I hesitate to even get involved in this discussion, but...
Mr. Phipps may or may not have violated the letter of the law by voting in SLC last year and now claiming that he lived in Ogden at the time. But either way, it's going to come down to technicalities.
Voters should not be concerned about these technicalities. They should assume that Mr. Phipps is a legal candidate and judge him on his qualifications:
- He is 26 years old.
- He has lived in Ogden for approximately one year, and in Utah for a few years longer.
- He currently resides in a house on 25th Street, rented from Bill Spain of Provident Partners.
- His campaign contributions have come almost entirely from commercial real estate interests.
- He is a commercial realtor operating out of an office in Layton with his father (who lives in Ogden Valley).
- He is clearly a supporter of Mayor Godfrey, and even wrote a letter to the editor supporting Godfrey in the last election.
- Godfrey, on his part, has steered business to Phipps and his father, and has made robocalls on behalf of the Phipps campaign.
- Both Phipps and Godfrey have tried to downplay their association during the present campaign.
- Phipps has also tried very hard (without quite lying) to give voters the false impression that he has lived in Ogden longer than he actually has, and that his business is based on Ogden rather than Layton.
- Phipps claims to have brought a large number of businesses to Ogden in recent years, but he hasn't publicly named any of those businesses or said what his role was.
- If elected, Phipps would become a member not only of the City Council but also of the Ogden RDA Board, which controls a large portion of the commercial development going on in Ogden. The RDA Board also has access to confidential information about development plans and real estate values. As a commercial realtor who is heavily involved in Ogden, Phipps would have frequent conflicts of interest.
Source: Hansen challenges Ogden City Council candidate's eligibility
(Internal links added by editor)
