Down But Not Out!

The day after the Primary Election here in Ogden, I was beginning my run for campaign contributions to help ramp up the campaign a bit.  I used the small amount raised in the preliminaries for signs and some postage.

The day after the Primary Election as I was walking about downtown, I was unfortunately hit by a car in the crosswalk. This was not in my plans for the day – and I wasn’t able to complete my mission for the day.  After a short stay in the McKay-Dee Hospital ER, I scheduled an appointment to see our regular family Doctor the very next day.  There are no broken bones 

… BUT …

Doctor will be seeing me in another week to determine whether an MRI is needed for my left knee, which is clearly damaged by being bent skee-wampus.  I also sustained a severe sprain of my right foot.  I sustained some damage to my MCL (medial collateral ligament) on the left knee. An MRI will show if additional damage occurred within the joint itself, and help determine if surgery is required.

In the Meantime, I am unable to walk around knocking doors and meet people in order to receive contributions for the rest of my campaign.  This also prevents me from getting out in the neighborhoods to meet and get to know what people in my voting district are looking for in a City Council member to represent them for Municipal Ward 2.

I have had one contribution through the PayPal “Donate” button just to the left of this blog post. Contributing through PayPal is simple, gives all parties desired privacy, plus it is rather handy in that the transaction takes place almost immediately.

For now, I will direct your attention to earlier posts in this blog, where you will find out what I intend to do when elected to the City Council for Municipal Ward 2. You will also find contact information if you have any questions regarding specific issues I may not have mentioned or that concern you.

Please read on, and consider making a contribution to help me get the ball rolling for when I AM back on my feet. I sincerely appreciate your support and consideration.

TLJ

The Race is Not Over

First, I wish to thank all those in Municipal Ward 2 who voted for me!  What a wonderful surprise that I could garner over 400 votes in this district. 

Second, I wish to give kudos to Mr. White for entering the race with such enthusiasm and ambition – having met him in person, I can truthfully say he is forthright and heartfelt in his ideology.

Third, I wish to give congratulations to my ever so worthy opponent, Mr. Richard Hyer. He has given me inspiration to study and work harder toward my goal of winning the seat to represent Ogden City’s Municipal Ward 2. Mr. Hyer has experience that I lack; however, I believe I have a fresh eye and mind with which to assess and address the issues that are important to the welfare and long-run well being of our Fair City. 

Now, bearing in mind the quote I found the other day by Henry Ford: “You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do,” I want to start this new race with a fresh confidence that I can begin to build a reputation and support by discussing issues with individual voters, round table groups, etc.

With my academic accomplishments from my student tenure at Weber State University, I will bring detail-oriented analysis to the Council. I will acquire all the facts and knowledge needed to vote or respond appropriately on an issue before the Council; I will not vote based solely on an explanation given by another person.  I will take into account the matters surrounding the issue(s) that are best for the community at large (Municipal Ward 2) and Ogden City as a whole. 

I will hold to the message that I brought forth from the beginning – as a City Council, our responsibility is to consider the big picture for the city and not just the next 4 years … what we do, what we approve, what we amend or impose will affect our children. 

Education is paramount; although the City Council has no direct control over the School District, many things that cross our desks indirectly impact the local schools as well as other important basic infrastructure entities. I will work to lowering that impact to the best of my ability. If we can improve the quality of our children’s education by any means, it bodes well for the future of Ogden.

Better educated residents mean a higher quality workforce from which incoming businesses can draw from. Better educated residents mean more qualified entry level university students which will lead to more post-secondary graduates that will attract higher level technical businesses to Ogden which will in turn benefit our community in the long run. 

Infrastructure definitely needs to be addressed on a larger scale and as a whole - not piece-meal with a band-aid here and there.  We need to fall back and take a good look at appropriations for infrastructure and put in place safeguards to keep the status quo or build upon (not reduce or hold back) the resources for improving and maintaining infrastructure.  I will monitor these appropriations with due diligence, and then some. As stated above, education is paramount - and a big part of the infrastructure of our Fair City.

I will be fully accessible to anyone who has an issue to discuss, I will be available and I will work toward resolution or explanation of the issue as appropriate. I will not hold back or keep any action from the public at any time; what we do as a City Council is important enough that anyone in the City who so desires may have ready access to issues discussed in meetings, full disclosure of ordinances in terms of unabridged copies of all proposal documents, meeting minutes regarding such, both electronically and through hard copy.   

Some of you have already mentioned some issues that concern you as citizens in Ogden: yard/lawn/property ordinances, “double dipping” in the Police and Fire Departments, community plan updates, Municipal Ward 2 feeling left out of the loop when it comes to the RDA and community planning, chicken ownership. While I cannot promise to clear up or resolve any of these issues right away, I will certainly keep them in mind and get them in the discussions we have as a City Council. I will research current ordinance wording and consider details or lack thereof, work to get things clarified and I will always let you as citizens know how the issue is progressing.

Please use my contact information to your advantage now to let me know of issues that concern you as residents of Municipal Ward 2 or Ogden City, because the City Council is after all a united entity whose job it is to serve and have stewardship over all Ogden’s citizens.

TLJ

Email me at jenneil2@comcast.net

Phone – (home) 801-737-3044

Phone – (cell) 801-686-9571

About Last Night ...

For those of you who came to the candidate forum on Wednesday, I thank you.  For those of you showing an interest by visiting y blog page, I thank you.

Some may have noticed I seemed soft-spoken and a little hesitant in answering some of the questions presented by the moderator; public speaking is not one of my strong points.  I do have passion for my commitment to running for a seat on the Ogden City Council.  I believe I can make a difference. I know my other talents, life experience and background qualify me to be a productive member of the team, otherwise known as the Ogden City Council.

A couple of topics I wish to speak further on: 

Since one of our major attractions as an Outdoor Mecca is our many splendoured trail system, I know we must keep the trails in our open spaces in and around the City well maintained and unobstructed by further development.  I know, given time the Centennial Trail Loop will become a reality and enhance our connection with the surrounding systems in Weber County. I will work to encourage keeping the ball rolling on this one, however slowly it may seem to roll.

Blue-lining our foothills was mentioned in the Mayoral Forum; that is, marking the spot where all development stops at a certain elevation line in the foothills.  This is a good idea as it would keep the area free from development and encroachment upon our open spaces and trail systems. Also mentioned was providing a Conservation Easement to Weber Pathways for no development of the foothills. I would prefer providing the Conservation Easement to the People of Ogden City in perpetuity rather than a single entity … it would be easier to manage (Weber Pathways might go away, but the People of Ogden won’t).

Tourism has become more a part of our economy of late, bringing events and visitors year-round. Keeping this trend going and promoting events and our positive attraction is a must and I will encourage working with our Chamber of Commerce and any other local agency or group interested or already involved in making things happen for Ogden.

Tax increment funding was a much discussed and unpopular topic at the forum.  Although those more experienced than I presented that it is sometimes a “necessary evil” I believe that cutting back on the size of and slowing down the growth of the T.I. offers would be beneficial to the local city necessaries that depend on property tax money for most of their support, most importantly our schools. Developers should be given an opportunity to invest more capital of their own in projects they want to bring to Ogden; the developer will have a bigger stake of their own in the project and just might work harder to make it work. By giving them so much of an incentive we open the door for a failure and a quick exit with the feeling “Oh, well … the City paid for it … no great loss,” and we’re left holding the bag.

Not much was said about the City’s different Planning Community Districts, of which we have quite a few. Just in doing a little homework I found a number of them have not been updated for many years; one example is the Lynn Community Plan which discusses a need for a traffic light at 7^th and Wall Avenue intersection … there is a traffic light at that intersection and it’s been there for quite some time.  I want to work with the Planning Commission in assessing which of these Community Plans need to be updated or changed or something based on things that have been happening in the City that directly affect the Plans as originally adopted.  

The area of 12^th Street and Wall Avenue was mentioned briefly during the forum – though not much was said and the words Fred Meyer were not used. I did a little homework on this one as well and found out some interesting facts: it is being touted as space for lease as a community center, with an annual lease cost of $1.2M … or a direct sales price of $7M. The Weber County Assessor’s office has the property value including land and building at a very cool $432K and change.  Perhaps this is a big reason it is still empty?  I don’t know what a single City Council Member can do about this issue but I know it should be looked at because it sits at a very good location for something to be productive and economically positive for our fair City.

The issue of double dipping public servants (Police and Fire Departments) did not come up at all and it is a big issue in my view. Experienced though they may be, older personnel may be useful to some extent. However, if they retire at the desired retirement milestone they do a great service to the up and coming young personnel who are qualified by giving them opportunities they are not currently getting for advancement in our City Police and Fire Departments. We are losing good talented Firefighters and Police Officers of higher rank because the older retired ones are coming back and taking the promotional opportunities away from the younger guys who are just as qualified to fill the positions. Seems Ogden is turning into a proving ground for Officers and Firefighters to get a start and then serve elsewhere.  

Another issue with the Fire and Police Departments is pay raises: I spent some time speaking with some Fire personnel in one of our stations, and they imparted the information that a new Department employee gets paid the same as they do, having multiple years of service under their belts … when the new guys find this out they are soon gone.  

I want the double dipping to stop and pay raises given to our deserving and hard working guys and gals in the Police and Fire Departments.

TLJ

Local Business

While new businesses coming to town are exciting for a minute, considering the grand scheme of things and the big picture in the long run – I will focus more on long-time local businesses by way of taking care of them in many areas. These would include infrastructure (utilities, easements, sidewalks), business-friendly practices and ordinances (zoning, signage, parking), local business promotion with events and representation at city sponsored activities (local food concessions and distributors, local sporting goods suppliers, local banking, local realtors, local developers, local builders and general contractors, local transport, local manufacturing), and so much more.  

 Recently Ogden has had long time local businesses relocate or shut down due to a shifted focus on bringing national and other favored companies to build, do business for a while, then leave. We cannot have local business leaving or shutting down to make room for chains and big-box. Our local businesses are our backbone, our character; they define who we are as a city:  Friendly, strong, caring, personal, keep ‘em coming back, service, neighborly, good to have around, reliable; hey: I Know this Guy!  Local businesses pull together for the City because the City will be pulling for them; I will be pulling for them.

TLJ

Ethics in Government: a Lesson from George Washington ...

I posit this in regards to ethics in government.  There should be a degree of honesty, integrity, openness, frugality, diligence, dedication, humility, confidence, competence inherent in each and every public servant elected to office.  The general populace should know where each public servant stands, should be represented and given a voice by the elected servants.  The citizens should not have to worry about complicity in back-door deals, closed door politics, favoritism or cronyism. There should not be a widespread view of “good old boy” politicking going on where good and faithful service should be the norm.

George Washington said in reply to an address by the House of Representatives in 1789,

“I feel that my past endeavors in [your] service … are far overpaid by [your] goodness, and I fear much that my future ones may not fulfill your kind anticipation. All that I can promise is that they will be invariably directed by an honest and an ardent zeal.”

Such humility and desire to do well by the people he served is something I aspire to.

TLJ