Contact: Rep. Neil Hansen, 801-393-1514; Dan Schroeder, 801-393-4603
LAWMAKER AND ACTIVIST TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON OGDEN ELECTION SCANDAL
State Represenative Neil Hansen and local activist Dan Schroeder will
hold a public meeting on Tuesday, November 16, to discuss the criminal
investigation into the activities of Envision Ogden, a political
action committee connected to Ogden Mayor Matthew Godfrey.
The meeting will be held at 4:00 p.m. in the downstairs auditorium of
the Weber County Main Library, 2464 Jefferson Avenue, in Ogden.
Envision Ogden was formed in early 2007 and, with considerable help
from Godfrey, raised over $87,000 in contributions during the first
half of that year. After paying expenses for its fundraising events,
the organization then spent most of its remaining funds supporting
political campaigns. Its largest political donations were funneled
through an intermediate entity called Friends of Northern Utah Real
Estate.
Most of Envision Ogden’s contributors did not learn of the
organization’s political nature until much later, after Envision Ogden
belatedly registered as a 527 organization with the IRS, and its IRS
disclosure statement was discovered in February 2009. The major
contributors included hospitals, banks, the Ogden-Weber Chamber of
Commerce, and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development.
This week the press reported that a criminal investigation into
Envision Ogden’s activities was opened by state authorities in spring
2009. The complaint was initially made by State Rep. Neil Hansen (D-
Ogden), who provided authorities with copies of news reports and other
documents. Additional information was provided to investigators by
local activist Dan Schroeder, who had gathered relevant documents and
written about the scandal on the Weber County Forum blog.
One of the investigation’s findings was that many of Envision Ogden’s
larger contributions were solicited by Godfrey. In response to
questions from the press, Godfrey admitted this week that he was
probably responsible for most of Envision Ogden’s fundraising.
At the upcoming meeting this Tuesday, Hansen and Schroeder will
summarize what has already been reported about Envision Ogden,
describe what is known about the criminal investigation, and outline
the potential criminal charges that could arise.
Additional background information can be found in these recent news
reports:
http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/article-12575-envision-ogden-state-investigating-campaign-finance-scandal.html
http://www.standard.net/topics/elections/2010/11/09/godfrey-elections-complaint-dragging
