Bill Glasmann

1) Would I support the use of eminent domain for economic development?

According to the Buckeye Institute, eminent domain was originally a tool of last resort, its purpose to give the government flexibility to provide public services such as roads, public buildings and the like. It was invoked when no other alternative existed and a public use was evident. This flexibility was constrained by a Constitution that protected private property rights as a fundamental civil liberty.

Now, however, in the name of economic development, eminent domain is used to serve the interest of private parties looking for cheap ways to circumvent the real estate market rather than serve legitimate public purposes.

The result is a process where private property rights and homeownership are subject to the whims of politics and are not the result of mutually beneficial exchange in the market. Government no longer needs to show that their project will serve a public use or that the primary benefit will be to the public. All it takes today is a majority vote of a City Council to decide. Homeownership then becomes a privilege granted by the local government.

There is absolutely no way I can or would support the use of eminent domain in this way. It runs against the grain of the Constitution and my own moral beliefs. Eminent domain has been abused and because of that it is now lost for a period of time. A valuable tool originally, it is a scourge today, unacceptable and without merit. A person’s right to own and enjoy his or her property trumps today’s eminent domain use. Therefore, I would neither use nor support eminent domain for any economic development.


2) What are the main issues facing Ogden at this time? How do I propose to deal with them?

The main issues facing our city, as I see them, are grouped into two areas: urgent and “hot button.”

Urgent issues, issues that need immediate attention, are the city’s infrastructure and Public Services (Fire & Police). The infrastructure, the underground water and sewer system, is deteriorating at an alarming pace. Above, the roads are no different. The cost to rehabilitate is a staggering $148, 000,000, and in the 2006 City Budget, the Mayor and City Council have only earmarked $6,000,000 plus to address that issue. Meanwhile, the Administration, backed by the council, pours dollar after dollar into these failed and stalled projects, almost completely ignoring the obvious. Public Services doesn’t fare much better. The Fire Department looses manpower to other departments throughout the region, due to pay and morale, and its engine companies run at least a man short, making fire fighting even more dangerous than it is. Pay is an issue at the Police Department, with many officers forced to seek a second job to make ends meet. Equipment and training at both institutions suffer, putting these first responders in harm’s way, even more-so than their job call for. These men and women put their lives on the line each time they report for work, yet their beginning pay is approximately half of what the Mayor presented to Stuart Reid for his “termination.” Safety, which is absolutely paramount, and morale are jeopardized. A well thought “fix” is of the highest priority. We’re talking lives here, both ours and especially theirs.

The “hot button” issues are, of course, the city’s economic development. Front and center TODAY is the gondola, with the old Ogden City Mall coming a close second. Over the years, many studies have been made regarding the gondola, most saying that it is not a viable means of public transportation. The Mayor basically ignores these studies, as he so often does in many respects, and is committed to building one, even at the expense of reducing its utility to two-three stops in order to “get it done.” Lift Ogden and Chris Peterson have come up with a new wrinkle, private funding, that may encourage the gondola system’s development, with the city’s role being that of granting easements and re-zoning.

The mall is the proverbial “box of snakes.” Charging blindly ahead, ignoring “due diligence” and input from many, the City purchased the mall, tore down the buildings, faced the wrath of the United States Army for diversion of funds, and has been sued and lost over the demolition of some of the buildings. Throw in the failures of Union Square, the River Walk, Shupe Williams, and WalMart, and the future of the mall seems bleak indeed. Each day the debt grows and the interest piles up. And there the mall sits, the site of the Mayor’s High Adventure Recreation Center mired in contamination, preventing the bonding that is both questionable and needed. Along with the commitment of all 10 of the city’s positive “tax increment” producing projects, and the next three to come on-line, a huge portion of the city’s revenue is now tied to this recreational development, causing shortfalls throughout city departments.

An individual member of the council does not yield much power by himself. It’s as a group that the “checks and balance” system comes into play. Having said that, my position would be to first, adequately study these problems. Demand timely information before voting on issues. Identify the areas that are essential to a “fix” of the problem, through research, study, public input, and other relevant sources. Implement a conscience throughout the council to get that “group effect,” wherein reason and well- informed votes prevail. Call for a moratorium of these out of control RDA projects (it should be kept in mind that RDA, when PROPERLY implemented, can be of great value to a blighted city), take a close look at what went wrong with the failures, either rehabilitate them or get off them, and reconsider the costs, consequences and “ups & downs” with all of them, especially the Mayor’s High Adventure Recreation Center.

City government should serve the needs of the people and take care of the city’s business. It should not become a business entity itself, competing with private enterprise with those very tax dollars that those businesses have paid into the coffers. The council should be inclusive, friendly, should ask for and welcome input from a variety of sources, streamline the developmental/building process, and work in concert with free enterprise, which I feel will get our town out of its malaise and back on its feet.