Ogden City Council leaders need to stop canceling regularly scheduled leadership meetings with Mayor Matthew Godfrey. These meetings have consistently been canceled since April. The mayor's frustration with the current council leadership is justified.
The excuse that the mayor can meet with the council at regularly scheduled council meetings won't cut it. It is a common -- and needed -- practice for municipal leaders to discuss policy, argue, and seek compromise at these types of meetings.
Council Chairwoman Amy Wicks and Council vice Chairwoman Caitlin Gochnour have adopted a flight policy, rather than a fight policy, in dealing with Mayor Godfrey and his administration. This creates dysfunction and it must be corrected if the disagreements that have divided Ogden's government are to have a chance to be eased. Elected officials cannot duck negotiation meetings just because they are uncomfortable with a political adversary's negotiation tactics.
And that is what's happening. Mayor Godfrey is a forceful politician. He's a strong debater. His style can make people uncomfortable. It is the responsibility of the council leaders to state their case as forcefully. That's the first step to negotiation. If, after these meetings, the council's answer to the mayor is no, then it's no. But let the mayor have as much debate as he gives! Then at least the issue will be roundly discussed and debated.
In the past, the mayor and council members have disagreed on what was accomplished at these types of meetings. We have a solution to that. Let's have the leadership meetings be open to the public. Interested residents could witness the efforts to hash out issues and reach compromise. These efforts could be reported in the newspaper. It would end the sniping that has followed past leadership meetings.
We are also concerned with the accessibility of Council Chairwoman Wicks. By her own admission, she frequently is not available until after 5 p.m. Given her position in Ogden city, she needs to follow the example of hundreds of her colleagues across the state and be available more often for the city administration and news media inquiries. We respect Wicks' work responsibilities, but if they interfere with her council chair responsibilities, maybe someone else should do the job.
We have a mayor with the tenacity of a bulldog. We have a council leadership that is willing to oppose him, but not communicate with him. They need to talk with him. It's their responsibility.
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