding Utah's Garden of Eden

Benson contrasts the popular Ogden Valley tourist destinations - from David O. McKay's house to the Monastery, from the Shooting Star to Chris and Sandy Hogge's "Garden of Eden."

Next, the First Tracks Online Blog overviews a new Ogden Valley Business Association web site which touts our fall colors:

New Website Chronicles Autumn in Utah's Ogden Valley

From the article, “If you are searching for spectacular fall scenery, you need up-to-date information," confirms board chairperson Carolyn Daniels. "Because northern Utah’s elevations range from 4,200 feet at Ogden Bay Bird Refuge to almost 9,800 feet at Willard Peak there isn’t just one week when the trees are reaching their peak color. If you know where to go, you can find great fall color for over a month.”

Support our Ogden Valley neighbors!

These citizens need your help. To date, this small group of neighbors has waged an expensive court battle to attempt to establish whether the developer can in fact force them into a city in which they want NO part and appoint a town council on whom they will NOT get to vote to govern them. The citizens will appeal to the Utah Supreme Court, contending that their most basic right to “No taxation without representation” has been violated.

The people of Weber and surrounding counties are holding a fund-raiser to assist them in this appeal. We are hosting an evening of food, music and melodrama on November the 13th from 6-9 at the Union Station Browning Theatre. Because it is urgent that we gather a “war chest” for these beleaguered citizens as soon as possible, tickets are $100 each. The evening includes admission to the stunning Browning antique car museum, music by one of the valley’s popular groups, dinner by the Union Grill restaurant, silent auction and a locally written and produced melodrama. Tickets may be purchased at the Valley Market or at the Eden Coffee Shop next to the Valley Market.

Guest Post by Sharon Holmstrom

801-745-6638

Ogden Valley Issues Escalate To The Statewide Level

Powder Mountain Threats and Small Town Chicanery

Fox 13 News was in Eden for several hours today preparing a story about the Powder Mountain Town Sign Thefts and the more recent personal threats against those vocally opposed to the incorporation. Be sure to watch Fox 13 tonight at 9 PM to see the latest.

The story we broke Sunday regarding Dirty Politics in bucolic Huntsville hit the spotlight of UtahPolicy.com, one of Utah's premier political sites.

Don't miss, Election Central: Small Town Chicanery

Please Support The Ogden Valley Forum

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That said, much time and effort are involved in maintaining the top rated site in Ogden Valley and you may have noticed the recent addition of national advertising on the left side bar. The Ogden Valley Forum has joined affiliate programs of some top web sites to help offset some of our expenses with maybe a little left over at the end of the month for a cheap cup of Joe at the Maverick. On a good month, maybe we will be able to splurge for a fancy drink at Drew's.

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Dirty Politics In Huntsville

You may have read about dirty politics in the big city of Syracuse, but it seems like Quiet and peaceful Ogden Valley is not immune to big city chicanery . We just received this email with the attached audio file that has been circulating around Huntsville and feel that it deserves some weekend viewing:

Dear Ogden Valley Forum,

This phone recording was forwarded to me this morning and quite frankly I am disgusted. Let me explain.

Huntsville has a two party system for its municipal elections. Not Republican and Democrat, but "Our Town" and "Party 1." No one really knows which party they belong to, and in fact, it really doesn't matter.

One party held their nominating convention last Tuesday and the other was held on Thursday. Each convention nominated a candidate for Mayor and two council members and the ground rules are:

• You may attend both conventions if you wish
  
• Candidates may be nominated at both conventions
• YOU MAY ONLY VOTE AT ONE CONVENTION

At the Tuesday convention, Chris Stevenson was nominated and placed on the ballot for Mayor where he had flooded the room with family supporters.

Here is where it gets sticky.

Over the next couple of days, Chris apparently called nearly every resident or registered voter in town to invite them out to the Thursday Nominating Convention. That seems fairly harmless, but he went on to tell folks that Tim Hansen was going to be put up for Mayor and he would recommend the support of Tim.

Now Tim is a good guy, but in no way is he Mayor material. And in NO WAY could he be elected to Mayor.

Why would one candidate for mayor be campaigning for another candidate for mayor? The answer is simple: Put Tim on the ballot and Stevenson wins by a landslide.

In the end, Tim must have realized he had been put on the chopping block when he saw some 125 - 150 residents pack into the overflowing town hall (about 3 times the number of residents that attended the Tuesday meeting). When Tim was nominated, he politely declined and a legitimate candidate was ultimately chosen (Jim Truett).



Here is the rest of the story. The attached phone message was left at the residence of Doug Allen by accident as Doug was also going to be nominated for mayor that evening.

And Ogden Valley, you thought brilliant schemes were only reserved for the big city. It sounds like things are about to get exciting in Huntsville, so we will dust off our old election coverage templates and give the candidates a sounding board soon.

Stay tuned and have a great weekend.

Powder Mountain Town News!

Theft, threats and attempted intimidation have now become part of the Powder Mountain town saga. As reported on the front page of Saturday's Standard Examiner, it appears that some of those who support the Powder Mountain town incorporation have continued to break the law in an attempt to discourage those that oppose the formation of a town without the consent of the residents.

Problems Regarding Powder Mountain Town Escalate

It is also a fact that these "anonymous" perpetrators have left behind significant evidence including electronic trails that provide valuable information for law enforcement officials.

This is a contentious issue, those citizens opposed to the town incorporation are trying to recover the basic civil rights for the

affected homeowners that were ignored by the onerous

legislative bill HB466. The affected homeowners did not have a voice in the formation of the town, their forced inclusion into the town boundaries, or a vote on the initial town officers.

One would think that every American that values the right

of equal protection under the law would be opposed to any

action by the Powder Mountain owners that denies those rights.

Blogmeister Update:

We will also include a letter to the editor from Liberty resident Larry Folker in response to Richard Schneider's comment that anti-Powder Mountain people are a vocal minority.

Large Yard Sale Today In Huntsville

We just received word that there will be a large yard sale in Huntsville today, beginning at 8 AM.

He is part of an email we received from http://www.huntsvilletown.com/ To sign up for their email list or to read Huntsville's archived newsletters, click here:

Last minute reminder... The first annual Huntsville Town Yard Sale
will begin this morning at 8 am. At least 32 residents throughout town
will be participating so be sure to make your morning rounds in search of some
great deals. A map of locations will be available at each yard sale
site.

Shop away and have a great Labor Day Weekend!

Standard Examiner Op-Ed on The Powder Mountain Road

In case you missed this morning's Standard Examiner,

read the Opinion section for an excellent summation of the

issues that many have with the safety of the Powder Mountain

Road.

Memorial For Tanner Krahenbuhl

A very nice memorial web site has been created for 16 year old Tanner Krahenbuhl, the young motocross-er who died Sunday evening on the Powder Mountain Road in Eden.

Visit www.TannerKrahenbul.com to view some fabulous photos of a young racer who was breaking into the big time of MX.

Here's to your next holeshot Tanner!

Mayhem or Mountain of Fun?

Powder Mountains PR nightmare continues with this front page masterpiece from the Standard.

Time is short today, but we will copy a portion of the original Kimbal Wheatley Manifesto written in February, 2008.

Mr. Wheatley writes:

We will make it clear that we will do everything possible to make sure any and all liabilities associated with the people who are injured or die on Powderville roads will land squarely in their lap. For example, two-to-three times the density means at least two-to-three the accidents. Based on the PERPS own traffic analysis, the excessive density will result in a lot of dead and injured people (based on the last six years, we can expect 40 dead people every six years from brake failure alone). UDOT and the Ogden Valley Planning Commission have weighed in on the risks of exceeding the capacity of the roads when there are limited options for improving safety (especially in Ogden Canyon, at Pineview dam and on Powder Mountain road), so it should be relatively easy to put the death and injury liability on the PERPS or its puppet town council where it belongs.

Prophetic or simple actuarial statistics??





God Speed Tanner Krahenbuhl - this one's for you!











We will end with a post from a very wise contributor to the Standard Forum:

By: MXFan @ 08/31/2009, 11:54 PM

Sad for everyone involved. The MX people that have posted on here need to take something into account. After reading through these comments, the local residents are not attacking the RV driver or the MX community, they are criticizing the developers. Keep in mind, many of the locals have seen this small community grow around them. With this expansion, they have seen accidents and tragedy increase ten fold. Their comments are directed to the Powder Mtn developers. If you build it, they will come is the saying, but keeping them safe when they do come is equally important. Many feel that Powder Mtn bears the responsibility of that. The locals are voicing that once again after this accident. The locals are not badmouthing motocross or the participants. They are using this as another sad example as to why Powder Mtn should spearhead the effort to make the road to their facility safer for everyone else that comes. There seems to be plenty of income flowing to this facility, but not to the roads that lead to it. It seems like the residents are more concerned than the developers. Prayers for the families involved.